Quiz #134 - Tristania "Equilibrium"

Regarded as one of the world's premiere goth metal bands, Norway's Tristania have earned their reputation through risk-taking creativity, unquestionable talent, and perhaps more than anything else, an impressive consistency from release to release. First coming together in 1996, Tristania took the uncommon step of showcasing three separate vocalists of wildly divergent styles to represent their lyrics, these being operatic soprano Vibeke Stene, clean-singing counter-tenor Østen Bergøy, and harsh, black metal-style shrieker Morten Veland.

Tristania's eponymous EP was released in 1997, and further albums such as Widow's Weeds (1998) and Beyond the Veil (1999), as well as the Angina EP followed in quick succession, and always through Austria's Napalm label. All fared incredibly well across Europe, with Beyond the Veil in particular earning rave reviews.

The band was dealt a potentially crippling blow, however, when Veland departed to form a new band called Sirenia. Yet, they surprised cynical observers by immediately hiring new vocalist Kjetil Ingebrigtsen and rebounding in style via 2001's World of Glass. A longer hiatus followed but, after indulging in numerous side projects, Tristania reconvened in 2004 to record a new album called simply "Ashes".

[source]



TRISTANIA "Equilibrium"
Album "Ashes" - 2005

Quiz #128 - Leaves' Eyes "Elegy"

Leaves' Eyes is a symphonic metal band with folk metal elements from Norway and Germany assembled in 2003, shortly before singer Liv Kristine was fired from Theatre of Tragedy. Leaves' Eyes was formed by her husband Alexander Krull and members of his band Atrocity. The band combines atmospheric, metal and classical elements. The vocals of Liv Kristine are occasionally backed up by death grunts from Krull, but most of the time she sings alone.

Their debut album, "Lovelorn", was released in 2004. The second album, "Vinland Saga", was released 30th of May 2005, and retells the tale of the discovery of Vinland (i.e. North America) by Leif Erikson.

[from wikipedia]



Leaves' Eyes "Elegy"
Album "Vinland Saga" - 2005

Quiz #73 - The Sisters of Mercy "This Corrosion"

Here it is, last video of this month. You can provide the answers for it til next Friday - Sept, 7.

UPDATED:

One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. (There is some disagreement as to whether the group took its name from an order of Catholic nuns or from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name.)

While the goth scene in England was picking up commercial steam in the mid-'80s, the Sisters of Mercy may have seemed quiet, but they roared back with 1987's "Floodland". Opening with the driving two-part hymn "Dominion/Mother Russia," Sisters leader Andrew Eldritch (along with bassist Patricia Morrison) creates a black soundscape that is majestic and vast. While the earlier Sisters releases were noisy, sometimes harsh affairs, Floodland is filled with lush production (thanks to Meat Loaf writer/producer Jim Steinman and the New York Choral Society) and lyric imagery that is both scary and glorious. The slower tracks, like "Flood" and "1959," are some of the best ethereal sounds goth has to offer, and the downright regal "This Corrosion" is one of the best songs of the genre. A definite milestone.

[source 1]
[source 2]



The Sisters of Mercy "This Corrosion"
Album "Floodland" - 1987

Quiz #71 - The Cure "Boys don't cry"

Some of you were not even born - I suspect :)

UPDATED:

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, they played jagged, edgy pop songs and they slowly evolved into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre.

read more about The Cure



The Cure "Boys don't cry"
Album "Boys don't cry" - 1980