• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

The Goth/Rock/Metal pond is getting kind of crowded these days, with lots of Nordic bands fronted by pouty chanteuses popping up here and there. This is release number five for this band, who I had never heard before. Not being enthralled by this school of music I was skeptical about the quality of this CD before I popped it in. I have rarely revised my opinion of a band so rapidly.

If you liked The Gathering’s "Mandylion", then you’ll like this. If you thought "Mandylion" went on a bit and took too long to get to the point, then you’ll like this even better. Despite the generally gothy feel here, Flowing Tears actually remember to rock, with nice heavy guitars wringing out some genuinely cool riffs. Riffs! On a goth-metal CD! What is the world coming to? At the best points on this CD: "Serpentine", "Justine", or the trancey "Merlin" Flowing Tears are as good as The Gathering used to be, or maybe even better, and that’s saying something. Stefanie Duchene is a refreshing singer in that she isn’t an opera vocalist and doesn’t try it. She has a low, brooding voice that is more melancholy than seductive, for a vocal sound much more reminiscent of Concrete Blonde than Nightwish.

There are a few filler cuts here, but none of them offend, they just aren’t as cool as the good parts. The overall quality of this CD is very high, with nice smooth production values and very cool cover art. I have a promo, so I don’t know if the rest of the art design is as good, or if the lyrics are cool. The lyrics sound good, if a little trippy. (I cannot tell if "Starfish Ride" is about drugs or assfucking, but it’s a cool song either way.) Overall this is a very good CD that I like a great deal. I’m sure this is going to spend a lot of time in my CD player, and if you like this kind of stuff you should definitely check it out.