It’s a little bit weird to say that 10 Years ago I was just starting to record the very first album “Lovelorn”. At that time I didn’t know that Lyncelia will become my prinicpal project, my goal, my life and that 10 years later we’ll be here more living than before.

I always keep few memories from recording session, maybe all the energy put on concentration erase my memories. I remember that these sessions were specials, it was the first recording made on my own in my studio just before quitting my room to a new appartment with more place. I discovered my style and my sound, all had to be done.

Equipped with my Lâg Arkane Gtr, my bass, my Virus TI and few Vst Instruments, I started these sessions to record the album “Lovelorn” making a first step for Lyncelia.

All the tracks were recorded in few days, first the drums and the Synths, then the Guitars, the bass and the voice. For the instruments, all goes very well but for the vocals it was quite harder. I wasn’t used to sing and I was searching for my voice. I had much headaches, disappointment and doubt when I recorded these vocals. I was depressed and angry to didn’t manage to perform what I had in my head. By the way, I was forced to do with that, to accept it and it forged my vocals style that, I hope, nobody can make it the same.

It also was my very experience on designing a cover album. I made it with a picture I took of a real Blue Rose my mother had. It was the perfect thing for this album and fitted so well on my music. I learnt the basis of cover design such as resolution, BCYM colors, cover size and more on Photoshop.

I’m still proud of this album even if I hear lots of defaults on it (both on the songs or on the sound) but I did the best I can at this time and I still had much pleasure to play these songs on stage.

Today I put the light on a band that didn’t exist and too fast forgotten: Din (A) Tod and their awesome second album “Westwerk”.

Sold at this time by Out of Line as a band making old shool 80’s Coldwave with a modern 00’s feel. I guessed what it could be and I went to their website to listen some excerpt that convinced me.

I order the album and it was a blast. All was perfect in this album: Energy, Sound, modernity, voices, songs. An awesome disc that changed many things in Lyncelia early days.

The first song gives the tune, energy, synths, drum machines and coldwave guitars; but the second song “Westwerk” had my intentions with the drum soud (especially the snare one, I’m still searching for a snare like that) and the Cure / Joy Division simple bass part. The voice, low and sensual, told me how I had to sing in Lyncelia.

This album contains lots of good songs as “Glory in the highest” with its female and languorous voice for a song with lots of synths in a melancholic and gothic feel. A masterpiece I’m not fed up to listen.

They made a cover of Joy Division “Warsaw” in a good modern version but not as good as the original one. One of the last songs “Flames on clavary” is on of my favorite. A songs with lots of synths but what a song. Hypnotizing with these sounds enveloping me in a sonic balance with female voice and mid-tempo drum machine beating hard.

It’s a shame this band didn’t go further after this 2nd album. I was waiting for another one. Din (A) Tod could go further and become a great international band. But I understand, it’s hard to make a better album than “Westwerk”.

– Alexis –

After the Gothic Metal of Theatre of Tragedy and Paradise Lost, today I come back on our pure Gothic influences with this other cult band Clan of Xymox and the album “Creatures” from 1998.

I discover this band around 2005-2006, some friend of mine told me to listen to this album.

I must say that the album start well with a really strong song, for me one of their best, “Jasmine and Rose”.

After a beautiful Piano intro, the tempo grow up on a drum beat almost coming from the 80’s with clear guitars on bass parts that still shakes all the Goth club dancefloors.

The melodic sense of Clan of Xymox on this album is really precise and know how to make great and simple melodies. The sound is also a great part of their talent, reminding the best of the 80’s while staying modern.

“Creature” will hypnotize you with subtle synthesizers arrangements, really present but discreet without drowning the mix in too much sound.

Other great song, “Consolation” is my favourite songs and defined, for me, what must be Gothic Music. Melancholic, desperate with strong emotions. Guitars in arpeggios, a clear bass, a drum with a great reverb and heartbreaking lyrics. That’s what must be Gothic Music, resonating all that is hidden deep in your soul.

The next song “Waterfront” plunge into obscurity with a mid-tempo song with strong lyrics. The synths are more distorted to oulined this plaintive voice.

