Theater of tragedy

Theatre of Tragedy was a gothic metal band born in Stavanger, Norway, originally formed in 1993 and best known for their early albums which pushed gothic metal, whose lyrics are in Old English. of the Renaissance, where the group made use of the contrast of a low male voice and a female soprano voice.

It is considered one of the pioneering bands of the Scandinavian doom scene. However, on the album Aegis they played a gothic rock notably influenced by doom metal and it was from the album Musique that the group evolved towards sounds more typical of industrial rock.

Following their albums Storm and Forever Is The World (productions with Nell Sigland), Theater of Tragedy announced their final retirement effective October 2, 2010, since on that exact day they celebrated their 17th anniversary, with which each of its members continued with their lives in other directions.

History

Origins

Theatre of Tragedy was formed when drummer Hein Frode Hansen left the band Phobia in 1993 and started looking for a new musical project to play in, becoming part of the group called Suffering Grief. At the time, Suffering Grief consisted of vocalist Raymond Istvàn Rohonyi, keyboardist linn, and guitarists Pål Bjåstad and Tommy Lindahl. They didn't have a bass player yet, but Eirik T. Saltrø played with them at live concerts.

After finding a place to rehearse, the group decides to work on some piano arrangements composed by Lorentz. The voices, at that time, were completely composed of guttural registers typical of death metal.

When they write their first song, «Lament of the Perishing Roses», the band changes their name to Le Reine Noir and soon after to the final name Theatre of Tragedy. Subsequently, they invited singer Liv Kristine to be the female vocalist on a song, but they quickly asked her to join the group permanently.

Theatre of Tragedy has German influences thanks to Raymond Istvan, since four months before the group was formed Istvan had studied the language; that is why some of the band's compositions were written in that Germanic language. In particular, the theme "Der Tanz der Schatten" stands out. In addition to this, the group recorded part of their material in Germany.

Theater of Tragedy (1994-1995)

In 1994 they released their first studio demo and in 1995 their self-titled debut album Theatre of Tragedy came out, after getting a record deal on the German label Massacre Records with producer Dan Swanö, being described as the "dark wave of metal from Norway".

This work had a relatively poor reception from the public and critics, with sales of approximately seventy-five thousand copies, despite having an important song on the band's discography "A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal", promoted with a dark video clip.

It displays their characteristic death metal/doom metal from their early albums, with dense and dark lyrics in Renaissance English.

Themes rarely have a clear story, and references to death, the undead, demons, and other similar supernatural elements are frequent. The lines are interpreted as long chants or poems, sometimes without a rhyme, depending on the part of the song.

Other sections of the tracks feature Raymond Rohonyi's characteristic guttural vocals contrasted with Liv Kristine's warm one. It's a vocal style that was widely copied by nearly all contemporary gothic bands and generally known as "Beauty and the Beast."

Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996-1997)

Then they released the album Velvet Darkness They Fear, released on August 26, 1996, which followed the path of its predecessor, albeit a bit more extreme and elaborate. It was released under the same label, with the production of Pete "Pee Wee" Coleman and recorded at the Commusication Studio in Germany, a country where the band resided and composed with some frequency.

Their second album had a somewhat greater reception, both within Norway and outside their native country, almost doubling the sales of the first album, with more than one hundred and twenty-five thousand copies. [2] Today it is considered a jewel and a classic within the genre, due to a very careful production. Rohonyi's lyrics are very similar, with one exception: "Der Tanz der Schatten", a powerful piece that was composed entirely in German, and which in turn was the group's debut single.

Another standout track is "And When He Falleth," which includes a section of dialogue by Jane Asher and Vincent Price taken from the film The Masque of the Red Death, based on the play of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.

The EP A Rose for the Dead was released in 1997, which contains material that was not released on Velvet Darkness They Fear.

Aégis (1998-1999)

It differs from his previous works due to several aspects: the melodies have a softer and more atmospheric tone, and the guttural male voice is heard less aggressive, it is only a deep and repeated whisper in contrast to the clean female voice, without fail to mention that in the songs where the male voice is used more, instead of aggressive, it is more of a baritone. Another detail is the fact that the guitars are less distorted, and for contrast, the piano has a greater prominence, like the bass, which is aurally predominant. All added to various ethereal effects caused by melodic guitar, keyboards and electronic effects in combination with a repetitive and constant battery.

