Vicky
To start things on a more depressing note, this album is close to three decades of existence, being released in 1996. The year itself was absolutely remarkable for the Metal industry, with new material from My Dying Bride (Like Gods of the Sun), Opeth (Morningrise), Sepultura (Roots), Cradle of Filth (Dusk… and Her Embrace), Hypocrisy (Abducted), Type O Negative (October Rust), Rage (Lingua Mortis and then End of All Days), Therion (Theli), The 3rd and the Mortal (Painting on Glass), Napalm Death (Diatribes), Pantera (The Great Southern Trendkill), and other albums that are less praised but also important for the Metal world, by Moonspell, Stratovarius, Tool, Warrant, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slipknot, Staind, Stone Temple Pilots, and the band of Sakis and Themis Tolis. So, as you may notice, this was one of the best years to be alive.
When it comes to Velvet Darkness They Fear, I have to confess that my relationship with this album is extremely personal. We share a birthday (even though I was born a bit over a decade after it was initially released), and besides, most of you already know that Theatre of Tragedy has a highly special place in my heart, being the first ever band to introduce me to the beautiful world of goth. Of course, afterwards I discovered other groups like Interitus Dei, Tristania or Blackbriar, all of which are gothic in nature and exquisite by default. Still, at times I like to listen to Velvet Darkness… and it always makes me feel at home. It’s a shelter through the chaos of these troubled times, a requiem for a world we have long lost (Time is an abyss – profound as a thousand nights, as Theatre of Tragedy so charmingly say on the song “Bring Forth Ye Shadow”).
The lyrics to the tracks off Velvet Darkness… are mournful, and written in Early Modern English, meaning that you will certainly find older forms of words that we currently use: “reflecteth”; “falleth”; “fro”; “master’d”, and so on. If you choose to give the album a go, I suggest looking up the lyrics and reading them while listening to the songs – thus, you will find it easier to get used to the unusual language. And by doing so, you might discover some interesting facts about the album, such as the fact that the lead vocalists (Liv Kristine Espenæs and Raymond I. Rohonyi) are in a perpetual dialogue, much as you would find in a genuine theatre play. This aspect is easier to notice if you listen to the song “And When He Falleth”, where the band have also inserted a spoken dialogue, taken from the 1964 movie The Masque of the Red Death, based upon the same-titled story written by Edgar Allan Poe.
In case you were wondering, my favorite song featured on this LP is called “A Rose for the Dead”, and is in reality a bonus track for the album (one who cannot find the Japanese Version – the one released via Avalon – is still able to listen to the track on the EP A Rose for the Dead, together with the other bonus song, “Der Spiegel”). A very close second, however, is “Fair & ’Guiling Copesmate Death”, it’s the second track off the album and an anthem that sounds as if it were especially made for those moments when the world seems to be crashing down on us.
As inventors of the Beauty & The Beast Gothic Metal style not only are Theatre of Tragedy one of the first bands to incorporate themes such as love, death, nature, life, literature and philosophy, but they have also managed to build an empire, a legacy that one must never deny. For denying this theatre of splendor, agony, and darkness, means denying the genius of Raymond Rohonyi, one of the most talented songwriters in Gothic Metal, and through that, denying the entire subgenre. Perhaps those who o’erlook (yes, this was intended) Velvet Darkness They Fear and skip Dark Metal as a whole should ponder reading these lyrics: I am – yet! I am not. Because you cannot say that you truly “are” until you find the beauty behind this Theatre of Tragedy.
Label: Massacre Records
Release date: September 25, 1996
Website: https://theatreoftragedy.com/
Country: Norway
Score: quoth the raven… 4.9/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 