Customer Reviews:
 Paradise Lost meets Lacuna Coil! July 12, 2005
David Parker (burlington, vermont United States)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I thought I would simply 'lift' my review of this album that I posted last year on the U.K. site, to hopefully get this excellent band some notice - so here goes: Well, since this album isn't (so far) being released in the States, I have to travel across oceans just to praise it! I LOVE THIS BAND! When it comes to "gothic metal", I don't think they can be beat. Everything I love about bands like Paradise Lost, Lacuna Coil and Tiamat are all found in Flowing Tears. Dark melodies, mixed with crunching riffs and flavorful, understated keyboard textures - it's all here. The band had one of my favorite singers, too - Stephanie Duchene, who left the band last year, possessed a deep, smoky baritone that fit the dark gothic metal of earlier albums like Jade and Serpentine perfectly. I was dismayed to learn she had left, because I figured that would be the end of that particular era of the bands' sound - I feared that whoever they got, they would simply turn into a Lacuna Coil clone, but I was wrong! New singer Helen Vogt is a vocal dead ringer for Stephanie (and HOT, too - check out their website for proof!!), possessing the same deep voice, with occasionally even a little more bite, and fits the new, harder edge of this album's songs just right! Once again, this band accomplishes what so many similar groups cannot - write songs that are catchy, heavy and inventive, all within the space of 4 minutes. Really, these guys should be where Lacuna, The Gathering and (especially!) Evanescence are today. Maybe my review from here in the States will help just a little!
 Inspirational and moving, but a bit cliche December 22, 2005
Murat Batmaz (Istanbul, Turkey)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Germany's Flowing Tears' new album Razorbliss sees them going for a change in the vocal department, replacing the highly popular Stefanie Duchene with another female singer, Helen Vogt. Without doubt, Vogt is a competent vocalist with a lot of charisma and a great voice that fits the relatively more updated and somewhat mainstream sound of Razorbliss. The songs of the band are still as inspirational and moving as ever, but perhaps a bit more polished and aiming for a more mainstream market this time. However, to make up for the commercial attitude, Benjamin Buss plays some of his heaviest and thickest guitar chords to date, matching the ethereal programmed synths and the occasional electronic rhythm work, and providing the album with a edgy rock sound throughout.
Most of the songs are successfully balanced between electronic samples and heavy guitar parts with Vogt's vocals layered on top of them all. Filled with huge melodies, large chunks of guitar riffs, varied keyboard patches, and even oriental signatures, the title track does a great job introducing the songs on the album, as each following track pretty much expands on these musical ideas, except being less busy and more to the point. Very brief Floydian (or should I say later day Tiamat-style textures?) atmospheres start "Bleed", one of the songs where former Angel Dust vocalist Dirk Thurish guests and exchanges verses with Vogt. The chemistry between the singers is sublime; Thurish' deep yet angry voice contrasts Vogt's more confident and laid-back lamenting. It's a great song with beautiful synths and electronic parameters underlying gothic rock's heaviest guitar parts. Often repeated guitar licks and sprinkled keyboards accentuate the dark "Undying", featuring both silent, whisper-like vocals and a catchy modern rock chorus, all with a very focused bass bottom. The electronic pop on "Radium Angel" and the dreamy yet heavily guitar-driven "Firedream" help diversify the release before the calmer, more piano-induced melodic rock number "Ballad of a Lonely God" kicks in and concludes with a driven, frantic guitar solo, unlike most songs gothic rock bands' songs nowadays. If Flowing Tears had gone for a more defined direction of this type, they could have offered a much-needed breath of fresh air into this genre, which is obviously getting more stale day by day. The following songs pretty much continue in the same way, except that they are more minimalistic, as on the moody "Snakes of Grey" or the Egyptian-themed "Maladine", a song featuring a traditional Arabic string instrument and Vogt's sorrow-filled, irresistible vocals.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by noted producer Waldemar Sorchyta, Razorbliss is a sonic joy to listen. The loud-loud-loud approach of Sorchyta seems to have worked well on this type of songs. This is a fairly good album, but considering Flowing Tears' potential, it could have been more original.
