Tristania was a Norwegian gothic metal band formed in 1996 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. Tristania's music is usually classified as Gothic metal with death influences, due to its strong tie and legacy within the gothic metal history. Their songs largely dealt with dark and sentimental topics, including depression, sadness, suicide, love, absence, and anger.
Tristania live in Germany, 2005
Vibeke Stene joined Tristania at the age of 18, and was the band's soprano vocalist for over a decade.
Vibeke Stene and Østen Bergøy during a concert at the Evolution Festival, 2006
Italian vocalist Mariangela Demurtas joined Tristania in 2007.
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.
