Lake of Tears

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Lake of Tears is a Swedish metal band. They are mostly known for the wide range of eclectic styles employed over the course of their releases - ranging from doom metal to psychedelic pop to classic rock to progressive metal- and the continuously high marks for songwriting and guitar work they receive from music critics. Their songs often dwell on abstract emotional concepts, artfully penned by bandleader Danniel Brennare. Brennare's poetic stylings and gritty vocalizations typify a band that began as an homage to doom metal and evolved into a genre difficult to categorize.

The band broke up in 2002 amid creative differences, but reunited in late 2003, releasing the acclaimed album Black Brick Road. They are currently touring and completing work on their seventh studio effort, Moons and Mushrooms.

Contents

[edit] History

Lake of Tears was founded in the early 1990's by Daniel Brennare, Jonas Eriksson, Mikael Larsson and Johan Oudhuis. Their first album, the rather optimistically titled Greater Art, was released through the record label Black Mark in 1994 and was a stark, cookie-cutter affair. The lyrics were well-conceived, but nigh unintelligible, as Brennare snarled and growled them over a plethora of plodding guitars. The stage seemed set for a brief and relatively predictable career.

Lake of Tears wowed critics and fans alike with their second release, Headstones, released in 1995. The music had undergone a mirculous transmogrification, sublimating the heavier riff-laden clichés of the doom metal genre to achieve a melodic, melancholic and amazingly intelligible affair. A certain whimsy had crept into Brennare's lyrics, most notably on such slow and heavy numbers as Ravenland and the title track, Headstones. It was a trend that would continue through the band's career, with Brennare always furthering his penchant for dynamic and fantastical imagery.

1997 brought the release of the band's most popular studio effort, A Crimson Cosmos. If Headstones had been a revision of their earlier sound, Cosmos was a complete rebirth. Though Brennare still managed to snarl a vocal here and there (most notably on the track Cosmic Weed, a rollicking fusion of metal and psychedelia), the majority of the album was hypnotizingly melodic. The album's closing track, A Crimson Cosmos, reflected a marked influence by progressive/psychadelic luminaries Pink Floyd, while other tracks, such as Lady Rosenred and Raistlin and the Rose betrayed Brennare's preoccupation with popular fantasy motifs. Rhythm guitarist Jonas Eriksson had left the band by this point, and was tentatively replaced by guitarist Magnus Sahlgren. A far more competent lead guitarist than Brennare, he injected a fresh feeling of cohension and crisp drive to the music, resulting in a sound that was to become vintage Lake of Tears. Although he played on A Crimson Cosmos and every subsequent Lake of Tears album, often composing the majority of lead guitar riffs, Magnus was only formally accepted as a band member following the release of 2004's Black Brick Road.

Lake of Tears' 1999 album, Forever Autumn, was considered a less than stellar effort by many fans. The band was losing internal momentum (despite the brief inclusion of keyboardist Christian Saarinen as an official member), and this was reflected by an intensely quiet and introspective album. By this time melody had effectively eclipsed all traces of their doom metal heritage. Fantasy imagery was rife, and the overall effect was sedate and sorrowful. Shortly after the album's release the band went their separate ways, 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. During the recording Brennare held back the majority of material he felt "worthy," instead focusing on tracks he felt could be spent on a hasty effort. The resulting album was released in 2002, and ironically featured some of the band's most inspired songwriting and memorable melodies.

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 near-decade-long association official.

Lake of Tears are currently on tour, and have announced a new album titled Moons and Mushrooms for release in early 2007. Fans and critics alike are waiting with bated breath.

[edit] Current Lineup

  • Daniel Brennare - Vocals/Guitar
  • Mikael Larsson - Bass
  • Johan Oudhuis - Drums
  • Magnus Sahlgren - Lead guitar

[edit] Former Members

  • Jonas Eriksson - Rhythm guitar
  • Christian Saarinen - Keyboards


[edit] Albums

[edit] Greater Art (1994)

  1. Under the Crescent
  2. Eyes of the Sky
  3. Upon the Highest Mountain
  4. As Daylight Yields
  5. Greater Art
  6. Evil Inside
  7. Netherworld
  8. Tears

[edit] Headstones (1995)

  1. A Foreign Road
  2. Raven Land
  3. Dreamdemons
  4. Sweetwater
  5. Life's But a Dream
  6. Headstones
  7. Twilight
  8. Burn Fire Burn
  9. The Path of the Gods (Upon the Highest Mountain, Pt. 2)

[edit] A Crimson Cosmos (1997)

  1. Boogie Bubble
  2. Cosmic Weed
  3. When My Sun Comes Down
  4. Devil's Diner
  5. The Four Strings of Mourning
  6. To Die Is to Wake
  7. Lady Rosenred
  8. Raistlin and the Rose
  9. A Crimson Cosmos

[edit] Forever Autumn (1999)

  1. So Fell Autumn Rain
  2. Hold on Tight
  3. Forever Autumn
  4. Pagan Wish
  5. Otherwheres
  6. The Homecoming
  7. Come Night I Reign
  8. Demon You/Lily Anne
  9. To Blossom Blue

[edit] The Neonai (2002)

  1. Return of Ravens
  2. The Shadowshires
  3. Solitude
  4. Leave a Room
  5. Sorcerers
  6. Can Die No More
  7. Nathalie and the Fireflies
  8. Let us Go As They Do
  9. Down the Nile

[edit] Black Brick Road (2004)

  1. The Greymen
  2. Making Evenings
  3. Black Brick Road
  4. Dystopia
  5. The Organ
  6. A Trip With the Moon
  7. Sister Sinister
  8. Rainy Day Away
  9. Crazyman

Sources:

[edit] External link

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