It is worth noting of course that the vast majority of the songs are composed under a gothic rock musical structure, leaving Metal as "a bit of added influence". Precisely six of the total eight songs are gothic rock, although of course modern and unorthodox; especially since they all contain a small degree or "pinch" of doom metal influences in their songwriting, very small, but equally noticeable. An example of this would be the songs «Aœde», «Lorelei», «Samantha», «Bacchante» among others... While the songs «Venus» and «Poppaea» are properly doom metal/ gothic metal despite the gothic influences they have.

The songs are long and complex, and perhaps the most particular they have ever composed, with many evocations of European folklore. "Venus" (ballad with a female vocalization of Latin verses) is a reference to the Roman legend; «Aedea», «Cassandra», «Bacchante» and «Siren» are clear allusions to Greek mythology. "Lorelei" is a reference to the German legend of an undine bearing the same name. Finally, "Poppaea" is the only historical character in the themes of this production.

Without a doubt, this record coincided with the most popular period for Theater of Tragedy in Europe. In 1998, Aégis reached the Top 40 on the German charts. Some of the most important specialized magazines (such as Metal Hammer and Sonic Seducer) reflected the strong position of the band on the scene. Around that time, they performed live for television at the Dynamo Open Air in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In addition, they animated a show before more than eight thousand people in their first concert in Athens, Greece. At the Zillo Festival, in Losheim am See, Germany, they played in front of twenty thousand people in the summer of 1998.

Gang changes

The position of lead guitarist was extremely unstable in this group, for reasons that have never been very clear. Pål Bjåstad was the initial one and participated in the studio with the guitar only once, on the debut album Theatre Of Tragedy. He left in 1995, with only a two-year tenure.

His replacement Geir Flikkeid participated from 1995 to 1997 on Velvet Darkness They Fear and the single "Der Tanz Der Schatten". His position went to Tommy Olsson from 1997 to 1999, who was on the recording of the famous Aégis. That instrument was assumed until the end by Vegard Thorsen.

Second guitarist was Tommy Lindal from 1993 to 1997 (from Theatre Of Tragedy to A Rose for the Dead). His position would be assumed by Frank Claussen.

Eirik T. Saltrø played bass from Theatre Of Tragedy to Musique. His place has been occupied to date by guest musicians, both in studio and in concert. Officially, the band is a sextet.

Music (2000-2001)

With changes to the original lineup and a new decade, came new musical trends.

Their album Musique, released on November 14, 2000, marked a before and after for the Scandinavian group. It was recorded at Sound Suite Studios in Marseille, France, with elements of industrial rock and techno pop. The album title is a phonetic transcription ('mjuːzɪk) of the English word music according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.

On the other hand, the band got a record deal with Nuclear Blast in order to get more distribution. The album was produced by Erik Ljunggren, keyboardist for the Norwegian band Zeromancer.

With Musique the gothic theme and renaissance English lyrics were totally abandoned, to go towards a more electronic and commercial style, using a modern and more contemporary English.

The change in musical direction was also reflected in the absence of dark and supernatural themes, instead using lyrics based on modern life, including technology ("Machine", "Radio"), nightlife ("Image", "The New Man") and street fights ("Crash/Concrete").

"Image" and "Machine" were released as singles with their respective video clips, and they are one of the high points of this album.

In general terms, it enjoyed a good reception from the public and favorable reviews, despite there being more conservative sectors that did not accept such a radical change.

In 2000, Theater of Tragedy released their EP Inperspective, which has the particularity of containing remixes or electronic versions of some pieces by Aégis and Velvet Darkness They Fear.

In 2001, the band released their first live album, called Closure: Live, recorded at the Metalmania festival in Katowice, Poland, in 2000. It contains ten songs taken from their first three albums and two multimedia videos: «Cassandra» and «Der Tanz Der Schatten».

Assembly and departure of Liv Kristine (2002-2003)

Liv Kristine in concert in 2001

On April 16, 2002, they released Assembly as their fifth studio album, and following a similar style to the previous one. In view of their success with the Nuclear Blast label, they decide to continue with the label. It was recorded at Karillo and MD Studios, under the production of the Finnish Hiili Hiilesmaa, vocalist of The Skreppers, and known for his participation with groups from his country such as Apocalyptica and HIM, as well as with Moonspell.

Definitely electronic metal in style, according to some critics, the album resembles a method of sound described as listening to "Siouxsie & the Banshees stuck with Ace of Base» [3].

