Flowing Tears - "Thy Kingdom Gone" [2008]

Artist: Flowing Tears

Title: Thy Kingdom Gone

Genre: Gothic Metal

Country: Germany

Release date: 2008

Track List: 

1. Orchidfire
2. Pain Has Taken Over
3. Rain of a Thousand Years
4. Grey
5. Thy Kingdom Gone
6. Words Before You Leave
7. Miss Fortune
8. Colossal Shaped Despair
9. Kismet
10. For My Enemies
11. Souls of the Neon Reign
12. The War We Left Behind

Here's one of the best albums in the whole genre of gothic metal with female vocals, which unfortunately didn't get the recognition it deserves. The band was formed in 1994 under the name Flowing Tears & Withered Flowers, and initially played typical mid-90s death/doom metal in the vein of Tiamat (I still have their cassette "Swansongs" bought long time ago). After shortening their name in 1999, they've released two albums with the sound increasingly being influenced by the 2000s gothic metal, and with Helen Vogt as their new vocalist, they released two more ones which can be considered the classics of that genre.

"Thy Kingdom Gone" is their last and the best album, released in late 2008. I'd describe it as gothic metal that doesn't follow the same formula as most female-fronted metal bands with operatic vocals (Helen's vocals are great but definitely not operatic) and "symphonic" sound (there's a lot of keyboards on this album but it's far from "symphonic"), and still being significantly influenced by 90s doom metal (I have similar feelings about my another female-fronted metal favourite, "Mandylion" by The Gathering, although it isn't particularly similar to anything released by Flowing Tears either). Nearly every track on "Thy Kingdom Gone" is great, but my personal favourites are "Orchidfire", "Rain of the Thousand Years", "Miss Fortune" (a track quite different from the rest), and "Souls of the Neon Reign". It's also worth mentioning that the title track features guest vocals by Vorph fom Samael. Too bad that they haven't released anything more, although Helen has expressed some wishes to record a new album in 2013...

The Loudest Silence - "Aesthetic Illusion" [2018]

Artist: The Loudest Silence

Title: Aesthetic Illusion

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Release date: 2018

Track List:

1. Illusion Aeternus
2. Redemption
3. Two-Faced Ghost
4. Wood Nymph
5. Acheron
6. The Loudest Silence
7. Soul Reflection
8. Theatre of the Absurd
9. Wake Up in My Dream
10. Gallery of Wonders
11. The Loudest Silence (Through the Glowing Door) 

Bosnia isn't known for having a big metal scene, but this band from Sarajevo has pleasantly surprised me. It's fairly typical female-fronted symphonic metal that'd definitely appeal to the fans of the genre. The quiality of production could be a bit better, but overall, the music is well composed and played. Here's the full album and one more music video:

By the way, their vocalist Taida Nazraić has one of the most beautiful Instagram accounts I've ever came across. She now lives in Munuch and posts a lot of excellent photography featuring the cityscapes and nature in Bavaria. Her dresses (and style in general) are awesome too, and if you love girls wearing hats, her page would be a goldmine for you:

Emerald Mind - "Almagest" [2020]

Artist: Emerald Mind

Title: Almagest

Genre: Symphonic Prog/Power Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2020

Emerald Mind have released only two full-length albums during 12 years of their existence (and 5 more if we count their early years under the name Diadema). The last one was released 5 years ago, and I'm not sure when the next one will come out. According to the band members themselves: "Like Blizzard Entertainment loves to say: it'll be done when it's done". Well, as we all know, Blizzard prefer quality over quantity - "we release not that many games, but all of them are masterpieces". As for Emerald Mind, they occasionally release new singles, and this one is the latest to this day. Just as expected from them, it feautes quality symphonic metal with the beautiful female vocals by Svetlana Vysotskaya (who's also an opera singer nowadays):

 

One more thing from Emerald Mind that's worth mentioning is their new music video called "Genetic Paradise". While it's quite minimalistic and doesn't show much beyond the vocalist and guitarist (the only two original members left), it's a good match for the song with lyrics of the utopian/transhumanist kind. Svetlana is apparently playing the role of a "hot scientist" from bad Hollywood movies, and she's good at it :) At least it's nice to see her wearing a short lab uniform, and we can agree that she has a perfect figure, right?

