Lacrimosa, Leidenschaft

In my world, Lacrimosa releasing a new album has become quite the occassion when it comes to music. Hoffnung and Testimonium are amazing and have provided an entry into Lacrimosa’s beautiful world of gloomy symphonic metal that I have come to love so much. So naturally, I was looking forward to listening to Leidenschaft and I’m glad to report I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s hard to describe it without repeating most of what I mentioned in the previous reviews, because Leidenschaft offers the same wonderful mix between theatrical and minimalist and between Tilo’s raw vocals and Anne’s delicate wails, and is once more infused with emotion and ardor. And I personally can’t get enough of it, I’m in love with this album, with its elegance, majesty and melancholy so specific to Lacrimosa.

The only minus it has is that it mostly lacks those moments of explosion and grandeur, being a lot more tame and contained than other releases from Lacrimosa. For example Die Liebenden is rather uneventful musically, even if it has that ever present display of fervor that manages to tie my heart into knots, and then there’s Celebrate the darkness, which doesn’t even have that and is just whiny and grating (thankfully it’s the only track I didn’t connect to in either way).

Also thankfully, the beauty and emotion of the other songs compensate this absence I was speaking of. Liebe Über Leben begins in a slow and steady manner, full of nostalgia, and then gradually becomes more powerful. Führ Mich Nochmal In Den Sturm seems to be on the repetitive side, only to evolve into a symphony of strings and intense singing from Tilo. Die Antwort Ist Schweigen is lovely, gentle and touching and Augenschein is wonderfully angsty and intense. But my favourite has to be Exodus, as it offers that duality between restraint/ magnificence, sensitive/ epic and gloomy/ inspiring that Lacrimosa manages to pull off so well.

With the exception of Kulturasche (which is cool, but more on the heavy industrial side of Lacrimosa) and Celebrate the darkness (which I’ve already commented on), all songs are moving and enchanting in their own way. The orchestra is gorgeous as always, with that dignified classical touch, rich and melodic. The vocals, dual and complementing each other, with Tilo pouring his everything into each track. And again, as we’ve been accustomed, the atmospheric and emotional part of Leidenschaft is the highlight of an already complex and often surprising music.

Many of my favourite bands have disappointed me with their latest releases, so much that I was actually starting to worry if I’ve really become so hard to please. But Lacrimosa don’t seem to be able to do any wrong in my eyes. Once I “got” them, I became utterly in love with them (thanks, Hoffnung and Artmania in the pouring rain) and these last few albums have been an absolute joy. And yes, I am counting Leidenschaft among them.