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
Darkness
Virgin Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My blood has died
And marked my eyes with stains perpetual
Blood has died
Lifeless life cradles dust
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Fading, judgement is at hand
The lyrics in "Darkness" by Virgin Black are a complex and poetic reflection on the theme of mortality and the human experience. The opening lines "Misery calls, my blood has died and marked my eyes with stains perpetual" suggest a sense of bleakness and despair, as though the singer's life has been drained of vitality and meaning. The repetition of the phrase "blood has died" emphasizes the finality of death and the futility of human existence.
The next lines "Lifeless life cradles dust, trembling, quantus tremos est futurus" evoke a powerful sense of the fragility and temporality of life. The image of lifeless life cradling dust suggests both the transience of human existence and the inevitability of death. The Latin phrase "quantus tremos est futurus" translates to "how great the trembling will be" and adds a sense of foreboding and fear to the lyrics. The final line "fading, judgement is at hand" suggests that the singer is facing the end of their life with a sense of acceptance and resignation.
Overall, the lyrics of "Darkness" are deeply evocative and reflective, exploring themes of mortality, despair, and acceptance in a haunting and poetic way.
Line by Line Meaning
Misery calls
Sorrow and pain beckon me
My blood has died
My heart has grown numb and lifeless
And marked my eyes with stains perpetual
My eyes bear witness to the constant affliction and misery in my life
Blood has died
My passion and vitality have been extinguished
Lifeless life cradles dust
My existence is empty and futile, leading only to eventual death and decay
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Shaking with fear, the magnitude of the impending judgement looms large
Fading, judgement is at hand
Diminishing in spirit as the time of reckoning approaches
Contributed by Audrey G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
The Inundation
LYRICS:
Misery calls
My blood has died
And marked my eyes with stains perpetual
Blood has died
Lifeless life cradles dust
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Fading, judgement is at hand
Darkness
I drink deep into the soul
Drink deep into your soul
I am made blind with weeping
I drink deep into your soul
Drink deep into your soul
My blood has died
Blood has died
Lifeless life cradles dust
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Fading, judgement is at hand
Darkness
My God, save us, O death
Sorrow ever await on joy
And has rendered me (to pieces)
Requiem, Kyrie, requiem
My God, exhort, to not merely draw air.
But breath the skies.
The Inundation
LYRICS:
Misery calls
My blood has died
And marked my eyes with stains perpetual
Blood has died
Lifeless life cradles dust
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Fading, judgement is at hand
Darkness
I drink deep into the soul
Drink deep into your soul
I am made blind with weeping
I drink deep into your soul
Drink deep into your soul
My blood has died
Blood has died
Lifeless life cradles dust
Trembling, quantus tremos est futurus
Fading, judgement is at hand
Darkness
My God, save us, O death
Sorrow ever await on joy
And has rendered me (to pieces)
Requiem, Kyrie, requiem
My God, exhort, to not merely draw air.
But breath the skies.
Денисенко Рок
спасибо большое
Amy’s Son
Gotta love Christian doom metal or whatever style this is. Just gotta love it. Christians really see life through the correct lens.
Jakub Klinger
This is death/doom metal. In the vein of early My Dying Bride and Anathema.
Idil Yaktubay
her voice is a pearl in the deep sea.
Sire
Epic, Black, dark, This is life
Aric Darke
My kind of music
TrixieKat
10/10
MENTENFERMV
the most goth thing ever i hear. damn, Samantha Scarbe love u ma dark princess
Cabra Zé
Fading, judgement is THAT AAAASSSSS