Customer Reviews

Razorbliss

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

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Released by Century Media in 2004 this is the sixth release (depending on how you count `em) by German doom metal band Flowing Tears. Produced by Waldemar Sorychta (Moonspell, Therion, Samael and others) the twelve tracks contained herein all build up to a work of impressive consistency and shows the band as accomplished professionals who were able to `lock on' to a certain groove with a vice like grip, not letting go no matter what. The sound is heavy and dank with virtually no lightness of being to be found even in the female vocals of Helen Vogt who uses a very conversational tone throughout with only a doomy and maudlin lilt as a nod to the idea of singing.

Behind her female presence we have the rest of the band: Benjamin Buss on guitars and programming, Frederic Lesny on bass and drums courtesy of Stefan Gembella. The lads contrive to produce a plodding, dour and thoroughly purposeful exploration of just how much can be achieved by playing everything in low phrasings, low mood and with little light in the shade which is a feeling backed up by the relentless under (and over) tones of the lyrical content. Almost wall to wall regret and emotional distress I'm afraid.

I can very much understand a number of young metalheads taking this sort of mono-speed release very much to heart. The whole turn all the lights out and sit in your room for hours playing this thing on loop until your friends start to remove any sharp objects from within your grasp (that's exaggeration for effect by the way). But the mono-syllabic nature of the musical and vocal language the band is speaking means this is a CD I will rarely listen to in the future despite giving it a number of listens to see if it spoke to me after an extended tryout.

I was fascinated by this band's later release "Thy Kingdom Gone", so I bought this one too. It appears, though, that it is not as catchy or inspiring as that one. This one has more of a raw feeling. It is still really good; the somewhat unique vocals of this band is present here, but the lines were not sung with the same feeling as the other album I listened to. Maybe it's because of the emotional experience that Thy Kingdom Gone seems very emotional. Anyway, this one is definitely a grower. (I would have given 3.5 stars but not more). I do not recommend this album to start with. The band has done better on other records.

Razorbliss is the 2005 album from German gothic metal act Flowing Tears, and the first to feature vocalist Helen Vogt. The long-running band has been described as Lacuna Coil meets Paradise Lost, and I think that's pretty accurate. Well, they're probably closer to what Paradise Lost would sound like with a female vocalist.

Unlike a lot of gothic "metal" or darkwave bands, Flowing Tears actually sounds like a metal band. They're not all fey and wimpy or excessively dancy and techno. The guitars are heavy, the songs pack a punch and the vocals are fairly powerful. Vogt has real depth, and never comes across as an airy, Liv Kristine-type singer, which I definitely appreciate. Hell, there are times when you forget it's a woman singing.

I don't think they're breaking any new ground, but with Razorbliss Flowing Tears have delivered yet another perfectly solid gothic metal album that should appeal to most fans of the Paradise Lost/Sentenced style. It may be a little too heavy for some darkwave fans, but in my book heaviness is exactly what these bands need.

Members
Helen Vogt
Benjamin Buss
David Vogt
Stefen Gemballa

Their original band's name was Flowing Tears & Withered Flowers, which they used on their first two full-length releases.
Virago and Undying are my favorite songs on "Razorbliss". This is a very unique album because singer Helen Vogt sings in a deep, almost vampire like manner. "Ballad of a Lonely God" is a haunting song in which Helen's lead and background vocals a very deep.

She does not use any high opera-style vocals on this album.
I give her credit for taking a different approach to singing Gothic music.

This is a five star album-

"Paradise Lost meets Lacuna Coil"....Um I don't think so. Paradise Lost maybe. Flowing tears sound nothing like Lacuna Coil that's number 1 but they are signed to the same label Century Media.

Unfortunatley Century Media have spent the better of 2005-2006 promoting Karmacode for Lacuna Coil, where as they did nothing for Flowing Tears. That in itself is sad because Razorbliss is one of the best female gothic albums I have heard this year.

New frontwoman Helen Vogt is not your typical high pitched, operative style vocalist. She has a deep, sexy husky voice. Love it!

Originally named Flowing Tears And Withered Flowers when they formed in 1994, drummer Christian Zimmer (recently killed in a car crash with original guitarist Bjorn Lorson), guitarist/ keyboardist Benjamin Buss, vocalist Manfred Bersin, and drummer Frederic Lesny hooked up and recorded Swansongs in 1996. Female vocalist Stefanie Duchene and drummer Eric Hilt were added to the lineup and Bersin switched to guitarist for their sophomore release, 1998's Joy Parade. Big things happened when they shortened the name to Flowing Tears and released two successful albums (2000's Jade and 2002's Serpentine) which saw the band move in a more gothic direction, leaving behind their doom metal roots. Now new vocalist Helen Vogt steps in for Razorbliss, which was originally released last year but now Magick Records brings it to North American audiences.

It is a sad and undeniable shame that the societal majority has grown increasingly accustomed to accepting what marketing and advertising force-feeds them, as opposed to selecting the best alternative. If indeed the latter were the case it is not inconceivable that Germany's Flowing Tears would long ago have enjoyed a much greater level of popularity. Bred from the same generic stock as their label mates Lacuna Coil, _Razorbliss_ is the first Flowing Tears record to feature Helen Vogt on microphone duties -- and in case anyone is wondering, yes, aside from being quite fetching, she is also much better than her predecessor, Stefanie Duch?ne. In fact, word has it that she is largely to thank for the band's heavier approach this time round. That said though, every member of Flowing Tears has done a terrific job on _Razorbliss_, and particularly "Radium Angel" and "Believe" stand out as the highlights of their effort.

This is a gift for my son so I do not have any idea about how this product is. He requested it so I am sure he will like it.