Nevermore: Julian Larre and the Evolution of Lacrimas Profundere

Nevermore: Julian Larre and the Evolution of Lacrimas Profundere

For more than three decades, Lacrimas Profundere has occupied a unique place within dark rock and gothic metal, continually evolving while maintaining the emotional depth and atmosphere that have defined the band’s legacy. Since joining the group, vocalist Julian Larre has brought a fresh dimension to the band’s sound, helping usher in a new era while respecting the foundation built by those who came before him.

With the release of the band’s latest album Lay Me Down O Silent Fear, Julian finds himself at the center of Lacrimas Profundere’s ongoing evolution. Speaking with Highwire Daze, he discussed stepping into a band with a rich history, recording vocals from his studio in Finland, the inspiration behind standout tracks like “Nevermore” and “Days of Doom,” his admiration for classic albums such as Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts, and his hopes of bringing Lacrimas Profundere to American audiences in the near future.

Your voice opened new horizons for Lacrimas Profundere and continues to do so. How did you initially approach stepping into a band with such a long history?
That’s an interesting question. Of course, when you’re joining a band, there are inevitably some big shoes to fill. The band already has an audience and certain expectations attached to it.

When I came into the band, one of the most important things for me was being able to keep the atmosphere, vibe, and emotional color that has defined Lacrimas Profundere throughout much of its history.

At the same time, my vocal range offers a lot of different possibilities. Throughout the songwriting process, Oliver, the band’s founding member, often told me how much creative freedom he felt because of the new options available to him vocally. That makes sense for a band that’s been around this long and still wants to evolve.

There may have been ideas in the past that the band wanted to explore but couldn’t fully realize at the time. Now we’re able to achieve virtually anything we want musically. That’s a very comfortable place to create from. When you have that kind of freedom, the possibilities become almost endless, and that’s exactly what’s happening with us right now.

How does recording your own parts in solitude affect your creativity within the overall Lacrimas Profundere experience?
That was actually a very important aspect of this album. For the first time in the eight years I’ve been in the band, I recorded all of the vocals in my studio here in Finland.

It was a huge game changer because I’m someone who obsesses over textures and details. I’m very detail-oriented when it comes to music. Everything needs to have a specific atmosphere and intention behind it. When I’m singing, it’s not just about hitting the right notes or staying perfectly on time. Music and art are so much more than technical perfection.

It’s about what you do with the colors you’re given. How do you present those colors? What shades are you using? Vocally, I approach things the same way.

We reached a point where I said, “We’ve used the same recording method long enough. Now I’d like to record in my own environment, choose my own takes, and obsess over every little detail for as long as necessary.”

Having complete freedom allowed me to design the exact vocal sound I was looking for. I spent December of last year recording vocals, building harmonies, and adding production details. It was an intense process because I had a tremendous amount of work to do during that month, but it was absolutely worth it.

Honestly, I don’t think the album would be nearly as strong as it is now had we not made that decision.

I can hear some modern influences in the music, including Bring Me the Horizon and even My Chemical Romance. Is that a fair assessment?
Wow, that’s actually pretty spot on. I never expected you to mention My Chemical Romance, but there’s a specific section in one of the songs that definitely reminds me of them.

That band was a big part of my generation and my development as an artist. Bring Me the Horizon is absolutely another influence. They’re one of the defining modern rock and metal bands and have been for quite some time.

The thing about Lacrimas Profundere is that it’s a hybrid. We’re people from very different musical backgrounds with very different perspectives on music. The band is made up of complete opposites in many ways.

The rest of the band comes from one musical school, and then I arrive with influences from a completely different era and mindset. So yes, those comparisons are definitely fair.

Let’s talk about the new album Lay Me Down O Silent Fear. Is there an overall story or concept behind it?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve mentioned before that the album is about embracing awareness and understanding that human beings are made up of many different emotions.

We are grief. We are loss. We are happiness. We are excitement. We are all of these things at once.

The idea is that we shouldn’t avoid or isolate any of those emotions. Fear, in particular, is a very powerful force. It can completely change a person’s life. Because of fear, we may choose not to do something that could potentially become the best decision we’ve ever made. At the same time, fear can protect us from danger and keep us from making harmful choices.

There’s a duality there.

Fear isn’t inherently good or bad. It all depends on how you navigate through it.

I’m a strong advocate for recognizing human beings as a whole rather than focusing only on the polished, marketable version of ourselves.

The album is very dark and, in many ways, apocalyptic. If listeners pay close attention to the lyrics, they’ll discover connections between this album and our previous releases, Bleeding the Stars and How to Shroud Yourself With Night. In many ways, those records form a trilogy.

There’s quite a lot to unpack and discover throughout the album.

Let’s begin with the opener, “Days of Doom.” Why was it chosen to start the record?
“Days of Doom” is an apocalyptic song. It establishes the atmosphere for everything that follows.

