After more than three decades, Lacrimas Profundere are showing no signs of slowing down. With vocalist Julian, the German gothic metal veterans have embraced a renewed energy, combining their established gothic roots with darker, heavier and more modern influences.
Their new album “Lay Me Down O Silent Fear” sees the band pushing their boundaries further, while exploring themes of loneliness, human connection, fear and the many complexities of being human. In this interview, Julian talks about his evolution within Lacrimas Profundere, the creative freedom behind the new record, his approach to vocals, the importance of their live shows, and the ambitious plans that lie ahead.
M.I. - How are you? Was your summer very busy and intense?
It’s been super busy and intense, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. I’m in Finland for a couple of days right now, taking care of a bunch of things, and then I’m jumping straight back into the release shows for the record. It’s been relentless, but what is life but a dream?
M.I. - This is your third album with Lacrimas Profundere, right? Were you a fan of the band before joining?
Yes. This is the third album I’ve done with them. I used to listen to Lacrimas Profundere very early on. The funny thing is that at the very first show I ever played with my first band, when I was a kid, we actually played a couple of Lacrimas covers. They were definitely part of my development. I stopped listening to them after a while, probably around “Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts”, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. After that, I started moving forward, getting into a lot of different genres and exploring my vocals through other influences.
M.I. - You’re about as old as the band is. Is the age gap ever strange? How is the chemistry between the band members?
It is funny. There are moments when you notice that our lives are at very different stages. At the same time, when you meet Oliver, despite his age, he’s pretty much a kid. You can see that he’s probably one of the youngest people in the band in terms of his heart and his mind, which is lovely. We’ve had so many great moments and memories. We’ve travelled together, spent a lot of time together, laughed a lot and had a great time, so the age difference doesn’t represent a problem at all. There are just little moments when you realise, “Okay, our lives are clearly at different stages.”
There’s also a difference in our musical influences. I grew up with a different generation of music, which is one of the reasons Lacrimas is such a hybrid band now. There are very different influences, from the classical stuff to considerably more modern sounds.
M.I. - Do you think your arrival as a younger vocalist has brought more attention to the band and attracted new listeners?
Absolutely. I think it has been one of the most important things that has happened to the band. (laughs) When I joined Lacrimas, Oliver needed a new spark. He needed to feel that he could climb up again and do the things musically that he had wanted to do for a while but had perhaps been unable or afraid to do.
Nowadays, around 50 to 60 percent of the people at our shows are people who discovered us recently, either through the newest records or through the festivals we’ve played. So there is definitely some truth to the idea that changing the equation of the band and creating this hybrid of older and more modern sounds has brought new people in.
The shows themselves are also completely different from what they used to be. They were probably more introspective in the past, whereas now they’re very energetic, explosive and connected to the audience. With the new line-up, the live shows are like night and day. They’re powerful, shocking and magnetic. It doesn’t matter whether someone is from the metal crowd or not. People recognise that there is something worth watching, and that makes them more open to a project like Lacrimas. I think all these elements have contributed to where the band is today.
M.I. - Four years have passed since the previous album, but during that time you played more than 100 concerts. Did that enormous amount of live experience change the way you approached the new album?
Definitely. The shows have become a very important part of the band. Lacrimas is now a very live band; it’s a band to experience.
Over the previous couple of years, our setlist started to feel incomplete. We needed songs that supported the kind of shows we were playing. We obviously have our legendary legacy tracks, which we’ll probably always play, but we found ourselves in situations where we were playing much more metal-oriented shows and wondering which songs would work best in that environment.
With this record, we wanted to create something that would give us the energy we need on stage and allow us to have a complete setlist that we can really move through. If we’re playing a more gothic festival, we have the whole catalogue to choose from. But if we’re playing a more metal festival, these new songs give us the perfect setlist for lighting everything on fire.
M.I. - After 33 years, many bands would probably feel comfortable simply repeating the same formula. You’ve done the opposite. Was there a conscious decision to push yourselves further rather than simply make another album?
