When the time comes for a band to make a new album, the same questions rears its head each time; innovate, or stay the same? For German goth rockers Lacrimas Profundere, the answer was the latter.
For the uninitiated, the band’s name means, “to shed tears” in Latin, which pretty much sums up where the band are coming from. Led by founding guitarist Oliver Nikolas Schmid, the four-piece deal in mostly uptempo gothrockers with the odd mellow crooner thrown in.
The title track features crunching guitar, plenty of synth and melancholic low-end vocals, while ‘All For Nothing’ features quiet guitar and hushed vocals before a soaring chorus comes in. Whether it’s ‘Still In Need’, ‘Dead To Me’ or any of the dozen songs on offer, they pretty much all fit with this templates; simple but effective guitar, plenty of piano and poppy synth with elements of The Cure and The Cult mixed in.
Onto their tenth album, there are few surprises in store. Song themes include sorrow, love – unrequited of course – and the usual dark heartache type fare bands with plenty of eyeliner. Most of the songs structures are in the same vein as fellow heartfeeling goth’n’rollers HIM and The 69 Eyes. No accusations of plagiarism here, since LP have been going just as long, but they do all sing from the same tear-stained hymn sheet.
Sounding like a cross between Ville Valo‘s and the morose croon of someone like The Doors‘ Jim Morrison, vocalist Rob Vitacca does a fine job. His heartfelt baritone and anguish carry the songs along. He’s full of catchy choruses and makes sure all the songs have a sing-along factor.
Despite being a couple of tracks too long, the band should be applauded for sounding like they’ve put the effort in, and managed to keep the tracks lively, despite the nauseating woe-is-me themes. Fans wanting more of the same will lap this up. In Antiadore, Lacrimas Profundere have created a solid yet unspectacular goth album. They know what they wanted to do, and do it well, and despite a chronic lack of originality it’s still a listenable record.
7/10
Dan Swinhoe
Lacrimas Profundere – Facebook