A truly great album, but for those who are not prepared for it, it may come
as a shock to hear the blend of death metal and violins! But do not make any
judgment before you have heard it, because it is a wonderful album, with
stunning vocal performances, great musicians, especially the bass guitar, and
accompanied by a melancholy violin, mostly used in the intros. However, if you
are not used to this kind of Goth/Death Metal, then you might want to search
2 minutes into the songs, and you will be served more classic Goth.

The line-up:
Glenn Nordbø: Vocals, guitars
Anita Auglend: Vocals
Ola Aarestad: Bass guitar
Stig Johansson: Drums
Arild Christensen: Guitars, vocals
Anders Thue: Keyboards, piano
Ingfrid Stensland: Keyboards, Piano
Pete Johansen: Violin

The first song starts with a deep roar, which may set the wrong impressions for
the listener, but it sure sounds rather cool. It does not seem to have anything to
do with the rest of the song, however. Then the violins and drums set the mark for
the following intro of the song. Often, and also in this case, the intros are
long, perhaps too long from time to time, in this song it is one minute long. Then
the male, dark, distorted vocals start, still accompanied by the violin. After a
short while, the female vocals are introduced, accompanied by the guitars. The
contrast between the male and female vocals is perfectly mixed and blended, and the
lyrics are also very strong and attaches to the listener's mind immediately.

The intro of the second song has a longer violin solo, with drums and leading on
to introducing the guitars, piano, and bass guitar. This is to me the most emotional
song on the album, much depending on the very emotional and melancholy parts in the
singing and the lyrics. The richness in the music comes to light in the full and
deep sound of the whole performance, in addition to the vocals, always performed
brilliantly. This song is also long, 9 minutes, but always has something to lead
on to, bringing the listener to new experiences. The female vocals with the piano,
but always with the deep, dark bass guitar and rhythm guitars in the background.
The contrast may be the best parts of TSOTB, making music out of the softest and
the hardest, the lightest and the darkest, all in a perfect mix.

In the third song, nothing new happens; violin intro, male and female vocals...
In the fourth song, the style changes somewhat. The intro is shorter and different,
the style of the keyboards is not the same as before. It has a bit happier style, at
least it appears so. A quicker pace, more straightforward tone. But then the female
vocals are introduced, and it works perfectly also with the quicker rhythm. This is
also a truly great song even if the pattern is broken.

Piano intro starts the fifth song, leading on to female vocals, dominating this song.
It is brighter, crisper, and more clear then the previous intros, then tuning down to
a darker side of the vocals, the register is deeper even in the female vocals, which
gives a very interesting concept. In the middle of the song, there is a violin/piano
break that is very good, but it does not fully fit the music as a whole, even if the
match fits the music in many aspects, but the style is violated a bit. This is what
I like the least in this song; the mismatching grows too big here, even if that is
normally the strenght of the band.

The remaining songs do not offer many surprises, but they are brilliant songs, the sixth
song offering a dark and heavy intro, followed by piano and rhythm guitars and bright
female vocals. Then there is a shift between the instrumental parts and the vocals,
also introducing the violin. There is also a section, similar to one in the second
song, where Anita is more whining or sobbing than singing, and this also works well
in the context.

The last song does not have very many surprises either, with violin, piano, and male
vocals. It is still a good song, but perhaps you could expect more of a last song. When
the female vocals are introduced, the song grows, though. But I never liked the guitars
very much in this song, they are a bit too whining instead of being deep and dark. The
piano/guitar section in the middle of the song, with female backing vocals is a good part
not to be ignored.

To conclude, this is a great band with extremely good musicians with big feeling for the
music, and the vocal performances are extraordinary. Also, the richness of the music as
a whole unit is excellent. Perhaps the songs could have been more shifting and offering
some more surprises, but you cannot get everything...

Overall rating: 9 out of 10.