Razorbliss [Import]

Flowing Tears | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
• ASIN: B000FIGHDG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,597 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The brand new album from dark, melodic, female fronted metal band, Flowing Tears!

Features the outstanding lead track plus Virago and Ballad Of A Lonely God!

Produced by Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil, Moonspell) and a guest appearance by Angel Dust/Mercury Tide frontman Dirk Thurisch!

Full press servicing and major ad campaign in Revolver, Metal Maniacs, Brave Words, Pit, Explicitly Intense and more!

It was like we ve never rehearsed with someone else , remembers Benjamin Buss (guitars, programming) the first time new singer Helen Vogt visited them in their rehearsal-room. After the departure of Stefanie Duchêne, the Gothic Rockers from Saarbrücken tried a whole lot of different vocalists as the follow-up for Stefanie, who decided to concentrate on her private life and take a step off-stage. When they were looking for a new singer they definitely wanted more than just a substitute for Stefanie. Still, the deep female voice was a trademark they wanted to maintain. We had rehearsed with many extremely good singers, but it always sounded like a band covering FLOWING TEARS. With Helen we just clicked, it was pure magic. Being a fan she knew some of our songs even better than the rest of us guys. She really kicked our butts , smiles Benjamin.
After spending six months with rehearsing new singers they were dying to play live again and write new songs. Playing live has always been their most favourite part about being in a band, which they had proved with successful European tours supporting Therion and Voivod (for Jade) as well as Tiamat and Moonspell (for Serpentine). Helen succeeded her acid test on Wave Gotik Treffen festival 2003 and after several single-shows they finally warmed up the famous London Astoria for My Dying Bride. German Hammer stated in their live-review: During Swallow her dark voice carries across well, the same goes with for the brand new, more heavy and darker songs from Razorbliss or the forceful Sistersun . Strengthened like this, the fiery frontwoman even gallantly flirts with the fans towards the end which gains her additional popularity and FLOWING TEARS a place in the hearts of London s crowd.
A lot of the material on Razorbliss developed spontaneously with the new whirlwind called Helen encouraging their heavier edge. Thus, it s only obvious that the album rocks even more than FLOWING TEAR s previous ones. Benjamin explains: Razorbliss is more from the gut than the majority of our previous material. It was almost like we had just founded the band. Everything was new and anything was possible. The idea to have Angel Dust/Mercury Tide frontman Dirk Thurisch do guest-vocals on the heavy Believe came up spontaneously during the recording which brought them back to Woodhouse Studios with long-term producer Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil, Moonspell).
Despite all musical changes Razorbliss will surely not disappoint any FLOWING TEARS fan, but rather offers a refined distillate of the band s most outstanding qualities. Draped in an artwork that perfectly expresses the bittersweet nature of their music, the never ending cycle of life and decay, the modern rock yet dreamy qualities within Razorbliss will surely leave a mark on your heart and soul. --Cleopatra Records --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Description

1. Razorbliss
2. Believe
3. Virago
4. Undying
5. Radium Angel
6. Firedream
7. Ballad Of A Lonely God
8. Snakes Of Grey
9. Mine Is The Ocean
10. Maladine
11. Unspoken
12. Pitch Black Water --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradise Lost meets Lacuna Coil!, July 12, 2005

By 

David Parker (burlington, vermont United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Razorbliss (Audio CD)

I thought I would simply 'lift' my review of this album that I posted last year on the U.K. site, to hopefully get this excellent band some notice - so here goes: Well, since this album isn't (so far) being released in the States, I have to travel across oceans just to praise it! I LOVE THIS BAND! When it comes to "gothic metal", I don't think they can be beat. Everything I love about bands like Paradise Lost, Lacuna Coil and Tiamat are all found in Flowing Tears. Dark melodies, mixed with crunching riffs and flavorful, understated keyboard textures - it's all here. The band had one of my favorite singers, too - Stephanie Duchene, who left the band last year, possessed a deep, smoky baritone that fit the dark gothic metal of earlier albums like Jade and Serpentine perfectly. I was dismayed to learn she had left, because I figured that would be the end of that particular era of the bands' sound - I feared that whoever they got, they would simply turn into a Lacuna Coil clone, but I was wrong! New singer Helen Vogt is a vocal dead ringer for Stephanie (and HOT, too - check out their website for proof!!), possessing the same deep voice, with occasionally even a little more bite, and fits the new, harder edge of this album's songs just right! Once again, this band accomplishes what so many similar groups cannot - write songs that are catchy, heavy and inventive, all within the space of 4 minutes. Really, these guys should be where Lacuna, The Gathering and (especially!) Evanescence are today. Maybe my review from here in the States will help just a little!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ., October 14, 2005