Cold Sight - "My Pompeii" [2019]

Artist: Cold Sight

Title: My Pompeii

Genre: Symphonic/Modern Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2019

Track List:

1. My Pompeii
2. Stranger's Tale

Much like Neuroheart, Cold Sight were started as a typical female-fronted symphonic metal band, but after several years of hiatus and significant lineup changes, their sound became closer to so-called "modern metal" in the vein of Amaranthe, which is evident on this 2-track EP. 

Cold Sight were formed in Bryansk in the late 2000s and released their debut album "A/H1N1" in 2013 (honestly, the A/H1N1 epidemic was a rather weird choice for an album theme, given its genre - but it looks prophetic now, during those COVID-19 times). 6 years later, with the only two original members remaining - the frontwoman Natalia Zolotova and the bassist and backing vocalist Alex "Quitty" Chernov" - they've recorded this EP, this time with lyrics in English. Just like "A/H1N1", it was produced by Dmitry Eliseev (Fferyllt, Iahsari), but this time the quality of recording is much better, and the sound is more "modern", electronic-infused. The band describes "My Pompeii" as "a symbol of self-liberation and transcending the boundaries".

By the way, Natalia definitely is one of the girls I was talking about in my previous entry, and while she never was a professional model, she has done quite a lot of beautiful photoshoots. She loves cats too, and owns several (this one is half Maine Coon, half Siberian):

Amplifix Records · Cold Sight - My Pompeii

Amplifix Records · Cold Sight - Stranger's Tale

Kara Lin - "Aura" [2011]

Artist: Kara Lin

Title: Aura

Genre: Gothic/Alternative/Oriental Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2011

Track List: 

1. Королева
2. Открой глаза
3. Ведьма (Linda cover)
4. Припять
5. В сердце
6. Пустота
7. Не верю
8. Ворона (Linda cover)
9. Когда рухнет небо
10. Oni
11. Папа№6
12. Отрываясь от земли
13. За стеной
14. R.I.P.

Kara Lin were formed in St. Petersburg by the vocalist Daria Shafarevich and guitarist/keyboardist Daniil Kozlovsky, initially as a studio project named "3ODIAC". After some of their demo tracks received positive reviews on the net, they became a full band that actively performed live during 2009-2011. Their first and only album was released in 2011, but unfortunately they seem to have stopped their activities after that.

"Aura" offers a pretty nice nix of your typical gothic / female-fronted metal (or maybe rock? not sure this album is "metal" enough...), industrial rock/NDH and alternative rock with a healthy dose of oriental melodies thrown in. Of course it's not without its shortcomings, most importantly rather stereotypical lyrics (which is evident even from the song names, with mostly feature late 2000s Russian goth scene cliches)... but it most likely isn't that important for the foregn listeners. The vocals also could be better performed at times, but that's a minor flaw, and overall it isn't bad for a debut.

Here's their live performance of a rather famous song, originally performed by Linda. Looks like Daria got a fashion sense similar to that of her namesake from Emplosia, and she looks great in a short black dress too:

She also reminds me of Juliette, the vocalist is even more obscure EBM band MelissaTod from Kursk, to whom I was acquainted at the same time (unfortunately they haven't released any albums to my knowledge). I was at the festival where this interview was taken, and maybe was even caught on camera in the crowd:

 

 

Those were the times when the local "dark" scene was full of long-legged girls performing nice music, and in a retrospective, I have nothing to complain about :) Now we have mostly hipster fashion and mediocre post-punk, but we still can enjoy undeservedly forgotten stuff from a decade ago:

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Iahsari - "Shrine of the Ancient Gods" [2018]

Artist: Iahsari

Title: Shrine of the Ancient Gods

Genre: Symphonic/Folk Metal

Country: Georgia
Year: 2018

Track List:

