BLACK BRICK ROAD

After breaking up in 2002, releasing an album made only by Danniel Brennare ("The Neonai"), Lake of Tears returned in 2004 in top form with "Black Brick Road"!

If I have to compare this album with another Lake of Tear release, it would be "A Crimson Cosmos"... The return of the band, was also a return to the style of one of their better works, although it has also a lot of things in common with the later masterpiece "Forever Autumn", and the also splendid "The Neonai".

The style of "Black Brick Road" is the typical Lake of Tears gothic metal mixed with a lot of 70's influences... But this time, maybe even darker than before, being the album not so depressive like "Forever Autumn", but with more sinister melodies (wiht the exception of Sister Sinister, a very animated rock track...) The using of keyboards and the dominance of hard riffs is what makes "Black Brick Road" similar to "A Crimson Cosmos". Nevertheless, the amazing track Dystopia could have been in "The Neonai", just like A Trip with the Moon... The dramatic and retro-gothic The Organ, has the style of "Forever Autumn". The rest of the tracks have the Lake of Tears typical that they have made since "A Crimson Cosmos"...

With two exceptions... The funny Sister Sinister, a rock flick with a "sinister" female voice (courtesy of Ulrika Silver...) and an odd guitar solo. And Crazyman, one of the hardest Lake of Tears tracks, full with greats riffs, closing the album wonderfully. And also wonderful is the Magnus Sahlgren playing... He has played on every Lake of Tears album since "A Crimson Cosmos", and in "Black Brick Road" he made his better contribution in my opinion, shining in every solo he plays, giving an extra of quality and melodic feeling. It's a luck he is a full member of the band now!

Best tracks: The Greymen (since this first track, we can hear that the band returned with full force!), Black Brick Road (a classic sounding Lake of Tears track... I love the guitar intro, and they keyboard melodies), Dystopia (very similar to "The Neonai" electronic style, but maybe even better...), A Trip With the Moon (another catchy track, with wonderfull keyboards melodies...), Sister Sinister is wonderful too... And very good is also Making Evenings, the great slow track The Organ, the auto-referential and very gothic Rainy Day Away, the very heavy Crazyman... Sorry, but I love every song of this album!

Conclusion: after their short break, Lake of Tears returned like a phoenix from their ashes, offering their fans one of their better albums... Maybe "Black Brick Road" is not so brilliant like the masterpiece "Forever Autumn", but it's a great gothic rock album. Every track is wonderful, perfectly planned and produced, and with a wide range of moods and ambients... It's maybe the most varieted Lake of Tears albums, but also one of their most coherent, cohesionated and catchy ones. Strongly recommended to everyone!

My rating: ****

You would think from the band's name, the gloomy cover art and song titles that this was a Gothic release. Most place this band under that genre too but like fellow Swedes NIGHTINGALE (Dan Swano) this has but a hint of that Gothic flavour in the music. Heck ANEKDOTEN is way darker and more melancholic than these guys. For the most part these tracks are upbeat and catchy. Go figure.

"The Greymen" kicks in before a minute with vocals. Some nice guitar before 3 minutes. A catchy,uptempo tune. "Making Evenings" has more bottom end to it but it's still a toe tapper. I like the instrumental section before 3 minutes to end it. "Black Brick Road" opens with a dark guitar line as the organ and drums join in. Vocals follow. Lazy guitar with organ before 3 minutes then it kicks back in. "Dystopia" is upbeat and uptempo like the first track. Catchy stuff. "The Organ" is melancholic with organ (surprise). Reserved vocals join in. The guitar before 3 1/2 minutes soars.

"A Trip With The Moon" is again upytempo and catchy with synths on the chorus this time. "Sister Sinister" has some guest female vocals trading off with the male vocals. A fun tune. Gothic is not supposed to be fun people ! "Rainy Day Away" and the last track are my two favourites. This one has a full rich sound to it as he sings "Let's take a ride in my green machine" over and over. And yes i've taken many trips in the green machine my friend. "Crazyman" is the best track i've heard from the band. Maybe that says a lot about how i feel about them because we have a guest vocalist and a much heavier and intense sound here. How about an album full of songs like this ? Ripping guitar 2 1/2 minutes in pretty much to the end.

3.5 stars. I like this quite a bit but I tire of the catchy tracks really fast.