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The Sins Of Thy Beloved - Lake Of Sorrow review




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Band: The Sins Of Thy Beloved
Album: Lake Of Sorrow
Release date: 1998


01. My Love
02. The Kiss
03. Worthy Of You
04. Lake Of Sorrow
05. Until The Dark
06. All Alone
07. Silent Pain

You may be asking "What is the point of this review for Lake Of Sorrow now, when everybody has already heard of them, or because so many other different, or similar, music exists?" I'd say, because this album in particular, needs more attention on Metal Storm. While there are still many active Gothic bands out there, I believe there are rarely albums which come close to this one.

Simply put, Lake Of Sorrow can be mentioned as one of the classics in the genre that uses the "beauty and the beast" style. Yes, Symphonic Gothic metal is not my favorite genre, but that still doesn't keep me from finding this album an enjoyable, unique, and of course, classic example.

In other words, the main reason that I could never get into this genre, was that there have been, and are, so many weak albums with this "beauty and the beast" style. However, Lake Of Sorrow sounds outstanding and fresh among all of them, even in comparison to the early days of Tristania and Theater Of Tragedy. Unlike Theater Of Tragedy though, Lake Of Sorrow's dominant instrument, which plays the most-heard melodies, is violin. Tristania made use of a variety of song structures, but here in Lake Of Sorrow, there is not a distinct difference between songs.

Nevertheless, if you still haven't heard Lake Of Sorrow, do not judge it because the songs seem to repeat each other. That is the point of Lake Of Sorrow, which makes it more distinguishable and classic among all of its contemporaries, because Lake Of Sorrow made use of the same old clichés, but in a very unique, and masterful way.

Yes, it is the same old themes and elements: piano melodies accompanying the velvet-y sound of female vocals, while the simple progression of guitar chords flow till a violin melody enters, then again female vocals whispering dark romantic lyrics, then guitar arpeggios and distorted rhythm guitars play until the beast enters to lead the song to a crushing phase with that voice. Check it out in "All Alone".

Here and there you can spot enjoyable guitar melodies too, but the most interesting, and beautiful, melodies and solos are played masterfully on violin, and the climax of that beautiful use of violin sound is in "Worthy Of You".

Lake Of Sorrow starts out with a roar before it drags you, crawling from the lake's edge, into the depths. But I'd suggest you dive right into Lake Of Sorrow, and you will know how the dark streams of this beautiful lake will make you glide within it joyfully. This album is proof that you can use clichés masterfully to create a unique, and all time classic, album.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 9

Written by angel. | 09.12.2013




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 25   Visited by: 96 users
09.12.2013 - 15:11
Rating: 10
Ismarmlp

Good review! I love Lake Of Sorrow and TSOTB <3
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09.12.2013 - 17:52
joaquin

Love your review.
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09.12.2013 - 18:05
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Ismarmlp on 09.12.2013 at 15:11

Good review! I love Lake Of Sorrow and TSOTB <3

thanks yeah I enjoy this album by them big time.
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The Fangirl.
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09.12.2013 - 18:06
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by joaquin on 09.12.2013 at 17:52

Love your review.

oh thank you.
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09.12.2013 - 20:30
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Thanks for popping this up.

Few years back when I was searching for Tristania on YouTube, "lake of sorrow" song featured in other recs. I clicked it and it sounded amazing. But, it went out of my radar to even get back on this 'cause of my busy schedule.

I'll be listening this record again.
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09.12.2013 - 20:39
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 09.12.2013 at 20:30

Thanks for popping this up.

Few years back when I was searching for Tristania on YouTube, "lake of sorrow" song featured in other recs. I clicked it and it sounded amazing. But, it went out of my radar to even get back on this 'cause of my busy schedule.

I'll be listening this record again.

you're welcome , I bet you're going to enjoy it even more, this album ages like a good wine.
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The Fangirl.
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09.12.2013 - 21:26
Rating: 9
Mad Arab666

Nice review. I love this album and just had it playing just last week. It still amazes after quite a few listens and I can't help but to play a air violin especially when "worthy of you" plays.
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09.12.2013 - 21:34
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Mad Arab666 on 09.12.2013 at 21:26

Nice review. I love this album and just had it playing just last week. It still amazes after quite a few listens and I can't help but to play a air violin especially when "worthy of you" plays.

Thank you, yeah , it sounds fresh for me too, hehe because that violin part is really awesome.
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The Fangirl.
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09.12.2013 - 22:06
Rating: 10
Erik M.

