• 5/6

• 5/6

• 5/6

• 5/5

• XXL/XXL (top score)

• 90/100

• 9.5/10

• 9/10

• 90/100

• 90/100

• 9/10

• 9/10

• 9/10

• 87/100

• 85/100

• 85/100

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• 8/10

• 80/100

• 5/7

• 16/20

Today we celebrate two great occasions!
Today is Kjetil’s birthday and the day Darkest White is out!

Rejoice and support by purchasing the new album

CD
Europe/World:
http://shop.napalmrecords.com/darkest-white-ltd-digipack.html
US & Canada/World (June 11):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BXHLM7Y

Digital
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/darkest-white/id637515092
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Tristania_Darkest_White?id=Bl3vdyclsfc5kbxiv2mcxgxj2ky
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkest-White/dp/B00CEQSHZI

TRISTANIA on their new album “Darkest White” once again prove that it is possible to develop and discover unknown corners of melancholy. At first glance it is rawer and more aggressive album but there is also a lot of tenderness, sadness and gloomy atmosphere in its heart.

1-
(1 = best / 5 = worst)

(Parat Magazine, Czech Republic)

Number is the intense and brutal opener of the album, and definitely one of the songs I enjoy the most to listen to. Serving much of the same purpose as Libre did on Ashes, it’s definitely a statement to kick off the album with a blast like this. The first vocal part of the album is growls, and these vocals remain quite prominent through the whole song.

Number is also a good opener considering that it is quite representative for the vibe of the album.

I love Tarald’s lyrics, which start off with a reference to a certain song from Kiss:

Death I hear you calling
But I can’t come home right now
My days were few and numbered
But somebody lost count

A digression: Both me and Tarald are huge fans of Kiss from the 70s and strongly disagree when it comes to the period 1979-2013 (with ‘The Elder’ being the only exception).

After fast and aggressive riffing in the growling verses, Mariangela introduces herself with a classical and powerful vocal expression in the chorus. The song features a bombastic and suggestive mid section before chaos builds up again. After adding the extreme vocals towards the end of the song it suddenly reminded me slightly of the Norwegian band Solefald (yup, another personal favorite of mine).

Darkest White is brutal in its nature, yet very catchy. The verses include quite harsh and distorted vocals by Kjetil and the growling takes over in the chorus. As mentioned in the last part of the studio report, we started the guitar recordings with this song. I remember flying high after listening to the new recording with the amazing guitar sounds Christer had created. The shouting choir in the chorus is a mixture of vocals by Kjetil and me. Like with all of these new songs, I love Tarald’s lyrics for this one. The title was early suggested as an album title. This is the first piece of music we have presented from the album. The feedback has been quite overwhelming.

Himmelfall is the first Tristania song to date with a Norwegian title. The song features some amazing vocal performances by Mariangela and Kjetil. Kjetil does some really cool low-pitched lines in the verses and Mariangela shines in the choruses where she is doing really powerful stuff.
I think Himmelfall will be a great song to include in our live set. It has a nice heavy and bombastic feel that goes through the entire song. We started to rehearse a live version of it for the upcoming festivals, and it really sounds promising.

Some of you probably already know Requiem, as we played it live on our European tour last fall. The live reception was really promising, and I’m very happy with the final version. In a perfect world one should play all songs live before entering the studio. It is always useful to try out new material for the first time on an audience, and it’s definitely an advantage for the actual recordings. After playing a song a hundred times on rehearsal and in concerts they tend to creep under your skin (if it doesn’t, you should probably find something else to do).

I’m very pleased with the final recorded version on the album. I think it turned out nice and groovy in the verses and really powerful and bombastic in the choruses. Mariangela sings the lead vocals on this one, and the chorus features backing vocals from Kjetil and Ole. This kind of harmonies is one of Ole’s most important contributions to our sound on both Rubicon and Darkest White. It’s a privilege to be in a band with so many great singers, and these powerful choirs have become one of Tristania’s biggest strengths also live. However, I have to add that there are fewer choruses like this on Darkest White compared to its predecessor. Kill Your Darlings is a well-known phenomenon in music production, and on several parts of the album we either had to skip harmony voices or mix them very low. The only reason for this is the extremely high standard of the recorded lead vocals. On several songs we dropped harmony voices in order to give space to the feel and the nerve of the lead vocals. Requiem features one of my favorite growling parts on the album.

Diagnosis ended up being one of my absolute favorites on the album. I like to think that this is how it would sound if a band like Sigur Rós would make a metal song. We were not 100% confident with the demo version of this song. I remember me and Ole discussed how to do something special with it during the recordings. Luckily, we managed to do so. I love Christer’s production and the guitars provide a nice doomy and heavy feeling. Diagnosis is the first Tristania song where the guitars are tuned as low as C.

It also features outstanding lead vocal performances by both Mariangela (verse), Ole (bridge) and Kjetil (chorus). This was one of the first song ideas for the album that Ole came up with and one of the first three finalized songs.
Speaking of killing darlings: In this song we decided to leave out a progressive part, made by Ole, that we called ‘The Mastodon part’. I really liked it, and hopefully we’ll make a whole song out of it in the future, but it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the song, especially after Kjetil came up with the chorus vocals.

Scarling is the only song that wasn’t 100% finished when the recording sessions started, thus the last song to be completed. The general 6/8 feel of the song changes into 11/8 during the verses. A lot of time was spent composing vocal melodies linking it all together to make it work optimally. We feel that we succeeded in the end. The verse vocal lines were made by Kjetil, whereas the chorus and the bridge melodies were added by Mariangela.

Scarling is definitely one of the gloomiest tracks on the album, and I have a feeling that this will be a song people either love or dislike (like Magical Fix on our previous album).

Night on Earth was written by Ole and me during a composing session we had in my apartment in Stavanger last summer. I remember it was one of the rather few summer days we had in Stavanger last year. We started the session with barbecue and beer in the garden before we went inside and made one of the darkest and gloomiest songs on the album. Growls are the main vocals and Mariangela came up with some really powerful vocals for the chorus.
The main riff in this song is a groovy one – the kind of heavy groove that originally was invented by Black Sabbath and later refined by bands such as Metallica and Slayer. I have a feeling that this one will be a live favorite on future shows.

Lavender is the ballad of the album. It starts up really mellow with just a single guitar and drums, but builds up and ends quite powerfully. Mariangela and Kjetil are singing one verse each and Ole is doing the vocals in the choruses. Lavender offers a certain atmosphere that somehow is related to the song Amnesia (Rubicon), yet different.

Cypher is a song that stands out from the rest in many ways. It’s basically a one chord song and all about creating an atmosphere and building up the mood and intensity.

I remember playing this to Einar for the first time. He liked it, but felt that there was too little progression. As he – quite precisely pointed out: “This is one of the few areas in music where you and I differ”. Einar and I share many favorite artists, such as Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Portishead, Björk, Nick Cave. During the years, I’ve tried to convince Einar about the genius of artists like Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Mogwai and Arab Strap, without much luck. Seeing Einar walking away in the middle of a fabulous Mogwai concert at a festival in Stavanger last summer – due to boredom – made me realize that I might as well stop trying to sell these artists to him.

Cypher is a song that went through quite radical changes during the pre-production. In fact, we left out big parts of the song and made it much simpler than the original version. It used to have a lively chorus in G major (!) which was nice, but somehow crashed with the dark ambient atmosphere which was set from the opening note.

While Ole, Christer and I were working on new parts and elements to go with this mood, it came to mind that this monotony and suggestive effect that the repeating simplicity of one chord offers, reminded me of the American band Swans. Before Tarald came up with the final lyrics we used to refer to this one as The Swans song.

The vibe of the song can also be regarded in connection to Tristania tunes such as Shadowman and Fate.

Kjetil came up with this great vocal line during a session the two of us had in Stavanger last year. It’s a very simple melody that really allows him to shine as a vocalist. The song keeps building up for almost 6 minutes, and ends up quite intense and majestic. More is more!

The final track, Arteries, is another personal favorite of mine on this album. In my first suggestion for running order, this was one of the two candidates to kick off the album. It starts with a blast and the intensity is kept up through the whole song.

It made totally sense to frame the rest of the album between the two brutal and intense songs Number and Arteries – both proper representatives for the edge end power that is typical for this album. Kjetil is doing lead vocals in the powerful choruses.

Some of you might now that Kjetil is extremely good at covering Faith No More songs (he has a great FNM-cover band together with (among others) Jonathan (Sirenia/ex-Trail of Tears) and Runar (ex-Trail of Tears). I think his admiration for Mike Patton really shines through in the chorus of Arteries. The song is one of the hardest Tristania songs ever, and growls are the most prominent vocals throughout the song. The album finale is a grand outro with a rather complex vocal arrangement made by Ole. The nature of this song changed quite drastically during the pre-production, but no new parts were written. It was all about changing the structure. For instance: The intended chorus (lead vocals by Ole) ended up being a bridge and the intended bridge (Kjetil) became the chorus. The nature of the growls (sounding like a homage to Vorph’s extreme vocals on the Samael album Ceremony of Opposites (1994)) made this song dark and intense.

Darkest White

Into the roar
Ignite the day’s addiction
The soporific war
To numb my true attrition
It’s my declaration
The altar spinning on the floor
My fight – my darkest white
The only war you will adore

I’ll forever be
Head of theocracy
All the same with a different name
I am your escape
I’m your enemy
Your long lost friend
Just taste the bile to reconcile
The moment you enter your end
The darkest white

Into the core
The untilled fields of fission
I’ve come to still your thirst
Your hunger for submission
It’s my defamation
Acidic silence makes you sore
You’ll long for one more song
In every line you’ll ask for more

I’ll forever be
Head of theocracy
All the same with a different name
I am your escape
I’m your enemy
Your long lost friend
Just taste the bile to reconcile
The moment you enter your end
The darkest white

I’ll forever be
Head of theocracy
All the same with a different name
I am your escape
I’m your enemy
Your long lost friend
Just taste the bile to reconcile
Blinded by light
The darkest white

All lead vocals by Kjetil, Mariangela and Ole were recorded by Christer in his studio at Grünerløkka, Oslo. The extreme vocals by yours truly and backing vocals/harmony voices were recorded in a separate studio in the outskirts of Oslo a few weeks later.

Recording vocals is maybe Christer’s most important contribution on this album, except for the mix. Christer is simply amazing when it comes to pushing the singers to extraordinary levels, and I personally think that both Mariangela, Kjetil and Ole have done their best vocal performances to date with this album. Christer is the kind of guy who asks for another ten takes when everyone else is satisfied. Despite intense recording sessions and hard work, both Kjetil and Mariangela were equally enthusiastic about recording with Christer and the final result. He has a unique knack for getting the best out of each singer, and holds musical and psychological skills other producers should envy him.

A digression: I’ve been a fan of Anathema since the very beginning, and I’m fond of all eras of the band’s proud history. With fascination I’ve noticed how Vincent’s vocals have grown better and better during the years. I’ve always fancied his singing, but noticed that his vocal performance on their latest album was the best recorded vocals he’s ever done. In the wake of our own album recording I understand how important Christer probably has been for Vincent’s amazing development of vocal qualities.

I think both Kjetil and Mariangela did a great job on our previous album, Rubicon. Personally, I hold Protection (Mariangela) and Illumination (Kjetil) as their greatest moments on that album. However, both of them said after the Rubicon-recordings that even though they were happy with the result, neither of them felt that they had managed to release their full potential as singers. Rubicon was the first Tristania album for both of Mariangela and Kjetil, and I believe the extensive touring we’ve done since the recording of that album has made both of them more confident in their roles as Tristania singers.

Darkest White is the first Tristania album where also Ole is doing lead vocals. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that he’s in possession of great vocal skills, as he is doing quite a lot of backing vocals both live, as well as on the last album. Ole is doing the lead vocals in the chorus of Lavender and in parts of Diagnosis and Arteries.

While we’re on the subject of vocals I think it’s essential to mention the lyrics of this album. I personally think Tarald wrote some brilliant lyrics on the last album; Magical Fix being my absolute favorite. This time around he ended up writing lyrics for the entire album.

We have usually had different people in the band contributing with lyrics on our albums, but Østen was the main lyricist on the four albums from World of Glass to Rubicon. I’ve always liked Østen’s poetry, but with this album Tarald stepped up and took on his role. I think he really shines as a magnificent lyricist. He has a special way with words, and writes in an almost playful and sometimes ambiguous way. I think Tarald always has been writing, but the amount of quality lyrics he has written the last couple of years is remarkable. I think he ended up producing more than fifty lyrics in the period between Rubicon and Darkest White. The ten which ended up on the album are among the best Tristania lyrics to date, in my opinion.

The very last recording sessions for this album took place in a studio located in a barn outside of Oslo in the beginning of February. Ole, Kjetil, Tarald and myself spent an exhausting weekend there – recording all harmonies, backing- and effect vocals (Mariangela had already recorded her additional vocals with Christer). We also did most of the growling this weekend (Darkest White and Requiem were recorded in Christer’s studio at night after Mariangela’s and Kjetil’s sessions). It was a hectic finale of the recordings – working day and night in order to be finished until Christer would start to mix the album. On the last day we ended up recording nonstop from Sunday 10am to 5am Monday morning. I remember the feeling very well: Dead tired and completely worn out on the first train to Oslo Monday morning; trying to grasp the fact that we were done with the recordings for this album.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, June 22nd 2013
• City: Tristania in Bryne
• Venue: Brynerocken
• Country: Norway
• Buy tickets
• Notes: with Circus Maximus, Artifact
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

The pre-production sessions took place in Ole’s apartment in Oslo during five weekends in the course of fall/winter 2012. The three of us sat down and re-worked the demo versions one by one. Ole is responsible for most of the musical ideas for this album. During these weekends we basically re-worked and re-arranged the songs, and made new parts where we felt it was needed. Some songs ended up being quite different after these sessions, like Cypher, Number and Himmelfall. Other songs ended up quite similar to the early versions – only with some adjustments here and there (Requiem, Darkest White, Night on Earth). I remember travelling home from Oslo after these weekends with increasingly better gut feeling for each time. During this process the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and it became clear what kind of album this would become.

Parallel to this process there were several vocal sessions taking place in Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger. As we are living in different cities we were working simultaneously on different stuff and sending ideas back and forth to each other.

We quite early decided to record the drums in Tanken studio with engineer Fredrik Wallumrød. The studio is located outside Oslo, and we also recorded drums for Rubicon there. We were very happy both with the process itself and the final result back then, and quite early decided to work with Fredrik again. Fredrik is a genuine, great guy and very good at what he’s doing. Fredrik is a drummer himself (El Caco), and so is his assistant engineer Sven Andréen. Other musicians and engineers/producers often tend to have a different approach to drum recordings, but recording with a drummer makes everything easier. Fredrik instantly heard what worked well and spotted the places where we should do something different. He is a creative guy who also contributed with good ideas. Tarald did a great job nailing the drum tracks. He had done a great job rehearsing the songs and basically knew every beat of every song by heart.

Despite the same recording studio and engineer, the final result this time turned out quite different compared to Rubicon. The drum sound on Rubicon was more polished and controlled compared to the drum sound we aimed for with Darkest White. Tanken is a rather unique studio with a large recording room, known to be perfect for drum sound. Christer wanted to maintain the acoustic ambience from Tanken and you can actually hear on the album that the drums are recorded in a large room. Powerful natural sound with a lot of punch! The drum recordings in Tanken were a reminder how tired you get from listening carefully to drumtracks for 10-12 hours several days in a row. I remember feeling quite lobotomized on the late train back to Oslo together with Tarald and Ole after the studio sessions at Tanken.

With the powerful sound of the drum recordings we had a solid base for the rest of the recordings. The next phase of the recordings was guitars and bass. Everything was recorded in Ole’s apartment. As the guitars were recorded digitally, we didn’t need a professional studio. It turned to be the perfect place for the purpose; recording day and night. The typical day was 18 hours of recording – 6 hours sleep.

We’ve never before spent as much time on testing and experimenting with different guitar sounds as we did with Darkest White; trying out various tunings, guitars and sounds. The aim was always to find the ultimate combination for perfect guitar sound for each track. True to tradition, our new album is a very diverse one. Different songs and musical expressions need different sound, but it’s also been important for us to keep to the overview of the album as a whole. Consistency is important.

The guitar sessions started off with a long day of setting the sounds in Christer’s studio. Christer is a wizard when it comes to creating sounds, and he did an absolutely fantastic job with the guitar sounds. During the years we’ve recorded guitars with class amplifiers such as Engl, Marshall, Peavey and Mesa, but we’ve never managed to get as heavy and raw guitar-sound as we did this time. All guitars on the album are recorded digitally (with Axe FX from Fractal Audio).

The eleven songs were recorded with nine different guitars (Mayones. Gibson, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Chandler) in five different tunings. We spent a lot of time test recording in order to identify the perfect combination for each song. I remember that the first song we recorded guitars for was Darkest White. After a lot of testing and soundchecking we recorded all the guitar tracks. It ended up sounding brutal and edgy, and we were very happy with the result. Just as we were on our way out to a restaurant for dinner we realized that we’d recorded the entire song in the wrong tuning (E instead of Eb). After finally nailing the first song it wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but we had to record all guitar tracks once more in the tuning that we felt worked best. Darkest White is the first Tristania album with no acoustic guitars whatsoever. Not because it was a point in itself, but it simply wasn’t needed in these songs. I guess it reflects the brutal nature of this album.

RUNNING ORDER LTD. EDITION:
01. Number
02. Darkest White
03. Himmelfall
04. Requiem
05. Diagnosis
06. Scarling
07. Night on Earth
08. Cathedral (Bonus track)
09. Lavender
10. Cypher
11. Arteries

RUNNING ORDER STANDARD EDITION:
01. Number
02. Darkest White
03. Himmelfall
04. Requiem
05. Diagnosis
06. Scarling
07. Night on Earth
08. Lavender
09. Cypher
10. Arteries

It has been a few weeks since we completed the recordings for our 7th album, Darkest White. It has been intense. Everything recorded within one month. That’s very fast for a band like Tristania (shortest recording period so far), especially considering our four singers and the detailed arrangements. It has been long days and nights in four different studios. Rich amounts of stress, pressure, frustration and minimal sleep. But definitely worth it.

While I’m writing this, the album is finally completed, and we’ve just received the final mastered version of the album. We are very proud of the finished product. For the first time I can honestly say that I’m 100% satisfied with the sound on a Tristania album. Even more remarkable for me, it’s the first time I can say that the general vibe of the final result turned out exactly as I was hoping for – only better.

When entering studio to record an album, you always have goals for how you want the songs to end up; some kind of vision you want to fulfill. It is not always easy to describe with words, but you know exactly how you want the vibe of the album to be at the end of the day. This time around we wanted these songs to sound brutal, intense and full of energy. The sound on our two previous albums has been quite clean and controlled. It was obvious that these songs deserved a different approach.

During the years I have often been told by friends that experiencing Tristania live is something quite different from listening to the albums. The production of our albums has generally been quite polished, mainly due to the details and complexity of the musical arrangements. Tristania live have always had a brutal and extreme side that hasn’t to the full extent been captured on our albums. I guess one could mention Ashes as an exception to this. In addition to Darkest White, Ashes remains my favorite Tristania album. The two albums share a special mix of roughness and melodic finesse which appeals to me. Even though Ashes holds personal favorites of mine such as Libre, Shadowman, Endogenesis and The Wretched, there are also a couple of songs on that album that I today regard as weaker than the rest of the album (Equilibrium, The Gate). Also, it has to be added that the sound quality and production of Darkest White is in a different league than Ashes.

To put it simple: We wanted the album to sound as brutal and in-your-face as Tristania does live.

One can argue that the studio process started on a rehearsal day last summer. We sat down and discussed what we wanted to achieve with this album. Most of the songs that ended up on the album had started taking shape, and we were discussing different possible collaborative partners to work with for the album. After working with the same producer for two albums (Waldemar Sorychta), we felt like moving on. Pretty much the same way we felt when writing the songs for Ashes. It’s got to do with a gut feeling of what the song material needs, and for us it’s important not to stick to a certain formula. Tristania has since day one been all about evolving. I think we would get rather bored if things became too comfortable and safe.

We wanted a brutal and powerful sound, but not a standard metal production anno 2013. We aimed for a more organic feel. I remember Kjetil and Ole wanted to work with Christer André Cederberg, whereas I was still in doubt. I knew that Christer is a highly talented producer and mixer. Nevertheless, I didn’t have a clue what vision he would have for these songs. I hadn’t yet heard him do the kind of a metal production I wanted for this album. As a producer and mixer, Christer is responsible for one of my favorite albums: Clocks Don’t Count by Petter Carlsen. He has also worked with Anathema on Weather Systems (production/mix) and as mixer for Norwegian punk act Honningbarna and prog metallers Circus Maximus. All awesome productions, but not the kind of sound we wanted to achieve for our new tunes. Although I was not totally convinced, we agreed on contacting Christer to see if we could find a common ground regarding how the song material should end up.

It turned out that we couldn’t have had a better guy for producing and mixing Darkest White. When Christer, Ole and myself met up for the first pre-production sessions I immediately realized that Christer was our guy. He instantly understood what we wanted to do in an almost intuitive way. He had been listening a lot to the early demo versions, and he totally shared our vision in terms of brutality and edge. Some of you might know Christer as former guitarist of the Norwegian avant-garde metal band In the Woods, a band which I am particularly fond of. It turned out that Christer and I had many musical references from the early nineties in common, such as classic albums by My Dying Bride and Samael. Working with Christer turned out to be great. His level of professionalism was more than impressive and his genuine dedication to this album made the whole process unique. We felt as if Christer was a member of the band and his ideas and input have been crucial for the album.

With Darkest White, Tristania venture into a considerably darker soundscape than on their previous album, both musically and lyrically. The emotional span of the album is bigger, ranging from the most brutal primal aggression to the most fragile and poignant moments. The album features an array of grand arrangements, doomy moods, and elaborate harmonies blended with intense growling; a flamboyant display of outstanding vocal performances. Darkest White is produced and mixed by Christer André Cederberg (http://cacederberg.com).

Ole Vistnes comments: ‘After the release of Rubicon in 2010, I felt that we had opened the door to our new musical landscape, but that we still had a lot of places to explore creatively. With Darkest White we have dug deeper, searched wider and reached higher to create the most musically challenging and emotionally involving album we possibly could. Like all Tristania albums, I feel this one is detached from musical rules and genre expectations, and perfectly represents the musical freedom that I so much love about Tristania. During the writing and recording of the album we worked hard to create the album we had in our minds, but we were also careful to let the songs live a life on their own. We didn’t set out to make the album technically outstanding or theoretically perfect, but we followed our hearts in all parts of the writing and production.
I’m proud of Darkest White, mostly because of the uncompromising honesty and attitude that saturated everything from the songwriting and recording to the mix.’

Artwork painted by artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Sodom, Hatebreed) (http://www.elirankantor.com). The band wanted a dark and disturbing cover, and Kantor instantly knew what they asked for after being presented with the music and lyrics. ‘What he came up with turned out to be more than what we had dared to hope for’, says Anders Høyvik Hidle. ‘His paitning for the front cover made us speechless, Eliran totally understood our vision with this album, and the artwork fits perfectly to the music and lyrics’.

The band has written an extensive report about the process behind Darkest White, and Part I will be released on March 27^th.

Tristania has today been confirmed to participate on the biggest metal festival in Central America, Costa Rica’s Festival Siembra y Lucha in December 2013.

The festival appearance on December 7th or 8th, 2013 will mark Tristania’s very first visit to Costa Rica, and the band has already expressed their delight with participating on the event:

“There has been quite a lot of interest from festivals and concert promoters in South- and Central America, and we’re really happy this went through. We’ve toured with Overkill before, and it’s going to be great to meet up with both old and new friends in December”, bass player Ole Vistnes says.

Other confirmed acts include Overkill (USA), Sabaton (SWE), Korpiklaani (FIN) and Sanctuary (USA). A few more international acts will be confirmed at a later stage.

Some links and a teaser video for this year’s festival:

http://www.fsl.cr
http://www.festsl.com
https://www.facebook.com/SiembraYLucha

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, December 7th 2013 - Sunday, December 8th 2013
• City: Tristania in San José
• Venue: Festival Siembra y Lucha
• Country: Costa Rica
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Pre-production finished in December. The album was recorded in January/February, and mixed by the producer Christer André Cederberg in the latter weeks in February. The entire production has now been brought to Cutting Room Studios and Chief Mastering Engineer Bjørn Engelmann who has previously worked with bands like Meshuggah, Enslaved and Within Temptation.

To read more about Engelmann’s long career, read more here:
http://cuttingroom.se/bjorn-engelmann/

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

Follow @tristaniaband

The festival is approaching its 16th installment, and will take place over three days on the airfield of the Aeroclub Dinkelsbuehl between Sinbronn and Illenschwang, Germany.

Website: http://www.summer-breeze.de/en/

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

Follow @tristaniaband

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Thursday, August 15th 2013 - Saturday, August 17th 2013
• City: Tristania in Dinkelsbühl
• Venue: Summer Breeze Open Air
• Country: Germany
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

At the same time the recording of a vast amount of backing vocals and harmonies at another studio has started in a studio inside a barn in the outskirts of Oslo.

The recording proccess will be finished early next week, and the album will then move into the mixing phase.

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates throughout the recording process.

Follow @tristaniaband

This will in particular be reflected in the artwork of the new album. This time around, the band has the honor of working with Israeli artist Eliran Kantor, the fountainhead of a not insignificant amount of ingenious album art. The Berlin-based artist, specialist on dark, disturbing imagery with a twist, is a sought-after designer of music artwork and has created pieces for bands like Testament, Atheist, Virus and The Old Dead Tree, to mention only a few.

From the start the band wanted the cover design not only to capture recurrent ideas in the lyrics, but also to express certain moods: they wanted something dark and gloomy, dirty, organic, disturbing and a bit creepy. These notions also seem to define Kantor’s work, which is all of this and more, “unexpected” perhaps the most prominent feature that the band did not articulate originally. The band presented some initial ideas, and Kantor, translating the ideas into something tangible, came up with a visual concept that essentially nailed the band’s visions for this record.

Kantor describes the process in these words:

“I’ve known Tristania’s music since ‘Widows Weeds’. When the band first approached me they were clear about wanting something different from their last few album covers, and probably felt these covers had more to do with marketing choices coming from outside the band than actually representing the music and lyrical themes. So the main goal with this new piece was to get a bit deeper and a bit darker. I’ve spent hours reading and analyzing the lyrics in order to find what I felt was the essence of this record. I’ve also insisted on one of the optional album titles Tristania suggested, and I’m glad it ended up as the album title as it also works well with the concept I came up with.”

Tristania are very excited that Kantor did not only want to collaborate with the band, but also made an effort to try and gain their perspective. As this is being written the artwork is still being sketched out, but Tristania are more than confident that the final design will match all their expectations – and then some.

Eliran Kantor is also on facebook: www.facebook.com/kantoreliran

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates throughout the recording process.

Follow @tristaniaband

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates throughout the recording process.

Follow @tristaniaband

Tristania has today confirmed that the producer on their seventh album will be Christer André Cederberg.

Already having started the recording process for their upcoming album, to be released through Napalm Records in May 2013, the band is delighted to confirm Cederberg as their producer.

This was agreed a while ago, and we started the working together already at the pre-production stage. We already know this will be fruitful and we’re extremely eager to show people the finished article. It feels good to share this piece of news with our fans, singer Kjetil Nordhus says.

Tristania fans may be familiar with Cederberg’s work through the most recent collaboration with Anathema on their award winning album “Weather Systems” (2012).

Also a guitarist, Cederberg started his metal career with Norwegian avant garde extreme metal band In the Woods… in the late 90s, and has been involved in numerous bands and projects, including his own solo project Stille Opprør and internationally acclaimed Animal Alpha.

Christer André reveals that he’s been eager to work with Tristania for a while, and is excited about several aspects in the process they’re now in:

There is a huge amount of talent within each and every band member, and a number of possible variations to work on, not least vocally, which makes this a great challenge for me as a producer. My aim for the forthcoming album is to dig out the potential, make a heavier album than the previous one, more organic, detailed and refined, but also dirtier and more extreme. Tristania is a band that manage to do all this live, and we will be working together to recreate that energy and quality also on record.

Follow Tristania on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates throughout the recording process.

Follow @tristaniaband

Christer André Cederberg studio webpage
http://www.cacederberg.com

Anathema – Untouchable

Animal Alpha – Bundy

The first day went to working on finding the right microphones and equipment, while the recording started today.

Tristania’s social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) will be updated regularly throughout the recording process.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Tristania/124865974216395
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tristaniaband

A new year message from Tristania

NEW ALBUM // MAY 2013

For daily updates visit the official Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Tristania/124865974216395

Tristania are delighted to announce our participation at the great Wacken Open Air next summer!
We can also confirm that our 7th full length album will be released late May 2013 on Napalm Records!

Napalm Records
Wacken Open Air website

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Thursday, August 1st 2013 - Saturday, August 3rd 2013
• City: Tristania in Wacken
• Venue: Wacken Open Air
• Country: Germany
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

“We’re still in song writing modus, but when this opportunity came along, we simply couldn’t refuse. Tristania thrive on the road and the last few tours have really seen the band reach our highest ever levels in terms of live performance. This should also be a mouth watering tour package for many people around Europe, so we were more than willing to have a few week off the songwriting in order to participate.”, the band says in a statement.

Vain Productions unleashes:
Zillo Presents:
TRISTANIA (N) + SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA (UK) + KELLS (FRA) + SOUNDSTORM (IT)
*with FENRIR instead of Kells.

14-09 Holland Bibelot Dordrecht *
15-09 Belgium Onair Studio Mons *
16-09 Holland Boerderij Zoetermeer
17-09 UK Underworld London
18-09 France Glaz art Paris *
19-09 ### day-off
20-09 Spain Tartufo Bergara
21-09 Spain Carasol Madrid
22-09 Spain Mephisto Barcelona
23-09 France Poste a Galene Marseille *
24-09 ### day-off
25-09 Germany Bastard Club Osnabruck
26-09 Germany K 17 Berlin
27-09 Suisse Z7 Pratteln
28-09 Germany KW70 Bad Salzungen
29-09 Germany Turock Essen

Facebook:

Tristania:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Tristania/124865974216395
Sarah Jezebel Deva:
http://www.facebook.com/SarahJezebelDeva
Kells:
http://www.facebook.com/kellsofficial
Fenrir:
http://www.facebook.com/FenrirOfficialFR
SoundStorm:
http://www.facebook.com/powerofsoundstorm

Youtube:

Tristania:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S_QhVHGKZQ
Sarah Jezebel Deva:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqHnNtQKj30
Kells:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXtcp__rJF8
Fenrir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUgzAfx2jik
Sound Storm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTbNXYVDay4

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Friday, September 14th 2012
• City: Tristania in Dordrecht
• Venue: Bibelot
• Country: Netherlands
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Fenrir, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Saturday, September 15th 2012
• City: Tristania in Mons
• Venue: Onair Studio
• Country: Belgium
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Fenrir, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Sunday, September 16th 2012
• City: Tristania in Zoetemeer
• Venue: Boerderij
• Country: Netherlands
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Monday, September 17th 2012
• City: Tristania in London
• Venue: Underworld
• Country: United Kingdom
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Tuesday, September 18th 2012
• City: Tristania in Paris
• Venue: Glazart
• Country: France
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Fenrir, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Thursday, September 20th 2012
• City: Tristania in Bergara
• Venue: Tartufo
• Country: Spain
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Friday, September 21st 2012
• City: Tristania in Madrid
• Venue: Caracol
• Country: Spain
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Saturday, September 22nd 2012
• City: Tristania in Barcelona
• Venue: Mephisto
• Country: Spain
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Sunday, September 23rd 2012
• City: Tristania in Marseille
• Venue: Poste a Galene
• Country: France
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Fenrir, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Tuesday, September 25th 2012
• City: Tristania in Osnabruck
• Venue: Bastard Club
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Wednesday, September 26th 2012
• City: Tristania in Berlin
• Venue: K17
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Thursday, September 27th 2012
• City: Tristania in Pratteln
• Venue: Z7
• Country: Switzerland
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Friday, September 28th 2012
• City: Tristania in Bad Salzungen
• Venue: KW70
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: European Tour 2012
• Date: Saturday, September 29th 2012
• City: Tristania in Essen
• Venue: Turock
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Sarah Jezebel Deva, Kells, Soundstorm
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Bass player Ole Vistnes welcomes the opportunity to play live in a period in which Tristania are mostly focusing on composing the follow up album to 2010′s Rubicon:
“Both festivals have great line-ups, and of course we’re looking forward to playing live again. The summer is lining up like we hoped for. A few festival, but still a lot of time to work on the next album. Maybe we even have the chance to play one new song for the Eastern European audiences.”

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, June 2nd 2012
• City: Tristania in Sofia
• Venue: Loud Festival
• Country: Bulgaria
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Sunday, July 8th 2012
• City: Tristania in Tunari
• Venue: B´estfest Summerfest Camp Festival
• Country: Romania
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

The new venue is called KC Zahrada: www.kczahrada.cz

Mexico has an important place in all the Tristania members hearts. We’re always made feel very welcome in Mexico, and although we played there only a few months ago, we’re absolutely delighted to being able to return for the Hell and Heaven Fest. And of course it’s an honour to share the stage with Megadeth, bass player Ole Vistnes says.

Tristania will play at the “Hell and Heaven Fest” on November 19th. Confirmed bands until now are Megadeth, Tristania, Overkill, Kataklysm and Destruction.

Check out www.hellandheavenfest.com for updates.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, November 19th 2011
• City: Tristania in Guadalajara
• Venue: Hell and Heaven Fest
• Country: Mexico
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

The festival has already confirmed lots of known faces for the Norwegian metal crowd. In addition to Tristania and Arcturus, former In The Woods frontman Jan Kenneth Transeth will join up with former Green Carnation members Stein Roger Sordal and Tommy Jackson in Soxpan, members from Carpathian Forest and Communic reunite with Opus Forgotten, black metallers Goatlord will also do their first show in a few years, while the brilliant prog metallers in Leoprous, also known as the backing musicians for black metal legend Ishahn will present their own critically acclaimed material. There is still a few bands to be confirmed.

“Kristiansand was brilliant last time we played there, and we’re delighted to do be able to return this autumn. The line-up is very different from many other festivals, and marks the return of a whole lot of bands that haven’t played together for a while, and of course Arcturus is a scoop for the festival”, singer Kjetil Nordhus says.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Friday, September 9th 2011
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Tristania in Kristiansand
• Venue: Kick
• Country: Norway
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

For the first time in the band’s history, Tristania is going touring in Asia. The historic events will happen in the end of July 2011, starting off in Beijing on July 22nd and including all in all five shows in China and Taiwan. “The band is extremely thankful for being given the chance to tour in Asia for the very first time. It is going to be something to remember for the rest of our lives, and we cannot wait to meet up with our Asian fans” the band says in a statement.

2011 is promising to be a very active year for the band, with shows in Tel Aviv and Istanbul during the first few months, Mexico and Wave Gotik Treffen in June, Asia in July, and the Out of the Darkness European Tour in September/October. “We have put in an extreme amount of hard work the last few years, and we’re now seeing the effects. The atmosphere in the Tristania camp anno 2011 is very, very good”, singer Kjetil Nordhus says.

Festival: Wave Gotik Treffen
website: http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/
city: Leipzig
country: Germany
showday: 10th June 2011, Friday
venue: Halle 15
capacity: 6.000
start: 21:00

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OutOfTheDarkTour

The dates are the following:

30.09.2011 (D) KARLSRUHE / Substage
01.10.2011 (CZ) PRAGUE / Abaton
02.10.2011 (H) BUDAPEST / Club 202
04.10.2011 (I) MILAN / Alcatraz
05.10.2011 (CH) PRATTELN / Z7
06.10.2011 (F) PARIS / Le Bataclan
07.10.2011 (NL) HAARLEM / Patronaat
08.10.2011 (B) VOSSELAAR / Biebob
09.10.2011 (GB) LONDON / O2 Academy Islington
11.10.2011 (D) COLOGNE / Live Music Hall
12.10.2011 (D) MUNICH / Backstage
13.10.2011 (D) NEU-ISENBURG / Hugenottenhalle
14.10.2011 (D) HAMBURG / Markthalle
15.10.2011 (D) DORTMUND / FZW

More live shows to be announced soon.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Friday, September 30th 2011
• City: Tristania in Karlsruhe
• Venue: Substage
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Saturday, October 1st 2011
• City: Tristania in Prague
• Venue: KC Zahrada
• Country: Czech Republic
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Sunday, October 2nd 2011
• City: Tristania in Budapest
• Venue: Club 202
• Country: Hungary
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Tuesday, October 4th 2011
• City: Tristania in Milan
• Venue: Alcatraz
• Country: Italy
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Wednesday, October 5th 2011
• City: Tristania in Pratteln
• Venue: Z7
• Country: Switzerland
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Thursday, October 6th 2011
• City: Tristania in Paris
• Venue: Le Bataclan
• Country: France
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Friday, October 7th 2011
• City: Tristania in Haarlem
• Venue: Patronaat
• Country: Netherlands
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Saturday, October 8th 2011
• City: Tristania in Voselaar
• Venue: Biebob
• Country: Belgium
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Sunday, October 9th 2011
• City: Tristania in London
• Venue: O2 Academy Islington
• Country: United Kingdom
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Tuesday, October 11th 2011
• City: Tristania in Cologne
• Venue: Live Music Hall
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Wednesday, October 12th 2011
• City: Tristania in Munich
• Venue: Backstage
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Thursday, October 13th 2011
• City: Tristania in Neu-Isenburg
• Venue: Hugenottenhalle
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Friday, October 14th 2011
• City: Tristania in Hamburg
• Venue: Markthalle
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Tour: Out of the Dark Festival Tour 2011
• Date: Saturday, October 15th 2011
• City: Tristania in Dortmund
• Venue: FZW
• Country: Germany
• Notes: Van Canto, Revamp, Xandria and Amberian Dawn
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Tristania will return to Mexico City and Circo Volador to headline a show that also include The Agonist from Canada, and fellow Norwegians in Keep of Kalessin and Blood Red Throne on June 4th 2011.