It’s epic, but not in the traditional sense. It’s not the kind of epic story where you jump on a horse and ride toward a castle. Instead, it’s a deep dive into the human condition, exploring emotion, trauma, fear, and self-discovery.

The song carries an ancient, almost dusty feeling. There’s something timeless about it.

One of the things I focused on vocally was building the intensity throughout the song. If you isolated the vocal tracks, you’d hear layer after layer being added until the final chorus becomes this massive choir. I recorded all of those vocal arrangements myself, stacking different harmonies and textures to create that huge anthem-like sound.

At its core, “Days of Doom” is about losing yourself in order to find yourself.

It’s about diving into the darkest parts of your own mind and refusing to suppress them. Instead of running away from chaos, you grow through it. You embrace the harsh realities of humanity and everything this record explores.

We chose it as the opener because it immediately sets the tone for something much bigger. The song begins with aggressive growls, creating a surge of energy, and then it explodes into one of the most epic choruses Lacrimas Profundere has ever created.

It’s epic, but in a modern, alternative way. That’s where comparisons to bands like Bring Me the Horizon start to make sense.

“Nevermore” has quickly become a fan favorite. Tell me about the song and the inspiration behind it.
“Nevermore” is one of those songs that came to me in a very spontaneous way. I actually came up with the chorus while I was in the shower.

People often ask songwriters where ideas come from. Do the lyrics come first? The melody? What’s the starting point? The truth is that inspiration can strike at any moment. It can happen in the middle of the night, early in the morning, or during the most ordinary moments of the day.

I remember listening to the instrumental track that Oliver sent me and just humming along, testing different melodies until I found the hook. Then the phrase “Come to Me” appeared, and I immediately fell in love with it. It was one of those rare moments when everything felt right from the start.

It’s a very radio-friendly song, but it also works incredibly well live. We’ve already played it at several shows, and audiences instinctively seem to know exactly what to do. They know when to sing along and when to engage.

We’ve honestly never experienced anything quite like it. It’s been such a powerful reaction that we’ve even discussed replacing “Father of Fate” as the closing song in our live set and ending with “Nevermore” instead.

Conceptually, “Nevermore” serves as a tribute to goth culture and everything that scene represents. Every time I think about the song, I picture a video inspired by The Crow. That entire aesthetic and culture have been such an important part of Lacrimas Profundere’s history, and they’re also part of my own personal journey.

At the same time, we didn’t want to recreate songs like “My Release in Pain” or “My Velvet Little Darkness.” If you’ve already created something iconic, you shouldn’t simply make a watered-down version of it.

Instead, we incorporated more of my own influences from alternative rock and alternative metal, particularly bands from the late ’90s and early 2000s. There are elements inspired by Slipknot, Stone Sour, and many of the bands I grew up listening to.

It’s almost like asking, “What would happen if Type O Negative met Slipknot?” Then filtering that through my own perspective. The result is “Nevermore,” and I think it’s one of the strongest representations of where the band is right now.

Let’s jump to the end of the album. The closing track is “At the End of a Dream Lies the Hope You Once Killed.” Tell me about that song.
Before we talk about that song specifically, it’s important to explain something about the songwriting on this record.

Most of the melodies and lyrics on the album were written by me. However, there are two exceptions: “At the End of a Dream Lies the Hope You Once Killed” and “Heart, I Will Break You Before You Break Me.” Those two songs were written entirely by Christopher, Oliver’s brother.

Because Christopher wrote both the lyrics and melodies for the closing track, it’s a little outside of my usual creative territory. In fact, it was one of the final pieces completed for the album. The record was essentially finished and already being mixed, but that song was still waiting to come together.

Of course, it also has one of those wonderfully long titles that are part of the DNA of Lacrimas Profundere. Oliver is always reminding me that the band has a tradition of giving songs these larger, more poetic titles.

Musically, I think it’s a more conservative track. It feels closer to how the band may have approached songwriting in previous eras.

The album begins with something very new, very dark, and very forward-looking. Then it ends by acknowledging and celebrating the band’s past. It’s almost cyclical.

It’s also a statement that we’re not trying to reject what Lacrimas Profundere has been. We’re simply moving toward new horizons while continuing to honor the foundation that brought us here.

Let’s go back into the band’s history for a moment. Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. Even though you weren’t in Lacrimas Profundere at the time, I know that album has a personal history for you and was part of your development as a musician. Looking back on it now, what are your thoughts on the album and its legacy twenty years later?
Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts is a remarkable album. For me, it’s one of the defining records in the band’s catalog. It was part of my childhood and part of my early development as a musician.  With the very first band I ever played in, we actually performed covers from that album. Songs like “Shiver” have always been favorites of mine. “A Short Glance” is another standout.

