For a goth metal act, Vlad In Tears sure have a thing about Christmas. Fond of multiple releases over preceding festive periods, they keep that tradition going this year with double album Undead, due for release on 4th December, and ‘Never Fear The Pain’ being but the latest in a brace of singles, all available via Metalville Records.
‘Never Fear The Pain’ stakes its claim by being about facing the darkness, embracing the scars and finding the strength to keep going. Last month we got the rock romantic Christmas song ‘All Night’, about two people who refuse to freeze. While the world outside disappears beneath the snow, they burn hotter, lost in each other in the silence of the night, with nothing but desire keeping them warm. Why is it special? Because ‘All Night’ isn’t about Christmas. It’s about that one person who can make even the coldest night feel like fire. Snow outside, fire inside. All night.
We also got ‘The Last To Love Me’, which is about what’s left after love is gone. It’s about giving everything to someone and eventually realising you were the last person who still cared. No happy end. No sugarcoating. No pretending everything is fine. Just love, regret, anger, memories and that horrible moment when you finally understand: you were the last to love me.
Then there’s ‘Domani Chissà’, a dark rock love song about when the fire between two people fades but the thought of it still remains somewhere in the distance. It’s a bittersweet reflection on letting go, lingering memories and the possibility that tomorrow, who knows, something might still remain.
Undead celebrates the band’s 20th anniversary together. CD One is a brand-new studio album showcasing the band’s new direction: darker, more melodic and more passionate than ever before. CD Two is a special anniversary bonus collection featuring the band’s most iconic songs from the past, completely rerecorded and rearranged in their new signature style.
Undead is seen as a rebirth, a bridge between where Vlad In Tears began and where they are heading next.
CD One features: ‘Black Shadows’, ‘Delusional Shells’, ‘Dance With Me’, ‘Domani Chissà’, ‘Una Distanza Che Non C’è’, ‘Never Fear The Pain’, ‘Too Far From Your Light’, ‘I’m Driving Mad’, ‘If I Lose You I Lose Myself’, ‘Lady Night’, ‘You’re Like A Heavy Rain’, ‘Sole E Luna’, ‘The Last To Love Me’ and ‘Within Your Ocean’.
CD Two features: ‘Woods Of Madness’, ‘See Through The Darkness’, ‘Dark Theorem’, ‘As Snow We’d Fall’, ‘Forbidden Dream’, ‘You’ll Come Back To Me’, ‘Circus On The Moon’, ‘Here Comes The Rain’, ‘A Song To Say Goodnight’, ‘Mary’, ‘Redemption’, ‘Pretending’, ‘We’ll Never Die’, ‘How Do You Know’, ‘Sorrow’, ‘Still Here’, ‘The Devil Won’t Take Me Home’ and ‘Vlad In Tears’.
