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Virgin Black > Sombre Romantic > Reviews
Virgin Black - Sombre Romantic

They cry "Unhappiness", but I am very joyful! - 100%

LarsA81, February 15th, 2020
Written based on this version: 2001, CD, Independent

If Virgin Black's Trance ep teased a band moving towards an absolutely epic sound combined with heavy guitars and melancholic vocals, Sombre Romantic nails it completely! This first full-length from these Australian gothic metal masters is a crushing release! It is an epic composition and it is hard to believe this is the first full-length from such a young band.

Sombre Romantic is not an album I could do a track by track review of. Everything feels interwoven and connected, even though there is a great difference of expression in the songs. But the album is more about an overall feeling and presence rather than a bunch of songs being played one after another. And this album has a very dark and melancholic feel to it. The music is not composed as typical rock music where all instruments are played at once, but more like classical music where there is room for each instrument to do their own thing, and every instrument isn't necessarily played at the same time. There are a great deal of piano and keyboards being played as well as some great guitars and a haunting cello. Everything melts together perfectly. At times the music is super quiet and fragile, but without warning, crushing guitars, choir and pounding drums will blast out of the speakers.

London's vocals are amongst the high-lights of the album. He has the smoothest, saddest and most emotional voice in metal. He does Gregorian chanting (there are also parts where it is a whole choir doing vocals), very fragile vocals both high and low pitched. And he can get really high and low! And I don't think I have ever heard an album with that much whispering as well. On the extreme side of things, guitarist Edis and bassist Miller helps out with some screams in the black metal department. It works extremely well and can be heard on "Drink the Midnight Hymn" and "I Sleep with the Emperor". Speaking of vocals, the song "Walk Without Limbs" only has one verse, repeated several times and it has a mix of whispers, choir, a somewhat choked scream and what to me sounds like breathing played backwards.... And that is just one example of Virgin Black's creativity.

Production-vise the album sounds extremely organic. As mentioned above, every instrument (and vocal part for that matter) seems to flow in and out of each other. Every instrument has its own parts and does their own thing, and yet there is a balance to it all. Oddly enough, the bass drum sounds very electronic on most tracks, and maybe the drum kit is a mix of acoustic and electric drums. Especially "Walk Without Limbs" has a electronic beat to it - and this shouldn't work with the organic feel of the album, but it does. It shouldn't, but it does!

As mentioned above, it doesn't make much sense to me to rate each track, however there is a very clear high-light on the album - "Museum of Iscariot". This has to be the saddest and strongest song Virgin Black has done period! It is a haunting portrait of a Christians faith and how it is very much dead. And not only that, one even mistreats that faith and yet there is a hope and forgiveness from Christ. A forgiveness that reaches fare beyond any human mis/deed or lukewarm feelings of one's beliefs. First half of the song is crushingly sad and melancholic and is accompanied by the best and most heartfelt guitar solo I have ever heard, I kid you not! Samantha Escarbe delivers solos like no other!!!! Second half has a slightly more up-beat feel to it, as it shows a tiny glimpse of hope and new found love and faith. This song is an absolute masterpiece, and has lyrics that I can perfectly relate to - one of my all time favorite songs!

Virgin Black does deal with sombre themes- It seems like Psalms and Lamentations from the Old Testament is an inspiration to the lyrics. There's a lot of sadness, depression, melancholy and loneliness in the lyrics, yet they feel very human and I think one can relate even though one might not share the same faith as the band portraits.

Sombre Romantic is a perfect release! There is so much emotion in every song, such a great flow throughout the entire album, amazing dynamics, vocally it is utterly amazing, it has some of the best solos I have heard and I could just go on and on... this is a band at their peak and a musical journey that is above and beyond much other music I have heard. The band might cry "unhappiness" but I am joyful... Amen!