When I joined the band after the previous record, Lacrimas was actually in a delicate position. Their latest record wasn’t doing as well as expected, and there were nowhere near as many people coming to the shows as there are now. That was one of the reasons Oliver was understandably afraid of making the decision to put me in as the singer. I could have been the last nail in the coffin for the band. But he took the risk.
We first rehearsed at the Backstage Club in Munich, where we’re also going to play a release show. Oliver was even afraid to reintroduce some of the screaming parts on “Bleeding the Stars”, because he had seen comments from people saying it was too much. But he wanted to do it, so he took the risk. He knew he couldn’t play it safe anymore because it wasn’t working. The generations were changing, the industry was changing and the market was changing. Everything changes.
When I joined, it was probably the most delicate moment in the band’s history, so there was a lot of nervousness about whether it would work or whether it would be the final bullet. But, long story short, it worked incredibly well. We had a very good run with “Bleeding the Stars”. We got great reviews, achieved better chart positions and started climbing again. More people were discovering us through the shows and wondering, “What the hell is going on? When did Lacrimas become like this?” We kept growing, moving forward and taking risks. Oliver is now at a point where he’s very comfortable taking those risks. He can say, “I’m going to do what I want to do musically,” and I’m very happy that people are celebrating that rather than rejecting it.
M.I. - So, you joining the band was the best thing that happened to Lacrimas Profundere in recent years?
You said it, I didn’t! (Laughs) We actually joke about that a lot.
Recently, we were at a festival where Christopher, the original singer, was also there. I’m very good friends with him. We love and respect each other, and we have a great time together. We were talking about the record, and he told me he thought it was a very good album and that he was really happy with the songs. Then Oliver was sitting on the couch and said, “You know what? I’m so happy with this album. I think it’s the best album we’ve done.” We all started laughing because Christopher was there. Christopher laughed too and said, “Well, it’s a very good record. Almost the best one.” It’s beautiful that we can all celebrate the different eras of the band. I celebrate Christopher’s era, and Christopher celebrates this era with me.
I also remember one time at the Backstage Club when Christopher told me, “Julian, I think with you the band can reach the top again.” That meant a lot to me because I grew up watching him on TV. I’m very happy that we’ve been able to deliver on that and that the band has grown so much. The growth has happened step by step. We’re not the biggest band in the world, but we’ve made very strong progress. Oliver recently told me that one of our shows was the best-selling show we’d ever had. He later clarified that the band’s peak in the early days may have been comparable, but it was still one of the best shows we’ve ever had.
I’m incredibly happy that we’ve been able to deliver after hearing him say that the band is back at the top.
M.I. – What more can you ask for now?
Emotionally, it’s very rewarding and it means a lot to me. But there’s still a lot of work to do. We want to create more awareness around the project. The times have changed a lot. When Christopher was in the band, label budgets were very different. There was much more money going into videos and album production, and the market was completely different.
We’re not in the same situation now, but we want to keep growing and reaching more countries. I want to go to Portugal, the US, more places in Europe, Mexico and many other places.
My ambition is not only to bring Lacrimas back to the level where the band was at its peak, but actually to surpass it. I want to be on a stage someday in front of thousands of people at a headline show and have Oliver feel that we’ve gone further than the band ever did before. I’m a very ambitious person. I like challenging myself vocally, mentally, physically and personally. My next step is to create even more awareness, connect with more people and let them know that we’re here and that we can play a show they’ll never forget.
M.I. - Lacrimas Profundere has been compared to huge acts such as HIM, The Cure, Slipknot, Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. Do you see those comparisons as a compliment, or can they become limiting when you’re trying to create something new?
Congratulations on your questions. I love your questions!
At the beginning of one’s development as a musician, there’s a point where you feel very flattered when people compare you to bands that you love. Then you go through a stage where you don’t want people comparing you to anyone because you think you’re completely unique and individual. I’m at a different stage now. I understand that people try to understand something through their own perspective. If they hear a band using lower vocals or screams, they’re naturally going to think of certain bands.
