Artist: Theatre of Tragedy
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 11/14/00
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Title: Musique Artist: Theatre of Tragedy Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 11/14/00
Rating: 3 Skulls |
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Submitted by Requiem (12/7/00):
I was forewarned about this album and despite all of the negative criticism that I had heard I tried to listen to it with an open mind. Those who haven't heard Theatre of Tragedy before will find the first spin of Musique to be a less traumatic experience than those who have. The difference from the last amazing album to this is astounding. This is a pretty good record on its own accord but the band has taken a 180 degree turn from their previous efforts.The band started out as more of a death metal/goth band that mixed death metal vocals with the beautiful vocals of Liv Kristine. As the band reached their peak (in my opinion) on Aegis, we saw a replacement of the death metal vocals with a clean/goth style of male vocals along with the clean female vocals. Everything from the production to the songwriting to the performance was brilliant resulting in a groundbreaking record in the goth/metal style and I'm sure many were anticipating a follow-up that would at least come close to its predecessor. Instead we get Musique.
The album takes on much different style, that being "dark electronica" and it's good for what it is but it just should not have the same band name on the cover. After repeated listens, I found value in some of the tracks but as a whole the album is a disappointment. It's got a much happier feel than the past efforts and a sorta brit-pop sound to it as well. Although the band is from Norway, they sound like they've been hanging out in My Dying Bride's home turf. All of the sudden everyone has a British accent. It's all for effect I'm sure and they pull it off well but it just adds to the shock of it all.
What saves this album from ending up in the used CD bins is the vocal performance of Liv Kristine. She's got some really catchy vocal melodies that do happen to go well with the style of music backing her up. She also strongly resembles a great female vocalist by the name of Sonya Aurora Madan who fronts a pop/rock band called Echobelly. The album still has a metal edge but it has a much more electonica feel than anything. There are lots of more dance style beats, samples galore and a change in vocal styles. The male vocals have transformed to a more robotic, monotonous style which really does not help this album at all. And although Liv Kristine's vocals are up to par in delivery, the new style is a bit different and takes a while to get used to.
The album has some highlights though. "Fragment" is probably the record's best track with the chorus offering some catchy angelic vocals over a great offtime yet dance-like beat and "Retrospect" has a great busy serpent-like bass line that flows well with the rest of the song. Other highlights are "Commute" which has a very dark and heavy industrial sound with once again a very memorable chorus reminiscent of Echobelly and "Reverie" in which a very soothing higher register of female vocals are displayed.
The band is obviously going in a direction that they want to and they do this very well. In fact, I would not be surprised if this album landed them commercial status. For fans of old, this is barely a Theatre of Tragedy record if one at all. If you have a tolerance for an electronica sound mixed with a dash of metal do check this out as it is better than a good portion of garbage out there. Being a previous fan, I'm gonna have to deduct a couple of points (or in this case skulls) just for the drop off in style and quality from the last record. Maybe like My Dying Bride they will return back to the style their fans want to hear and perhaps they'll drop the British accent and act like Norwegians again.
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