Theatre Of Tragedy
„Velvet Darkness They Fear“
Goth Metal, Dark Rock. Remaster, Reisue, 2 LP. 2024 (1996)

You can find information about the band here. In 1996, Theater Of Tragedy's second album, “Velvet Darkness They Fear,” was released. Gothic meets death metal and doom. All a step less harsh, with rounded edges. Raymond Rohonyi sings and growls, and it's understandable too, if only it weren't for that old-fashioned English. Here too, ToT (Theater Of Tragedy) celebrates mystical texts and they add to the atmosphere. And then there's the very high, sweet vocals of Liv Kristine Espenæs. Some people call it a soprano, but it's not. In any case, gothic rock/metal swept the world in the mid-1990s. And "Velvet Darkness They Fear" was successful because of its mix. Melodic, interesting and that appeals to me as a prog head. Even if I find it cheesy. It's cheesily beautiful. And clearly song-oriented.

Velvet Darkness They Fear
Fair and Guiling Copesmate Death
Bring Forth Ye Shadow
Seraphic Deviltry
And When He Falleth
Der Tanz der Schatten
Black as the Devil Painteth
On Whom the Moon Doth Shine
The Masquerader and Phoenix

Standouts from the album's tracklist include "Fair and Guilting Copesmate Death," "And When He Falleths," and "Black As The Devil Painteth." "Der Tanz Der Schatten" garnered more interest in Germany. And it's exactly this song that I don't like, because in German it doesn't sound really melodic, cheesy and not nice either. "And When He Falleth" is the most descriptive song for me, because of the dialogue between Jane Asher and Vincent Price from the film "The Masque of the Red Death." However, I think all the songs are very successful and can still highly recommend this album in 2025.

The vinyl album comes from Cosmic Key Creations, a limited new edition from 2024. The records are solid and sound excellent.

Anyone who likes gothic metal/rock and doom will also get their money's worth in 2025. Here you'll find the original Beauty and the Beast vocals. The atmosphere is dark, with only Liv's vocals providing a rich, velvety moonlight in the darkness. Everything flows beautifully; even non-goths will love this album, as I did.

Raymond Rohonyi (Vocals)
Liv Kristine Espenæs (Vocals)
Tommy Lindal (Guitar)
Geir Flikkeid (Guitar, E-bow)
Lorentz Aspen (Piano, Synths)
Eirik T. Saltrø (Bass)
Hein Frode Hansen (Drums)

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 LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.