Yeah It's Sombre... So What? - 45%

Sean16, December 27th, 2009

This album being the only one I own from Virgin Black I won’t draw any definitive conclusion, but let’s say as of now as far as I’m concerned this band doesn’t seem to justify the hype it benefits from. It namely reminds me of another overrated act of its kind, Estatic Fear: both are somehow unique, pretty hard to classify, filled with classical influences and also, let’s admit it, often not metal at all. What might at first glance look problematic when reviewing from a metalhead’s point of view would nonetheless be of a minor concern if the content was in itself remarkable – after all, there’s plenty of excellent non-metal music. However, in our present case by constantly oscillating between metal and non-metal the work eventually loses its way. For instance, the most widely used instrument here is without doubt a... piano, and one soon comes to wonder if the guys wouldn’t have been better clearly crossing the line and recording a piano-only album.

What are we listening about, in short? Reckoning the genuine songs, there aren’t that many to begin with. The first two tracks are two parts of a same piece, and let’s be lucid, this is a mere INTRO... The first part mostly consists in a lonely cello with some additional choirs and orchestrations from time to time, while the second part is nothing but a lengthy instrumental variation on a primary two-notes (!) motive. That’s scarce. Farther, in spite of a nice doom-ish vibe Weep For Me is a two-minutes long instrumental, not really what I’d call a song, while its follower I Sleep With the Emperor is hardly longer, ending just when you thought it was about to finally begin.

Indeed, the whole stuff looks pretty schizophrenic. It borrows from doom, gothic and even black metal, together with classical music, in a strange blend the least that can be said about is it isn’t particularly controlled. The soft moments, which are a majority, are too often boring – frankly, even without being Chopin himself you surely can do far, far better with a piano, and coming to the guitar riffs they’re overall very poor (Lamenting Kiss... so flat) – while not unexpectedly the harsh moments (most are to be found in Drink the Midnight Hymn and I Sleep With the Emperor) seem to stand at odd with everything else – oooh let’s add a bit of black metal to... to what? Nevermind, let the listener decide.

The songwriting weaknesses would probably be less of an issue if the execution was perfect, but alas this isn’t the case either. First this isn’t a bad thing the drums aren’t widely used here given when they are they sound downright terrible, from the metallic sound of the snare (think St. Anger fashion) to blatant triggers abuse all leading to an overall far too mechanical vibe; to be honest although a genuine drummer is credited I’ve heard machines sounding more human than that – and this TECHNO beat in Walk Without Limbs, are you serious? Second the vocals, while far from being as horrible, aren’t what I’d call stellar either. The main male clean voice is far too grandiloquent, wannabe-operatic to be taken seriously; its harsh, black-metal-inspired counterpart is decent though. That one however still sounds a tad out-of-place sometimes. The choirs are fine I guess, there are too few of them to judge accurately. The only pleasant surprise will thus be the lead guitar (again the rhythm guitar is very, very basic...), as if extended guitar solos aren’t exactly what you’d first expect on such a release, believe me or not there are present, and well. Perhaps not flamboyant in terms of pure technicality, but for the most obvious example the plaintive soloing parts of Museum of Iscariot are all of excellent quality.

An ambitious release? For sure. Extremely ambitious, for a rather poor result. On ten tracks merely two are eventually standing out, the aforementioned Museum of Iscariot – and still, more for the solos than anything else – and the closer A Poet’s Tears of Porcelain which gives a hint to what the whole work might have sounded like under different circumstances. There’s some undeniable majesty in this song while, oddly (or not?), the drums for once sound acceptable. For the rest it surely won’t harm you, but it won’t make you any good either.

Highlights: Museum of Iscariot, A Poet’s Tears of Porcelain

Virgin Black's Finest Hour - 88%

Jiri777, July 15th, 2009

“Sombre Romantic” is probably Virgin Black’s best effort to date. This, along with the “Trance” E.P. contains the band’s most unique sound (IMO). Very good operatic tenor vocals, astonishing guitar work, and very classically based songwriting made this band supreme. They have since fallen under the “music that goes nowhere” spell like many others *cough* Ulver *cough*. And of course, people think that music that lacks direction is much better than music with a focus. However, this is when Virgin Black knew how to create real songs that were really efficient. This is “Sombre Romantic”!