For me, “Creatures” is the best of Gothic Music as powerful as The Sisters of Mercy. It was a big influence for Lyncelia and Clan of Xymox is one the bands I’ve most seen on stage. Even if they release, this last years less interesting albums, Clan of Xymox remains one the best Gothic bands ever.

– Alexis –

Once again a cult album, even if I discovered Paradise Lost with another album (“Icon” in 1997 but I didn’t love it. I wasn’t prepared to love Paradise Lost at this time).

I must say that when “Draconian Times” came out, it makes some noise and it was justified cause it’s a great album. Even today, each Paradise Lost fan is upset when you say “Draconian Times”.

This album and this band were very important for me and Lyncelia cause my way of writing music changed just after I listened it.

I love how they write music with two distinctive guitar parts, each one must be with the other one. The lead parts aren’t guitar hero solos confirming that the guitarist is playing so fast but are melodic parts changing the songs. Take off this parts and the songs are melodically disfigured. That’s here that Paradise Lost is great. Gregor Mackintosch is a great Guitar player and composer, I never get bored to listen or to see on stage. All the melodies are ciseled and justified, not too much or less notes. All is perfect in a melancholic feel.

The first songs “Enchantment” and “Hallowed land” are Gothic-Metal masterpieces, even more Gothic than Metal, almost Gothic-Rock. but the better songs are after, “Forever Failure” is one of these.

A down tempo almost Doom, melancholic guitar notes, clean guitar arpeggios making my cry, a voice both powerful and soft and a final guitar lead ending this song in a gothic climax. This song is not going to go out of my mind.

I also find these feelings in the song “Jaded” that end the album on this track full of desperate melodies and clean hypnotizing aerial guitars. This song is perfect rarely reached. When I hear this song I must stop to listen it and plunge into it. I’m taken in this song emphasizing all that is deep hidden in my soul in a deafening sensorial vortex.

My favorite songs are the downtempo ones. A melancholic feel resonating in me, in my guts.

In 2005, this album comforts me to make a Gothic music project taking from The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy and Clan of Xymox coldwave and taking from the way that Paradise Lost and Theatre of Tragedy treats their guitars.

This blend was natural for me car it gathered all that I loved and all I wanted to do in a Gothic feel few years later with Lyncelia.

the new song “Beloved” is now online on our Youtube Channel to make you patient until the release of our new album “The Beauty of Doubt” on September 2019.

This song is based on the myth of Andromeda who was unchained to the sea to save her people. “Beloved” is about accepting our fate whatever we need to sacrifice from our life to acheive it.

With “Beloved”, we developed the Gothic-Rock side of our music with a sensual shot of drama by the add of female vocals.

This mid tempo song reminds the best of Gothic-Rock such as The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission or Theatre of Tragedy with the brand that characterizes us from our very first album in 2010.

Enjoy & share!

We took the decision to postponed the release date of our new album to September 2019 cause we need extra time to well-finished it.

We had some delay times with the preparation and organization of the previous and next concerts and with the recording of the female vocals.
Amélie was ill during few weeks and we needed to wait until she recover her entire voice to have the best results. We recorded her tracks 2 weeks ago and I’m working on the final mixing of this last song.

– Alexis –

Our next concert will be on saturday 25 May 2019 in Paris @Concorde Atlantique.

We’re opening the Secret Night Gothic Party and we’ll play some new songs from our very new album (release in September 2019).

Don’t forget to participate on the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/802621223437740/

Entrance: 12€ (Concert + Gothic Party until dawn)

Bateau Concorde Atlantique, face au 23 quai Anatole France, 75007 Paris, (M°Concorde or Assemblée Nationale).

I remember the first time I listened to this album. It was several months after my entry in the Gothic Underground and I saw the name The Sisters of Mercy on each gothic party flyers in the list of music.

I was making my gothic culture to know it better, to feel it, to absorb it and at least to live it. I decided to download on the web this band’s albums for, at last, discover what was said a cult band according to all goth people (throughout the world).

