''Skin and Bones'' is the fifth studio album by the German band

Lyriel Lyriel are a German Heavy metal music, heavy metal band who formed in autumn of 2003 in Gummersbach. Originally playing folk metal, they turned more towards symphonic metal, symphonic and gothic metal. Lyriel has recorded five studio albums and pu ...

. Containing a mix of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

and

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

, it was recorded without former band member Steffen Feldmann and published in September 2014.

Style

''Skin and Bones'' has been described as more powerful and harder than the band's previous releases. The musical genres include

and

celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundat ...

as well as

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 ...

and

. Swedish vocalist

Christian Älvestam Christian Älvestam (Born 14 April 1976 in Sweden) is a vocalist, lyricist, guitarist, bassist and drummer for several bands from Sweden. He is, however, best known as the former vocalist for the Swedish metal band Scar Symmetry. He currently per ...

contributed

harsh vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

as a guest singer on the track "Black and white".

Reception

According to the ''

Sonic Seducer ''Sonic Seducer'' is a German music magazine that covers gothic rock, new wave, EBM and other kinds of electronic music and culture. The magazine is noted for organizing the annual M'era Luna Festival. Since its inception in 1994, the ''Sonic S ...

'', Lyriel had managed to combine the emotional aspects of the various tracks on ''Skin and Bones'' with a pressing sound, which was harder than their earlier albums. The reviewer noted singer Jessica Thierjung's skills and concluded that the album had been produced well. Also the ''Rock Hard'' magazine stated that Lyriel had now learned from past criticism that their sound was lacking harder components. At the same time though the reviewer remarked that the band had not yet gotten rid of

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

y and "arbitrary" songs.

Track listing

Personnel

The production personnel for ''Skin and Bones'' include the following: ;Lyriel *Jessica Thierjung – vocals *Tim Sonnenstuhl – guitars *Joon Laukamp – violin *Oliver Thierjung – bass, backing vocals *Marcus Fidorra – drums *Linda Laukamp – cello, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

– vocals on "Black and white" *Hiko – cover art, layout *Thomas Plec Johansson – mixing *Robert Schuller – acoustic guitar *Sebastian Sonntag – backing vocals *Alexander Wenk – backing vocals *Martin Ahman – keyboards and fx

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Lyriel albums AFM Records albums