Liv Kristine Espenæs is a Norwegian singer who has performed and composed songs mostly for various subgenres of heavy metal music. She started her career in the music industry as a vocalist for the gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, and is the former lead vocalist for the symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes. She is known for her work in close association with her then-husband and leader of the German band Atrocity, Alexander Krull. Currently she is a singer of a German band Midnattsol alongside her younger sister Carmen Elise Espenæs. She also released a number of solo albums in various genres.
Kristine in 2014
Kristine at a live show in Israel, 2016
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Paradise Lost's 1991 album Gothic inspired the name of the genre.
Gothic metal band Tristania
Lead female vocalists are a common presence in the gothic metal genre. One of the earliest was Anneke van Giersbergen of the Gathering, depicted above.
The Italian gothic, black metal band Theatres des Vampires manifests a deep interest in the vampire myth, a common staple of gothic horror fiction.