It is quite rare that I come across a life album to write about; just my second time now I have come across a gem by one of Sweden's Dark Metal pioneers, LAKE OF TEARS. An avid concert-goer, I out-of-habit end up reimagining songs I listen to into live performance. An odd habit, it often works out into an effective listening tool; instead of comparing to the originals, that is what I decided I would also do here.

One thing to note about the quality of the live recording of this concert is its crispness, and clear capture of the sound of the live band. The intro track is an ecstatic crowd-rile; a psych-Rock riff I'd build upon with Doom-like chugging and further embellished upon by soulful lead guitar melodies. This lead straight into the aggressive "Taste of Hell", a song in which this band seems to have strayed in a very non-Doom Metal direction, and instead seems to draw more on 80's American Heavy Metal, with a number of dramatic and horror-inspired twists. In the end, a performance one could not help but to bang their head to. "As Daylight Yields" feels like a very strong live track that manages to capture the essence of the bands musical direction with the bare bones; in a way, a broken down form of Melodic Death Metal from equally-depressive bands such as NOUMENA. A driving, mid tempo track, what captivated my listening were the brain-tinglingly-effective chord and melody progressions. Is Daniel Brennare a classically-trained Power Metal wailer? No; but nonetheless he combines a Thrash-inspired aggressiveness with thoughtful lyrical inflection, not unlike Peavey Wagner of RAGE and adds a much-needed dynamic to some of the band's dirge-like Dark Metal.

"Demon You Lily Anne" was one of my favorite recordings in this collection. In and of itself, intelligently poetic, the defining feature of this track is the deep, thick and soaring atmospherics section that sounds symphonic in scope, and does well to add an air of grand melancholy that can almost end up being catchy, strangely with the help of Daniel's pain-filled utterances of the lyrics. "So Fell Autumn Rain", by the near-end of the recording, came across as the most beautiful. Again, the band had combined powerful, Gothic Metal riffs with beautiful and evocative keyboard work similar to that found in many of Europe's great Symphonic Metal acts. However, the further variations in arrangement and the vibes given off by the lead guitar work strongly reminded me of AMORPHIS.

The sound of this band and the vocal style is not something I am often drawn to; however, considering that this is a live recording, I can truthfully appreciate the power that this band could evoke at a live show, visibly pouring into the crowd the same passion and emotion put into their music.