Lament for the Weary
Lament for the Weary | ||||
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File:Seventh Angel - Lament for the Weary.jpg | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Recorded | 4–16 July 1991 | |||
Studio | ICC Studios in Eastbourne, England | |||
Genre | Christian metal, thrash metal, doom metal | |||
Length | 55:45 | |||
Label | Edge Records, Under One Flag (Music for Nations), Retroactive Records | |||
Producer | Roy M. Rowland | |||
Seventh Angel chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Cross Rhythms | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lament for the Weary is Christian thrash metal band Seventh Angel's second studio album, released in 1992 on Music for Nations. The album saw the band incorporating doom metal elements to thrash. The album garnered generous reviews from British music press at the time.
Recording history
The album was recorded during 4–16 July 1991 at ICC Studios with producer Roy Rowland. The album was mixed during 1–10 August 1991. The cover art was done by British fantasy artist Rodney Matthews.
On the album, the style changed to a more progressive and atmospheric combination of doom metal and thrash. The guitars were tuned down to D, and the compositions include acoustic passages such as on the title track, driven with a samples of raining to create a melancholic atmosphere. The drummer Tank's musicianship is more varied compared to that on The Torment (1990). The album begins with a mid-tempo instrumental. The tempo increases as "Life in All Its Emptiness" begins. Arkley plays curbed yet intimidating solos and melodies on technical rhythm guitar riffs. Lament for the Weary is a concept album about a man who suffered abuse during childhood and struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts in adulthood. On his deathbed, he gets his childhood faith back and is not afraid to die anymore.
Reception
Lynn Williams of UK magazine Cross Rhythms wrote in an issue published on 1 July 1992 that Lament for the Weary is a clear improvement over The Torment and called Lament "superior thrash".[1] In a 2005 review of the album's re-issue, The Whipping Post's Matt Morrow states that Lament for the Weary belongs to one of the very best albums of heavy metal music in general and that the album is "a classic in every sense of the word".[2] In the 2005 re-issue edition's liner notes, Nick Bolton writes that "the guitar work led one reviewer to declare that the album contains some of the best guitar solos he had ever heard". After the release the band played concerts in Germany and the Netherlands.
Track listing
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
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1. | "Recollections of a Life Once Lived" (Instrumental) |
| 2:53 | |
2. | "Life in All Its Emptiness[a]" | Arkley | Arkley | 5:12 |
3. | "No Longer a Child[a]" | Arkley |
| 5:55 |
4. | "Full of Blackness" | Arkley |
| 6:02 |
5. | "Lament for the Weary" (Instrumental) | Arkley | 2:18 | |
6. | "Woken by Silence[a]" | Arkley |
| 6:19 |
7. | "Falling Away from Reality" | Arkley |
| 4:54 |
8. | "Dark Shadows[a]" | Arkley |
| 5:34 |
9. | "Passing of Years" (Instrumental) |
| 4:14 | |
10. | "Secure in Eternity" | Rawson |
| 6:05 |
11. | "Farewell to Human Cries" |
|
| 6:19 |
Total length: | 55:45 |
- a live version appears on Heed the Warning: Live & Demo Recordings (2005)
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "The Turning Tide (2008 Demo)[b]" | 5:09 |
Total length: | 60:54 |
- b appears on the Demo Collection (2017)
Personnel
Seventh Angel
Production
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Additional personnel
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References
- ^ a b Williams, Lynn (1 July 1992). "Seventh Angel – Lament for the Weary" (online). Cross Rhythms Magazine. Cross Rhythms (11). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ "Seventh Angel – Lament for the Weary". Morrow, Matt. The Whipping Post. 2005.