Lacrimas Profundere
Memorandum

Make the deepest sweetness coexist with the most instinctive aggressiveness of the human soul. Unite moving lyrical vocals with violent growl roars in a single album, without being "out of place," almost giving the impression that the song could not have been written any other way. This is the challenging feat that many bands have attempted, with varying degrees of success. And the German band Lacrimas Profundere, with this album released in 2004, have succeeded brilliantly. It seems that this band has drawn heavily from the lessons given by the masters of doom-gothic metal, Anathema, and their supreme masterpiece, The Silent Enigma. At the same time, from the most introspective and touching gothic, like Theatre of Tragedy's Aégis, without being a trivial copy of "already heard things." The result is a work that touches the deepest strings of the soul, making them vibrate in a unique way, in a manner that most modern music, with its flat "easy-listening" melodies, cannot even imagine. Memorandum is a work that combines the darkest doom metal with sublime sounds, with an exquisite neo-romantic flavor and typically Anathema-like, and disorienting lyrics with their poetry and decadent taste. I believed that The Silent Enigma was an unreachable pinnacle in the doom-gothic environment, but this Memorandum competes without much trouble.

The opening "Infinity" immediately surprises, with the slow stride of the acoustic guitar, immediately supported by the rest of the band, and with a whispered, barely hinted singing, reminiscent of Vincent Cavanagh in his golden days. The following "Helplessness" is inextricably linked to the previous one, supported by a rich guitar riff and still unintrusive vocals at first, which then breaks free, in a sudden tempo change, into a furious and bewildering growl, returning to be melodic and romantic, and so on. The main characteristic of Lacrimas Profundere is precisely to be consistent with the doom-gothic soul of their music, without fossilizing into the monotonous formalisms of the doom genre. It is a "dynamic" music, always finding a cue to change itself, to bewilder the listener, and to take them on a unique and moving journey into the very recesses of the soul. It's a characteristic that only the great ones can have.

But the authentic gem of the CD is "Black Swans". A track that immediately stands out for its depth, a track that knows how to move and pierce the heart like few others. Schmidt's growl seems almost to recite a text from the pen of the best decadent poet, a growl that is softened by the touching lyrical singing of the female voice and the piano with the orchestra in the background, helping to weave a moving and melancholic melody that delights, wounds, and charms at the same time.

It's impossible not to think of the jewels that are "The Silent Enigma" and "A Dying Wish" when listening to the following "Reminescence," a song representative of the most refined and sublime romantic metal. Also excellent is the following "The Crown Of Leaving," introduced by a delicate melody woven by the harp and the warm timbre of the cello. This melancholic melodic line is then joined by the powerful death guitars and a scream that would make the best black metal jealous, in one of the most aggressive moments of the entire album. And again, the black fury is stemmed by the excellent lyrical performance of the female voice and the harp returning as the protagonist, while the lyrical voice finds itself then dialoguing with Schmidt's furious scream, in a dialogue both disorienting and sublime.

The album is then closed by the brief instrumental "The Fate Of Equilibrium," a track that condenses, in the notes of the guitars and orchestra, the entire spirit of the work. A slow, melancholic, and aggressive track at the same time; an oxymoron anywhere but in this excellent work by the Teutonic band.