ELODIA

Lacrimosa is a band full of surprises, and with lots of strengh and composition complexity. Usually catalogued as a Symphonic Gothic Rock act, but the years and the musical exploration have turned Lacrimosa into a Progressive band; The symphonic aspect of the music is notable, but the complexity and intensity of their melodies is the strong point of the band. Songs Like "Alleine Zu Zweit" and "Sanctus" are a must of the album, and two classics of Lacrimosa's history. This is by far the best Lacrimosa album to date.

Elodia - Another Work of Art By Lacrimosa

I have more Lacrimosa albums than any other artist. That doesn't mean they are my favorite artist, though they are one of my favorites. It Just means they've made a lot of albums. Elodia released in 1999 is Lacrimosa's sixth full studio album.

Lacrimosa

Lacrimosa is a German duo consisting of Tilo Wolff and Ann Nurmi formed in 1990. They have started their own record label, Hall of Sermon and have managed to produce eight studio albums, six EPs and one Live album in that time.

Lacrimosa's music is dark, melodious, atmospheric and symphonic in what could be described as Melancholic dark metal or Darkwave with forays into progressive, even heavy metal. Overall though, it is Classical in every sense of the word. Wolff seems to be the creative force and he is both exceedingly creative and prolific having fifteen releases in twelve years. I understand he even does the artwork for his albums. Wolff and Nurmi share the vocal duties with Wolff doing approximately two thirds of the vocals, despite the fact that Nurmi's voice is better.

Tilo and Ann make a striking couple, they act like a couple, I'm sure they're an item. Darkly handsome, Tilo with his Prince style 17th century clothes and two toned hair and seductive Ann with her pretty, full, low cut, always black dresses present a royal appearance as if they the King and Queen of Goths or maybe the Vampires. Of course sometimes Ann appears in sexy under clothes and leather like a Dominatrix.

But don't let their peculiar appearance fool you. This couple play music suitable for a Symphonic Hall. In fact their 2003 release, Echoes, sounds like that's exactly where it came from.

Elodia, LACRIMOSA'S sixth album is a Rock Opera, dedicated to a demigoddess inspired by Greek mythology, who has been involved in both of their previous albums, Inferno and Stille from the years 1995 & 1997. The mistress of love and death, herein tells the tale of a love that is doomed, leading to a question, if "love in excess can become a force that ultimately has the power to destroy itself, whether too much love will kill..." The whole album, Elodia, is sung in German, except for one song, sung by Anne Nurmi. Tilo has a somewhat unusual voice and a very marked German accent, many people find Tilo's voice unsuitable, I find it an interesting fit for this kind of music. Lacrimosa uses guest musicians for their recording sessions and on the more recent albums have utilized the symphonic orchestras as well as choirs. On Elodia they used the The London Symphony Orchestra and the Rosenberg Ensemble and Westsachsische Symphonic Orchestra. Each succeeding album seems to get more complicated, lush and at times Bombastic

Lacrimosa is not for everyone. It's somewhat of an acquired taste, not particularly accessible. As mentioned, Wolff's voice is unusual, they sing in German and the music is not always beautiful, as say Therion. It is, however, extremely catchy, loaded with hooks, haunting and generally captivating, plus the music is somewhat varied

The songs of Elodia actually break up into three ACTs. Here is a breakdown of the ACTs.

ACT I The album opens with "Am Ende der Stille", an instrumental number, with a Mozart influence, next is "Alleine zu zweit", which is a lovely medium paced song, with a great chorus. Even if you don't know German, you can hum along. It is followed by the powerful "Halt mich", the strings and flutes describe a desperate attempt to breathe new life into their love. It starts out Classical but ends on a Rock/Classic fusion note. The only English song "The Turning Point" is next, Anne Nurmi sings this song that recounts days of intimacy that have been lost and leads inevitably to the fateful events of the second act.

ACT II "Ich verlasse heut' dein Herz", this my favorite song is an escalating, emotional piece that evolves into a really heavy song, with extraordinary piano and guitar solos. A must for guitar affectionados. This is followed by the somewhat mysterious "Dich zu töten fiel mir schwer" a strong classical number but with a heavy riffing in the middle part. This is sung by Tilo and Anne.