A notable feature is the history of the lyrics regarding Musique. The songs focus more on technology than people, with pieces like "Play" and "Let You Down." The modern theme is further emphasized in "Automatic Lover" which refers to modern nightlife and with "Universal Race" which alludes to space travel as a metaphor for a sexual relationship.

The cover was designed by Thomas Ewerhard, also responsible for the covers of Storm (2006) and Forever Is the World (2009). An exclusive version of the album contains as a bonus track a cover of «You Keep Me Hangin'; On”, original by The Supremes and also made famous by Kim Wilde.

After two successful tours in Europe and additional concerts in Mexico D. F. (for the first time), London and Moscow, they would be the first European band to play in Beirut, Lebanon, after the end of the civil war that affected that country.

Despite the success, Assembly was the last album to feature Liv Kristine, fired in her own words, "via email due to musical differences". In August 2003, and as a result of the group's evolution towards industrial rock and electronic music on their albums Musique (2000) and Assembly (2002), the group declared in an official statement from their website that Liv Kristine is leaving the group due to musical differences. The singer, for her part, states on her website that she was fired from her by email, and that she was not personally informed by any of the group members.

As a result of this, in 2003 Liv Kristine, its most prominent and well-known member, formed the group Leaves' Eyes together with her husband Alexander Krull and musicians from the group Atrocity. At the beginning of that same year, the couple had married and in December their son Leon Alexander was born.

Following that, the band took a four-year long hiatus from the recording studios, while they reconsidered their musical future, negotiated a new record deal, and hired a new vocalist.

Arrival of Nell Sigland and Storm (2003-2007)

Singer Nell Sigland (from The Crest) joined Theater of Tragedy in late 2003. With her as the main newcomer, the group released their sixth album, Storm, on 24th March 2006 and began a tour of Europe with Gothminister.

In this production, the band seemed to take a step back from the industrial and electronic sounds of the last two albums and could be seen as a return to the style of their first albums.

Storm was recorded at Toproom Studio and Elektrostal Studio, under Candlelight Records and produced by Greg Reely. The only single extracted was its central theme "Storm", released with its video clip. A special edition released on EP that year included a mix version of the piece, a song from the album ("Begin & End"), and another hitherto unreleased piece ("Beauty In Deconstruction").

Forever is the World and last performances (2008-2010)

On October 2, 2008, Theater of Tragedy celebrated its 15th anniversary with a series of European performances. In December 2008 they released a new single called "Frozen" as a promotional theme for the new album that would be released a year later, which was available on their official Myspace site.

According to a post on their official website, Theater of Tragedy announced that their seventh and final studio album was Forever is the World, with a release date of September 18, 2009, under the AFM label. records. It was recorded at the Cutting Room Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. In it the same elements of its predecessor are maintained, with a mixture of gothic metal and industrial metal.

The album was produced by Zeromancer singer Alexander Møklebust and mastered by Bjørn Engelmann. The cover art was credited to Thomas Ewerhard, who also did the covers for Assembly and Storm.

"Deadland", released at the end of 2009, is considered the last single in the band's career.

For its part, Metal Mind Productions returned to reissue on July 27, 2009 the albums Musique and Assembly, in a remastered format, with extra pieces, new notes and other designs. Both consist of a special and limited edition of only two thousand copies.

On March 12, 2010, the EP Addenda was released, containing alternate versions of songs from their final album.

Parallel to them and as one of the last available materials, a live album called The Tour Edition was published on March 12, 2010, which contains an extra CD with remixed songs and unpublished pieces.

That same day, Theater of Tragedy began its farewell tour, the Forever is the World Tour. Norwegian symphonic metal and gothic metal band Where Angels Fall played support on the European leg of the tour.

By June 2010, they made the band's first and only tour of Latin America, which included presentations in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and to conclude, a show in Brazil.

Theatre of Tragedy ending

In a surprising and concise statement on their official website on March 1, 2010, the band said goodbye to their audience as follows:

«THE TEATRO'S GREAT.

After almost seventeen years of existence, Theatre of Tragedy has decided to call the closing day. This has not been an easy decision to make and we have thought of this for a long time. Finally, this agreement was reached during the production of our latest albumForever Is The World.

Theatre of Tragedy will come to an end on October 2, 2010, exactly seventeen years after we started making music together.

Over the years, we have all worked hard to combine Theatre with everyday life, but in the end it has proved more difficult. We have come to appreciate family life and employment, which makes it very difficult to continue with this rock and roll life on the road.

