Fassade (English: ''
Facade'') is the seventh album by German duo
Lacrimosa released on 1 October 2001 by Hall of Sermon and
Nuclear Blast.
Themes
Whereas the previous album, ''
Elodia __NOTOC__
Elodia may refer to:
People
*Elodia Kāne, Hawaiian musician with Raymond Kāne
*Disappearance and alleged murder of Elodia Ghinescu
Biology
* '' Elodea'', a genus of aquatic plants
* ''Elodia'' (fly), a genus of flies in the family Tach ...
'', centered on love, ''Fassade''s theme is that of a lonely individual feeling overwhelmed by society,
exemplified by the central song, ''Fassade'', divided into three ''Sätze'' (movements), and the album's artwork. There are also sounds between symphonic gothic metal and
funeral doom metal rhythms and patterns, as seen in ''Fassade''s different parts.
The album's cover shows a crowd of men and women identically dressed in what can be assumed to be
grey (the album's cover is in
greyscale), emotionlessly watching three women wearing
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
lingerie parade down a
catwalk. Every single individual in the audience has his or her head wired to the person next to them, implying that they are all part of a
hivemind
A hive mind or group mind may refer to:
Shared intelligence
* Collective consciousness and collective intelligence, two concepts in sociology and philosophy
** Group mind (science fiction), a type of collective consciousness
* Groupthink, in ...
. The only person present other than the models and the audience is Lacrimosa's trademark
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
, standing in a side door. The back of the album's cover shows that the back wall of the theater has fallen away, revealing nothing but fog and the top of a
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
.
Reception
''Fassade'' received positive reviews from the Canadian ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' magazine as well as from the German ''Sonic Seducer''. ''Exclaim!'' noted that the German vocals added to the overall "doom and gloom atmosphere" but was reluctant about the fact that all songs seemingly end too abruptly.
[ The ''Seducer'' marked a surprisingly intense singing by Tilo Wolff and concluded that both singers Wolff and Nurmi would demand much attention from the listener.][
]
Track listing
Personnel
* Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Producer – Tilo Wolff
* Mastered By – Helge Halvé
* Orchestra – Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg
* Recorded By ecordings Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg– Michael Schubert
* Recorded By, Mixed By – JP Genkel
* Text By, Music By – Anne Nurmi (tracks: 3), Tilo Wolff (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 8)
Charts
References
{{Authority control
Lacrimosa (band) albums
2001 albums