Band:	Flowing Tears
Album:	Razorbliss
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	March 22, 2004
A review by:	Malcolm

01. Razorbliss
02. Believe
03. Virago
04. Undying
05. Radium Angel
06. Firedream
07. Ballad Of A Lonely God
08. Snakes Of Grey
09. Mine is The Ocean
10. Maladine
11. Unspoken
12. Pitch Black Water

Finally I get to review a not so well known band that I really know, I enjoy both Flowing Tears last two releases "Jade" & "Serpentine", I hold them in my list of the best gothic metal releases ever.
So I was very excited when I got this album, and I guess my expectations was a bit high, when I knew that they had change singer and all.

Flowing Tears was from the start called Flowing Tears & Withered Flowers when they in 1996 released their debut album, "Swansongs", and in 1998 their second release "Joy Parade" the last under that name and the first with the vocalist Stefanie Duchêne.
In 1999 they released a promotion MCD named "Swallow", a foretaste of the next album "Jade" that was released back in 2000, followed by "Serpentine" in 2002.
After "Serpentine" Stefanie decided to concentrate on her personal life and said good-bye to the metal world.
To replace her, Flowing Tears added the young Helen Vogt to the line-up and have now released the first album with her in vocals.

As you can figure out, this is that first album with Helen. So how it's like?
Well, it's like they say themselves, that the whirlwind Helen encouraging the heavier edge, and that's true, the music here isn't as mellow and soft as in "Jade" for example, and that's both good an bad.
The good is that it have made Flowing Tears develop, it's not good to play the same kind of music over and over again.
And the bad thing is that's it's not so "sad" anymore, if I listen to "Jade" and then "Razorbliss" it's not the same, I don't see the cloud of sadness come out of my speakers when I play "Razorbliss" but with "Jade", then are almost filling my room, pitch black clouds of sorrow.
And then the keyboard sound is little special on this album, because it's more "visible" than on their previous releases, it's almost much enough to call it electro gothic, which I don't like. Some shall be there, but sometimes it's little too much.

But don't get me wrong here, "Razorbliss" is good, it truly is, but it doesn't have the same emotional feeling as the previous records.
It's easy to blame Helen for it, because she's new and Stefanie had a voice that really penetrated you. But I won't blame her, because she's good and of cause it's hard to replace a voice like Stefanie, but Helen does a great job, even if her voice miss that real emotional touch.

As a little surprise Flowing Tears have invited a guest to appear on one track, and it's no less than Dirk Thurisch from Angel Dust/Mercury Tide that's singing together with Helen in the second song, "Believe", he fits perfect, but with a voice like him, how could he not?
Another "fun" thing is that only one of 12 songs is longer than 3min, and it's the last one. All other is 3.xx something, when did something like that happen?

Overall it's good album, but it's not better then the past two albums, that's so close to Gothic perfection as I ever heard. But it's worth buying.

Favourite songs: "Believe", "Snakes of Grey", "Mine is the Ocean" & "Pitch Black Water" is good, but there is, sadly, no real killer on this record.