L'âme Immortelle (French: the immortal soul) is an Austrian band that produ… Read Full Bio ↴L'âme Immortelle (French: the immortal soul) is an Austrian band that produces darkwave, and more recently also industrial metal.

Many of L'âme Immortelle's songs feature melancholy or lovelorn lyrics in German or English, and juxtaposed harsh male and emotional female vocals. Current work has moved away from the band's electronic roots into the neue deutsche härte (New German hardness) genre.
L'âme Immortelle was formed in 1996 in Vienna, Austria by friends Thomas Rainer and Hannes Medwenitsch. Soon vocalist Sonja Kraushofer, a former classmate of Rainer, joined and the band sought a record contract. They released their first album, "Lieder die wie Wunden bluten" in 1997 on MOS Records in Lichtenstein, which became popular in the underground German Goth subculture. In 1999, L'âme Immortelle switched to Trisol Records. From 1998 through 2001, L'âme Immortelle released another LP yearly, each bringing the band greater popularity. In 2002, Medwenitsch left the band. Kraushofer and Rainer recruited Ashley Dayour as a guitarist and the re-formed L'âme Immortelle released a new single, "Tiefster Winter" in November 2002. In 2003, L'âme Immortelle released "Als die Liebe starb", as well as "Seelensturm", a collection of re-issued and re-mixed early material.

In 2004, the band switched labels again, this time to major label Supersonic, a subsidiary of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. The first issue following the switch was a collaboration with OOMPH! on the non-album single "Brennende Liebe" (released as OOMPH! feat. L'âme Immortelle); they also appeared in the video. Following that, L'âme Immortelle released a new album, "Gezeiten", which includes some of their most popular songs like "5 Jahre", "Stumme Schreie" and "Fallen Angel". A significant change in L'âme Immortelle's style is evident now that the band is on a major label; notably the electronic instrumentation of earlier work was less prominent in "Gezeiten".

Their latest album "Auf deinen Schwingen" has been released on August 2006 along with "Phönix" single. The record also includes songs like "Wohin" which contains text from another famous LAI song called "Aus den Ruinen", and "Nur Du" — a song which totally differs from older L'âme Immortelle work. The music video for this song is a cartoon, an unusual thing for the band.

official site

Dead Actor's Requiem
L'Âme Immortelle Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

ItÂ´s time to leave the stage
In this theatre of pain
To let go of all the rage
When all scenes have been played

The final act concluded
The curtain falls for one last time
And outside the crowed still cheers

There'll be no encore this time

Weep away all your tears my friend
We will meet again someday
But this time, there'll be an end
To this play I called my life

Leaving the stage, smash the mask
An actor dead, a human being
On the ground, a final gasp
The doors are opened wide

The air perforated by the rain
Outsied is conquered silently

By a soul who's free of pain
The actor left the stage

Overall Meaning

The song "Dead Actor's Requiem" by L'Âme Immortelle is a reflection on the end of life, using the metaphor of a play or a theatre production. The lyrics suggest that it is time for the artist, or the individual, to leave the stage of life, where they have experienced pain, anger and other emotions. As the final act concludes and the curtain falls, the crowds outside still cheer, but there will be no encore this time. The overall message of the song is about accepting the end of life, and being at peace with it.

The lyrics of the chorus provide solace to the artist's friend, promising a reunion one day, but acknowledging that it will be the end of the "play" that the artist called life. The act of "smashing the mask" is an evocative image, suggesting a break with illusions and pretence. The song is a reminder to embrace life while we can, but also to accept its eventual end.

Line by Line Meaning

It´s time to leave the stage
It's time to end this chapter of my life.

In this theatre of pain
Life is full of suffering and hardship.

To let go of all the rage
It's time to release all anger and move on.

When all scenes have been played
When all experiences have come to an end.

The final act concluded
Life has come to its end.

The curtain falls for one last time
The end is now, and there's no turning back.

And outside the crowd still cheers
The world keeps moving on, despite one's death.

There'll be no encore this time
There's no second chance in life.

Weep away all your tears my friend
Don't mourn for me, be happy for the memories we shared.

We will meet again someday
We'll see each other again in the afterlife.

But this time, there'll be an end
This time around life has come to an end.