I started by listening to the first one, “First & Last & Always” from 1985. The first song “Black Planet” didn’t impressed me, honestly it didn’t makes effects on me.

The second song “Walkaway” followed with its drum fill introduction, and it was a big blast!

The guitar sound, clear and powerful was perfect with the bass made me thrill. And the voice, what can we say about it? ultra low end voice giving a tragic side to their music.

The other songs followed up and I couldn’t escape my ears from these. “No time to cry” and its guitar riffs with chorus/Flanger effects, great sound entering in my head forever. In The Sisters of Mercy I found an echo to The Cure (at that time, Robert Smith got all my musical awareness).

“Marian” was my Goth music passion detonator, even today this song is still one of my favourite. I knew it in parties without knowing it was the Sisters. This song convinced me that I was listening to an album that will be important for me. A masterpiece.

Aerial guitars, powerful bass, a beating drum machine and a low end expressive voice. Both danceable, cold, dark but easy to listen.

After it, I knew that I wanted to play this kind of music. I was looking for a way to express all the melancholia I had deep down in me and The Sisters gave me the keys to this way.

I also found this feel in song “Nine While Nine” with its recognizable guitar riff (later inspiring me the main riff of “Persistence of Vision”).

Then the final song “Some Kind of Stranger” closing the album with a powerful song, all in melancholia and retained energy to explode at the end with the great voice of Andrew Eldritch.

End.

I didn’t know where I was, I experienced an intense thing that it was hard to came back.

From this, I bought their entire discography that I listened and listened again.

This band remains en exception, often imitated, never equaled.

And you, what do you think about this album?

10 years ago I was playing the very first Lyncelia show. A great experienced that changed my life.

10 years later, still on stage with Lyncelia (and some more weight…)

Between these 2 dates almost everything has changed except my passion for music and my faith for Gothic style. It’s not a fashion for us but a way of life.

Third article of this thread, today I talk about an album I do adore, this is “Aegis” from Theatre of Tragedy.

Important album cause this is with this one that I started to enter in the Gothic universe in 1998. At this time I only swear with Metal (and the Spice Girls!), I wasn’t fan of Gothic Music that my friends loved. It was too down-tempo or too repetitive until this album came out.

A friend of mine let me listen to this album. Without being convinced I put it on my cd desk. The album opens on the song “Cassandra”. From the very first note I’m hypnotized, the drum sound is awesome, clear and powerful (I love this Reverb), the piano very captivating and the 12 Strings guitars with arpeggios take me away. The singer comes with a low and clear voice that suits the music (the singer gave up with Metal grunts for a Sisters of Mercy like vocals).

Then on the middle of the song Liv Kristine starts to sing. And I’m blown away, lost in time and space.

Her clear voice with an extreme sweetness is so emotional, a real melancholy entering in my mind and soul to never came back out of it.

A mastered fragility, she reach each notes with a divine sweetness without failing. Her voice is crystal clear and perfect and she’ll never sing like that after this album.

From this day, Liv Kristine is one of my favourite female singer, her voice captivate me each time I listen to.

My work on adding female voices in Lyncelia came from that and I have the chance to have great singers in my family whose voices are like Liv Kristine’s one. I couldn’t dream better.

“Lorelei” with its upper tempo is a Gothic-Rock / Gothic-Metal Hit, they made the perfect synthesis of these 2 genres. Back on melancholic sensuality with the great “Angélique” with its acoustic guitars and arpeggios. Perfect match with “Aoede” and its 2 voices chorus. “Siren” and “Venus” make no doubt, Liv Kristine lead this album from start to end with her crystal clear voice.

All in this album is perfect, each notes are justified. Nothing unwanted, all is necessary. No demonstrations, just emotions. Male voice and female voice suits well in a perfect chord on Shakespearian Beauty lyrics with lots of old English.

This album is apart from their discography, their was a before in Doom-Metal and an after in Electro-Metal. They never managed to find this perfection and the feeling of this album more Gothic than Metal. A Masterpiece. Thank you Theatre of Tragedy.

And you, what inspire you this album?