Tales of Tragedy is the third full-length album released by Cypriot

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 Power metal

Power metal

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...

 band Winter's Verge

Winter's Verge

Winter's Verge is a power metal band formed in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2004. Winter's Verge is one of the best-known bands from Cyprus and one of the few artists signed to an international record label and having participated in overseas tours, most notably with Finnish band Stratovarius...

. The harmonies and rhythms on the album are more complex and sophisticated than previous releases, with a darker atmosphere. The guitar work shows a greater influence from thrash

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 and groove metal

Groove metal

Groove metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It was often used to describe Pantera and Exhorder.- Characteristics and origins :Pantera's Cowboys from Hell album from 1990 was described as "groundbreaking" and "blueprint-defining" for the groove metal genre...

, and Chris Ioannides' drumming reveals a strong progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 element. Classical

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 influences have a high profile, with several songs employing orchestrations reminiscent of Romantic

Romantic music

Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....

 era classical composers and a bass solo on the penultimate track derived from the third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Concept

Tales of Tragedy is a concept album, but not in the manner which tells a cohesive story. According to Ioannides, the concept revolves around the telling of 11 short, individual 'tales of tragedy'. The liner notes include quotations from famous literary works below the lyrics of each song, referring to the themes discussed.

Track listing

1. "World of Lies" - 4:19
2. "Old Man’s Wish" - 4:53
3. "I Swear Revenge" - 4:13
4. "For Those Who Are Gone" - 5:21
5. "The Captain’s Log" - 5:30
6. "Envy" - 5:04
7. "Dark Entries" - 4:53
8. "Madness Once Called Love" - 4:51
9. "Tomorrow’s Dawn" - 3:49
10. "Reflections of the Past" - 6:30
11. "Curse of Time" - 3:58

Credits

• George Charalambous - Vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Harry Pari - Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s
• Stefanos Psillides - Keyboards
• Miguel Trapezaris – Bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Chris Ioannides – Drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....