LoadLevel always freezes scene?

Hey there! I'm pretty new to Unity, so excuse me if this is stupid, but does Application.LoadLevel always freeze the action in a scene? I am trying to create a loader scene with a particle system in it and as soon as LoadLevel is called, the scene freezes. Also, the audio from the scene being loaded plays while the loader scene is still being displayed. Is there a way to smooth out the transition a little?

 

i've tried the same thing myself with no luck - i ended up using the fade-load level script (from the FPS demo i think) but still any visuals or music will stutter.

smooth/interactive transitions between levels have been requested before, i'd love to have them myself - don't know if its on OTEE's to do list though ; )