Whatever I will say below about the newest Lake of Tears album, you are allowed to take a square root of it. I am a biased, unashamed fan, and I am proud of it. Always has been, and judging from the looks of Moons and Mushrooms, the latest output, I will remain the audioslave of Brennare & Co. I own an original copy of every full-length ever released by this amazing Swedish band, from the doomdeath roots of Greater Art, through the “ugly duckling” child The Neonai, recorded without love just before the band’s brief breakup, to the so much hailed comeback Black Brick Road, that took me a while to accept.

In a way, that album allowed me to anticipate and embrace Moons and Mushrooms from the start. There is no way to know whether the band would agree with me or not, but Moons and Mushrooms on one hand touches where Black Brick Road finished, but instead of going strictly forward, it does throw a little bit of a retrospective on the band’s history. Having foregone the fascination with many things Pink Floyd, Moons and Mushrooms present modern day Lake of Tears, progressive gothic rock band, at the top of its songwriting ability, where every song is a fully finished gem shining in all of its facets.

Coercing all kind of sounds from their guitars, Lake of Tears make the songs on the album stand on their definitive own, yet combine them with one invisible thread. Opener Last Purple Sky and Head of Phantom (co-written by the band with Christian Silver) are bouncy gothic rock compositions, with catchy phrasing, multitude of almighty hooks, and leads ranging from bagpipe to dissonance. Unlike someone like, let’s say, Beseech, Lake of Tears’ gothic rock is not simply and utterly sweet, but, instead, electric and a little bit bonkers. With such solid rock structure and tight rhythm section, the band takes forays into offshoots, revisiting Crimson Cosmos on You Better Breathe While There’s Still Time, with that era trademark jingly guitar, adding astral calling synthesizer on Waiting Counting, which fits the lyrics, and growing all pissed and aggressive with gritty overall delivery on Children of the Grey.

If Last Purple Sky, You Better Breathe While There’s Still Time and Children of the Grey are Mushrooms, then Like A Leaf and Planet of the Penguins are definitely Moons. The former is an introspective caressing tender lullaby piece, which would feel genuinely at home on Forever Autumn, with guitars putting in an extra reverb touch. Planet of the Penguins is the slowest of them all, but no less heavy, almost grinding out the end lead outro, and refusing to quit synth symbolizing submissiveness of penguins on their grueling march through the elements, or us, leading our everyday lives. Take your pick. Wherever we are, chewing on hallucinogenic Mushrooms, or exploring uninhabited Moons, Daniel Brennare’s voice is his own self, speaking directly to your brain, entering without needing an invitation, making its bard’s footprint and exiting leaving the sweet weedy smell of psychedelia.

Lake of Tears albums are like my friends, I know them inside out, and depending on a mood, I prefer to be in touch with one rather than the other. Having listened to Moons and Mushrooms almost non-stop for the last two weeks I feel like my circle has added another friend, the one I can turn to on many occasions.