All the bands you mentioned have been part of my development. I don’t reject the comparisons, but I don’t really compare myself to them either. What I’ve tried to do is create a hybrid of everything I love. People sometimes forget that all their favourite bands are also hybrids of different influences. That’s simply how we create and how we learn.
Slipknot, for example, is one of my favourite bands. Corey Taylor is one of my biggest influences, both as an artist and as a songwriter. I also admire Avenged Sevenfold a lot. HIM is a band we all love; they were part of our childhood and have very specific and beautiful melodic work. I also love Bring Me the Horizon.
What I do is create hybrids. I expand my vocals as much as I can, challenge myself to do things I haven’t done before, and try to create new colours and combinations. I like imagining what might happen if you put one band together with another and then add something completely different on top of it. That’s how I see those comparisons: people trying to understand you through their own lens.
M.I. - Your vocals are a major part of this album’s identity. You move between clean gothic singing and darker passages. Did you approach the recording with the idea of deliberately exploring the full range of your voice?
One of the most characteristic parts of my career as a singer is that I’ve always challenged myself to ask, “What else can I do? What new texture can I create? What new colour can I bring? How can I mix all these things?”
This is the first record where I recorded at my own studio in Finland. After the previous two albums, I felt that I’d had enough of the process of going into a studio and rushing through everything because of time constraints. Some songs weren’t completely finished and some lyrics weren’t quite there, so it was shocking for me to suddenly stand in front of the microphone without knowing exactly how a song should be. I didn’t like that feeling, so this time I decided to record at my own studio and do things my way. I wanted to take the time to go carefully through the songs, write extra parts where necessary, design the harmonies and decide exactly how I wanted everything to sound. I wanted to explore all those textures because music and art are about much more than simply hitting the right pitch, tone and timing. I worked on this record the way I normally work on my own music. I also added some post-production elements that aren’t normally used and paid attention to a lot of small details, shaping and sculpting everything vocally. My main goal was to have control over the sound and design it the way I wanted, rather than having to settle for something because of a lack of time or focus.
M.I. - So you can really listen to what each song needs and decide whether it requires something more growled, clean or melodic?
Exactly. The clean vocals, for example, aren’t just generic clean vocals. I like vocals that have expression. I’m obsessive about even the way I attack the very first word. Sometimes I’ll change a word simply because another word has a sound that gives me a stronger attack. It’s about balancing the lyrical work with the intention I want to create vocally.
Take “Days of Doom”, for example. The very first note I sing in the chorus falls and blends perfectly with the kick, creating a very firm punch. It’s not simply a clean, high vocal; there’s a lot of grief and thickness in it. Everything is designed to serve the song.
“O Silent Fear”, for example, had a section that hadn’t been written. I remember being in the middle of the night, around 4 a.m., unable to sleep because I was thinking about the record. I went into the vocal booth and listened to that part and thought, “Something is missing here.”
There were screams everywhere, and although the section was very moving, something was missing. So I wrote the lyrics and created a more emotional melody for that part. I didn’t want to leave it unfinished simply because of a lack of time.
M.I. - “Days of Doom” is the album opener, and you’ve described its sound as a punch. Was choosing it as the opening track deliberate, to immediately show listeners that they weren’t going to get what they expected?
Absolutely. We wanted to start with “Days of Doom” because it sets the perfect pace and atmosphere for entering the world of the record. “Silent Fear” has a very apocalyptic feeling. When you pay attention to the lyrics, especially in the verses, there are these ancient images. I often write lyrics based on paintings that I have in my mind when I’m thinking about a song. I try to describe figures, places and characters through the lyrics.
“Days of Doom” is therefore the perfect introduction to the world, feeling and atmosphere we wanted for the record. The chorus is very epic and grows with every repetition as I add more vocals, eventually creating something like a choir announcing the days of doom. That’s why we chose it. I think it opens the gates perfectly into the world of “Silent Fear”.