Now with all that said and done, this album is sadly not perfect. We will discuss what is perfect first. London’s luminous vocals. Fucking brilliant! What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, are some of the most talented vocals in music’s long history. Well refined, gorgeous opera vocals that would make any classical fan cum in their pants. Did I mention the best part? London is male! Virgin Black is defiantly not a Nightwish clone that rides the success of Tarja Turenen. Metal’s operatic male population is simply meager. And although Virgin Black has a female in the band, London handles all the vocal work here. He also throws in some harsh vocals that really don’t fit the music, but they are very well placed and sparsely used.

Another perfect aspect is the guitar work from Samantha Escarbe. Damn this woman can play guitar. She is easily one of the best guitarists I have ever heard. Just check out the outstanding solo on “Museum of Iscariot” and you will know what I mean. She has a unique playing style that complements the music very nicely.

Now we move to the un-perfect aspects of “Sombre Romantic”. Right away you will notice the instrumental population. There are way too many of the damn things! Five in total! And it really does not help when the album begins with three of them in a row, which leads me to my next point. The track listing is terrible. Who thought that three instrumentals in a row was a good idea? If you make six songs and five instrumentals, the logical thing to do would be to alternate between them!

Another un-perfect feature is the drums. The drummer for this band has always gotten under my skin. He plays in 4/4 mostly, with annoying techno beats and his drum sound is just ugly. He really does not appear to be skilled behind the kit, and I think the band needs to replace him.

Highlights on this album are “Of your Beauty”, “Museum of Iscariot”, and “I Sleep with the Emperor”. “Of your Beauty” is beautiful with amazing melancholic vocals showing great range. It also contains professionally done key work. “Museum of Iscariot” is a stunning effort, with more superb vocals and gloomy guitar work that could bring a tear to your eye. “I Sleep with the Emperor” is a faster, shorter, and more metal sounding song. It has awesome opening singing from London. Then he uses harsh vocals through out the rest of the song. A very effective metal song.

Overall, this album is very good, and certainly one of metal’s most creative works. Highly recommended to any fan of classical music and metal.

Acquired Taste? - 55%

Perplexed_Sjel, September 12th, 2007

Virgin Black, an unusual band. Possibly due to the strange almost operatic like vocals. I'm not too keen on the vocals, never have been and probably never will be. Especially on Sombre Romantic when they shift from operatic and sorrowful to an indecipherable harsh growl. I tend to feel the latter, being the harsh growled vocals, ruin the mood which is initially set by the band. Atmospherically, Virgin Black are quite pleasing. I'm not a fan of symphonic metal, but as this goes, it's decent enough. I've always tend to have thought that if Virgin Black were to keep to using a softer blend of music, then perhaps i'd enjoy listening to them more. It's where the doom metal elements of the band come out that Virgin Black continuously fail. I'm all in favour of using instruments such as the cello and piano to create an aesthetically pleasing dark atmospheric sound, but not when overbearing distorted guitar riffs are placed smack bang on top of the peaceful and tranquil underlay.


Virgin Black try to set too many moods on this release. As opposed to sticking to one general theme throughout, they change it quite often. From being mildly aggressive and forceful, to being softer and subtle in their approach. Oddly enough I cannot decide which I prefer most. It generally tends to depend on the song. For instance, Drink The Midnight Hymn, which is an aggressive blend of mid to fast paced riffs, double bass lines as the backbone and often growled vocals that a black metal vocalist would be quite often associated with, is one of the few highlights. It has a direction, whereas many of the other songs do not. It's to the point and aggressive ...

'Killed with hate, You died with love...

The cry of my heart, the cry of my soul'

The highly emotive lyrics make for good reading and suit the style of play well. On the other hand we have the operatic vocals back, specifically on Of Your Beauty, with the monotonous piano. Songs such as this seem out of place to me. Virgin Black seem to suffer the same fate time and time again. As was the problem on Elegant and Dying, Virgin Black have a mixture of songs which don't compliment each other. Instead this seems like some sort of compilation disc, as opposed to an album by the same band. For me, Virgin Black have come as far as they are going to go.

A Classic Piece Of Art - 100%

Cravinov13, March 13th, 2007

This album is a beautiful piece of work. It is dark, atmospheric, emotional, and dynamic, all the essentials of a perfect gothic doom record.

