Echos

Lacrimosa 2003年初,推出了新的专辑《Echos》，属于Lacrimosa的味道完全没变，流畅的编曲、优美的旋律、罗曼蒂克的合声，一个都没少，低糜矜持与激奋情怀交相辉映，不过不要被Lacrimosa的名声所迷惑——毕竟，有多少歌特乐队会以长达十三分钟的管弦乐作为序曲呢？答案当然是不多。这次大胆的尝试证明了这只瑞士二重唱（及他的歌迷）对自己的想象力信心十足，同时突破了流派的限制。除了刚才说到的开幕曲（纯粹的管弦乐/合唱曲"Kyrie"），其他曲目更是成功的将摇滚音乐融入交响乐中，而且尽量保持丰富多变直至唱片结束。创作核心Tilo Wolff以及他的同伴Anne Nurmi运用了很精妙而不是太过夸大（歌特乐队的通病）的手法来表现他们宏大而又情绪化的史诗主题，例如Cocteau Twins式的精彩作品"Apart"（专集中Nurmi出任主唱的唯一歌曲）及愉悦的"Malina"（又Wolff演唱），都融合了硬摇滚的强烈节奏与华丽的管弦配乐。与此同时，偶尔加入的电子鼓效果为专集注如了现代气息，因而多少偏离了巴洛克音乐倾向。唯一需要批评的是：应该让Nurmi的嗓音更多的出现在Lacrimosa的作品中！

by Andy Hinds

Don't be fooled by Lacrimosa's goth rock reputation -- after all, how many goth bands would open an album with a 13-minute orchestral overture? Not many. But while it is a bold move, it proves that this long-running Swiss duo (and its audience) is utterly confident in its own vision, which transcends genre conventions. Aside from said opener (the entirely orchestral/choral "Kyrie"), the rest of the album successfully marries rock elements with symphonic instrumentation and manages to remain varied and interesting to the end. Mastermind Tilo Wolff and his partner, Anne Nurmi, use subtlety rather than bombast (a regular pitfall for goth bands) to deliver their soaring, emotional epics like the elegant, Cocteau Twins-esque "Apart" (the only track to feature lead vocals by Nurmi) and the delightful "Malina" (sung by Wolff), which combines a pulsing hard rock backbeat with ornate harpsichord arpeggios. Meanwhile, occasional electronic drum programming gives the record a modern edge that offsets its Baroque leanings. One criticism: Nurmi should be given more leads!