1. Daisi (Intro)
2. Unbowed (Blood of Colchis)
3. Sirenum Scopuli
4. Shatilis Asulo (Maiden of Shatili)
5. Gelino
6. Wind Divine
7. Sword's Outcry
8. The Dream
9. Old Man's Grief
10. Epilogue

Turns out that quite good symphonic metal exists in Georgia too. Iahsari were formed in Tbilisi in late 2015 by former bembers of several Russian and Georgian metal bands (Fferyllt, Harmonium, Tanelorn). Their name refers to Iakhsari, a deity in the Georgian mythology who's the son of Gmerti, the creator of universe. On "Shrine of the Ancient Gods" they play "cinematic" symphonic metal with dual male/female vocals (+ several guest vocalists) and lots of folk elements. My personal favourite is "Gelino", which is metal version of a traditional Georgian folk song:

Niobeth - "Silvery Moonbeams" [2011]

Artist: Niobeth

Title: Silvery Moonbeams

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Spain
Year: 2011

Track List:

1. The Banished Princess
2. Eclipse
3. Withered Lullabies
4. Sons of the Earth
5. Campeón
6. Stolen Innocence
7. My Dead Angel
8. I Know That I Know Nothing
9. I Need You to Need Me
10. Sadako's Wings of Hope
11. Polovtsian Dances
12. Solitude

Let's continue with overlooked symphonic metal bands of  late 2000s and early 2010s. Niobeth were a band from Spain (Albacete), formed in 2005 by the guitarist Jesús Díez García and vocalist Itea Benedicto Colás (now working as a professional actress), and disbanded in late 2011 after releasing two full-length albums.

The cover art of "Silvery Moonbeams" certainly resembles that of "Century Child" (and, to a less extent, "Oceanborn") by Nightwish, but I won't call Niobeth just another Nightwish clone, even if it's fairly typical symphonic metal with female vocals, strongly influenced by classical music. Unfortunately the quality of production is far from great (but still better than on their debut album, "The Shining Harmony of Universe"), especially when it comes to vocals. It seems to be the general problem with Niobeth that extends to their music videos too. In particular, this song is one of their best, but the clip is an example of how you shouldn't make music videos (seriously, the only good thing in this video is Itea wearing a corset with knee-high boots):

Here's another video, this time for a song off their debut album, which isn't music better:

However, if you can get past the rather weak production and the really bad music videos, the material on "Silvery Moonbeams" is pretty good. It's a shame that they had a lot of potential, but couldn't realize it to the fullest...

Mysterya - "Symbiont" [2013]

Artist: Mysterya

Title: Symbiont

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Ukraine
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Живи всерьёз
2. Луна
3. Мечта
4. Незнайомець
5. It's Real
6. За всех
7. Цена свободы
8. Гимн
9. Симбіонт
10. Этот мир
11. Колискова
12. Творение

Another female-fronted synphonic metal band from the post-Soviet space that deserves more recognition outside of their home country, Mysterya were formed in 2007 and led by the beautiful Irina Vasilenko, who's also a lead singer in the Rock Opera Mozart. Worth also noting that her non-metal solo project Eria appeared in the X-Factor Ukraine in 2014 and was nominated for Eurovision in 2014. She loves cats (and animals in general) too:

Lanewin - "Autuua" [2010]

Artist: Lanewin

Title: Autuua

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2010

Track List:

1. Gate of Lanewin
2. Essence of War
3. Illusions of Dogma
4. One More Life
5. Heartbeat
6. Legend of Saviour
7. Delusiveness
8. No Time for Dreaming
9. Dark Love
10. Venom

Lanewin (initially named Infinity) are one of the most overlooked Russian symphonic metal bands from the early 2010s. They have released two full-length albums during 2010-2012, but disbanded shortly thereafter. Now their former vocalist Anna Belyaeva lives in Norway and sings in her solo non-metal project Anna Beliva (pronounced as "believer"), and the rest of the band reunited under the name ElisaDay. While their idependently released debut "Autuua" sounds rather naive and doesn't have a particularly high production value, it's an interesting yet overlooked artifact of its era.

