Warthur
On Elodia, Tilo Wolff and Anne Nurmi take the symphonic metal aspect of Lacrimosa's sound to the limit, to a point where the album can barely be considered as gothic metal any more. With long orchestral passages, the album feels like it's rather padded out, and whilst the concept - about a romantic relationship falling apart - could have lent itself to an interesting treatment the excess of orchestral padding means that I can never quite get into the narrative. The performances are decent, but the gothic atmosphere so masterfully evoked on releases like Inferno is completely missing with the result that it feels rather bland and empty.