Lake of Tears - Ominous (2021)^{Release ID: 26333}

Lake of Tears are not a band I have listened to before, despite them being around since 1992. Apparently they now operate as essentially a solo project of mainman Daniel Brennare aided by a number of guest musicians. This is his first release in ten years and 2011's Illwill which dealt with Brennare's diagnosis as suffering from severe leukaemia. This is not quite what I expected from a gothic metal album, especially not from one with a science fiction concept. However, as in the very best science fiction literature, Brennare uses the conceptual tale as a vehicle to explore very human emotions such as alienation and depression, futility and hopelessness. Musically, thankfully, this shies away from the oft-used cliches of gothic metal and there is no heavy-handed sub-Hammer gothic musings of laconic Anne Rice characters, strewn with earnest string accompaniments. Rather, this is a much softer, more reflective release than is my experience with gothic metal, in fact I would question whether large tracts of the album are even metal at all. Daniel Brennare's vocals are quite expressive and are exclusively clean sung, he does sound genuinely reflective and sincere in his emotional expression. It isn't a homogonously low key album, there are heavier tracks, such as Lost in a Moment (which features an homege to / pastiche of Bowie's Space Oddity) and Ominous One which is the album's heaviest track, but I found the gentler, relflective material to be far more successful, feeling more genuine in it's expression.

I have never been backward in expressing my contempt for most gothic-based metal, but there is far more going on here and it doesn't just feel like some kind of gimmick or schtick, in fact the gothic element is more subtly implied as an atmosphere rather than an obvious stylistic choice. For me, this is interesting enough to bring me back, which is more than I can say for a lot of gothic releases.