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Sentenced - "The Cold White Light" [2002]

Artist: Sentenced

Title: The Cold White Light

Genre: Gothic Metal

Country: Finland
Year: 2002

Track List:

1. Konevitsan Kirkonkellot
2. Cross My Heart and Hope to Die
3. Brief Is the Light
4. Neverlasting
5. Aika Multaa Muistot (Everything Is Nothing)
6. Excuse Me While I Kill Myself
7. Blood & Tears
8. You Are the One
9. Guilt and Regret
10. The Luxury of a Grave
11. No One There

During the late 90s and early 2000s, Finland was well-known for its gothic metal scene - and no, I'm not talking about "love metal" bands like HIM or Negative. While Sentenced, once a death metal band, has switched to gothic metal with lyrics about love, depression and suicide, they never were anything close to a "love metal" band, and their later albums (bar "The Funeral Album", which is undoubtedly much weaker than the rest of their discography) are among my all-time favourites. In particular, "The Cold White Light" is one of the best albums ever released by Century Media, and a must-listen to everyone interested in the topic of so-called "Finno-Ugric suicide". Interestingly, the intro for this album ("Konevets monastery cloister bells") is likely influenced by a similar track "Valamon Kirkonkellot (Valaam cloister bells)" by Loituma. I personally have been to Valaam (it's a must-visit destination in Karelia, as well as Kizhi), but not to Konevets.

P.S. For some reason, Yandex.Music suggests Iced Earth and Myrath on the top of the "similar artists" list for this album. While Sentenced obviously sound different from these bands, I can't say these suggestions aren't useful :P

Draconian - "Arcane Rain Fell" [2005]

Artist: Draconian

Title: Arcane Rain Fell

Genre: Gothic/Doom Metal

Country: Sweden
Year: 2005

Track List:

1. A Scenery of Loss
2. Daylight Misery
3. The Apostasy Canticle
4. Expostulation
5. Heaven Laid in Tears (Angels' Lament)
6. The Abhorrent Rays
7. The Everlasting Scar
8. Death, Come Near Me
   

One of the best albums in the gothic doom metal genre, by one of the best such bands from Sweden during their best years with Lisa Johansson on vocals (honestly I couldn't get into their later releases with Heike Langhans). Need I say more "best"? Well, the best known track on "Arcane Rain Fell" is "Heaven Laid in Tears", with the classic "beauty & the beast" vocal style, and the lyrics inspired by Gnosticism:

Tiamat - "Wildhoney" [1994]

Artist: Tiamat

Title: Wildhoney

Genre: Gothic/Doom Metal, Industrial/Psychedelic Rock

Country: Sweden
Year: 1994

Track List:

1. Wildhoney
2. Whatever That Hurts
3. The Ar
4. 25th Floor
5. Gaia
6. Visionaire
7. Kaleidoscope
8. Do You Dream of Me?
9. Planets
10. A Pocket Size Sun
    

Finally, we got to the key album that sparked my whole interest in experimental metal. "Wildhoney" caused a lot of stir when it was released since it was too different from the earlier releases by Tiamat, marking the shift in their style from death/doom metal to industrial rock and Pink Floyd-influenced psychedelic/progressive rock. However, unlike the subsequent "A Deeper Kind of Slumber", "Wildhoney" has enough "heavy" moments to be considered a metal release.

