Theatre of Tragedy

There is an interesting band I found: "Theatre of Tragedy", a Norwegian band. The band is best known for its use of contrasting vocals: male death grunts and "bright" female vocals; commonly referred to as the beauty and the beast vocals. Till date the band has released eight albums with one of the eight being a live album. The most admired albums are: the self titled album that was their debutant, Velvet Darkness They Fear and Storm. The band has been around for almost 17 years now.

The most wonderful thing that sets this band apart from the usual death, doom and gothic metal bands is the use of Early Modern English in their initial albums: mainly in Theatre of Tragedy and Velvet Darkness They Fear. Now, I agree this isn't the most remarkable thing and there would be a lot of bands that do that but this combined with the power of lyrics, beautiful music and the beauty-beast vocals: now that is something not every band has.

The lyrics (and I am talking about their album Velvet Darkness They Fear) usually do not have a clear theme or meaning but they have elements from folklore with prominent supernatural elements being present. One of the nine songs presented is in German and trust me, it's a must listen to. As far as other albums are concerned they have some wonderful songs as well and lyrics are strong. In short, the band won't disappoint you...

The official website of the band has the name: From The Pages of Tragedy. However given their name, I didn't find the lyrics so "Tragic". The names of the songs are just brilliant. Some of the names which really appeal to me are: Der Tanz Der Schatten (The Dance of The Shadows), And When He Falleth..., Black As The Devil Painteth, Bring Forth Ye Shadow, A Hamlet For A Slothful Vassal, Ashes and Dreams etc etc.

Band Members:

Raymond István Rohonyi - Vocals, Programming, lyrics
Nell Sigland - Vocals
Frank Claussen - Guitar
Vegard K. Thorsen - Guitar
Lorentz Aspen - Keyboards
Hein Frode Hansen - Drums

Former Members:

Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull - Vocals
Tommy Lindal - Guitar
Tommy Olsson - Guitar
Pål Bjåstad - Guitar
Geir Flikkeid - Guitar
Eirik T. Saltrø - Bass

Discography:

Albums:

Theatre of Tragedy (1995)
Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996)
Aégis (1998)
Musique (2000)
Closure: Live (2001)
Assembly (2002)
Storm (2006)
Forever Is the World (2009)


Singles and EPs:

Theatre of Tragedy (demo) (1994)
Der Tanz Der Schatten (single) (1996)
A Rose for the Dead (EP, 1997)
Cassandra (single)(1998)
Virago (EP)(1999)
Image (single) (2000)
Inperspective (EP) (2000)
Machine (single) (2001)
Envision (single) (2002)
Let You Down (single) (2002)
Storm (single) (2006)
Deadland (single) (2009)
Addenda EP (2010)