Customer Reviews

Cold

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took this CD with me to Paris and I listened to it when I was walking around Notre Dame cathedral in the rain. At one point, I looked up and watched the rain fall out of a gargoyle's mouth and somehow this music just fit the scene. The music has an errie depth to it and is highly recommended listening music when walking around old cemetaries and gothic buildings. Also bring along their CD, "Estrella" for the same effects.

"Cold" is the only cd I've heard that can lower your body temperature. The reverb and sound layering are so strong that if you relax, you're in an endless field, blinded by the sunlight on the icy ground. Lycia creates an even deeper sense of place than on the previous album, "The Burning Circle and Then Dust." The guitar style is like always: instead of playing a lot of fast notes (the dreaded solo - see MAINSTREAM MUSIC), play one note, then another until there's ten of 'em stacked up.

Mike Van Portfleet's vocals suit the music perfectly, but Tara Vanflower gets to shine on "Baltica." I think the song's just about mashing a snowman, but it's beautiful all the same.

Some tracks are more experimental, less coherent than the others. They all have a (slow) beat that reinforces the winter theme. My favorites are "Bare," "Baltica" and "December."

Van Portfleet also has sense enough not put in a lot of filler on "Cold." It only took nine songs to convey the mood, and it's long enough at that.

One star for each song that I REALLY liked. "Cold" is a good expression of Lycia's more melodic haze of sound. If you like "Ionia," you'll like "Cold" and vice versa.

The air is brisk and the clouds are dark, casting day into night as the sky threatens to open up with a downpour of rain, or possibly even snow. Those are the type of images that run through my head as I listen to 'Cold' by the premier darkwave group, Lycia. With songs titled "December" and "Frozen", it's no wonder why so many choose to put this album on the top of their play list during the Winter. It sets the mood for a cruel season of icy temperatures that rarely shines its face of mercy.

Actually, the music here is very atmospheric and the resonate guitars and light synth flourishes add a depth of emotion to the haunting sounds gently swirling, like dancing teardrops falling from above, soaking the earth, around the angelic Tara Vanflower, who joined Lycia for the first time here (excuse me if I'm wrong on that assumption for I'm not 100% sure on that), and the darker crooning of the melancholic Mike Van Portfleet. I can respectfully say that Lycia is probably the best thing to come out of Projekt records and I believe that hell will freeze over once they stop producing such ominous (yet beautiful) melodies that seem to linger, as if suspended in time, for they're able to brew some of the most amazing ambient-goth tunes and no one has come even remotely close to overriding their perfection.

I still think 'Estrella' is Lycia's masterpiece but, from all I've heard so far, they can honestly do no wrong. I'm not much for mood music but this I can tolerate.

This is one of the most amazing CDs I've had the pleasure of experiencing (yes, it's a full blown emotional experience). It's one of the only discs I've ever come across that holds power and emotion similar to that of The Cure's Disintegration, and also holds the honor of being one of the only discs ever to make me say "wow" out loud the first time listening to it. It is a spellbinding masterpiece with a very fitting title.

Similarly to how _A Day In The Stark Corner_ was to _Ionia_, _Cold_ is kind of a natural successor to the previous album, _The Burning Circle And Then Dust_. _Cold_ carries on the crisp sound of "newer" Lycia, with David Galas' brooding basslines and Tara's atmospheric yet spirited vocals rounding out the mix. This is very much a Conceptual album, the one thing about it that's not at all subtle (one glance at the song titles will confirm it). But that's one of the things I like about Lycia; their willingness to stick with a formula that works instead of constantly trying to reinvent themselves. Variations on a theme may sound monotonous, but really it works. The theme they stick to on _Cold_ is, obviously, of a wintery, somewhat desolate, imagery. Windswept, silent, still vistas roll on endlessly and seem to make time itself slow to a crawl. One bundles up both externally and internally, sinking back into solitude and contemplation. Stately, commanding drum lines direct the highlights of your consciousness, while simple yet heavy guitar parts punctuate and point to connections in the subconscious, and austere synths gently wrap together associations and memories into a neatly-woven mesh of mood and atmosphere. It all works together beautifully, although I should also mention that this isn't even one of their better albums.

Lycia is a very huanting,chilling and adds a nice glow to any romantic palace.Her voice is like slivers of snowflakes pricking my neck.Bella!

This CD is one of my favorite CD's. I've been a LYCIA fan for over 6 years. This CD I always play around winter time. The swriling symths the church bells the gothic chior sound and sourrounding ambience make it fell like your in the cold of winter.

This is my fourth adventure with Lycia, and "Cold" is perhaps the most played and inwardly uplifting work I've heard in years. The song "Baltica" is a powerful, yet beautiful channeling of frigid mood combined with ten tons of synth and reverberant guitar. And yes, it's supposed to sound like that. The song "Bare" has frozen guitar throwing riffs into white dead air followed by haunted vocals. Have I used enough Cold similes yet? Yes, the album is cold, but it's also a sequestering of moods and thoughts, gathered toghether into a singular dimension that we step into quite by accident. As usual, Lycia does not disappoint. The contributions from Tara Van Flower are remarkable, and she gives presence and depth to the stark musical contrasts. I only wish she could have appeared on many other Lycia works. She turns "Snowdrop" into an anthem that rounds out the album nicely. I consider this to be their finest work so far, though I am no expert on the band. I have "Tripping Back Through the Broken Days", "The Burning Circle Then Dust", and "Live". My favorites on this album are: "Baltica", "Snowdrop", "Bare", "Colder" and "December". However, "Polaris" could have had a bit more salt and pepper mixed in. Still, If you like this band, you won't go wrong with "COLD". I listen to it almost everyday.

This is a very good cd. I didn't give it 5 stars because I'm not to crazy about a couple of songs. You will get your money's worth.

I must admit that Lycia takes home the award in the depressing
music department. Who said depression couldn't be beautiful?
Listening to this release makes me think of being alone in a
dark forest in the dead of winter. This sort of music was made
to either attract or repel listeners; in my case it accomplishes both jobs. It's far too cold and harsh to comfort
me, but in a strange way it brings a sense of disturbed peace
to my mind. It is not an uplifting form of peace; it's more
of a feeling of angst followed by a relieved sense of isolation.
[Yes, isolationism has positive qualities.] This CD reveals the dark side of the winter season. [SAD is a good comparison.]
Christmas or Hannukah will never be the same again after you
listen to this industrial snowstorm. Your children will fear poor Father Christmas died traveling in it.