We know that some of you will probably be very disappointed, but we also hope that you will continue to listen to our music, that all of you have learned to appreciate and love so much.

We would like to thank all of you for all your support for the past seventeen years! Theatre of Tragedy would not have been possible without you!.

Be sure to attend the latest Theatre of Tragedy shows this year! The final concert will take place on October 2 at Stavanger, where everything started.

Our music will live... and forever is the world.

Theatre of Tragedy. »

Last Curtain Call (2011)

In September 2010, the band's fans helped raise funds to finish their first and last DVD of a concert filmed in their native Stavanger, through donations. This situation was motivated when the record company AFM Records withdrew without delivering most of the financing for its production, which was estimated at a total cost of twenty-five thousand euros. They indicated that five thousand euros were missing, a figure that they managed to square.

The band finally released it on May 20, 2011. under the name Last Curtain Call. The DVD has a total duration of ninety-four minutes of music with eighteen songs. Additionally, it contains a half-hour documentary "On the Road" recorded on the band's last tour and rehearsals on October 1, 2010 (with fans in attendance), as well as another half-hour of in-depth interviews with all members of Theater of Tragedy.

Also encloses a double CD with the complete concert. Stage direction was by Erlend Sørbø, audio was mixed by Alex Møklebust and mastered by Chris Sansom.

Musical Styles

Probably best known and acclaimed for their early work, this band was highly influential in the gothic metal genre. It is considered one of the first to use the classic contrast of male guttural voices with female soprano voices.

On their first three albums, their lyrics were predominantly composed in Early Modern English (Early Modern English), occasionally mixed with some Norwegian words, particular characteristics that made them relatively incomprehensible to the common public. They even wrote compositions entirely in German (such as «Der Tanz der Schatten» from Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996)), or with verses in Latin («Venus» from the album Aégis (1998)).

For this stage, the letters were dark and referred to fantastic elements typical of Greco-Roman mythology or European folklore (in particular, these characteristics are present in Aégis).

However, from that album, the band began a radical change in sound, reducing the guttural voices and more calm melodies. There was also a change in his lyrics, turning more towards classical English and therefore more accessible.

Their next album, Musique, marked a drastic turn in style and aesthetics, turning to the industrial rock genre, a style that was maintained on their next album, Assembly. This trend earned them serious criticism, and the sales of these records were not as expected.

Assembly was also the last album to feature singer Liv Kristine. For this stage, videos of key pieces were frequent, with a decidedly commercial sound. The lyrics contain more everyday elements of modernity, such as technology, nightlife or street fights.

Her last two productions, Storm and Forever Is The World, with new singer Nell Sigland (with a voice similar to Kristine's), is somehow a return to gothic metal, but again without the cryptic and dense lyrics of their early work (using more ordinary English) and with few guttural voices.

Members

• Nell Sigland - Voices
• Raymond Istvàn Rohonyi - Voices, electronics, letters
• Vegard T. Thorsen - Guitar
• Frank Claussen - Guitar
• Lorentz Aspen - Keyboard
• Hein Frode Hansen - Battery

Past Members

• Liv Kristine Espenæs - voices (from Theatre Of Tragedy until Assembly)
• Pål Bjåstad - Guitar (en) Theatre Of Tragedy)
• Geir Flikkeid - Guitar Velvet Darkness They Fear and Der Tanz Der Schatten)
• Tommy Olsson - Guitar Aegis)
• Tommy Lindal - Guitar (from Theatre Of Tragedy until A Rose for the Dead)
• Eirik T. Saltrø - Low (from Theatre Of Tragedy until Musique)

Timeline

Discography

Studio Albums

• Theatre of Tragedy (1995)
• Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996)
• Aégis (1998)
• Musique (2000)
• Assembly (2002)
• Storm (2006)
• Forever is the World (2009)

EP

• Theatre of Tragedy (demo) (1994)
• A Rose for the Dead (1997)
• Virago (EP) (1999)
• Inperspective (2000)
• Addenda (2010)

Concerts

• Closure:Live (2001)

DVD

• Last Curtain Call (2011)

Simple

• "Der Tanz Der Schatten" (1996)
• « Cassandra» (1998)
• «Image » (2000)
• «Machine» (2001)
• «Envision» (2002)
• «Let You Down» (2002)
• «Storm» (2006)
• «Deadland» (2009)

Music Videos

• «A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal» (1995)
• «Image» (2000)
• «Machine» (2000)
• «Let You Down» (2002)
• «Storm» (2006)