Lifelover – Erotik (2007)

April 14, 2023

Lifelover’s initial follow-up to Pulver changed a few things. Some of the more downright disturbing and troubling elements of the music were replaced instead with more subtle, morose feeling. Likewise, the album’s art is far more abstract than the starkness of its predecessor. There are less intense outbursts here on the sophomore, instead the album feels more like a flowing whole, with gentle piano medleys haunting their way over the top of the black metal.

Speaking of the black metal, Lifelover’s unique drab affair so candidly displayed for us in the past, has entered into a higher level of refinement. The drum programming is not as obvious as it was on Pulver and the general scope of the songs is more impressive. The songwriting gels elements together far better than Pulver ever did, for example.

Going back to that haunting piano that crops up every now and then – it almost feels like a sort of disjointed leifmotif (moreso in tone than the exact musical notes played, so excuse me if my terminology is off), not only reoccurring but pulling the whole album together like stitches at the seam. Erotik is best taken as a whole, it really does feel like a musical journey. There is a small price in that some of the songs do blur together for me, but as a whole I don’t think the album suffers for this.

I miss Lifelover.