Now, after the dust has settled, I admit that "Wildhoney" isn't as much of a masterpice as I one thought it to be. "A Deeper Kind of Slumber" is more interesting album (despite being not metal at all); that said, I love all albums by Tiamat, even their objectively sub-par death metal debut "Sumerian Cry". The first half of "Wildhoney" is unquestionably great - all 3 songs that aren't interludes ("Whatever That Hurts", "The Ar" and "Gaia") are among my all-time favourites, and the interludes fit in quite well too. The second half, however, would be better without the long and weird closing track. "Do You Dream On Me" is an acoustic ballad which is far from any metal; however, it still sounds good, and Tiamat already had one more ballad of this type on "The Astral Sleep" (1991), which was also one of the best tracks on the whole album. Overall, it's the album that completely blew my mind at the time when I first heard it, but it doesn't have quite the same effect on me after years of listening to many metal and avant-garde music albums (including other albums by Tiamat). Still, Johan Edlund is a genius, and "Wildhoney" has a great historical value:

Heavenwood - "Diva" [1996]

Artist: Heavenwood

Title: Diva

Genre: Gothic/Doom Metal

Country: Portugal
Year: 1996

Track List:

1. Frozen Images
2. Emotional Wound
3. Flames Of Vanity
4. Since The First Smile
5. Tears Of Grief
6. Moonlight Girl
7. Judith Heavenwood
8. Weeping Heart
9. Frithiof's Saga
10. Lament

While most people would associate Portuguese gothic metal scene with Moonspell, there's one more band from the same era that deserves attention. Heavenwood started in 1992 as a death metal band Disgorged, but changed their style and name in 1996. Both their 90's albums ("Diva" and "Swallow") are now considered to be classics of Portuguese metal. The band split up in 2001, but later reformed and released a few more albums, to which I hven't listened to (but according to reviews, they're worth listening as well).

Helevorn - "Aamamata" [2019]

Artist: Helevorn

Title: Aamamata

Genre: Gothic/Doom Metal

Country: Spain
Year: 2019

Track List:

1. A Sail To Sanity 
2. Goodbye, Hope
3. Blackened Waves
4. Aurora
5. Forgotten Fields
6. Nostrum Mare (Et deixo un pont de mar blava)
7. Once Upon a War
8. The Path to Puya
9. La Sibil-la

Named after a lake in the Tolkien's legendarium, Helevorn were formed in 1999 in Palma de Mallorca, a place that most people would associate with beach parties rather than any "kvlt" stuff, yet it also have one of the most beautiful Gothic style cathedrals and one of the best modern gothic/doom bands. I discovered Helevorn due to thhe song "Nobody is Waiting" off their debut album "Fragments":

 

Since then, the band has made a lot of progress, judging from their last release "Aamamata" which has a very interesting and rich sound. My personal favourites are "Aurora" and the multi-language song "Nostrum Mare". Release notes:

"Aamamata is the song that Death sings every day in the Mediterranean Sea, which has become a desolate pit for human lives.
‘Aurora’ is dedicated to all of those who have fallen by executions and political persecution during the fascist coup in Spain in 1936, and are still missing, buried in hundreds of unmarked mass graves but is especially dedicated to Aurora Picornell, a freedom fighter who stood up for liberty and civil rights, and was executed on January 5th, 1937.
More than 80 years after her death, her body has not yet been found"

"The album has been recorded at Psychosomatic studios by M.A Riutort and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, like their previous album, and the cover artwork has been made by Gonzalo Aeneas.
In the large list of contributions, you can find Heike Langhans of the Swedish band Draconian, who sings in a song of the album.
This new disc is a bit more epic, intense and dark than the previous ‘Compassion Forlorn’, who had excellent reviews and took the band to play in several European cities, and it will delight to all the Doom Metal fans over the world"

My Insanity - "Solar Child" [2001]

Artist: My Insanity

Title: Solar Child

Genre: (Cyber-?) Gothic Metal

Country: Germany
Year: 2001

Track List:

1. Monument
2. Cosmic Orgasm
3. Bound & Lost
4. Failed Experiment I
5. Failed Experiment II
6. Mirrors
7. Solar Child
8. Dead Season
9. Twin
10. Kings of Plush
11. Infinity
12. Sunday

This undeservedly forgotten band is mostly known due to their ties to Samael, whose member Xytras produced their debut album "Still Dreams In Violent Areas". During the 2000s, both "Still D.I.V.A" and "Solar Child" were distributed here along with the Samael albums, so My Insanity were well known to almost every Samael fan. "Solar Child" still remains one of my favourite gothic metal albums of all times, and certainly deserves a place on my blog.

