Customer Reviews

Theatre of Tragedy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off, this is a great CD. I stumbled across it by mistake looking at the Nightwish similar bands page of cdnow.com. I'm very glad I did, because so far, this CD has not left my CD player. It's really that good. I myself go for the more unique sounding bands (meaning I go for stuff made outside the USA), and this has uniqueness in droves. There happens to be two vocalists in this band, each on separate sides ofthe spectrum. One is a female soprano that sounds very angelic, which is very ironic in light of the second vocalist. He just happens to be one of those people who can growl and sing at the same time, and because of these death metal inspired vocals, he starts sounding fairly demonic (not to say that this is a bad thing). Most would think that this would be the equivalent of mixing an acid and a base, but it sounds amazing to hear both of them going off on each other at the same time, both of which ryhming. And just for fun, they use arcaic english that actually seems to make sense, and comes off as if it were written by the great Shakespear himself. One of the most powerful tracks, however, does not feature the demonic vocals or guitar chords, it only features the soothing voice of Liv and an amazing piano player. However, this CD is not for every taste, unfortunatly. Some of my friends refuse to listen to it. But, if you're looking for something unique, pick up this album.

The only problem I have with this album is that the production is terrible! Listen to the excellent sound quality of Aegis and then put this one in! It's truly depressing! Problems I've found with the production of this CD are: the bass is very flat, Liv Kristine's voice is turned down too low, and the piano isn't as full as it could be (it sounds like someone held a microphone over it instead of actually plugging it into the mixing board). It'd be cool if they re-released this album with better production. It's a tragedy to have amazing songs such as A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal and To these words I beheld no Tongue and have them produced badly! Please, don't get me wrong! This CD is worth every penny! It's a must if you're a fan of atmospheric, doomy, and intelligently written music! It'd just be nice to have it produced better, you know?

Doom metal fans love these words: melancholy, sorrow, sadness, despair... I really can't see any good in feeling that way! The word that comes to my mind when I listen or think of ToT is BEAUTY, and that's a lot different from "sorrow" and so on... ToT's debut features one interesting contrast: piano and soprano X heavy guitar riffs and gutural vocals. There is no bad song here. Another aspect to be considered, these lyrics are definitely worth reading! The archaic English helps creating a pleasant background image to the music: medieval times, lords, vassals(hehehe), virgin ladies... Very very beautiful. Also check out ToT's second masterpiece: Velvet Darkness They Fear. Thanx!

The music is sad, and depressing at times but the vocals growl, and the guitars riff grind, and the drums blast away, and at the sametime the female vocals so pretty you mite forget its a doom group! fans of cathedral and paramaecium and paradise lost will love it to death!

***** - FIVE ROCK SOLID STARS
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WOW. That's really the best word to describe this debut. No question a 5 star effort. I've never really heard music like this before. It's totally unique in every sense of the word....

Call it Folk Death Metal with female overtones, call it true Goth Metal, or call it whatever you think best describes this. One thing is certain, it's a MASTERPIECE OF MUSIC....

There's so much here, you really can't get all of it with one listen, or maybe even a thousand for that matter. There are layers of sound here, and it's a deep sound with some of the heaviest, and spookiest riffs this side of hell...

Liv Kristine, who is now fronting Leaves' Eyes, another highly recommended purchace by the way, is amazing here. This is some of her most beautiful work in my opinion. Her voice always seems to have a sad, yet rather uplifting feel to it. It's a truly incredible mixture of sounds comiing together here, that one must actually hear it to believe it....

I'm a new fan of this kind of music, and I starter out listening to Lacuna Coil. After spinning their CD's a million times over{LOVE THEM}, I needed, and started searching for something similar / different if you know what I mean...

I bought stuff from Nightwish{EHH??}, After Forever{DECENT}, and some Within Temptation{GOOD} in hopes of quenching that Coil thirst, but none of those bands really captured me or my full attention....

Then I found Theatre Of Tragedy. I'm highly satisfied once again. This is their debut, and it's a MUST PURCHACE. Check out Leaves' Eyes while you're at it, you will not be disappointed...

