The Neonai is the fifth studio release by the gothic metal

Gothic metal

Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...

 band Lake of Tears

Lake of Tears

Lake of Tears is a Swedish band, generally considered to play gothic metal and doom metal. However, their sound has evolved considerably over the course of their career, expanding to include psychedelic rock, progressive metal, and, most recently, death metal....

. It was released in 2002, being finished off by Daniel Brennare alone, with little help from the other band members. The album was hastily completed to honor the band's contract with Black Mark Productions

Black Mark Productions

Black Mark Productions is an independent record label based in Sweden and an office in Germany that specializes in extreme metal releases, perhaps best known for its close connection to Quorthon, leader of the defining black metal band Bathory until his death in 2004...

. Practically, the band had been on a temporary hiatus since 2000 and Brennare focused on the songs he thought would be most easily produced and mastered. As a result, unlike earlier work by Lake of Tears, the album features a drum machine, a minimal guitar approach, and heavy use of keyboards and electronic equipment. Ironically, it featured some of the band's more memorable tunes, although they differ from the "classic" Lake of Tears sound and feel. A remixed version of the song "Sorcerers" was released as a single, with "Nathalie and the Fireflies" as a B-side.

Track listing

1. "Intro" - 1:11
2. "Return of Ravens" - 3:31
3. "The Shadowshires" - 4:09
4. "Solitude" - 5:26
5. "Leave a Room" - 4:12
6. "Sorcerers" - 3:51
7. "Can Die No More" - 3:44
8. "Nathalie and the Fireflies" - 3:31
9. "Let Us Go as They Do" - 4:20
10. "Down the Nile" - 4:24
11. "Outro" - 3:21

All songs written by Daniel Brennare and arranged by Ulf Wahlberg and Lake of Tears.

Line-up

• Daniel Brennare - vocals, guitar
• Mikael Larsson - bass
• Johan Oudhuis - drums

Additional musicians

• Magnus Sahlgren
  Magnus Sahlgren
  Magnus Sahlgren is a Swedish musician. He was the lead guitarist of the metal band Lake of Tears, whom his name is most associated with, until 2009. He also played with Dismember from 1998 to 2003 and with Tiamat during the recording of the acclaimed Wildhoney album in 1994...
  
  - guitars
• Jennie Tebler - lead vocals on "Sorcerers", backing vocals
• Ulf Wahlberg - keyboards

Credits

• Ulf Wahlberg - production, engineering
• Cleas Persson - mastering
• Börje Forsberg - executive production
• Christer Johansson - photography
• Klaudia Scharein - layout

External links

• Lake of Tears's official website
• Encyclopaedia Metallum bands by letter - L - Lake of Tears - The Neonai (retrieved 8-18-07)