''Fassade'' (English: '' Facade'') is the seventh album by German duo Lacrimosa released on 1 October 2001 by Hall of Sermon and

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

Themes

Whereas the previous album, '' Elodia'', 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 Funeral doom is a subgenre of death-doom with heavy influence from Dirge, funeral dirge music. Low-Guitar tunings, tuned Electric guitar, guitars, death growls, instruments that emulate pipe organ sounds and ponderous pace are typical traits of t ...

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 Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

(the album's cover is in

greyscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a greyscale (more common in Commonwealth English) or grayscale (more common in American English) image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample repres ...

), emotionlessly watching three women wearing gothic

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

parade down a

catwalk A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is where ...

. 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. The only person present other than the models and the audience is Lacrimosa's trademark

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

, 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. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Reception

''Fassade'' received positive reviews from the Canadian ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' 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 Tilo Wolff (born 10 July 1972) is a German musician and artist. He was born in Frankfurt am Main and currently lives in Switzerland. His longest-running project is the band Lacrimosa, which debuted in 1990. The band embraces a diverse range o ...

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