ANGST

Lacrimosa's 'Angst' has always been a difficult album for me to like, mainly because it is extremely dark and depressive. Prog rock fans will be very disappointed if they're looking for another 'Stille' or 'Elodia', because they definitely will not find it here. 'Angst' is Tilo Wolff's first album, and is also his darkest. The songs are mainly keyboards, with a small bit of simple guitar riffs in some of the songs. The album opens with 'Seele In Not', a nine minute piece with a organs and keyboards. Tilo's voice is very dark and laden with synthesizers, adding to the claustrophobic feel of the music. Tilo occasionally whispers, yells and shrieks which adds even more to the sombre mood of the album. The album is highly influenced classically, as seen on the second track, 'Requiem'. The classically based strings and piano are evident on this track, and near the end it grows to a climax, and then explodes into a bizarre carnival-like melody. An interesting piece, to be sure. 'Lacrima Mosa' is a simple, yet beautiful piano piece. The song, 'Der Ketzer' is perhaps the album's worst. It is mainly a song dissing the pope, and unfortunately it falls into goth cliches, complete with ridiculously simple guitar riffs and lots of organ and wailing. Luckily Tilo revives himself with 'Der Letzte Hilfeschrei', a heart wrenching song about a man dying in a hospital. The last song is the longest, clocking in at ten minutes. Tilo has expressed it is one of his most depressing songs, and that is evident from the lyrics: ' Ready to die Ready to decay Ready to forget Thus no tears will fall, Thus no souls will mourn, and thus I never existed'

The lyrics are a little overblown, but if you don't understand German you don't need to worry about it. Overall, 'Angst' is an extremely difficult album to like, but once to adapt to it's incredible darkness you will be able to enjoy Tilo's emotions and sense his feelings through the music.