As I have learned over the past 7 years or so, not too many people have heard of Lake Of Tears. This is another one of those bands I found early on when I began listening to metal, and led me to appreciate other bands with similar styles like Amorphis and Sentenced. Formed in the early 90s as a traditional doom outfit, Lake Of Tears evolved their sound into a more melodic, almost gothic sound beginning on this, their third album, and fully manifesting on their 1999 masterpiece Forever Autumn. A Crimson Cosmos has always been very enjoyable to me because of the many different influences and layered instruments, yet they give this album a theme that makes all the songs flow very well together.

One thing I have always liked about Lake Of Tears is they have a unique style that blends bluesy, melodic elements with traditional doom metal. Much of the music on this album is quite melodic and catchy, with several ballads and slower songs, though there are also a good number of quicker songs. The opener Boogie Bubble begins with melodic clean electric guitar that soon opens into heavy riffs that pick you right up and make you want to just rock out. Cosmic Weed goes in a similar direction. When My Sun Comes Down slows things down a bit with a lot of distorted, slow moving riffs layered with clean guitar. Devil's Diner gets the rocking going again with catchy riffs and excellent keyboard work from Pelle Hogbring. I really like the way keyboards are used on this album, adding some unique styling to the music, but staying subtle most of the time. This is one song where they really take a lead role, and it works quite well. Every song on this album has a different feeling, though they all flow nicely together. It's easy to just sit down and listen to the whole thing in one sitting, never losing interest. The Four Strings Of Mourning adds a more somber note to the album, a bit darker and turning up the amount of slow melody. The guitar work is quite pronounced here, and quite well done, especially the wandering solos.

Daniel Brennare's vocals are another part of this band that I really like. He can do raw, deep doom-styled growls, yet he also has quite a melodic clean singing voice. While I wouldn't say this is his best work, it's definitely close. This album at times reminds me of some of Amorphis's work from Tuonela or Am Universum without the more progressive elements of course. Similarities are in the vocals and the backing keyboards, and the overall tone/atmosphere of the songs. A Crimson Cosmos is probably the song that does atmosphere the best. To Die Is To Wake is good, but this is better and more epic, creating a soundscape of serenity with clean electric guitar and some soft backing keyboards. I think this is where Brennare's clean vocals shine the most on this album, those he doesn't use much of his range. The guitar solo is also excellent; just a very bluesy, chill song that ends the album perfectly.

I actually heard stuff from Forever Autumn before getting this album, but after listening to both for years, I think this is very close on quality to what many consider the band's best album. As I mentioned earlier I love the variety here. The instruments are also very well done, showing the bands growing maturity and sense of depth. All in all this is a very solid album, in my opinion one of the band's best and one that I will continue to listen to regularly.