Search - L'Ame Immortelle :: Dann Habe Ich Umsonst Gelebt

Licht und Shatten

A. Lopez | tokyo, japan | 12/23/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While I was browsing the goth/heavy metal section as always I came upon this CD. I thought that the titles sounded pretty good so I gave it a try. I was hoping for at least a decent CD but this band gave much more than I had expected.



1.)Erinnerung- This song is a great intro even though it is instrumental but its still beautiful.



2.) Judgement- She has such a gorgeous voice, the lyrics are perfect.



3.) Epitaph- I don't like this song very much, but then again I don't really like how he sings so it's understandable.



4.) Rearranging- Another great song, but I would of liked it if she were to sing by herself.



5.) Slut- to me I find this song funny even though many will raise an eyebrow or two



6.)Umsonst Gelebt?- another instrumental but rather good



7.) Licht und Schatten- Best song on album. I actually like how the guy sings in this song, he sounds much better in German. I'm impressed with the lyrics, the words go along with the sounds they choose for this song. Simply a masterpiece



8.)Voiceless- another good song



9.)Was Halt mich noch Hier- this song is also in German, extremely good.



10.)Forgive me- no words found



11.)Leaving- very touching lyrics and I think the guy does a good job singing in this song, the girl's voice is also heard in the background.



12.)Dead Actor's Requiem- pretty good



13.)Life will never be the same again- another work of art.



Now I'm a new fan for the L'ame Immortelle"

The Best of German Darkwave (Electro-Goth?)

Rain of Darkness | New York, NY | 04/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the best CDs I own and really the greatest L'ame Immortelle album. L'ame Immortelle combines the harsh male voice with the beauty of the female voice to create a unique sound. I believe "Forgive Me," is the standout song. The lyrics are just so memorable, "Our love is stronger than the sun and we'll still shine when I am gone," and Thomas R. actually sings in a nice voice which he rarely does. "Epitaph," "Slut" and "Voiceless" lean toward the goth side of the album with Thomas singing in his trademark harsh way, with Sonja K. in the last two songs. The rest of the tracks are sung by Sonja K. in her wonderful voice. Even if you don't understand German the singers manage to make the listener want to hear more. The music alone is worth listening to, an interesting soundscape of electronic beats. Overall, recommeded for the electro, darkwave, industrial and goth fan."

Darkwave featuring male / female vox duets backed by guitars

M. Mierzwa | Davis, CA USA | 01/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"About the Band:

L'Ame Immortelle is an Austrian darkwave band that became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band is best known for its duets between vocalists Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer. Most of Sonja's parts are very soft and gentle, while Thomas's voice hits much deeper and harsher ranges or is distorted to provide a much starker contrast to Sonja's heavenly voice. Some songs are flawlessly sung in English, while others in their native German.



About the Album:

Originally released in 2001, Dann habe ich umsonst gelebt is stylistically similar to l'Ame Immortelle's previous album, Wenn der Letzte Schatten Fallt, which I highly recommend getting before this album. In fact, the band's highly popular song "Changes" (found on Wenn der Letzte...) was reworked as a new song, "Rearranging (Changes Chapter II)" for this album. The main difference with this new arrangement of "Changes" is that instead of focusing on Thomas's vocals, the song is now grounded with Sonja's voice (something which will likely please many people whom prefer her softer voice).



A large number of guest musicians joined Rainer, Kraushofer, and Medwenitsch to add guitars, drums, a violin, viola, and cello to the mix. Of the tracks that featured traditional stringed instruments, I really enjoyed the depth that the violin added to the instrumental track "Erinnerung" and other tracks such as "Life Will Never Be the Same Again", "Was Halt Mich Noch Hier", and "Rearranging". The closing track featured guest vocals from Sean Brennan, whom is a member the well known darkwave band London After Midnight. The instrumental track "Umsonst Gelebt?" reminds me of the dark instrumental tracks on newer Wumpscut albums, and in this case. This track features a cello.



The track "Slut" was billed as one of the hits from this album, but frankly I really don't care for the track. I don't mind distorted or harsh vocals, in fact, generally I'm a big fan of that style of vox. And Sonja actually shows her range as a vocalist, by also offering up some harsh vocals on her part (in fact she reminds me more of Birgitta Behr from Dust of Basement), which is a point in favor of the track. However, in this case, I think aside from both artists' vocal contributions that the rest of the song just isn't nearly as layered as I tend to expect from l'Ame Immortelle. The track "Voiceless" features both harder edged vox from Sonja and deep and emotional vox from Thomas, but there is just enough more going on in that track that I like it.



There also was a single, Judgement, that included remixes of "Judgement" and "Rearranging". (And yes, they consistently misspelled judgment, but who cares.) Personally I would recommend getting the full album over the single. Even though I've listed those two tracks as some of my favorites from the album, the other tracks featured on this album make it well worth the price of the full album. My favorite track is the marshal / leading sounding "Was Halt Mich Noch Hier". Not only does the arrangement feature a mix of violins and guitars, but both Sonja and Thomas sing the same lyrics at the same time, but in two totally different styles: soft and hard.



Recommended Tracks:

- Was Halt Mich Noch Hier

- Forgive Me

- Umsonst Gelebt?

- Judgement

- Erinnerung

- Rearranging

- Voiceless



Similar Artists:

- Dust of Basement

- Blutengel

- H.M.B.

- Diary of Dreams

- Mesh

"