AFM
2011
1. Floating In Darkness
2. Illwill
3. The Hating
4. U.N.S.A.N.E.
5. House Of The Setting Sun
6. Behind The Green Door
7. Parasites
8. Out Of Control
9. Taste Of Hell
10. Midnight Madness
Lake Of Tears are one of those bands out there that I've always felt are underrated. The amount I enjoy this band is not even close to the small amount of press this band gets, etc. I can sort of see where this band could be a band you get or you don't though. The vocals are kind of an acquired taste and the band's style has shifted fairly dramatically at times from heavier, slower doom oriented music to keyboard driven material that was only borderline metal. Recently with Black Brick Road and Moons and Mushrooms the guitar presence has come back and the band has formed themselves into a sort of melodic sound that is a bit on the gothy sound, but heavier in nature.
Illwill is the sort of album I found hard to review, because it can be all over the map. There are songs here with a melodic flow that seems almost gothic like U.N.S.A.N.E, there are songs which are fast enough to seem almost thrashy like The Hating, and there are songs which are sort of both at once. An example of that would be Floating In Darkness which has some fairly aggressive riffs at times and then works itself into some nice melodic passages. Then you have a slower gothier number like the ballad-ish track House Of The Setting Sun. One thing I don't think anyone can say is that this album is not diverse in it's songwriting.
In a way, Illwill represents Lake Of Tears pretty well with it's genre defying sound and eclectic nature. Overall, this is less polished than their last release in sound as it doesn't have that smooth kind of gothy/melodic production. I think this benefits the vibe of the music and ties it all together into a sort of aggressive and dark soundscape. What this release sounds like to me is a truly dark experience where there is both shouts of anger and depression involved.
It's hard for me to compare this release to much of anything. The closest thing I can come up with is Paradise Lost since they too dabbled in both doom and more gothic sounds. Think of all of Paradise Lost's sounds mixed into one and you're half way there. Although they are nowhere near a soundalike, Nevermore comes to mind a bit as well just because they have a similar ability to be both dark and heavy at times and somber at others. If the idea of doom metal that can be fast at times and gothic at others appeals to you than this could be to your liking.
Highlights: U.N.S.A.N.E., Floating In Darkness, Behind The Green Door, Illwill
Rating - 4.0/5
2. Illwill
3. The Hating
4. U.N.S.A.N.E.
5. House Of The Setting Sun
6. Behind The Green Door
7. Parasites
8. Out Of Control
9. Taste Of Hell
10. Midnight Madness
Lake Of Tears are one of those bands out there that I've always felt are underrated. The amount I enjoy this band is not even close to the small amount of press this band gets, etc. I can sort of see where this band could be a band you get or you don't though. The vocals are kind of an acquired taste and the band's style has shifted fairly dramatically at times from heavier, slower doom oriented music to keyboard driven material that was only borderline metal. Recently with Black Brick Road and Moons and Mushrooms the guitar presence has come back and the band has formed themselves into a sort of melodic sound that is a bit on the gothy sound, but heavier in nature.
Illwill is the sort of album I found hard to review, because it can be all over the map. There are songs here with a melodic flow that seems almost gothic like U.N.S.A.N.E, there are songs which are fast enough to seem almost thrashy like The Hating, and there are songs which are sort of both at once. An example of that would be Floating In Darkness which has some fairly aggressive riffs at times and then works itself into some nice melodic passages. Then you have a slower gothier number like the ballad-ish track House Of The Setting Sun. One thing I don't think anyone can say is that this album is not diverse in it's songwriting.
In a way, Illwill represents Lake Of Tears pretty well with it's genre defying sound and eclectic nature. Overall, this is less polished than their last release in sound as it doesn't have that smooth kind of gothy/melodic production. I think this benefits the vibe of the music and ties it all together into a sort of aggressive and dark soundscape. What this release sounds like to me is a truly dark experience where there is both shouts of anger and depression involved.
It's hard for me to compare this release to much of anything. The closest thing I can come up with is Paradise Lost since they too dabbled in both doom and more gothic sounds. Think of all of Paradise Lost's sounds mixed into one and you're half way there. Although they are nowhere near a soundalike, Nevermore comes to mind a bit as well just because they have a similar ability to be both dark and heavy at times and somber at others. If the idea of doom metal that can be fast at times and gothic at others appeals to you than this could be to your liking.
Highlights: U.N.S.A.N.E., Floating In Darkness, Behind The Green Door, Illwill
Rating - 4.0/5
