1. Storm {3:46}2. Silence {3:47}
3. Ashes and Dreams {4:07}
4. Voices {3:31}
5. Fade {5:58}
6. Begin and End {4:28}
7. Highlights {4:01} (This is a bonus track only available on the limited edition release.)
8. Senseless {4:34}
9. Exile {4:02}
10. Disintergration {4:48}
11. Debris {5:03}
approx. play time: 48 minutes
genre: gothic, but like any highly talented band, there are influences from all sorts of other music
For those of you who may not be familiar with Theatre of Tragedy since they're not promoted much (if at all) here in the US, I'll provide a brief history of the band before getting into the review.
The most marked thing about Theatre of Tragedy is their dual vocals. There are several goth bands who predate ToT for using both male and female vocals, but ToT immediately stood out when their self-titled album was released in 1995. Why should this be? None of the other bands contrasted the vocals like ToT did, with Liv Kristine being high, sweet, and angelic, while Raymond Rohonyi was low, menacing growls. Toss in a great attention to details with both the music and the vocals, on top of the layered complexity you can get with a seven-member band, and you have a remarkable first album. '...a Distance there is...' is the track most cited as a favorite from this album, as it features Liv Kristine accompanied only by a piano and the sound of rain.
Their second album was Velvet Darkness They Fear, on which they further developed the sound they'd started with and which showcases the penultimate gothic love song, 'Der Tanz der Schatten' ('Dance of the Shadows' in German, but translated as 'As the Shadows Dance' for the English rendition). Aegis, their third outing, built on the sound of Velvet Darkness, but it was also a departure, because they dropped the growling vocals in favor of cleaner vocals from Raymond. It was also a theme album, each of the songs focusing on women from mythology.
Their fourth album, Musique, was a very drastic shift in sound for them, toward more radio friendly, dance-club rock, a concession to Liv Kristine, who was wanting to do music with a lighter tone. Many fans loathe the album, along with their fifth, Assembly, because there's little trace of the style they'd developed on their first three releases. Personally, I enjoy all of their albums, though Musique and Assembly certainly aren't as exemplary as Aegis or their albums of remixes & singles.
Liv Kristine and the rest of ToT amicably parted ways not long after Assembly was released, which left the band in need of finding a replacement. It didn't take them long, as they took on Nell Sigland, who easily makes up for Liv Kristine's exit.
Which leads to the actual review! Yay!
Storm is ToT's sixth studio album, and brings with it a refreshing shift back toward a sound more similar to Aegis. There's a notable lack of keyboard, (though they're not entirely absent), replaced with the piano that was given such a prominent place on their first three albums. There are some truly gorgeous sections throughout the album, but they tend to be frustratingly short, which is my only real gripe, and not much of one, at that.
The interplay of the vocals and the music is also again given the focus it deserves, but there are no Beauty & the Beast interplays as found on their first three. Honestly, I'm hard pressed to see ToT returning to that style, and the sound they're growing into and expanding on is remarkable in itself. Granted, there are lingering overtones of both Musique and Assembly, most notably with Raymond's vocals, but with the techno rock largely stripped away, it works a lot better than it did on those two albums, which should please long-time ToT fans.
After repeated listenings (it's the only thing I've been listening to for the last two days now, nonstop), Storm has fast become my favorite of all of Theatre of Tragedy's albums, which is no easy accomplishment, considering how much care they put into every song.
I give the album heart heart heart heart heart of love mad d
If you're looking for similar bands, you may enjoy Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation (Mother Earth and The Silent Force), Nightwish, Lullacry, Leave's Eyes (Liv Kristine's new band), and The Gathering. If you want bands that stick with the Beauty & the Beast motif that ToT started with their first two albums, find Within Temptation's album Enter, Tristania, Sirenia, The Sins of Thy Beloved, Lacrimosa, and Seraphim (a Chinese band, so they may be difficult to find).
