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Rating: Group, as far as I know, virtually unknown to most, these Swedish Lake Of Tears released in 2002 the present "The Neonai." The Swedes have several works under their belt, the first of which were heavily oriented towards a gothic metal with rhythms sometimes similar to melodic death. When I bought this record, I was totally taken aback. I knew the band was heavily influenced by Floydian psychedelia, but I didn't think it could go this far: the gothic here is almost completely gone, moving onto more distinctly psychedelic terrains (also clearly outlined by the vaguely "candy-like" and fairy-tale cover) of a very catchy rock. The result? Nice, it listens well throughout its duration, but it certainly isn’t a great album.
The typically 80s instrumental intro with a gothic stride gives hope, and with the second track "Return Of Ravens," promises are fulfilled. The song has a pressing and solemn pace, thanks to the very rhythmic rhythm section, the atmospheric keyboards (very dark wave and almost "danceable"!), the powerful guitars, and the singer's voice, not excellent but still able to create a certain pathos.
The next "The Shadowshires" leaves you a bit puzzled. The rhythm, the keyboard parts, even the guitars, seem a copy of the previous track! The similarity is such that I prefer to consider these two songs as the continuation of one another. The catchiness remains, the piece captivates you and is, objectively, very engaging, and by the end you've almost forgotten the initial bitter feeling.
"Solitude" is instead a rather misty and tearful ballad. Daniel Brennare's excellent vocal performance is accompanied by a standout rhythmic/melodic section, a lovely autumnal digression on the theme proposed so far.
From here on, these two just-described styles will repeat, alternating throughout the album. Faster, rockier tracks (I won't say gothic because there's little gothic to be heard) will alternate with more reflective, calm, and melancholic ones. The confusing and, to me, unforgivable fact is that the majority of the more lively ones seem to be carbon copies of one another. In short, listen to the drums: always the same "thump thump thump thump," as if it were produced by the cheapest of drum machines. The work on the guitars slightly rises in quality during the choruses, perhaps thanks to some successful solo (the ending of "Can Die No More" for example), as well as the part related to the bass, which by 80s tradition occasionally indulges in good, robust, and rather varied rhythmic lines.
The ballads are perhaps the ones a bit more diversified among them, thanks to female vocal inserts or slightly more biting parts, where all the instruments and the frontman's voice collaborate to slightly raise the pathos and tension.
At the end of the album, you feel as puzzled as at the beginning of the first listen, unsure how to judge it. Objectively, the album isn't terrible: it's catchy, perhaps almost too upbeat for a gothic band. But it's known, great bands have always played on the bewilderment provoked by their products, never the same as one another. It's a pity, though, that Lake Of Tears aren't, and I regret to say this, a great band. Or rather, they don't show themselves to be one in this album, passable but a bit bland in the end.
Let's face it, what they did before (and what will come after) is better, much better.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Solitude (05:26)
Let me walk a while down gallows alley
Mesmerized, alone, behold a sader me
I am the voices lost, I am the voices passed
I am the king down gallows alley
I am the foul ones who wintered
And I grow fire in my eyes
Am I the minister who dwells there in the night
Come walk beside me now, it's not a strange
The fall into the grasp of the fellows feigned
And to be the voices lost, you know we must be fast
Let's stay a while down gallows alley
I am the foul ones who wintered
And I grow fire in my eyes
Am I the minister who dwells there in the night
Come see into those eyes of fire
Who goes at midnight ride with a fire eyed
I am the foul ones who wintered
And I grow fire in my eyes
Am I the minister who dwells there
05 Leave a Room (04:11)
Leave a room inside my dear
The hide from all the darkness you must find
When you can cry when no one cares
Where you can leave them all behind
Close your eyes and ride into this night
There is no wrong direction here
Just a smile for every candlelight
So leave a room inside my dear
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile inside
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile to go
Form an ocean from your teadrops
Set your sails and sail away
And promise we that you will not stop
Until you find where tears wont stay
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile inside
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile to go
06 Sorcerers (03:50)
Lost in the twilight, we sail for the moon
And stars light our way, upon the horizon
Crazed by the stars, so eager to stray
If we should come there tonight, say would they stay
Now we're bound for ground patrol
When we were meant to find them all
Sorcerers
We sail for the sun, and the twinkling ones
How careless they play, must be the season
Dazed by the starlight, to find us a reason we go
And if we should come there tonight, say would we know
Now we're bound for ground patrol
When we were meant to know them all
Sorcerers
Now we're bound for ground patrol
When we were meant to lose control
Sorcerers
08 Nathalie and the Fireflies (03:30)
Comes the morning with scarlet and black for you maybe
Past the sun hides the one with fires anew
Soon to be gone, morning comes more for me lately
Comes the morning with scarlet and black for you to
Oh, do they come there anew
Comes the morning with sorrow
Smile with a heart full of tears
Nathalie comes the ones of tomorrow
With the fireflies there
Comes within, comes without, what's the scarlet about
And the one from the sun for his fires and few
Soon comes the sun, soon comes the morning here baby
Comes the morning with scarlet and black there for you
Oh, do they come there anew
Comes the morning with sorrow
Smile with a heart full of tears
Nathalie comes the ones of tomorrow
With the fireflies there
Ends the night for the pauper
Like a life full of years
Nathalie tell me then shall we bother
With the fireflies there
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