After the release of a self-titled demo album in 1996, the group began gaining international recognition with 1998's "Trance" EP, signing with the End Records a year later.
Boasting a complex cinematic sound both gothic and metallic in nature, their debut album "Sombre Romantic" followed in 2000 and saw their core lineup augmented by choirs and string sections in the studio, the better to embellish their grandiose mood metal.
The second album "Elegant...and Dying" (2003) has a sad, epic but romantic sound. The extremely emotional arrangements are further enhanced by Rowan London's unique mournful yet poetic singing style. The songs are presented with numerous angles and at times coming out as soundtrack scores, at others as classical compositions or even as subtle weeping lullabies that make the music as dynamic as it is dark and passionate.
On March 10, 2006, The End Records announced in a press release that Virgin Black would be releasing three albums. The trio of albums is collectively titled "Requiem". First, "Requiem - Pianissimo", a strictly classically-oriented album featuring instrumentation from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, choral singing, and solo singers. Second, "Requiem - Mezzo Forte", built on the styles Virgin Black used in their previous albums, with the band and the orchestra complimenting one anothers' sound and given roughly equal prominence. Lastly, "Requiem - Fortissimo", also featuring a classical influence, but primarily having a death doom metal sound heavier than anything Virgin Black had ever played before.
The centerpiece album, "Requiem - Mezzo Forte", was released in May 2007, coinciding with a show at the Elements of Rock festival in Switzerland followed by "Requiem - Fortissimo" in February 2008. The last in the series, "Requiem - Pianissimo" was released in November 2018.
Official webpages:
http://www.myspace.com/virginblackofficial
http://www.facebook.com/virginblackofficial
Beloved
Virgin Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Allured by the scent of your death
And the savage priests, to a suffering soul
Exult in a strangled song
I am soothed from anger into sorrow
As they knot their wreaths against my limbs
Help me understand the stench in my mind
Can anyone taste my blood?
I have clung, quivering, with bruised flesh
Christendom rise and dress yourself
What delicious tears you've made me shed
Beloved, how many times I look at you
With suspended breath, and unguarded heart?
Like a cradled child you hold me
(With hysterical affection, to console this loss)
Beloved
Their semblance of love curses your beauty
In the blindness of my distress
In your dense black eyes
I see your silent grief
In Virgin Black's song Beloved, the lyrics express a sense of deep sorrow and confusion about the suffering and death of a loved one. The first few lines suggest a conflicted relationship with death, as the singer is both allured by the "scent" of it and yet also repulsed by what they witness. The "savage priests" seem to be some sort of symbol for the forces that cause suffering, and the image of an "exult[ation] in a strangled song" is haunting and evocative.
The second verse suggests a sense of being trapped or helpless, with "wreaths" constricting the singer's limbs. There is confusion and anger as they try to "understand the stench in [their] mind" and figure out why their vision is being impaired by outside forces. The third verse brings a sense of personal pain and loss, with the singer quivering and bruised. The line "Christendom rise and dress yourself" seems to suggest a criticism of organized religion or perhaps a call to action to address the injustices being experienced.
The chorus repeats the title, "Beloved," as a way of addressing the person who has been lost. The repeated rhetorical question of "how many times" implies a cyclical sense of grief, where the singer cannot stop looking at the person even though it causes them pain. There is a sense of intimacy and tenderness in the lines "with suspended breath, and unguarded heart/Like a cradled child you hold me," which offer a moment of comfort in the midst of pain. The final lines convey a sense of deep empathy and understanding between the two, with the singer seeing the "silent grief" in their beloved's "dense black eyes."
Line by Line Meaning
How many times will I look at you?
Expressing the singer's overwhelming desire to gaze upon the subject of their obsession endlessly
Allured by the scent of your death
Describing the singer's morbid fascination with the aroma of their loved one's mortality
And the savage priests, to a suffering soul, Exult in a strangled song
Depicting the oppressive nature of religious leaders who revel in the agony of those who seek salvation
I am soothed from anger into sorrow, As they knot their wreaths against my limbs
The artist's emotions are transformed from rage to sadness as they are bound with death adornments by religious figures
Help me understand the stench in my mind, Why do they impair our vision?
The artist is beseeching for clarity on the perplexing disgust they feel and why religion blocks their comprehension
Can anyone taste my blood? I have clung, quivering, with bruised flesh
The singer is pleading for acknowledgement of their suffering from those who have gone through the same agony before
Christendom rise and dress yourself, What delicious tears you've made me shed
The singer is mocking Christendom for causing them immense pain by forcing religion on them, which is a source of sadness and frustration
Beloved, how many times I look at you, With suspended breath, and unguarded heart?
