Written by Dracoil on 09.12.2013 at 15:11

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

Written by joaquin on 09.12.2013 at 17:52

Love your review.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.