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Gothic Metal used to be one of my favorite genres. Over the years though, it has been diluted down to some sort of heavy pop/rock with down-tuned guitars and a little princess or emo kid behind the mic. Fortunately, there are still some good Gothic Metal acts like Von Braden around. Then again, they hail from Germany, so no surprise here.

Greyfall (their label) calls them eccentrics for their unusual choice of instruments. Indeed, they use accordion, cello and a saxophone, that is besides the basic metal trio. This makes for a very interesting and slightly innovative Gothic sound-scape. But the basis on which this art was built is still present: sad emotional melodies. Delicate harmonies meet muscular riffing. Subtle arrangements make these elements interacting in a very pleasant and somewhat catchy way. Dual vocals, female ones with lyrics changing from German to English. Very relaxing and/or depressingly calm compositions such as: "Scherben", "Vergessen" and "Elend" are delicacies to fall for. "Behind the Rain" and "Ignorankult" have just the right dosage of juicy/beefed up riffs and subtle hues of keyboards, cello and calmer violin and clean arpeggios. The closing track is a Tori Amos cover called "Winter." The artist's name is familiar but I don't recall having heard this song before. In any cases, they do a very good version while remaining within the mood and spirit of the album.

Gothic music is still alive, thanks to great acts like Von Branden.