Band:	Snakeskin
Album:	Music For The Lost
Style:	Industrial
Release date:	2004
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. I Am The Dark
02. Furious Stars
03. Melissa
04. Waking A Lie
05. Long Gone Lost
06. Panicky Joy
07. Cinderella
08. Symphony Of Pain
09. Come As You Are
10. Recall
11. Cinderella [Club mix version] [bonus]
12. Melissa [Remix By Kiew][bonus]
13. I Am The Dark [Electronoir Mix by Combichrist]

Snake Skin is the musical project that the genius mind behind the gothic metal/rock opera of Lacrimosa, Tilo Wolff, formed when he felt the need to express himself in a different way. The orchestral moments are present and, of course, they couldn't be missing from the music of Snake Skin, but there is no way someone can say that they remind of Lacrimosa, only a bit in some moments. What is Tilo Wolff trying to achieve in "Music for the Lost" is, in a way, "orchestral", dark and danceable electro/EBM. The question that comes to mind is "Did he succeed in making the album sound well?" The answer is "probably yes, he made it", but let's analyze the music of Snake Skin.

Sorrowful atmosphere-evoking orchestral pieces, keyboard melodies and the sequencer's effects evoke a serene, but melancholic, feeling all around, drowning the listener in the depths of a Hell he would never want to face, of a Hell that he, slowly, starts exploring while losing himself in the soundscapes of songs like "Furious Stars", "Waking A Lie", "Recall" and "Long Gone Lost". Tilo Wolff's vocals, being distorted, they sound utterly twisted (even though they sound a bit childish" at times), evoking a feeling of bittersweet pain, reminding not the Tilo Wolff we all know through his work with Lacrimosa. Beyond its darker moments the album has its groovier moments too, songs like "Melissa", "Cinderella" (which is one of the hits of the album and will become for sure a must composition for all the dark/gothic clubs) and "Symphony Of Pain" where atmosphere and electro experimentations harmonize in a quite interesting way.

Whoever waits to listen something that may have a connection with gothic rock/metal, or even dark wave, the best thing to do would be to buy anything he misses from his Lacrimosa collection rather than buy Snake Skin because he will probably regret it. "Music for the Lost" is a difficult, quite paranoid and obscure in the way it was composed, album. To understand the inner world of Tilo Wolff concerning Snake Skin you must pay exceptional attention to this album and listen to it many times!

"Music for the Lost" is definitely one of those love-it-or-hate-it releases, an album difficult even for the die-hard fans of Tilo Wolff. The risk is in your hands whether you will love this album for its obscure aesthetic or hate it for the same reason?