Lacrimas Profundere

Lacrimas Profundere is a German gothic metal band spearheaded by guitarist Oliver Nikolas Schmid, whose revolving door lineup rivals even Spinal Tap's (or Jethro Tull's) in terms of multiple musicians over the years. Founded in the Southern Bavarian municipality of Waging am See, circa 1993, Lacrimas Profundere debuted with 1995's ...And the Wings Embraced Us, featuring his brother Christopher Schmid on vocals, plus violinist Anja Hötzendorfer, flautist/keyboard player Eva Stöger, bassist Markus Lapper, and drummer Christian Greisberger. Despite such exotic instrumentation (for heavy metal at least), this and subsequent LPs like ...La Naissance d'un Rêve (1997), Memorandum (1999), and Burning: A Wish (2001), generally ran parallel with the doomy goth of mid-period Anathema, Katatonia and My Dying Bride. By comparison, subsequent efforts like Fall, I Will Follow (2002), Ave End (2004), and Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts (2006), saw Lacrimas Profundere following in the footsteps of the bands cited above, plus the likes of Tiamat and Moonspell, in leaving many of their metallic tendencies behind in order to embrace more traditional gothic rock wholeheartedly. 2007 also marked the departure of Christopher Schmid — the last remaining original band member, save his brother — and the arrival of new singer Rob Vitacca, likely signifying additional changes to Lacrimas Profundere's sound and creative direction in the immediate future.