First of all: great review. I agree with most of what you wrote, except for that the most impressive violin part for me is present at the 2nd half of the last song (Silent Pain) and not Worthy of You. I also HIGHLY disagree that this album consists of clichés. This was released in 1998, just like Widow's Weeds. In fact, the only true classic in the "beauty and the beast" genre that is released before this album is Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996), unless you also consider Theatre of Tragedy's debut to be a classic (which I don't, as it's far less great than "Velvet" and underwhelming in comparison).

Personally I would rate it about a 9.5-9.7 I think.

Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 9

So yeah, quite a bit higher than your ratings.

Btw, you forgot to mention there's also quite a bit of doom in this album. Maybe not enough to call it "gothic doom", but it has doom in it nonetheless. Then again, I also hear doom in Brown Jenkins' 2nd album while no-one else but Lucas (in his review) seems to agree with me on that.

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 09.12.2013 at 20:30

Thanks for popping this up.

Few years back when I was searching for Tristania on YouTube, "lake of sorrow" song featured in other recs. I clicked it and it sounded amazing. But, it went out of my radar to even get back on this 'cause of my busy schedule.

I'll be listening this record again.


Along with Tristania's debut it's my favourite album in the "beauty and the beast" genre. Truly impressive album this one, and for me a masterpiece.

Like Mary's says, you'll have to spin it a couple of times to fully grasp it, but when you do it's totally worth it. Especially the last 3 tracks are brilliant to me.
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10.12.2013 - 15:01
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by Erik M. on 09.12.2013 at 22:06


Written by Cynic Metalhead on 09.12.2013 at 20:30

Thanks for popping this up.

Few years back when I was searching for Tristania on YouTube, "lake of sorrow" song featured in other recs. I clicked it and it sounded amazing. But, it went out of my radar to even get back on this 'cause of my busy schedule.

I'll be listening this record again.


Along with Tristania's debut it's my favourite album in the "beauty and the beast" genre. Truly impressive album this one, and for me a masterpiece.

Like Mary's says, you'll have to spin it a couple of times to fully grasp it, but when you do it's totally worth it. Especially the last 3 tracks are brilliant to me.


Yeah, i checked out couple of tracks at that time and it was brilliant.

The thing is I forgot the band name few weeks after that. I was even searching on Google but didn't get it to no avail. Only recently Mary popped up and got this record immediately. Well, my liking towards this record got grew when I was checking out Tristania's debut album. Those two powerstations really rocked up my night.
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10.12.2013 - 17:45
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Erik M. on 09.12.2013 at 22:06

First of all: great review. I agree with most of what you wrote, except for that the most impressive violin part for me is present at the 2nd half of the last song (Silent Pain) and not Worthy of You. I also HIGHLY disagree that this album consists of clichés. This was released in 1998, just like Widow's Weeds. In fact, the only true classic in the "beauty and the beast" genre that is released before this album is Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996), unless you also consider Theatre of Tragedy's debut to be a classic (which I don't, as it's far less great than "Velvet" and underwhelming in comparison).

Personally I would rate it about a 9.5-9.7 I think.

Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 9

So yeah, quite a bit higher than your ratings.

Btw, you forgot to mention there's also quite a bit of doom in this album. Maybe not enough to call it "gothic doom", but it has doom in it nonetheless. Then again, I also hear doom in Brown Jenkins' 2nd album while no-one else but Lucas (in his review) seems to agree with me on that.


Thanks for reading it . ahaha look I meant that they exactly used the same old elements of a gothic music although maybe it was around the early days of them, but they weren't doing anything bizarre or new, the structures of songs weren't violating the old structures. Female vocals, piano lines and growling male vocals and dark atmosphere , we are still hearing albums with these but many of them are not that outstanding, or actually they are so repetitive. Imagine someone who had already heard many other albums with the same style.

ahaha yeah your rating is a bit higher than mine.

Doom ? I don't really think so
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10.12.2013 - 22:12
Rating: 10
Erik M.

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 10.12.2013 at 15:01

Yeah, i checked out couple of tracks at that time and it was brilliant.

The thing is I forgot the band name few weeks after that. I was even searching on Google but didn't get it to no avail. Only recently Mary popped up and got this record immediately. Well, my liking towards this record got grew when I was checking out Tristania's debut album. Those two powerstations really rocked up my night.