By 

G. Breazeale "Music Fan Extraordinaire" (san francisco, ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Razorbliss (Audio CD)

So I am a huge Lacuna Coil fan. I happen upon an article that says "Lacuna Coil can ride the throne now, but when Razorbliss arrives, Flowing Tears will overtake the throne of goth metal", so naturally I buy the CD ond give it a whirl. Now, while the CD is good, I think that after about song 6 or so, the CD just gets boring. Most of the songs sound too similar, and Helen Vogt's vocals all sound the same and she never gets a chance to show off any vocal range. I do enjoy the first 5 songs, however, and hope to get into the last half of the record.
However, I don't think Razorbliss can touch either of Lacuna Coil's last two releases, "Comalies" or "Unleashed Memories", both of which are far superior in my opinion.
Razorbliss is a good disc to listen to, but just don't expect to be blown away. Give Lacuna Coil a try to be blown away.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and moving, but a bit cliche, December 22, 2005

By 

Murat Batmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Razorbliss (Audio CD)

Germany's Flowing Tears' new album Razorbliss sees them going for a change in the vocal department, replacing the highly popular Stefanie Duchene with another female singer, Helen Vogt. Without doubt, Vogt is a competent vocalist with a lot of charisma and a great voice that fits the relatively more updated and somewhat mainstream sound of Razorbliss. The songs of the band are still as inspirational and moving as ever, but perhaps a bit more polished and aiming for a more mainstream market this time. However, to make up for the commercial attitude, Benjamin Buss plays some of his heaviest and thickest guitar chords to date, matching the ethereal programmed synths and the occasional electronic rhythm work, and providing the album with a edgy rock sound throughout.

Most of the songs are successfully balanced between electronic samples and heavy guitar parts with Vogt's vocals layered on top of them all. Filled with huge melodies, large chunks of guitar riffs, varied keyboard patches, and even oriental signatures, the title track does a great job introducing the songs on the album, as each following track pretty much expands on these musical ideas, except being less busy and more to the point. Very brief Floydian (or should I say later day Tiamat-style textures?) atmospheres start "Bleed", one of the songs where former Angel Dust vocalist Dirk Thurish guests and exchanges verses with Vogt. The chemistry between the singers is sublime; Thurish' deep yet angry voice contrasts Vogt's more confident and laid-back lamenting. It's a great song with beautiful synths and electronic parameters underlying gothic rock's heaviest guitar parts. Often repeated guitar licks and sprinkled keyboards accentuate the dark "Undying", featuring both silent, whisper-like vocals and a catchy modern rock chorus, all with a very focused bass bottom. The electronic pop on "Radium Angel" and the dreamy yet heavily guitar-driven "Firedream" help diversify the release before the calmer, more piano-induced melodic rock number "Ballad of a Lonely God" kicks in and concludes with a driven, frantic guitar solo, unlike most songs gothic rock bands' songs nowadays. If Flowing Tears had gone for a more defined direction of this type, they could have offered a much-needed breath of fresh air into this genre, which is obviously getting more stale day by day. The following songs pretty much continue in the same way, except that they are more minimalistic, as on the moody "Snakes of Grey" or the Egyptian-themed "Maladine", a song featuring a traditional Arabic string instrument and Vogt's sorrow-filled, irresistible vocals.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by noted producer Waldemar Sorchyta, Razorbliss is a sonic joy to listen. The loud-loud-loud approach of Sorchyta seems to have worked well on this type of songs. This is a fairly good album, but considering Flowing Tears' potential, it could have been more original.