Aegis

Aégis is the third music album of Norwegian metal band Theatre of Tragedy, and the last album of their musical period defined by gothic stylings and Early Modern English lyrics.
While still clearly within the bounds of gothic metal, Aégis differed from most other examples of the genre and Theatre of Tragedy’s earlier work in having a far mellower tone. This was exemplified in that although the songs feature alternating and occasionally overlapping ‘Beauty and the Beast’ male and female vocals, the male vocals are no longer delivered in a death grunt, but in a deep, echoed voice. Distorted electric guitars are also given far less prominence within the music, with more prominence given to piano.
As with Theatre of Tragedy’s previous albums, the lyrics are written in Early Modern English, some of which is close to incomprehensible for those not familiar with the language, even native speakers of modern English. For example, from Angélique: “‘Vaunt! - Devil tyne - Wadst thou wane fore’ermae?” The subject matter is drawn from a range of European folklore: Venus is from Roman legends, Aœde, Cassandra, Bacchante and Siren are drawn from Greek mythology, while Lorelei refers to a Nix from German stories.