It surprises me you didn't once see me spamming Lake of Sorrow, because I was obsessed with it when I had just discovered the album. Now I like it slightly less, but I still think it's a brilliant album. And opinions are heavily divided when it comes to Tristania: it's either the debut or the 2nd album for most people. I'm of the opinion that the debut crushes Beyond the Veil, but Mary for example thinks otherwise.
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10.12.2013 - 22:24
Rating: 10
Erik M.

Written by angel. on 10.12.2013 at 17:45

Thanks for reading it . ahaha look I meant that they exactly used the same old elements of a gothic music although maybe it was around the early days of them, but they weren't doing anything bizarre or new, the structures of songs weren't violating the old structures. Female vocals, piano lines and growling male vocals and dark atmosphere , we are still hearing albums with these but many of them are not that outstanding, or actually they are so repetitive. Imagine someone who had already heard many other albums with the same style.

ahaha yeah your rating is a bit higher than mine.

Doom ? I don't really think so


Of course I've read it, it's easily in the top 20 albums of all time for me.

Well, what this album did for the gothic metal scene might be more than you think. It definitely wasn't as influential as the first two Tristania records or the first two Theatre of Tragedy records, but this stuff is definitely top-notch symphonic gothic metal. But yes, I see what you mean now that you've explained it. It simply has all the elements for a gothic "beauty and the beast" album. But as I've said, not many albums before 1998 have this style, so you can't say this is cliché by comparing it to similar albums that have been released after this one, that just doesn't make any sense.

And yes, while it's definitely mainly gothic, it also has doom elements in it. Mainly the themes of the songs are quite doomy, but it's also to be heard in the music. The song Lake of Sorrow overall is a good example of this I'd say. But the best example of a doomy song in Into The Dark, which is also one of the best songs (if not the best song) on the album. But as I said, calling them gothic doom might be pushing it.
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11.12.2013 - 07:54
Rating: 8
Jason W.
Razorbliss
I'm always happy when I see MS promoting the bands that changed my thoughts on music itself back in the late 90s, so thanks for bringing this one out the archives

I was always more partial to Perpetual Desolation, but this was the first one I heard from TSOTB, and will always remember it so. I have to agree that the perspective of cliché in this music is unwarranted, as it was releases like this that created the cliché of the style. I have essentially given up on bands producing music that will ever capture the spirit and dark essence that bands like Theatre Of Tragedy, Tristania, TSOTB, and Trail Of Tears once did, and do it with such beautiful production.

I can remember playing all those bands at the turn of the century to my friends, all of which were baffled and/or thrilled that metal had spawned a new genre, with an emphasis on dark beauty and not on aggression or subversive attitudes. Releases like this, no matter the inconsistencies, were as new and fresh as anything out there. And as a gothic metal fan who knew these bands would fade someday, I of course mourn with poetic nostalgia their groundbreaking releases
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11.12.2013 - 15:17
Rating: 9
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
Nice review. Where you really hit the nail on the head is that you mentioned that the best thing about this album is the extensive usage of violin. I've always been a big fan of Pete Johansen and, I guess, will always be. In my opinion, his collaboration with Tristania helped to create their most beautiful songs, but the band that really benefited from his service was The Sins Of Thy Beloved.
I must admit, I prefer Perpetual Desolation, but Lake Of Sorrow is a mighty fine album and, surely, one of the rare gems of the sub-genre.

P.S. By the way, it's not Theater Of Tragedy, but rather Theatre Of Tragedy.
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We are who we're afraid to be"
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11.12.2013 - 16:57
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Erik M. on 10.12.2013 at 22:24
Of course I've read it, it's easily in the top 20 albums of all time for me.
Well, what this album did for the gothic metal scene might be more than you think. It definitely wasn't as influential as the first two Tristania records or the first two Theatre of Tragedy records, but this stuff is definitely top-notch symphonic gothic metal. But yes, I see what you mean now that you've explained it. It simply has all the elements for a gothic "beauty and the beast" album. But as I've said, not many albums before 1998 have this style, so you can't say this is cliché by comparing it to similar albums that have been released after this one, that just doesn't make any sense.

And yes, while it's definitely mainly gothic, it also has doom elements in it. Mainly the themes of the songs are quite doomy, but it's also to be heard in the music. The song Lake of Sorrow overall is a good example of this I'd say. But the best example of a doomy song in Into The Dark, which is also one of the best songs (if not the best song) on the album. But as I said, calling them gothic doom might be pushing it.


OK, maybe I was wrong making this comparison between this album and its later counterparts, and then I should have considered them as the pioneers of this style regardless of how many similar albums I recognize now.

