I have been taken with the last three albums by the gothic style of Germans Lacrimas Profundere. 2016’s Hope Is Here, 2019’s Bleeding the Stars, and their last release, 2022’s How To Shroud Yourself With Night, were all fine albums and hit several chords with me. Although they have played over 100 concerts, including a supporting slot to Paradise Lost in 2025, they have kind of dropped off the radar.
Lacrimas Profundere – Lay Me Down O Silent Fear
Release Date: 25 September 2026
Words: Paul Hutchings
Having been in the business for over three decades, a band can both reflect and look forward. So, to the uninitiated, how do you describe their sound? A mix of HIM and Metalcore, Dimmu Borgir meets The Cure, or even Billy Idol and Cradle Of Filth were all used to describe the last album.
I noted that it was Metal dark and laced with gothic flashes, but contemporary and modern in other ways.
Clean vocals mix with gravel-throated growls, while emotional melodies and delicate passages mix with a definite Melodeath style in parts. There is a bit of everything here. I would drag in Dark Tranquillity and In Flames from the Gothenburg sound, the haunting parts of Paradise Lost and even the melodic bits of Evergrey.
It has a very European feel. But there are also hints of gothic heroes across the album, combined with elements of Metalcore, which has resulted in the term Gothcore being used.
Whatever the label placed on Lacrimas Profundere, Lay Me Down O Silent Fear will surely delight their hardcore fanbase, whilst tempting in a few who may have been merely curious before.
Opening with Days Of Doom, you are instantly confronted with a heady mix of edgy riffs, angry and clean vocals, and some orchestral strings. It makes for an interesting introduction to the album, even if the layered production is a little overpowering at times.
Nevermore feels a little generic, a gothic-era Paradise Lost chug combined with melodic choruses that would sit comfortably on a Stone Sour album. Yes, there is a definite Cory Taylor likeness to Julian Larre’s cleans, and I will be honest, it is a minor distraction. It is lightweight, but this is a band who determine their own direction.
Heart I Will Break You Before You Break Me is described as Anathema with Glen Danzig on vocals, something I do not get at all. There are orchestrations which give the song depth, but that’s where the comparison ends. In fact, it is one of the more distinctively Lacrimas Profundere tracks on the album.
Each song does present a bit of classic Lacrimas, yet the variation that spans this record is enough to maintain the interest that I have had on other albums. O Silent Fear, for example, is gloriously chaotic in its mix of raging growls and subtler cleans. Its melodies bring it towards the more accessible range of their output, and there is a gorgeous riff that chugs the song along.
Faceless, on the other hand, is a dark battering ram. A mixture of Metalcore and gothic sensibilities that twist the mind with a soaring chorus that sits very much in the former genre camp.
Power forward to the penultimate track, Veil XV, this is a ballad that echoes Taylor’s more emotional pieces. It is a towering effort that showcases Larre’s ability and range. There are huge moments on the album, but here is where he really is highlighted.
Lay Me Down O Silent Fear certainly stands alongside the work the band has delivered before. It has many moments that make you stop. And that is sometimes enough.
At a stage where they need to prove nothing, Lacrimas Profundere has once again pulled out a strong and impressive release.
Lacrimas Profundere release Lay Me Down O Silent Fear on 25 September 2026 via Steamhammer. For more details, visit lacrimasprofundere.lnk.to/OSilentFear.
