So I was feeling that Theatre of Tragedy itch and I was going to re-visit the old albums, I went to their Metal-Archives page, and I saw something I've never seen before, a demo recorded in October 1994 with official artwork and everything.

I saw a comment on YouTube by their old guitarist Tommy Lindal said they entered a small studio to do a test recording before they went to Sweden to record their debut album in Sweden in December 1994.

Side A are rough versions of Sweet Art Thou and To These Words I Beheld No Tongue. Side B have songs that don't appear elsewhere. Lament of the Perishing Roses has been floating on the net for many years, and Wikipedia says it was their first recording, but this is clearly wrong. This song is recorded after the first demo. The other song has a really long title Hitherto One Blossom Withstands the Ever-Returning Sleepiness of the Frost, and it's 100% new to me.

I just thought I'd share in case someone else is a big ToT fan and didn't know about this. Hearing new Theatre of Tragedy music after all this year was so magical.

I haven't listened to much TOT besides their first two albums, but I did recently gave the promo a listen, and I found it pretty interesting to hear a more raw take of their early sound. My favorite track of the four would have to go to Lament of the Perishing Roses.

I really love that song as well, especially that folky synth melody towards the end. One thing I really like about the earliest ToT material is the folky medieval melodies, songs like Sweet Art Thou. On Velvet Darkness... and Aegis it shifted focus to more classical and darker stuff.

Interesting! I used to be a fan of Theatre of Tragedy in their early days and didn't know about this demo. I'll give it a listen when I have the time. Thanks!

I had never heard about this demo until 2020 when the songs were included on the deluxe vinyl edition of the band's self titled album. I always just thought the band had one demo from 1994, so it was a very nice surprise to hear some more material from the early (and my favorite) era of the band. Especially since 2 of the songs were completely new to me and were never re-recorded past this demo.

An interesting note the band says in the liner notes of the S/T vinyl reissue is that the session violinist they used for Promo 1994 was a terrible player. I think she only appears in the middle of "Lament of the Perishing Roses". After reading that note, I focused a bit more on her playing and it's definitely a sloppy and amateurish performance, however I don't think it ruins the song in any way.

Another demo that stayed hidden for many years is their Promo 1996. A few of the songs were included on the 2013 reissue of Velvet Darkness They Fear, but it wasn't clear where the songs originated from. But then in 2020 when the deluxe vinyl edition was released, the bonus tracks were listed as from the Promo 1996 demo tape. Included was a 4th song; an early demo version of A Rose for the Dead - which was meant to be on the Velvet album but the band didn't have enough time to finish it during the album sessions.