But doom just because they have somewhat slow songs and they are dark ? I still prefer to know them as gothic or symphonic.
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The Fangirl.
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11.12.2013 - 16:58
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by NocturnalStalker on 11.12.2013 at 15:17

Nice review.

P.S. By the way, it's not Theater Of Tragedy, but rather Theatre Of Tragedy.


Thanks a lot ,Oh wait! What a mistake, damn I forgot to correct this one, sorry.And yeah you're right, it should have been written as Theatre of Tragedy.
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The Fangirl.
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11.12.2013 - 17:03
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Jason W. on 11.12.2013 at 07:54

I'm always happy when I see MS promoting the bands that changed my thoughts on music itself back in the late 90s, so thanks for bringing this one out the archives

I have to agree that the perspective of cliché in this music is unwarranted, as it was releases like this that created the cliché of the style. I have essentially given up on bands producing music that will ever capture the spirit and dark essence that bands like Theatre Of Tragedy, Tristania, TSOTB, and Trail Of Tears once did, and do it with such beautiful production.

I can remember playing all those bands at the turn of the century to my friends, all of which were baffled and/or thrilled that metal had spawned a new genre, with an emphasis on dark beauty and not on aggression or subversive attitudes. Releases like this, no matter the inconsistencies, were as new and fresh as anything out there. And as a gothic metal fan who knew these bands would fade someday, I of course mourn with poetic nostalgia their groundbreaking releases


My pleasure .

As I said above, yeah I should agree with you that I shouldn't have used "cliché " for TSOTB .

haha besides being a Gothic metal fan, by your last sentence are you referring to how I finished this review, anyhow nice ending for your comment
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The Fangirl.
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12.12.2013 - 14:06
Rating: 10
pdepmcp

This is an all time masterpiece.
They managed to play between gothic and doom with an unique twist.

Too bad that the rumors about a real reunion seem to be...just rumors (and a few show, maybe).

Nice review too: simple, clear and straight to the point
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12.12.2013 - 22:11
Rating: 10
Erik M.

Written by angel. on 11.12.2013 at 16:57

OK, maybe I was wrong making this comparison between this album and its later counterparts, and then I should have considered them as the pioneers of this style regardless of how many similar albums I recognize now.

But doom just because they have somewhat slow songs and they are dark ? I still prefer to know them as gothic or symphonic.


Yeah, definitely pioneers of the genre if you ask me, hence the 9 for originality (Theatre of Tragedy would be the only band to get a 10 for originality, even though Paradise Lost - Gothic was arguably the first "beauty and the beast" album).

And yes, they are symphonic gothic mainly, as I said, but there's also doom in their sound. How many times do I have to say this?

I also agree with basically everything dismaleuphony wrote. The gothic genre used to be great (even though I wasn't into it when all those classics got released) and now it's just lame and pathetic compared to what it used to be.
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13.12.2013 - 22:03
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by pdepmcp on 12.12.2013 at 14:06

This is an all time masterpiece.
They managed to play between gothic and doom with an unique twist.
Nice review too: simple, clear and straight to the point


That's the reason that I claim with confident it is a masterpiece. Thanks for your kind words I wish the come back only if they would make other classics like this otherwise they'd better not to try making a new album.
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The Fangirl.
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13.12.2013 - 22:04
Rating: 9
angel.
Evil Butterfly
Written by Erik M. on 12.12.2013 at 22:11

and now it's just lame and pathetic compared to what it used to be.

My thoughts.
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The Fangirl.
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09.01.2014 - 16:26
Rating: 10
VaronoZz
Vampbaron
Sooo true.. Still one of top personal albums. Unsurpassed!

p.S. Pete Johansen (violin) is a legend of the genre and the era
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21.01.2015 - 16:12
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Quote:
You may be asking "What is the point of this review for Lake Of Sorrow now, when everybody has already heard of them, or because so many other different, or similar, music exists?" I'd say, because this album in particular, needs more attention on Metal Storm. While there are still many active Gothic bands out there, I believe there are rarely albums which come close to this one.


it is point, this band is classic, no matter how many similar bands will re lease albums this will be so called classic long long time , name rings a bell to many
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18.07.2021 - 03:16
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
I agree whit intro part, because many modern gothic (and its gothic/doom here) are close to those classic bands from mid 90's seems period of time also matters when music was created. I dont agree about Tristania, not close, maybe in widow weeds album, but Dismal Euphony .... try that band because it and ToN are closer as from Norway can goes,
unless you own 4 song demo from Norwegian bands Desiderium. I won it
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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