M.I. - The album’s central themes seem to revolve around loneliness, loss and a desperate desire for human closeness. How much do you relate to that personally?
I’m a very isolated person. I live in Finland, and in that sense I’m almost the perfect adopted Finn. I live pretty much in the forest, and obviously it gets very dark here. I’m also a very introspective person. My brother is a philosopher, so from a very early age we’ve talked and discussed a lot of subjects, looking at humanity and trying to understand what’s happening around us. There’s a very big layer to the idea of social disconnection. With songs like “Nevermore”, for example, there’s this idea that we never meant to act like enemies, but at the same time there’s a sense that people don’t need to understand everything.
I think human beings are extremely complex, yet we often try to create versions of ourselves that are marketable because that’s how the world functions. I’m an advocate for embracing everything that makes us human and approaching ourselves not only through happiness and brightness, or through grief, fear and loneliness, but through all the different shades and varieties we have.
At a personal level, it’s not necessarily that I feel lonely or afraid. It’s more about what I see happening in the world and how complex human beings are. Of course, there are very difficult moments when we don’t even know if we want to be around anymore, but that’s part of everything too. Nostalgia, for example, is a very interesting feeling. It isn’t simply wrong, bad or negative; it has many layers. Fear is another example. It’s a double-edged sword. It can stop you from doing something that could become the greatest thing in your life, but it can also prevent you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life. It depends on how you navigate all these things.
The album dives deeply into the different layers of humanity. That’s where songs like “Veil XV” come into the picture. It deals with the different layers of a person and the way we try to create marketable versions of ourselves to coexist with the world. Sometimes we bypass certain feelings or thoughts, but I think we should be more capable of exploring everything that we are.
M.I. - Which song from the new album is your personal favourite?
That’s a very difficult question. I think “Nevermore” has a special place in my heart. For me, it’s the perfect mix between the gothic world I love and the alternative rock and alternative metal of the late ’90s and early 2000s.
I also really like “A Sinful Desire”. It has a very dark harmony, and almost everything I work on has a strong layer of darkness. I love that track, even though I have a bit of trauma with the C-part and the break because I recorded some things that didn’t end up on the record. The band made that part much more intense, and I loved what they did with it. “Days of Doom” was also my favourite at one point during the recording. I remember thinking, “Wow, this thing is everything.” Then I recorded songs like “Faceless” and “Arcane Promises” and became just as excited about them. That’s what I try to achieve when I create and record: I want to be excited myself and look forward to hearing the next little detail.
M.I. - What are the plans now?
We’re going to do a couple of release shows in a few weeks. The first one is in Weinheim on September 25, and the second is in Madgeburg on the 26th and Munich on September 30. At those shows, we’ll have a signing session beforehand and spend more time with the people, talking about the record and the songs and having a little more direct contact than normally happens at headline shows.
Oliver and the band in general are very shy. I’m not. Even though I’m a very isolated person, there’s another part of me that comes alive on stage.
M.I. - You transform when you’re doing what you love, singing and meeting the fans.
I’m a Gemini, so I have quite a lot of that duality, and it’s also reflected in my vocals. There’s a lot of duality in what I do.
M.I. - Will you be touring to promote the new album?
We’re also working with a new booking agency, which we’re very proud of. They became interested in the band because they believe in us and have seen what we’re capable of doing on stage. There’s a very good feeling around the new record in the industry. We recently reached number three in the Top 10 of Rock Antenne radio in Munich and the Bavarian region, which is also thanks to everyone supporting me personally and supporting the band.
The new booking agency is already working hard to get us into new festivals we’ve never played before, including some bigger ones. Hopefully, we’ll reach more and more countries. It’s going to be a very busy but very exciting time. Everyone who connects with the band can expect some of the most energetic, shocking and impressive shows they’ve ever seen.
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Questions by Sónia Fonseca
