Theatre Of Tragedy
Storm

THE REVIEW

After the departure of Liv Kristine, after the continuous change of guitarists, after two really subpar albums, one would have expected a definitive breakup of the dead Norwegian band... A certainly not very glorious death, after the profound mark left by the first three albums, at least as far as I'm concerned. Instead, news spreads about a resurrection, a new beginning... Maybe a return to the origins... And maybe remained, after this "Storm" left me very disappointed, turning out to be notably more fake than the previous "Assembly." If in "Assembly" the techno/electropop vein was explicitly presented, transforming the Theatre Of Tragedy into a club band (and I would add Liv Kristine as a '90s Madonna), this "Storm" seems more like an attempt to feed themselves, having run out of money from previous contracts, rather than a way to make music. It’s not played badly, mind you: they haven't forgotten how to strum a guitar or tinkle on a keyboard... The problems are elsewhere. First of all, Raymond’s voice has returned to being that of a little robot (as someone already wrote referring to "Musique"), poorly filtered, flat, far from the growls, not perfect but at least effective from past albums. Or perhaps dark and whispered like in "Aegis."

This problem reverberates through much of the album, which ends up being very annoying to listen to. Patience, let's move on: I would like to describe the songs, but I find nothing particular to say, except that they are all structurally identical, it seems like playing the same song on repeat on the stereo... Metal riffing and guitar strumming, keyboard often set to piano voice, pulsating drums, absence of solos (this is not a novelty though). I really think it’s better to buy a Linkin Park album rather than this storm of annoying noises... But wait a moment, I want to hold back a bit of my evident acidity to talk about the new female vocal addition: Nell. vocally, I would say that to a listener not passionate about TOT it would seem that it wasn't her singing, but the old vocalist Liv... And yet it’s not her, it's the new one!!! Incredibly something new, which once again turns into old (I am obviously talking about "Assembly"), listening to the songs one after another... No, but I want to give her some credit, she really has a beautiful voice... wasted in a terrible context obviously, but still a beautiful voice. It’s a shame to see her made up in a horrendous way in the "Storm" video, the title track, while she tries to be sensual (not succeeding at all) moving like a drunk on the verge of a breakdown, with a mouth opening that would fit perfectly on Pink Floyd's LP "The Wall." And what about the frustrated Raymond who wouldn't convince a newborn of his viciousness... And the poor guitarists doomed to repeatedly copy even their haircut, besides the riffs. And poor Lorentz, who probably realizing the expressive poorness of his keyboard, decides to pretend to break it against the wall. I always hope for a revival and am always ready to reassess, even if lately more than Theatre Of they resemble a tragicomic theater...