Lacrimosa live in 2015. L-R: Julien Schmidt (drums), Jay P. (guitar), Yenz Leonhardt (bass), Tilo Wolff (vocals), Henrik Flyman (guitar), Anne Nurmi (keyboard).
Lacrimosa is a Swiss gothic metal band led by German musician Tilo Wolff, who is also the main composer, and Finn Anne Nurmi. They are currently based in Switzerland, but originally from Germany. Originally counted among the bands of the Neue Deutsche Todeskunst genre, Lacrimosa are most commonly associated with the gothic metal genre.[1]
Their musical style mixes gothic rock and heavy metal, along with violin, trumpet, and more classical instruments, although their musical development throughout the years has led to changes in instrumentation. Lacrimosa's lyrics are written almost exclusively in German, although since the 1995 album Inferno, every album has featured one or two songs in English. These songs are generally written by Anne Nurmi. Finnish has also appeared in the spoken intro to two songs ("Schakal" on Inferno and "The Turning Point" on Elodia) and on a bonus track in a limited edition release of Fassade called Vankina. Their lyrics are mainly about loneliness, sadness, darkness, despair, and love.[2]
The band has sold more than 20,000 copies of each album in Germany, but has also gained a large fanbase in Russia, Mexico and China.[1]
Brief timeline
1990: Tilo Wolff releases a tape called Clamor using the band name of Lacrimosa.
1991: Tilo Wolff founds a new record company called Hall of Sermon, as an independent label to publish Lacrimosa's records.
1993: Anne Nurmi joins the solo project to play keyboard, becoming a permanent member soon after.
Lacrimosa's first album, Angst, is slow and minimal music, dominated by keyboards and voice. This early period explores fear, helplessness, loneliness, non-existence, unattainability, the illusionary nature of love, and death. The same themes can be found on the next three albums, Einsamkeit, Satura, and Inferno. Musically, this period is characterised by the introduction of electric guitars and basses, with more rock elements being added.
Stille was the beginning of their metal style. Heavy guitars and bombastic arrangements for classical instruments dominate the music in the style of symphonic metal. Thematically, Stille features several uplifting songs. "Stolzes Herz" ("Proud heart") and "Die Strasse der Zeit" ("The Lane of Time") praise individual and cultural strength. "Die Strasse der Zeit" describes a journey backwards through a history of war, greed, and stupidity, until the protagonist finds solace in ancient Greek culture.
The next album, Elodia, reduced the metal-style guitars and increases the symphonic, classical arrangements, this time recorded in part by the London Symphony Orchestra. Presented as a play in three parts, Elodia revolves around the theme of love.[3] The gothic element is still present and the themes of loss and death feature prominently in the latter half, but it ends with an affirmation of hope.
Fassade features a variety of musical visions, from the metal sound of "Liebesspiel" ("Love Game") to flowing keyboards of "Senses", and the symphonic interplay between guitars and orchestra on "Fassade". The latter, a piece in three movements arranged on the album as tracks 1, 5, and 8, explores a critique of modern society.[4][5] It ends with an affirmation of individuality and the protagonist's retreat from society.
In Echos, guitars and other rock elements appear less often, whereas classical instruments feature more prominently. The orchestral arrangements move away from standard symphonic arrangements often found in contemporary metal music, as in the album's first track, "Kyrie - Overture". Echos also shows influence from electronic and industrial music, as in the song "Ein Hauch von Menschlichkeit" ("A Touch of Humanity"). This album is more personal and quiet than those before it. It continues to explore love with gothic twists.[6]
Lacrimosa's ninth album, Lichtgestalt, retains the classical elements, but rock elements begin to resurface.[7] The first track, "Sapphire", begins as a slow, classical song but halfway moves into a metal section; the pace of the song increases, a heavy guitar backing takes over, and Wolff switches from singing into a high-pitched death grunt for a few minutes. The remaining songs display a similar mix of styles to previous albums, with some upbeat songs, a song written and sung in English mainly by Anne Nurmi, and some slower-paced, sadder pieces.
In 2005, Lichtgestalten was released, containing a new electronic version of the song "Lichtgestalt", produced by Tilo for his solo project, Snakeskin.
In 2006, a DVD called Musikkurzfilme was released, which contained all the video clips that Lacrimosa shot throughout their career, including the video for "Lichtgestalt".