Theatre of Tragedy's self-titled is their best work aside from Aegis, in my humble opinion. Anything after Aegis is pure trash, as we all know, and Velvet Darkness They Fear is pretty bland after a few listens. But the band's debut is pretty darn good. The use of cello on a few songs, combined with excellent piano pieces, really adds to the flavor. Theatre of Tragedy never did anything spectacular with their guitars, except distort or downtune the hell out of them to make them sound 'heavy,' but hey it all works out. "Sweet Art Thou" has one of the best intros I've ever heard, and at only 3:58, it should've been a precedent on where TOT and other 'doom' metal bands ended their songs. I hate these nine-minute draggers that have one chord and one riff, and cheesy synth effects (I'm referring to bands like Ashes You Leave and TSOTB, not TOT), so at least Raymond and company knew when to end a song. The growls are good as usual, although a little too heavily distorted. Liv's voice is okay, nothing special. Lyrically it's pretty good, especially if you like Shakespearean poetry. I highly recommend this and Aegis if you want to hear good Theatre of Tragedy. I still think Tristania (at least in the Veland era) is a million times better... sorry TOT worshippers.

I love Theatre of Tragedy. This was their debut, and as such it seems a bit more raw than its successors. Not as consistent as Velvet Darkness They Fear and Aegis, but at points it surpasses them both. A Distance There Is and A Hamlet For A Slothful Vassal are two of the best TOT songs yet. For the record, the vocal work is better than on Velvet Darkness, but not at the level of Aegis. A Worthy Purchase.

This is TOT in the days before they, like Samael, sucummbed to some weird fascination with electronica and ruined it for everyone. A nice mix of male growls and female soprano vocals over some nice if not overly complex riffs. (I always feel like the focus in these sorts of bands in on the vocals and keys anyway, so impressive guitarwork is almost a bonus.) I don't feel like it is as memorable as some Tristania or Sins of Thy Beloved, but for anyone who has not yet heard TOT or is just looking for another addition to his/her collection of gothic metal, this is a good purchase. By the way, as a side note, I did my phd comps in Renaissance literature, and the lyrics are definitely not in some Shakespearian English, as some reviewers say. It's really pretty much nonsense. So I recommend just sitting back and enjoying the music.

I got this album the other day with Zeromancer's Eurotrash, and both were great, but I find myself listening to this one a bit more, if I must say.

I already purchased Aegis awhile back and was very impressed with that remarkable album. I was no less floored when I popped this disc in. TOT make very beautiful, subtle gothic music, avoiding the overdone vocal sections and relying on gentle melodies that really leave lasting chills. Liv Kristine is my favorite female siren by a mile - and this self-titled debut captures some of her best moments. She sings very high-pitched most of the time (actually, she sings quite differently here than on her most recent album Lovelorn, I'm talking about her other band Leaves' Eyes of course), but her melodies are entrancing, and not too far off from those of new age goddess Enya. Raymond Rohonyi sounds great when growling (I much prefer this voice over his "newfound" English accent) and complements Liv well, as many have mentioned before. Guitars and bass are, well, guitars and bass - but you have to keep in mind that TOT are more vocal-dominated, like most other gothic metal bands, and everything else just sort of complements the singing. Actually, I think the guitars on their more recent industrial efforts sound a tad better, even if hardcore fans will stone me for saying this. The keyboards, courtesy of Lorentz Aspen, have always sounded great, without being too dominant. Some of his best work lies in track 5, "...A Distance There Is..." - the song is layered with many beautiful piano sections and work side-by-side with Liv's angelic singing. My only problem is that the production is a tad thin, but bad production hardly ever lessens the experience when the music is this good - and it is.

Personal highlights for me include the sensational "A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal", the beautiful "Hollow-Hearted, Heart-Departed", the soothing "...A Distance There Is..." and the closing "Dying - I Only Feel Apathy."

I love all of TOT's work, including what I've heard from Musique and Assembly (although they unfortunately chose a career suicide path when changing their style). The debut is no exception. Recommended to everyone sick of listening to Lacuna Coil's Comalies for the hundredth time.

9.9/10

There is some great music, lots of talent, and a great female singer in this goth or Beauty & the Beast metal band. The male Beast grunts or conflict singing ruins it for me. If you like those male grunts alot then you should love this album, but I may not be able to stand it much and may have to put it down, or let it go as a flying frisbee. I give it 3 stars because I have not given up yet on being able to tolerate the grunts. If I lose that battle then the album is less than one star for me, in fact it will be gone as far as I can throw it.