Lake of Tears

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Lake of Tears is a Swedish band, generally considered to play gothic metal and doom metal. However, their sound has evolved considerably over the course of their career, expanding to include psychedelic rock and progressive metal.

The band broke up in 2000 amid creative differences, but reunited in late 2003, releasing the acclaimed album Black Brick Road. They released their seventh studio album, Moons and Mushrooms, in April 2007.

History

Early years

Lake of Tears was founded in the early 1990s by Daniel Brennare, Jonas Eriksson, Mikael Larsson and Johan Oudhuis. Their first album, entitled Greater Art, was released through the record label Black Mark in 1994 and seemed like a plain tribute to doom metal still lacking the final polish. ^[1]

Lake of Tears wowed critics and fans alike with their second recording, Headstones, released in 1995. The music suffered important changes, sublimating the heavier riff-laden clichés of the doom metal genre to achieve a more melodic and melancholic sound. The lyrics also went through important changes, betraying Brennare's preoccupation for fantasy motifs, also to be found on future releases.

Mid-career success: A Crimson Cosmos

1997 brought the release of the band's most popular studio effort until then, A Crimson Cosmos. If Headstones had been a revision of their earlier sound, A Crimson Cosmos was a complete rebirth, being a hypnotically melodic album. The release's closing track, A Crimson Cosmos, reflected a marked influence by progressive/psychedelic luminaries Pink Floyd, while other tracks, such as Lady Rosenred and Raistlin and the Rose reflected popular fantasy themes. Rhythm guitarist Jonas Eriksson had left the band before the release, being replaced by guitarist Ulrik Lindblom. After recording A Crimson Cosmos and touring with Lake of Tears until 1999, he also left the band and had to be substituted by Magnus Sahlgren, who played as lead guitarist, but only as a guest artist. Although he played on Forever Autumn and every subsequent Lake of Tears album, often composing the majority of lead guitar riffs, Sahlgren was only formally accepted as a band member following the release of 2004's Black Brick Road.

Lake of Tears' 1999 album, Forever Autumn, did not follow the trend settled by Headstones and A Crimson Cosmos, resulting an intensely quiet and introspective album. By this time melody had effectively eclipsed all traces of their doom metal heritage, also due to the brief inclusion of keyboardist Christian Saarinen as an official band member. Fantasy imagery was rife and the album's overall effect was sedate and sorrowful. However, having a more atmospheric sound, this album widened the band's fan base resulting in songs like Forever Autumn or So Fell Autumn Rain being most popular to this day.

The breakup

Because of personal and creative differences, but also because of the lack of attention the band received from their label, they went separate ways shortly after the album's release, though they were still contractually bound to deliver one more album for Black Mark. This being the case, Brennare and Sahlgren retreated to the studio to record The Neonai, a vaguely electronic album featuring a drum machine and Lake of Tears' most classic rock oriented approach. The resulting album was released in 2002, and ironically featured some of the band's most inspired songwriting and memorable melodies, even though it was hastily released as Brennare focused only on the songs that could have been easily recorded, without much effort.

The reunion and recent activity

In 2003 the band reunited out of boredom, participating in several jams. They were quick to realize that the brief hiatus had reinvigorated their collective spirits, and began to tentatively compose the material eventually released on their 2004 endeavor, Black Brick Road. Feeling that Black Mark had failed to market them appropriately, Lake of Tears began shopping for a new record label, and eventually settled on Noise Records. The subsequent release of Black Brick Road found the band exploring fresh concepts - the majority of the songs are highly abstract in nature, focusing on emotional states and dream-like imagery over specific nods to fantasy fiction and narrative structure. Following the album's release, Magnus Sahlgren was finally accepted as a member of the band, making his almost five years association official.

Lake of Tears released their 7th studio album Moons and Mushrooms on April 26th, 2007. The album features an increasingly heavy approach to guitar-work, unlike Black Brick Road whose melodies were primarily conceived via keyboard experimentation^[2]. The more aggressive feeling of the album is mainly caused by its being created directly in the rehearsal room, unlike the previous releases which were firstly written on the computer. This being the fact, the new release had a heavier, darker sound, while Brennare's lyrics continued to be vaguely melancholic and conceptual. Take, for example, the tracks "Waiting Counting" and "Like a Leaf".

Two tracks from the recent release ('Last Purple Sky' and 'Island Earth') are available for listening on their MySpace page, while most of their previous releases can be downloaded directly from their official site.

Current line-up

• Daniel Brennare - Vocals/Guitar (1994 - present)
• Mikael Larsson - Bass (1994 - present)
• Johan Oudhuis - Drums (1994 - present)
• Magnus Sahlgren - Lead guitar (as a guest artist: 1999 / officially: 2004 - present)

Former members

• Jonas Eriksson - Rhythm guitar (1994 - 1997)
• Christian Saarinen - Keyboards (1999 - 2000)
• Ulrik Lindblom - Guitar (1997 - 1999)

Discography

Full Length

• Greater Art (1994)
• Headstones (1995)
• A Crimson Cosmos (1997)
• Forever Autumn (1999)
• The Neonai (2002)
• Black Brick Road (2004)
• Moons and Mushrooms (2007)

Compilations and singles

• Lady Rosenred (1997)
• Sorcerers (2002)
• Greatest Tears vol. I (2004)
• Greatest Tears vol. II (2004)

Sources

• http://www.dockyard1.com

Dockyard 1, label

• http://www.dragon-productions.com

Dragon Productions, booking agency

• http://www.studiomega.se

Home for the BBR recording

• http://www.noiserecords.com

Noise Records, old label

• http://www.blackmark.net

Black Mark, old label

References

1. ^ The official Lake of Tears website - As it enters through your breathing
2. ^ Metalfan.ro - Online Metal Media - LAKE OF TEARS: ... of moons and mushrooms

External links

• Official band web site
• Lake of Tears on MySpace