Lacrimas Profundere – Song for the Last View

Releasedate: 27-06-2008; Label: Napalm Records
By: Elvira Visser

Lacrimas Profundere is a German gothic rock band that has been around since 1993, founded by the brothers Oliver and Christopher Schmid. After producing seven albums it is time for number eight and a new chapter for the band. After the very successful album “Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts” in 2006, Christopher left the band in 2007. After a search for the new vocalist Christopher found the perfect candidate in Rob Vitacca. While being very pleased with the band’s current line up they decided it was time for a new album.

“Song for the Last View” is what they delivered. And what a release this is… This album has different styles mixed together. Maybe you can hear musical influences from bands they like but they took – that what they could use – for their own sound. Like “A Pearl” reminds me a little of the 69eyes and some other songs have the catchiness of HIM. But what makes them stand out is the combination between the dark melancholy that you can hear combined with beautiful riffs and great drum parts. Take for example “Lullaby for a Weeping Girl”. It has great guitar melodies combined with the right pace of drums. “A Dead Man” starts off with a piano tune and Rob singing with emotion in his voice and strings to finish the whole melancholic atmosphere. “We Shouldn’t Be Here” even starts with some synthesizer tunes. My favourite must be “And God’s Ocean” again some strings in the background, backing vocals and a very good built up emotion. A slower and dark melancholic song, maybe reflecting the pain of dying and leaving things behind. As this album is written as a concept.

The concept for this album (and also other albums) is that not only the songs need to have a certain connection but the title of the album and the art work need to fit together as well. “Songs for the Last View” is about that moment when you die and you are looking back on your life. What kind of life did you live, what kind of romances have you had had in life? For this reason I think the intro of this album is just fantastic. It has so much in it, that makes you wonder….You hear a baby crying (new life) and a pounding heartbeat, the fading sounds of people talking, war sounds of tanks and shootings, then a final breath of air and then the person dies…the album starts.

Oliver: “The good thing is that he can sing like Christopher but he can do more…Christopher has one voice, that was okay, but he can do more. He is like a guitar. You can witch him.”
Although this was a bit of a joke, it actually does. What you hear on the album is different songs and not only in the music kind of way but also the way of singing from Rob. One song is more low, dark and deep and the next is less of that. Like the song “Veins” the chorus is then more deep voiced but it really shows that Rob is versatile and capable of doing more than one thing with his voice.

They delivered a great album and if you like bands such as HIM, 69 eyes and Charon you will like it. Somehow I name all Finnish bands but Lacrimas Profundere knows how to tackle that Nordic melancholic feeling in a great way.

Links:
Lacrimas Profundere MySpace
Lacrimas Profundere Official