LACRIMOSA Lacrimosahasdeliveredanotherbeautifulalbumwith‘Leidenschaft’, in their well known mix of gothic with symphonic orchestratedmetal.Wehad thechance todiscuss the recordwith mastermindTiloWolff,and theman appears tobe quitephilosophical aswell as veryreligious.He denies that the record revolves entirely around the corona pandemic - as we initially thought - although he does address the subject. But let's just listen towhat he has to say. Dear Tilo. Congratulations on a new masterpiece. ‘Leidenschaft’ is, again, a great Lacrimosa album. When reading the lyrics, I couldn't help but notice that the title is linkedwith the corona pandemic. Is the subtitle ‘Eine Geschichte der entflammbaren Seele’ (a story of an incendiary soul) also connected to the pandemic? And does this make'Leidenschaft' a concept album? TILOWOLFF: First of all,thankyou for your nicewords about the new album! I am happy when people like it,because I love this album very much! And yes, somehow this is as much a concept album as all other Lacrimosa albums because every album has its inner core around which all songs are circling.The name of each album sets the theme and each song takes on this theme in its own way, explores and reflects on it.This is also the case here again,even thoughwe didn’t divide the album into several acts. But this album is all about ‘Leidenschaft’, which can’t be translated one to one with the Englishword‘passion’because in the German word the meaning of suffering is part of the interpretation of the word.And this brings us to the subtitle because to feel Leidenschaft is like burning from the inside! So this subtitle is not so much connected to the pandemic but more to the deeper meaning of the album title‘Leidenschaft’.It is impossible to escape the topic of corona these days. In‘Kulturasche’(CulturalAshes),you lament on thewayculture hasbeen treated.Just at the timewhereweneeded it themost, times of loneliness and fear, the culture sector was closed down.Didyou suffer personallyfromthe cultural lockdown? TILOWOLFF: Yes,you describe it right. It is a crying shame! And www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 24 - in that sense,I am suffering in this situation.I didn’t suffer mentally in the lockdown but I see how people lost their jobs and theatres, clubs and restaurants had to close and I noticed how much the people would need culture and art in these bitter times! So yes, this song is all about the way in which governments areblind to theentirepicture in the fight against thevirus –it is good and important to fight against it but this fight should not turn against the people but it did. The song ‘Augenschein’ (Eyeglance) also deals with the pandemic, in particularwith the heated debates about the restrictions, thevaccines,et cetera.You also sing‘Not everythingnew is good for us /Not everything is progress’.What do youmean bythis? TILO WOLFF: This song is only partly about the pandemic.The phraseyoupickedout is about thebeliefofeveryupcominggeneration, that theywould know everything better. If we look back into history, we clearly can see that this is not the case. Many people only see their own state ofmind and their own personal needs and are blind to the whole.For example,take the climate crisis.People living in the countryside,taking care of sustainable cultivation and the environment,are attacked as environmental polluters when they drive to the citywith their SUVs,which they need out in the countryside because of the lack of public transportation and of proper roads out there. Just the same, which topicwe pickout,toomanypeople think theyknowbestwithout having inmind,that they don’t see the entire picture. The song‘Die Liebenden’ (The Lovers) seems to bring salvation, and goes back to a classic theme in the lyrics of Lacrimosa: love. The pandemic has restricted our freedoms but freedom can always be found in true love. Is this themessage of the song? Canyou elaborate on that? TILO WOLFF: This album is much less about the pandemic as youmight think.I wrote this song before Covid started,but yes,I think that freedom is to be found in love.This brings us back to theprevious topicbecause I have the feeling that thepeopleunlearn to be caring for each other. Everyone is busy with them
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