An Epic Doom/Heavy Metal solo artist from Germany. On August 9th, 2023, Tales Of Mike released his independent debut EP album, “Landscape Of Sorrow”. A tribute EP for Mike’s brother “Markus” and released it on his (brother’s) birthday. A release that would gratify Solstice (UK) and Old Mother Hell (Germany) fans.
Tales Of Mike, Landscape Of Sorrow: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins of Landscape Of Sorrow
Let’s start by discussing the first three sins of Tales Of Mike and his album, Landscape Of Sorrow.
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Features twin/triple-guitar of repetitive and frequently droning of the (additional aggression/progression of the) guitars, with dark rhythm/melodious, with additional synths/keys. The Second Sin, The Vocals: Involves various tones, moods, growls, spoken words, and screams. The Third Sin—The Percussions: Delves into the vast world of thunderous drumming to create an intense and electrifying atmosphere.
The Fourth Sin: Overall Discussion: Not about the love of the music, but the love of losing one’s brother…
Before one presses that play button, Tales Of Mike is not about the love of the music, but the love of losing one’s brother. Landscape Of Sorrow is an EP that is dedicated to Mike’s brother, who was lost to cancer in 2010 but never forgotten. This sorrowful Brothers Grimm emotional tale is about these two brothers growing up in a Catholic orphanage as young children and being abused daily with beatings by a Franciscan nun for years and the loss of a brother.
As one presses that play button, where one is welcomed to the opening song, RIP (Landscape Of Sorrow), which welcomes the listener to the calling of the bells trolling and sorrowful riffs and ghostly vocals and atmosphere. The ghostly vocals are provided by Gonzalo, and his vocal work sounds like the works of German darkwave female artists and the haunting music of Sopor Aeternus. Following suit, Argentinian vocalist Gonzalo Civita provides the aggressive death growls with screams of anguish and memorable pain, spoken words pushed in the background.
In contrast, tone and atmosphere capture the essence of this hypnotic death-doom-like atmosphere, the epic-theatrical feel of Candlemass, and the crushing heaviness soundscape of heavy metal.
The second piece of music, LSD Butterfly, and the final track, aptly named Under The Pale Moonlight, differ significantly from the opening piece in terms of sound and style.
These two tracks present an epic, headbanging, and galloping heavy metal approach with aggressive and thunderous riffage that will surely get any listener’s adrenaline pumping. The soaring solos and thunderous drumming create an intense and electrifying atmosphere unique to these tracks.
The vocals present in these two pieces are nothing short of exceptional. They range from various tones, moods, growls, spoken words, and screams, executed with mastery and precision. The screams, in particular, have a tone similar to King Diamond, adding an extra layer of intensity and excitement to the overall sound.
Overall, Tales Of Mike provides the listener with a warm-hearted but emotional piece of art, especially the open piece, which captures the pain and sorrowfulness of the concept. Every part of the music is different and unique. It has a meaning, including the album title, No Tale Is The Same, And The Songs Are Not. All the lyrics are written by Mike’s daughter, which is painful and meaningful; Gonzalo Civita‘s vocals are fantastic and capture the theme of the music, and Mike‘s instrumental devilmanship is outstanding and excellent.
At the same time, each song has a meaning and tells an emotional tale; RIP (Landscape Of Sorrow) is about the loss of Mike’s brother. The second track, LSD Butterfly, could be about dealing with the pain via writing about the pain and loss. The last track, Under The Pale Moonlight, could be about the self-reflection of the past and the loss of a loved one or death himself.
In short, I suggest this album to anyone who enjoys exceptional, deep, emotionally powerful music.
The album comes to an end with the last song, Under the Pale Moonlight. We want to give a shoutout to Tales Of Mike for letting us review his Landscape Of Sorrow Review album. Now, we are going to conclude the review by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.
You’re Listening to “RIP (Landscape of Sorrow)”
PlayThe Last Three Sins
Let’s discuss the last three sins of Tales Of Mike and his album, Landscape Of Sorrow.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia:
We were pretty impressed with Landscape Of Sorrow, even though it only consisted of three tracks. Usually, I look for a combination of decent instrumental/vocals, lyrical concepts, devilmanship, and artwork in the music. However, the album hits all the marks in this case and captures everything in one go. It has been quite a challenge for me to write this review because the music, artwork, and lyrics are all exceptional in their own right. The album’s opening piece evokes warmth and heartbreak, while the last two tracks feel like releasing/expressing emotion, sorrow, and grief.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork:
One can grasp the underlying concept behind this artistic creation by immersing oneself in the musical composition and lyrical content while simultaneously beholding the accompanying artwork. The overall tone is rather sombre, and upon closer inspection, one cannot help but draw comparisons to the bleak and unsettling themes in the tales of the Brothers Grimm!
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish:
Nothing to disrelish within the musical spectrum of Tales Of Mike and his album, Landscape Of Sorrow.
This concludes the Tales Of Mikes, Landscape Of Sorrow review.
Track-listing:
- RIP (Landscape of Sorrow)
- LSD Butterfly
- Under the Pale Moonlight
Tales Of Mike Is:
- Mike Heß – all instruments
- Gonzalo Civita – vocals
- Henrik Schaller – solos on tracks 2 & 3
- Joss Miranda – logo & cover editing
- Shannon – lyrics
Band/Artist Links:
