Tristania (band)

Tristania is a band from Norway, formed in 1995 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Ølsson. Tristania's music is usually classified as symphonic gothic metal with death/doom influences (especially on the early albums), due to its strong tie and legacy within the gothic metal history. Their songs largely deal with dark and sentimental topics, including depression, sadness, suicide, love, absence, and anger.

Background

In 1992, Morten Veland and Kenneth Ølsson formed Uzi Suicide. Since Veland was getting more interested in the UK gothic scene, his songwriting began to take a darker feel. Fragments of the band later became Tristania.

Biography

Founding, early career

Tristania was founded in Stavanger, Norway by Einar Moen (keyboards), Morten Veland (vocals/guitar), and Kenneth Ølsson (drums) in 1995. A few weeks later Anders Høyvik Hidle (guitars/vocals) and Rune Østerhus (bass) joined the band. Vibeke Stene was initially recruited as a guest singer for the demo recording in 1996, but she later joined as a regular member. According to Stene, she did not know she was in the band until she read an interview after Widow's Weeds was released. In May 1997, the band entered the studio for the first time and recorded their demo in Klepp Lydstudio. During the summer of 1997 different labels showed interest in the demo. Tristania signed with Napalm Records and released the EP Tristania.