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This is exactly why you never judge an album based on its cover. Judging by the cover, band name, album title, song titles…what would you guess? Commercial 'I love you but I want to whine for no reason' crap? An Evanescence rip-off band? I gave it a shot anyway because I heard really good things about it from a not-so-credible source, and since it was band members from Theatre of Tragedy we are talking about, I saw no harm in at least giving it a chance.

This is Gothic metal of the good kind. Do not be fooled by the song titles, because although pretty much all songs are romantic and the album theme is based on a love story, the music is heavy enough and simply beautiful. Liv Kristine (Theatre of Tragedy) never sounded better. We have the 'beauty & the beast' vocals here, courtesy of Kristine's husband, in addition to her awesome operatic voice. I'm inclined to make a Nightwish comparison here because Kristine is clearly influenced by Tarja's (Nightwish) vocal delivery, however she does not overdo it. She is also accompanied by male growling vocals which take it over the top. Musically, this sounds nothing like Nightwish however so don't expect that.

If you can tolerate romantic lyrics and enjoy Gothic metal, I say go get this album right here because it will be a pleaser. The songs are extremely melodic and quite catchy. However, there are more ballads on here than I would like. Come on…we all know the rule - two ballads per album is the limit. Three is excusable sometimes but all those romantic songs made me feel like a little bitch right now so tough luck! :)

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