While the influence of late 90's Samael is definitely audible on "Solar Child", for the most part it's still melancholic gothic metal in the vein of Crematory, with a "futuristic" tinge (the usage of electronics is extensive but not over the top, though). The guitar riffs are fairly interesting and innovative for gothic metal of its time (sometimes even bordering the progressive metal territory). Somehow it also reminds me of "Revolution DNA" by Septic Flesh - maybe because it has a similar futuristic concept and lyrics that are interesting albeit written in rather "naive" English. While the lyrics can be outright corny at times ("Dead Season", or, for even better example, "The Girl In A White Dress" - the best track on their debut album "Still D.I.V.A"), My Insanity certainly don't belong to the so-called "love metal" scene. Overall, "Solar Child" is a quite original album (which, however, still has all the hallmarks of a good "conventional" gothic metal release), with good vocals and a lot of very catchy songs. And, well... did I mention that there's an accordion part in the title track?

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L'Âme Immortelle ‎- "Gezeiten" [2004]

Artist: L'Âme Immortelle

Title: Gezeiten

Genre: Darkwave, Neue Deutsche Härte

Country: Austria
Year: 2004

Track List:

1. Es Zieht Dich Davon
2. 5 Jahre
3. Fear
4. Stumme Schreie
5. Fallen Angel
6. Gezeiten
7. Rain
8. Masquerade
9. Kingdom
10. Calling
11. Ohne Dich
12. Believe In Me
13. Without You

While Lacrimosa was the most influental gothic band during the 90s and the 1st half of 2000s at least, I started listening to this kind of music a bit later (in the late 2000s), and it were L'Âme Immortelle who have introduced me to that scene. Actually, we had a lot of very pleasant people in the LAI fan community back then (something that can't be said about the fans of many other metal and gothic rock bands, unfortunately) - but I've lost contact with almost all of them by now ;_;

"Gezeiten" is LAI's first album released on a relatively major label (Supersonic/BMG Germany), and its sound is much heavier compared to their early darkwave releases, being strongly influenced by NDH/industrial metal. Arguably it's their best release along with their first two darkwave/electro-industrial full-lengths.On the other hand, I found their later albums quite boring (same for the solo projects of both Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer).

Lacrimosa - "I Lost My Star" [2009]

Artist: Lacrimosa

Title: I Lost My Star

Genre: Gothic Rock/Metal

Country: Switzerland
Year: 2009

Track List:

1. I Lost My Star In Krasnodar (Russian Version)
2. I Lost My Star In Krasnodar (Album Version)
3. The Last Millenium
4. Siehst Du Mich Im Licht (Live)

Without a doubt, Lacrimosa is the best known gothic act of the 90s which played a major part in shaping the goth scene as we know it nowadays. That said, I have mixed feelings about them. They do have some great tracks (including the best known one, "Alleine zu zweit"), but a lot of mediocre material as well (in particular, "Copycat" is also considered to be one of their best tracks, and one of the heaviest as well, but I never could get into it). In general, their discography is quite diverse, including darkwave, gothic rock/metal, and even alternative rock albums, but out of all their releases, I'll post a single that's rather unknown outside Russia.

"I Lost My Star" was written by Tilo Wolff under the impression of visiting Krasnodar, where Lacrimosa have played for the first time in June 2008. Two years later, it was performed on stage in Krasnodar with the local folk/classical music collective Krinitsa (whose members initially were reluctant to work with such "heavy" band, but later realized that Lacrimosa's music is more influenced by classical composers than they initially thought). It was released in 2009 as an exclusive Russian single by Irond Records, featuring two versions of the title song (actually, the "Russian" version differs from the album version only with the refrain sung in Russian close to the end of the song) plus two bonus tracks and one short multimedia track, and the artwork by Alla Bobyleva made in standard Lacrimosa style. I have some hopes of visiting Krasnodar in the end of this month, so now is a good time to post this single on here:

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