Theatre Des Vampires: Moonlight Waltz

There's precious little in life as fun as reading publicity material for bands. I've actually read that the Helloween spin-off Bassinvaders are worth listening to for instance. The bumph for the latest release from Italy's Theatre Des Vampires reads thus; "The brand new album from the Vampire Theatre - modern and refreshing Gothic Metal at his (sic) best, with a Bloody Touch. Their music represents a musical travelogue through a beautiful yet unspeakably grotesque realm of the imagination, that owes something to the cinematic vision of Gothic director par excellence Tim Burton, the stylish splatter of Italian horror, the symphonic excess of her opera, the blood-soaked allure of her long history - combine to make Theatres des Vampires one of the most elegantly dark, and eerily compelling gothic metal bands the world has to offer..." Clearly (and patronizingly we'll have to ignore the grammar mistakes.)

OK, let's have a look at the major claims shall we? "Modern and refreshing Gothic Metal at its best." Moonlight Waltz is fine but by no means the best thing since sliced bread. "One of the most elegantly dark and eerily compelling gothic metal bands the world has to offer..." Again, we're in hyperbole mode but that's not to denigrate the album in any way which has many fine qualities. Snowy Shaw shows up on the opening track "Keeper of the Secrets" and "Cadaveria" and Eva Breznicar from Laibach help out on "Le Grand Guignol" and "Medusa" respectively and these are suitably powerful and gothic.

One of the ways I like to score my reviews is by the tracks I give at least four stars to on my IPod and there are enough on Moonlight Waltz to keep the band's "near religious following" satisfied. One of the songs that I gave four stars to is "Illusion" which, as is often the case with Theatre Des Vampires sounds a little like Lacuna Coil and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Equally, as is generally the case, the real star here is lead vocalist Sonya Scarlet who at times is frightening and at others highly beguiling which again draws us back to the conclusion that Moonlight Waltz is a solid if not exactly ground breaking album.

Track Listing:
1. Keeper of Secrets" (feat. Snowy Shaw)
2. "Carmilla"
3. "Moonlight Waltz"
4. "Fly Away"
5. "Sangue"
6. "Figlio della Luna"
7. "An Illusion"
8. "Black Madonna"
9. "Le Grand Guignol" (feat. Cadaveria)
10. "Obsession"
11. "The Secret Gates of Hades"
12. "Medousa" (feat. Eva Breznikar)

Added: April 26th 2011
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3458
Language: english

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