Kulttempel, Oberhausen, Germany 22nd October 2021
Lacrimas Profundere & Support: Soulbound
When I arrived at Kulttempel Oberhausen, the venue was already filled with people clad in their favourite black and Goth outfits, many wearing their favourite LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE shirts. I spotted many familiar faces from the tour back in 2019, so the band can be really sure they have a dedicated audience that is willing to travel to see their favourite band live on stage.
Soulbound
The support for tonight was SOULBOUND, a band from Bielefeld and I must admit that I never heard anything of this band before. The band describes their style “Melodic Industrial Metal”. Their latest album ‘Addicted to Hell’ was released in 2020. www.soulbound.de
Music & Performance
The show started on time with plenty of fog and the band came on stage. Some members wore black and white makeup, some not. It’s difficult to describe their style. The songs covered a wide range of style, but it seems that the band had no own “signature” sound or style. Somehow, they varied between something like Neue Deutsche Härte, Industrial, Heavy and Melodic Metal. You got clear singing as well as growls, heavy drums and interesting guitar riffing, all the synths came from a tape, since they had nor keyboard on stage.
The audience was addressed frequently and being informed that the band considered this year as a good one for themselves since they had an album out in 2020 and some live gigs this year. We were also told that they had Chris Harms of LORD OF THE LOST as a producer for their album and that they felt honoured that he was ready to work with the band. To be honest, they didn’t fit as a support for a Gothic Rock band and if it is wise to talk about one’s own depressions, even if you want to encourage people to move on like yourself and never give up, one has to decide for oneself. SOULBOUND’s energetic set was to the purpose and warmed the people up and it was a clever move to ask the crowd to call out the headliner for tonight: LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE.
Lacrimas Profundere
LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE are a German band founded in 1993 focussing on Death Doom-Metal, then developed to Gothic Metal and then changed more to the direction of Gothic-Rock also known as “Rock’n’Sad”. The line-up changed several times over the years and in 2018 vocalist Julian Larre joined the band. Their last album ‘Bleeding The Stars’ was his first album with LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE and his enormous range of vocals opened new horizons for the band. The band is currently working on a new album and announced the live performance of a new single for the autumn leg of their 2021 tour. www.lacrimas.com / www.facebook.com/lacrimasprofundereofficial
Music & Performance
Back in August I saw LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE live on stage during a so called “Social-Distancing-Show”, being seated on beer benches, wearing a mask, whenever you left the table, dancing etc. being banished. But tonight, Kulttempel had arranged a perfect “3-G” live show. Only those who could prove that they had recovered, being tested or fully vaccinated were allowed to attend the gig. So, no masks and distancing were required and trust me, the fans partied like back in 2019 while the band gave everything to drive them even wilder. But let’s start from the intro.
LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE entered the stage opening the show with ‘A Pearl’ and I had to smile inwardly since Julian was wearing a plush coat that reminded me strongly of the cover of an album released by a band from Finland back in 1999 (those who are in Love Metal, know what I’m hinting at). You could see that the band was stoked to see the venue filled with fans who rocked out from the first minute of the show. The setlist had been changed a bit compared to the one from the one in Munich and it had also been extended by three songs. The sound was perfect tonight and so Julian could make use of his full range of voice while performing the vocals and addressing the crowd (Yes… and sometimes Julian’s announcements remind me of Ville Valo’s at live gigs app. 20 years ago…). The first part of the show was a good mix of faster and slower songs and ‘Be Mine In Tears’ a song from ‘The Grandiose Nowhere’ (2010) had newly made it to the setlist.
Then we had a short break and Julian only informed us that now something that has never happened before would occur and tonight’s crowd witnessed how a fan purposed to her boyfriend, who accepted. Julian gave us a short excerpt of ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ and then effortlessly led over into the next song of the regular set. The fans had used the break to catch some breath and now were ready to rock again and I must admit that I was happy that ‘My Velvet Little Darkness’ was on the setlist again. I like the band’s “old” heavy songs a lot. The second part of the regular set came with one more song, that had made it back to the setlist like ‘To Bleed Or Not To Be’ from the album ‘Ave End’ (2004). ‘A Sigh’ saw Julian climbing down from the stage and joining the crowd again, and then the band kept their promise and revealed ‘Secrets’, the new song they had promised the fans for the autumn leg of their tour.
Since it was the first time that I heard the song I can only say that my impression is that some of the old Gothic Metal and Doom prone heaviness is back (and appreciated) and that the fact that Julian in not alone on vocal, since Ilker is providing the backing vocals, gives the song an interesting and heavy touch. The song was a very good choice and I’m curious, if the new album is more prone to Gothic Rock or Gothic Metal. The audience’s enthusiastic reaction indicated, that they liked the song a lot and that the band can be sure, that whenever the single will be officially released, there will be plenty of listeners among the fans. Way to soon, it was time for ‘Remembrance’ the last song on the regular setlist, but it was obvious, that the band would not Oberhausen without an encore. A very dedicated Oberhausen crowd loudly demanded an encore and LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE came back with a highly energetic performance of ‘Hope is there / One Hopes Evening’, ‘Ave End’ and ‘Father of Fate’.
When the band left the stage it was hard to say, who was happier, the band or the audience, it was definitely worth the trip to Oberhausen and the style of the new song indicates, that the fans can be looking forward to a fantastic new album and very energetic shows during the tour the band already announced for 2022 with dates in Russia, Finland and Germany.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. A Pearl
03. Like Screams in Empty Halls
04. Dead To Me
05. Her Occasion of Sin
06. Celestite Woman
07. My Release in Pain
08. Again It’s Over
09. Be Mine In Tears
10. Antiadore
11. Mother of Doom
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12. Intro
13. Awake
14. My Velvet Little Darkness
15. The Letter
16. The Kingdom Solicitude
17. To Bleed Or Not To Be
18. A Sigh
19. Secrets
20. Remembrance
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21. Hope is there / One Hopes Evening
22. Ave End
23. Father of Fate
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 10
Sound: 10
Total: 10 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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