Theatre Of Tragedy
„A Rose For The Dead“
Dark/Gothic Rock/Metal. EP CD 1997

What do you do when there's more material left after the last album? Either as remixes or, as in this case, release an EP! At least unreleased material was used. Whether the two remixes of the album "Velvet Darkness They Fear" by Bruno Kramm (Das Ich) are truly new is debatable. But they were also unreleased. The only question that remains is whether it's worth it for us listeners.

I'll start with what I supposedly "hate" the most, and that's REMIXES! Bruno Kramm chops up "And When He Falleth" and "Black As The Devil Painteth" into a harsh electronic corset. And it works with Liv Kristine's delicate, bright voice. The technoid character of the remixes contrasts incredibly well with her voice. I'm certainly not going to be a fan of remixes, and a lot of ToT fans can't relate to them in conjunction with Theatre's actual music.

My favorite song is the title track, "A Rose For The Dead," as it's similar to the gothic metal of the band's early days. "Der Spiegel" is a song sung in German. I think it's okay, but I'd prefer it in English, which brings us to the song "As The Shadows Dance." In German it's a big club hit as “Tanz Der Schatten”, but I just like it better in English. The closer, "Decades," is a cover version of the band Joy Division. It doesn't really fit the EP. And Liv doesn't sings here.

The EP is certainly also intended for commercial purposes, and fans will buy anything anyway. I like the EP and recommend it based on "A Rose For The Dead" alone.

Theatre of Tragedy 1995
Velvet Darkness They Fear 1996
A Rose for the Dead (EP) 1997
Aegis 1998
Musique 2000
Assembly 2002
Storm 2006
Forever is the World 2009
Remixed 2019 (only Remixes)

The photos are all from my EP CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts, and fonts appearing in the photos are, of course, owned by the copyright holder.