ACT III The opera reaches it's apex when the first strings announce the arrival of the sad requiem "Sanctus", which is approximately 14 minutes long. "Sanctus" has all the elements to make it a memorable song, choirs, strings, winds, heavy parts, soft parts, great soloing, a wonderful piece. "Am Ende stehen wir zwei", a slow, heavy, maudlin song wraps things up but describes a farewell full of hope.

Conclusion

The trouble with describing these songs is they change so much, not from song to song but within each song. This is wonderful to listen to but a challenge to characterize.

As I earlier stated Lacrimosa is not for everybody and it may also be an acquired taste. An interesting thing about this music is it doesn't demand your attention. It works very nicely as background music.

If I have piqued your interest, compare your likes against this check list:

1) You must like long involved songs. 2) You must like songs with varying tempos. 3) You must have a proclivity for compound styles. 4) Appreciation of choirs and heavy instrumentation. 5) You must overlook Tilos mediocre vocals (it actually goes good with the music) 6) You must not have any preconceived ideas about Gothique. 7) Above all you must appreciate Classical Music

I would say that if you answer yes to any two of the above list, you are a candidate to really appreciate Lacrimosa. So, what are you doing reading this? You should be out buying this album! If you like Gothic Metal and classical music, you can't go wrong with this one! If I have one word to describe this album. It would be: Brilliant. Still reading? GO!

Similar Artists

Therion, Nightwish, Weltenbrand, Das Vebannter Kinder Evas, Dark Sanctuary

Lacrimosa is my favourite band. I always love that genious mix of classical music with rock and metal revolutionay spots. It is amazing how good Tilo Wolff can make songs with this power and this sansation that can describes exactly the feelings that he wants to give.Elodia album is a fantastic work of Lacrimosa.Powerfull pieces with concussive orchestral work that can make you sad or happy or everything, even thing. Tilo's voice is something like cold metal that fused into magnifical classical music. Halt Mich is a masterpiece. I have never listened such a fabulus composition . A piece that make you thing and cry.... Absolute fantastic album

Well..... First of all I don't know what is Lacrimosa doing in a prog page, anyway as I listen to different kinds of music I'll review it as it is. Lacrimosa drifts in a sea of tranquility, that's for sure, this german duo know how to create a depressive atmosphere in which Tilo is the brain and architect, but they also have rocking songs, surprisingly the best ones in this record, that's the only thing I like of this Cd. The instruments are poorly played, too much basic stuff overused and even the two best songs will bore you after a while. I don't get it, how come people love this band that much? .... Well I guess if you are goth and want your pathetic existence to end you will find the depressive mood you where asking for....if you are not,then check King Crimson,Camel,Jethro Tull,Emerson Lake And Palmer.....and all those GREAT prog bands! But forget about "love beach".......=P

I have no words to describe how i LOVE this album, beacause of the music within, because the composition, because the voices of tilo and anne make such a perfect combination. Because there is no way to deny that The London Symphony Orchestra gives to this album the chance of being the best Lacrimosa album EVER. IN this album the are my MOST loved songs of Lacrimosa, there is no song like "Halt mich", the violins and the screaming voice of Tilo make this the very BEST song of the album. The single "Alleine zu zweit" has something that i can not describe that makes you sing deseperatedly the chorus, even though it is in German! "The Turnig Point" is an excelent song that catchs you just by listening the voice of Anne And songs like "Ich verlasse heut' dein Herz" and "Sanctus" are perfectly made just because their classic music style. I dont really like classical music, but Lacrimosa has something that makes me forget that and I just cant help falling in love with this album

DEFINITLY THE BEST OF LACRIMOSA

I wrote a review of this album ten years ago for my old fanzine and recovered it again when I was cleaning out some old websites. I also picked up my old promo version of this album and gave it some more spins.

Ten years has passed and my views has not changed much. With some added knowledge of Lacrimosa, I notice from Elodia that they have softened up their previously sterile digital sound and introduced a lot of acoustic instruments in the form of a full symphonic orchestra. This is a rock opera if I am not mistaken. Which is a good idea. I was impressed by this album ten years ago. But Lacrimosa has dropped in my estimation after finding far better bands in the prog world. They no longer impresses me.

This album is rather good and their more warm sound is very much welcome. Their pretense of making a rock opera is both honorable and good. The complete lack of good melodies is the main fault with this album. The music on this rock opera also lack dynamic progression. There are some good music here and there, but most of the album are stagnant and full of sameness. I expected more from a rock opera.

3 stars