The record has such a distinctive character and atmosphere. It possesses a very special sound that immediately transports you to that era.

It’s also important to remember that albums were made differently back then. The music industry was different. Labels invested more money into recording, producers, videos, and studio time. The equipment was different, the recording techniques were different, and the entire creative process operated under different conditions.

Today, many productions have become far more streamlined and, in some cases, more synthetic. I think a lot of musicians are now rediscovering the value of capturing real amplifiers, real performances, and some of the imperfections that gave older records their personality.

The songwriting itself was different, too. The band was younger, and there was a certain chaos and passion that naturally comes with youth.

What makes me proud is that when I joined Lacrimas Profundere, I feel we helped reignite some of that spark.

When records like Bleeding the Stars received such positive reactions and recognition, it reignited Oliver’s enthusiasm. He wanted to invest more into the band and push further creatively.

For someone who grew up listening to this band, it’s incredibly meaningful to know that I was able to contribute to that renewed sense of purpose.

As for Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts itself, I genuinely think it’s one of the finest albums Lacrimas Profundere has ever released.

Are you still active with your other project, lessdmv?
Absolutely.

lessdmv is a very important project for me. In many ways, it’s the reason I’m able to do everything I do today as a full-time musician.

The people who have supported lessdmv and believed in what I’m doing have given me that opportunity.

lessdmv is part of my DNA. It’s the project that helped make my dreams come true. It’s also where I have the most musical freedom because I can do absolutely anything I want. I can explore any genre, release music whenever I choose, experiment with my vocals, and follow whatever creative path feels right.

For any musician, that level of freedom is the dream.

What makes it even more special is the relationship I’ve built with the audience. The people who follow lessdmv have learned to trust me, and I have a very direct connection with them.

So yes, I’ll be doing lessdmv for the rest of my life.

At the same time, I’ve been very careful about keeping the two projects distinct. With lessdmv, I can explore every musical direction I want. With Lacrimas Profundere, my goal isn’t to change the band. My goal is to contribute to it.

I’ve often said that I didn’t join Lacrimas Profundere to replace a singer. I joined the band so that nobody could replace me.

Both sides of my musical life are incredibly important to me.

Do you have any message for Lacrimas Profundere’s U.S. fans who have been waiting for the band to tour here?
Absolutely.

I grew up in Mexico, and a huge part of my generation was shaped by MTV. I grew up watching Jackass, TRL, and so much of the culture that came out of the United States.

Because of that, playing in America has always felt special to me.

A large portion of my personal fanbase comes from the U.S., and those fans have done so much for my career and my life. They hold a very special place in my heart.

I would absolutely love to play something like the Vans Warped Tour. I’d love to tour across the United States with some amazing American bands.

What I can promise is that we’re doing everything we can to keep growing, evolving, and creating those opportunities.

We’re going to continue working hard and doing everything possible to connect with our American audience and bring Lacrimas Profundere closer to them.

Let’s hope it happens soon.

I attended Warped Tour Long Beach, and I have to say that Lacrimas Profundere would be fantastic on that kind of stage.
Thank you, man.

Honestly, I really think it could work. Since I joined the band, our live shows have become much more energetic, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been connecting with audiences beyond the traditional gothic scene.

More metal festivals and promoters have started paying attention to us because they know we can deliver a powerful live performance.

To have the opportunity to play something like Warped Tour would be incredible. That would genuinely be one of my dreams come true.

It would be interesting to see you sharing a bill with bands like Black Veil Brides or Sleeping With Sirens.
That would be amazing.

As a matter of fact, Black Veil Brides are coming to Europe, and I recently heard some backstage conversations suggesting there may have been discussions about opportunities for us to cross paths on a tour. Whether anything comes from that, I honestly don’t know, but of course I’d love that opportunity.

There are so many American bands that I admire, and getting the chance to tour alongside them would be incredibly meaningful for me.

More than anything, I would love the opportunity to finally meet all of the people in the United States who have supported me throughout the years. For me, that’s what it’s all about.

Making that connection in person and finally bringing the music directly to them.

In Conclusion

Throughout our conversation, one theme surfaced again and again: evolution without abandonment. Whether discussing the modern textures of Nevermore, the emotional weight of Days of Doom, or his admiration for classics like Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts, Julian Larre consistently demonstrated a deep respect for what Lacrimas Profundere has been while embracing what it can still become.

It is a balancing act many long-running bands struggle to achieve. Under Larre’s creative influence, however, Lacrimas Profundere appears to have found a way to honor its gothic roots while fearlessly exploring new territory. The result is a band that feels both familiar and revitalized, carrying decades of history while boldly stepping into its next chapter.

And for American fans still waiting to experience that evolution in person, Julian’s enthusiasm made one thing clear: he hopes it’s only a matter of time before Lacrimas Profundere finally brings its dark, dynamic live show to U.S. shores.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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