Sehnsucht was released in 2009. Wolff wanted to create an album that was less conceptual and more spontaneous than the previous releases, so Sehnsucht features a variety of musical expressions.[8]
In 2008, Lacrimosa's label Hall of Sermon reclaimed the rights to all of the band's Nuclear Blast releases.[9] In March 2008, Lacrimosa started working on their next studio album, entitled "Sehnsucht", which was released on 8 May 2009.
Their eleventh studio album was released in September 2012,[10] called Revolution.[11] The first song on this release was written in 2009 while they were touring in China.[12]
In 2015, Hoffnung was released, followed in 2017 by Testimonium, which was meant as a commemorative album for recently deceased musicians like David Bowie and Prince. The band's latest album was released on 24 December 2021 with the title Leidenschaft ("Passion").[13]
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration.
Agathodaimon are a gothic/symphonic black metal band from Mainz, Germany. Their early material can be categorized as Symphonic Black Metal and their later musical pieces can be categorized as Gothic/Black Metal.
Lichtgestalt is a 2005 album by German gothic rock duo Lacrimosa. The album was released on 2 May 2005 by Hall of Sermon.
Fassade is the seventh album by German duo Lacrimosa released on 1 October 2001 by Hall of Sermon and Nuclear Blast.
Elodia is the sixth studio album by German duet Lacrimosa. It was released on 6 July 1999 via Hall of Sermon label.
Tilo Wolff is a German musician and artist. He was born in Frankfurt am Main and currently lives in Switzerland.
Endorama is the ninth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released on 20 April, 1999 by Drakkar Records. The gothic metal influences were the most prominent on this release, and Lacrimosa frontman Tilo Wolff provided guest vocals on the title song.
Anne Marjanna Nurmi is a Finnish singer, composer and keyboard player who is a member of the band Lacrimosa. She lives in Switzerland.
Stille is the fifth studio album by German duo Lacrimosa. It features a mix of classical instruments and Gothic metal.
Angst is the debut album by German dark wave band Lacrimosa. It was released in 1991.
Lyriel are a German heavy metal band who formed in autumn of 2003 in Gummersbach. Originally playing folk metal, they turned more towards symphonic and gothic metal. Lyriel has recorded five studio albums and published a DVD of a live performance.
Sehnsucht is the tenth album by the German gothic rock duo Lacrimosa, released on 8 May 2009. Singer and producer Tilo Wolff wanted to create an album that was less conceptual and more spontaneous than the previous releases by Lacrimosa. Therefore, Sehnsucht features a great variability of musical expressions like a sarcastic track "Feuer" and the tender song "Call Me With The Voice Of Love". The planned release of a vinyl format album was cancelled shortly before the final release of Sehnsucht.
Solitaire is the seventh studio album by the Austrian symphonic metal band Edenbridge. Like its predecessor MyEarthDream, Solitaire also enlists the Czech Film Orchestra. Although the album features mainly symphonic metal, influences of power metal have also been observed.
Echos is the eighth studio album by Switzerland-based Gothic rock band Lacrimosa. It features classically influenced Gothic-themed rock music. The title is German for "echoes". The record was released on 27 January 2003 by Hall Of Sermon.
Revolution is the 11th studio album by the German gothic rock duo Lacrimosa. It was released on 7 September 2012 by Hall of Sermon. The album provides a mix of musical styles like classical instrumentation and aggressive rock.
The Human Contradiction is the fourth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released on 4 April 2014 in Europe, and on 8 April 2014 in North America.
The Great Momentum is the ninth studio album by Austrian symphonic metal band Edenbridge. It was released on 17 February 2017 on the SPV label. Bassist Wolfgang Rothbauer left Edenbridge in 2016, so Lanvall performed the bass in the recording of this album. Drummer Max Pointner had also quit in 2016, being replaced by new drummer Johannes Jungreithmeier.
METALWINGS is a symphonic metal band from Sofia, Bulgaria.
Einsamkeit is the second studio album by a German dark wave band Lacrimosa. It was released in 1992.
Hoffnung (transl.Hope) is the 12th studio album by the German gothic rock duo Lacrimosa. The album was released on November 6, 2015, by Hall of Sermon label.
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