Time for some Gothic Female Fronted Metal. This one has some ties to a band I posted a few weeks back. Tristania have been around since 96 and along with bands like The Gathering and Theater Of Tragedy are one of the early purveyors of the Female Gothic sound. Tristania uses the 'beauty and the beast' vocal styling. In essence male harsh vocals with female operatic vocals. The formula works well for some bands, but not all in the genre. Led by Morten Veland and Vibeke Stene, the band released two critically acclaimed albums before Morten left in 2000 to form Sirenia. Vibeke stayed out as the female vocalist for another few albums before announcing her departure in 07 to pursue a teaching career. Lineup changes have plagued the band over the years as have sporadic releases. The band continues today with a new female vocalist, but the majority of the fans argue the sounds is not the same as it once was. For this post I'm going back to their 98 debut,
'Widows Weeds' is an essential female fronted goth metal album in so many ways. It's dark and haunting while being beautiful all at the same time. Vibeke's vocals offeset Morten's harsh growls. One of the best albums in the genre.
Tristania and this album were my introduction to the band and in a way to the genre itself. By now I had become familiar with bands like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, and The Gathering, but nothing nearly as dark as this. When I first heard 'My Lost Lenore' I kinda sat there and wondering if I had enough black on to be listening to this. It was so dark and depressing, yet the haunting female vocals pulled me in. From there I was hooked. While most would argue once Morten left the band began to go downhill. I maintain that Vibeke was one of the more underrated female vocalists in the metal genre. Listen to this record and then listen to anything of the last record she was on
'Illumination' and her voice is still just as haunting a decade later.
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