LACRIMOSA ECHOS ALBUM HALL OF SERMON, MNW RELEASE: JANUARY 27, 2003 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 11, 2003

First, "Echos" sounds like a bad clone of Wojciech Kilar’s soundtrack to Bram Stoker’s "Dracula". Gloomy, supposedly inspiring dark emotions and a wish to dress in black and light up the silver chandelier. It doesn’t succeed.
Then it gets worse. Imagine a discarded attempt at writing catchy, but dark, entries to the Eurovision Song Contest. In German. In the eighties. A totally wrong allegory to those of you living outside the walls of the Schengen Agreement, but you lot can try to visualise how it would have sounded if Falco teamed up with Scorpions on valium and tried to get progressive - or whatever. The point is; despite an ability to write songs, German duo Lacrimosa are pompous, boring poseurs. If they are the biggest hope of gothic rock and darkwave, the genres are as dead as the corpses the goth kids dress up to look like. This is unimaginative, filled with clichés. More clichés than the genres need.
It doesn't help that Tilo uses a full orchestra with violins and sopranos on many tracks, it even makes it more pompous and in a way takes away feeling instead of adding. The downtuned "Requiem" is a nice touch though, but doesn't help the overall picture. Spend your money on something else, oh you white-faced kids of the night.

KALLE MALMSTEDT