Flowing Tears January 16, 2009
Shiloh Kremer
Members
Helen Vogt
Benjamin Buss
David Vogt
Stefen Gemballa
Their original band's name was Flowing Tears & Withered Flowers, which they used on their first two full-length releases.
Virago and Undying are my favorite songs on "Razorbliss". This is a very unique album because singer Helen Vogt sings in a deep, almost vampire like manner. "Ballad of a Lonely God" is a haunting song in which Helen's lead and background vocals a very deep.
She does not use any high opera-style vocals on this album.
I give her credit for taking a different approach to singing Gothic music.
This is a five star album-
 . October 14, 2005
G. Breazeale (san francisco, ca)
So I am a huge Lacuna Coil fan. I happen upon an article that says "Lacuna Coil can ride the throne now, but when Razorbliss arrives, Flowing Tears will overtake the throne of goth metal", so naturally I buy the CD ond give it a whirl. Now, while the CD is good, I think that after about song 6 or so, the CD just gets boring. Most of the songs sound too similar, and Helen Vogt's vocals all sound the same and she never gets a chance to show off any vocal range. I do enjoy the first 5 songs, however, and hope to get into the last half of the record.
However, I don't think Razorbliss can touch either of Lacuna Coil's last two releases, "Comalies" or "Unleashed Memories", both of which are far superior in my opinion.
Razorbliss is a good disc to listen to, but just don't expect to be blown away. Give Lacuna Coil a try to be blown away.
Century Media should be paying attention to these guys! April 17, 2006
*The Sireness* (USA)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Paradise Lost meets Lacuna Coil"....Um I don't think so. Paradise Lost maybe. Flowing tears sound nothing like Lacuna Coil that's number 1 but they are signed to the same label Century Media.
Unfortunatley Century Media have spent the better of 2005-2006 promoting Karmacode for Lacuna Coil, where as they did nothing for Flowing Tears. That in itself is sad because Razorbliss is one of the best female gothic albums I have heard this year.
New frontwoman Helen Vogt is not your typical high pitched, operative style vocalist. She has a deep, sexy husky voice. Love it!
Originally named Flowing Tears And Withered Flowers when they formed in 1994, drummer Christian Zimmer (recently killed in a car crash with original guitarist Bjorn Lorson), guitarist/ keyboardist Benjamin Buss, vocalist Manfred Bersin, and drummer Frederic Lesny hooked up and recorded Swansongs in 1996. Female vocalist Stefanie Duchene and drummer Eric Hilt were added to the lineup and Bersin switched to guitarist for their sophomore release, 1998's Joy Parade. Big things happened when they shortened the name to Flowing Tears and released two successful albums (2000's Jade and 2002's Serpentine) which saw the band move in a more gothic direction, leaving behind their doom metal roots. Now new vocalist Helen Vogt steps in for Razorbliss, which was originally released last year but now Magick Records brings it to North American audiences.
It is a sad and undeniable shame that the societal majority has grown increasingly accustomed to accepting what marketing and advertising force-feeds them, as opposed to selecting the best alternative. If indeed the latter were the case it is not inconceivable that Germany's Flowing Tears would long ago have enjoyed a much greater level of popularity. Bred from the same generic stock as their label mates Lacuna Coil, _Razorbliss_ is the first Flowing Tears record to feature Helen Vogt on microphone duties -- and in case anyone is wondering, yes, aside from being quite fetching, she is also much better than her predecessor, Stefanie Duch?ne. In fact, word has it that she is largely to thank for the band's heavier approach this time round. That said though, every member of Flowing Tears has done a terrific job on _Razorbliss_, and particularly "Radium Angel" and "Believe" stand out as the highlights of their effort.
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