The artist is expressing their unending admiration and unconditional love for the one they cherish
Like a cradled child you hold me, (With hysterical affection, to console this loss)
The subject of the artist's love is shown as providing comfort as they desperately try to heal the immense loss felt by the artist
Beloved, Their semblance of love curses your beauty, In the blindness of my distress, In your dense black eyes, I see your silent grief
The artist believes that those who pretend to love the subject of their love are actually devaluating it while expressing their sorrow through their meaningful gaze
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EDDIE CURTIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@arthursalitre8933
How many times will I look at you?
Allured by the scent of your death
And the savage priests, to a suffering soul
Exult in a strangled song
I am soothed from anger into sorrow
As they knot their wreaths against my limbs
Help me understand the stench in my mind
Why do they impair our vision?
Can anyone taste my blood?
I have clung, quivering, with bruised flesh
Christendom rise and dress yourself
What delicious tears you've made me shed
Beloved, how many times I look at you
With suspended breath, and unguarded heart?
Like a cradled child you hold me
(With hysterical affection, to console this loss)
Beloved
Their semblance of love curses your beauty
In the blindness of my distress
In your dense black eyes
I see your silent grief
@malbredova8582
Kolikrát budu se na tebe?
Zlákat vůní vaší smrti
A divoké kněží, trpícímu duše
Jásat přiškrceným písni
Jsem uklidňoval od hněvu do smutku
Protože uzel své věnce proti mým končetin
Pomoz mi pochopit zápach v mé mysli
Proč by poškozovaly naše vize?
Může někdo ochutnat mou krev?
Jsem se držel, chvějící se pošramocené tělo
Křesťanstvo stoupat a obléci
Co chutné slzy jste mě vrhnout
Milovaní, kolikrát jsem se na tebe
Se suspendovaným dechu, a nehlídané srdce?
Jako kolébce dítě mě držíš
(S hysterické náklonnosti ke konzoli tuto ztrátu)
milovaný
Jejich podoba lásky proklíná svou krásu
V slepotu mého úzkosti
Ve svých hustých černých očí
Vidím tvou tichý smutek
@arthursalitre8933
How many times will I look at you?
Allured by the scent of your death
And the savage priests, to a suffering soul
Exult in a strangled song
I am soothed from anger into sorrow
As they knot their wreaths against my limbs
Help me understand the stench in my mind
Why do they impair our vision?
Can anyone taste my blood?
I have clung, quivering, with bruised flesh
Christendom rise and dress yourself
What delicious tears you've made me shed
Beloved, how many times I look at you
With suspended breath, and unguarded heart?
Like a cradled child you hold me
(With hysterical affection, to console this loss)
Beloved
Their semblance of love curses your beauty
In the blindness of my distress
In your dense black eyes
I see your silent grief
@yzylmz
Samantha Escarbe'nin sololarını yüzlerce kez dinlemekten, Rowan London'ın sesini saatlerce duymaktan asla sıkılmayacağım. Keşke müziği bırakmamış olsalardı.
@blackholeofnothing8940
geri döndüler!
@usmh
Whenever the thought pops up of which the very best guitar solos in rock music are, this song always comes to mind.
@tom_stephen
Yeah, what I can say it's only one awesome christian metal I know, and bless them, because they're very rare and I hope more bands will be like them. (btw, wonderful song!)
@wfgdoom
A melhor do Virgin Black!!!
@sgtzero1337
You don't have to be religious or antireligious to appreciate a type of music.. And I have a lot of respect for bands like this, because they aren't one of those trendy christian hardcore/metalcore bands that have a very pretentious name
@AlexandruIoan
yes, such a nice song, beautiful voice, great lyrics!
@EyesofNeurosis
Gregory Orr, the Beloved, one of the greatest written works to ever be gifted to humanity. Thing song, likewise, along with all of Virgin Black's catalog, is likewise one of the greatest audio gifts we as a species have received. I do not know the creators of this lovely music, but I doubt not that they have an understanding of Christ and God far surpassing that of most who call themselves Christians, and those who call themselves Anti-Christians. If this be the case, In Hoc Signo Vinces
@agnus_vins
2:20 Meu Deus que épico, é uma melodia em toda a música encantadora hein <3