Lacrimosa – Sehnsucht (Special Edition) (2009)

Today we have the special ‘special edition’ of Lacrimosa’s “Sehnsucht” album released in North America by End of Light Records. This special ‘special edition’ features the regular special edition of this release with the slightly different songs and a full extra CD with some remixes and older songs. This edition features the ‘color’ version of the artwork and the full booklet filled with pictures and the lyrics of the songs.

“Sehnsucht” has always been one of our least favorite albums of the band due to the somewhat considerable difference to their previous more conceptual releases. However, in terms of experimentation and musical maturity, this release is indeed the best the band has ever recorded so far. This release features a more ‘free-flowing’ approach and the music is very well composed, but lacks the whole ‘experience’ of a conceptual release with many different moods that progress over time.

In this review we will further avoid our own personal (and very strong) opinions and dislikes about this release, and we will focus on reviewing the actual differences of the ‘special edition’ release and the extra CD presented in the North American release by End of Light. Six out of the original ten songs are presented in ‘special version’ format, and some of them are actually better than on the original version of the album.

The first ‘different’ song is “Mandira Nabula”, and while we enjoyed the original version more, this edition packs more power. “A.U.S” is one of our favorite songs in the original album, and we found ourselves enjoying this version a lot. The same happens with “I Lost My Star in Krasnodar”, a track that has always reminded us of the Lacrimosa we enjoy the most, and the rendition presented on this album is also top notch.

Of the remaining three songs on CD 1, we enjoy the different arrangements on “Call Me with the Voice of Love” and the beauty and catchiness of “Koma”. This pretty much rounds up the ‘regular’ version of the ‘special edition’ of Sehnsucht, and we will be moving on to CD 2. This second disc kicks off with a very heavy version of “I Lost My Star In Krasnodar” that is actually quite enjoyable and different from what we have heard so far. We are then treated to the single and regular version of “Durch Nacht & Flut”, one of our all-time favorite tracks of Lacrimosa and both versions are equally enjoyable, even if the single version is a full 2 minutes shorter than the ‘real’ version.

“Und Du Fallst” is one of those Lacrimosa with electronic elements ‘meh’ type of songs and flies by really quickly. The remix of “Komet” is actually quite entertaining, but remixes are by far something we really like and many times end up ruining songs for us, like they do on the “Durch Nacht & Flut” remix that follows. The remixing of “Not Every Pain Hurts” presented here made us want to puncture our eardrums, but it is probably because this song is one of our favorite ones and we really really dislike remixes.

Overall, we think that this special ‘special edition’ of Lacrimosa’s “Sehnsuch” is a pretty necessary addition to any fan of the band that is looking for anything from this band. The extra CD presents some goodies that the European versions of this release don’t have and this makes it a good buy for super fans of the band. However, if you are trying to be introduced to this band’s sound or the genre itself, we would recommend the older releases like “Stille” or “Elodia”.

Release: 2011

Country: Switzerland/Germany