Band:	Lacrimas Profundere
Album:	Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts
Style:	Gothic metal, Gothic rock
Release date:	July 2006

01. My Velvet Little Darkness
02. Again It's Over
03. Not To Say
04. No Dear Hearts
05. Short Glance
06. Filthy Notes
07. Sweet Caroline
08. An Irresistable Fault
09. To Love Her On Knees
10. Sad Theme For A Marriage
11. Should
12. My Mescaline
13. Shiver

Lacrimas Profundere once were an utterly interesting romantic doom/death metal band with marvellous orchestral references in their sound, something that was quite obvious in their very strong debut album "...And The Wings Embraced Us", their beautifully melancholic mourning opus "La Naissance D'Un Reve" and the lachrymose and esoteric "Memorandum"! As years were starting passing by though, they started incorporating in their sound more and more gothic elements, something that became obvious in "Burning: A Wish", more intense on "Fall, I Will Follow" and reached completion on "Ave End".

2006 arrived and brothers Schmid had promised to release their best album up to date, something not exactly correct, at least in my opinion, since it was impossible for them as a band to surpass the grandeur of their first period, but surely they managed to release a strong album and a worthy successor of "Ave End". From what you might have noticed from the reference to "Ave End", "Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts" moves in emotional/melancholic goth n' roll soundscapes with heavier guitars. It's inspired and for sure more commercial, giving to the band a chance to become more well-known, something they deserve after all, don't you think? The album is very good as i said above, but Christofer Schmid, the singer of the band, managed to change his interpreting way, something not so positive, at least in my humble opinion. This time he tends to sound at some times like Jyrki (The 69 Eyes) or even Ville Valo (H.I.M.) at others. He managed to leave behind, up to an extent, his personal and easily recognisable vocals, at least he knows how to sound really well even he tends to sound like someone else, that's something very positive in the overall negative expression it gave me at first. After a few spins though you get to leave behind the fact that you no longer get the satisfaction of listening to his beautiful personal voice, after all the fanbase of Lacrimas Profundere, the way they sound today, definitely enjoys bands like The 69 Eyes so i don't see such a major problem in the end. Nevertheless, in sound terms, they managed to keep their personal approach in music, something they always had, something i always admired in this band.

"Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts" is an album that won't disappoint the fans of melancholic/romantic goth n' roll (doomsters could stay away unless they enjoy gothic rock and such, this is not a come back to the old days) since it incorporates all these catchy and inspired at the same time melodies on the piano/keyboards and the guitars, vocal lines that make the overall emotional charge way more intense, whereas some female vocals make their appearance from time to time to add another bittersweet sence to the soundscapes of Lacrimas Profundere. The guitar work is highly influenced from the gothic rock scene, with just a heavier distortion, the chords are pure gothic rock if you ask me, something i totally enjoyed since those elements are important to death so as to put the term "gothic" in front of the term "metal".

All in all, i think that Lacrimas Profundere's brand new album shows a more mature face in the sound they approach since "Ave End", it's more affected, definitely emotional and catchy at the same time. It flows pleasantly for 48 minutes, leaving a good impression that will haunt you for some time. Proceed and let one of the finest gothic rock/metal releases of 2006 (along with Zeraphine's "Still", Scream Silence's "Saviourine" and Secret Discovery's "Alternate") so far overrun you with intensity and beautiful emotions. "No Dear Hearts"...

Highlights: The beautiful ballad "Short Glance", the wonderful and "Ave End"-oriented "No Dear Hearts" and "Filthy Notes", the mourning "Sad Theme For A Funeral", the rolling "Sweet Caroline" and the sweet "My Mescaline".