The music on the album is very bleak and heavy (in a figurative and literal way). The Neoclassical/ opera influences of the band shine on such songs as Opera de Romanci pt. 1 and pt. 2, and the disturbing heaviness shines on Drink The Midnight hymn and I Sleep With The Emperor. The music ranges from opera/ romanticism, neoclassical, industrial, gothic rock, doom metal, and even some minor death metal parts. Lyrically, the album is a heart wrenching spill of emotions not meant for the cheerful at heart. The atmosphere of the album is enticing and the vocals feel as if they entrance your very soul.

Also, Virgin Black managed to do something very few progressive bands of their genre have done, and that is not get boring. The album constantly flows and progresses with each song, bringing upon an orgy of sound after sound that always has something new to deliver.

Overall, the album is a perfect piece of art essential to any doom metal fans collection. For fans of The 3rd And The Mortal, Synnöve, Elend, Die Verbannten Kinder Evas, and Lethian Dreams.

Most painfully emotional album ever! - 98%

Sigma, June 22nd, 2003

This is one of the best albums in my collection so i thought i'd share it with you all.

Each track on this CD has something different to offer and it leads to a very diverse, let unified record, so at no point does it get boring. Everything about this album is brilliant, from the music to the lyrics (this is a concept album).

The cd starts out with Opera de Romanci (Stare/Embrace) some dark and depressing cellos and some operatic vocals sung in Latin. The atmosphere is very haunting and eerie. Then the guitars come in and some whispered vocals are heard. They say "my god, weep for me..." a reoccuring line throughout the album. The next track, Walk Without Limbs (the most experimental track on teh album) comes in... Some programmed drums come in and some more cellos and everything starts building up then just stops...some whispering is heard then a chorus burst out Shel masa Fun de Ma! (manifest of the soul) then a evil sounding voice is heard..."walk without limbs, walk through my soul" This continues, each time scarier than the next. The guitars come into a quite heavy section and the previous mentioned vocals are screamed till the song ends ebruptly with a creepy piano outro...
The piano leaves the listener feeling very uneasy...you really gert caught up in the atmosphere. This leads in Rowan's mournful vocals of Of Your Beauty. This song is pretty much all piano but it is so emotionfilled especially when the piano starts getting played mercilessly and Rowan sounds as if he is going mad. Amazing!
Drink the Midnight Hymn comes in with the first real growls heard on the album and some heavy guitars, they lead into some of Rowan's clean singing and later into a choir chanting in Latin again. The music is always changing, keeping the listener bound to the atmosphere. There is some more piano to follow along. A very dramatic song.

Now, the highlight of the album, Museum of Iscariot, this 7 minuet epic is the most depressing, gut wrenching song ever! It begins with a very epic sounding string section then end suddenly to cut to very lamentful vocals and acoustic. The lyrics are very harsh and produce strong imagry, such Jesus dying in the narrator's painting his face with sadness. Samantha's solo is pure emotion, really gets to you. There is a growled line of "but he is dead" and cuts to more clean sorrowful singing. Another type of clean vocals comes in, more relaxed, and closes the song with a very epic feel.

Lamenting Kiss, comes in with some very monotone speaking, adding to the disturbing atmosphere. The chorus is excellent, the whole song excellent. It leads into the instrumental Weep For Me where distorted guitars keep a nice atmosphere while "my god, weep for me" is heard several times. I Sleep with the Emperor is probably the most unique track. It starts with Rowan singing as if he is scared shitless and leads into some distorted guitars. Then you are absolutly pumbled by 3 vocals layers. One high operatic singing, the other a snarl and the most prominant, a gutteral growl. Really brutal. It leads into more choirs, very eerie, and then tumbeling back into the brutal section, a real ass kicker.

And finally, the closer, A Poet's Tears Of Porcelain, lots of vocal layers and really epic. Rowan's vocals fit the lyrics perfectly and the song ends with a nice chorus and it is absolutly beautiful. There could not have been a better way to end this album. The transition of emotion throughout the album is highlighted in this song. The perfect conclusion to a very distrubing album.