«We have been crossing our fingers for something like this to happen, as we’re playing «in the neighbourhood» the day before. The band has some of our best memories ever fraom Mexico City, and needless to say – we’re absolutely delighted to return to Circo Volador» the band says in a short statement.

Tristania will play the day before on the Wild Metal Fest in Cancun together with Sepultura, Nevermore, Enslaved, Marduk and many more.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, June 4th 2011
• City: Tristania in Mexico City
• Venue: Circo Valador
• Country: Mexico
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Tristania was in the first group of bands to be announced, together with My Dying Bride, Stratovarius, Grave Digger, Eluveitie, Pestilence and Therion. 33 (!) more bands will be announced.

“We’re amazed at being invited. This is probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the band, and we’re already looking forward to January 2012.” the band says.

Check www.70000tons.com for more info and booking information.

More festival and tour news to come within the next few days.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Monday, January 23rd 2012 - Saturday, January 28th 2012
• City: Tristania in Miami
• Venue: 70000 Tons of Metal
• Country: United States
• Notes: My Dying Bride, Stratovarius, Grave Digger, Eluveitie, Pestilence and Therion and many more
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

“We have huge respect for Madder Mortem and their work, and it’s about time we share a stage again. So we’re all buzzing about the gig in Sandnes. Drammen is located close to Oslo, and the show is an all age show. So we hope to see both old and new Tristania fans”, the band says in a statement.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Friday, May 13th 2011
• City: Tristania in Sandnes
• Venue: Tribute
• Country: Norway
• Notes: Madder Mortem
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, May 14th 2011
• City: Tristania in Drammen
• Venue: G60 Union Scene
• Country: Norway
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

For more info about the Atlanterhavsrock Festival, check www.atlanterhavsrock.com

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, May 7th 2011
• City: Tristania in Averøy (near Kristiansund)
• Venue: Atlanterhavsrock Festival
• Country: Norway
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Friday, May 6th 2011
• City: Tristania in Trondheim
• Venue: Blæst
• Country: Norway
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Sepultura, Nevermore, D.R.I., Marduk, Enslaved and Blood Red Throne are amongst the bands sharing the stage on Wild Metal Fest, and the band members are all looking forward to meeting up with old and new Mexican fans, it says in a bulletin from the band:

“We’ve had some amazing concerts in Mexico in the past, and we’ve been trying to get back ever since the last time we visited the country in 2008. Also, it’s nice to be able to announce the first summer festival for Tristania in 2011. We can’t wait to get the wheels running”

Artist: Tristania
Date: Friday, June 3rd 2011
City: Tristania in Cancun
Venue: Wild Metal Fest
Country: Mexico

“We’re delighted that Vulture Industries accepted our invitation. We’re looking forward to meet the guys again, and obviously to hear them live once again”, says the band.

Check out Vulture Industries here: http://www.myspace.com/vultureindustries

Buy tickets for the show here: http://www.checkpoint.no

“We did a net meeting right before the album was released and it was a good experience, with lots of fans online asking questions. There have been a few requests about doing this one more time, and we think it’s a nice treat to our fans, using a few hours now and then to communicating directly with our loyal following. So we’re looking forward to Monday evening.”, it says in a statement from the band.

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, January 29th 2011
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Tristania in Stavanger
• Venue: Checkpoint Charlie
• Country: Norway
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Related show

• Artist: Tristania
• Date: Saturday, January 22nd 2011
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Tristania in Tel Aviv
• Venue: Reading 3
• Address: Exhibit 3, North Port
• Venue phone: 03-7624000
• Country: Israel
• Admission: 169 shekels
• Box office: 03-5235115
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Keep an eye on the tour-section for this and upcoming concerts!

There is a dedicated thread at our forum concerning the app at: http://theilluminated.net/your-work/tristania-iphone-app/

The app is developed by Krawaller.

Tristania

Just a few days into the European leg of the Rubicon Tour, great reviews are starting to pop up at the internet.

“There is no doubt that these Norwegians are standing strong and developed a more mature sound, unique and totally not comparable with other bands.”, it says in the review in Dutch acclaimed music blog Music Credo from the band’s gig in Hengelo, on October 9th.

Another reviewer, from Metal Exposure, is convinced the Tristania show in Hengelo will be one of the three finest in all of 2010, and concludes: After losing track of this band, I’m pretty sure I saw one of my top three performances in 2010. I’m re-fan.”

“The response has been absolutely overwhelming, really. It seems to us that people are there to get convinced about Tristania again, and the gigs have generally been very good from the band’s side. So there have been a lot of happy faces in the crowd” the band says from the road.

Today, October 15th, Tristania play in Glauchau (Germany), and the remaining dates of the Rubicon Tour looks like this:

16 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Kraków, Loch Ness
17 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Bratislava, Randal
19 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Prague, Exit Chmelnice
20 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Berlin, K 17
21 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Munich, Backstage
22 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Pratteln, Z7
23 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Wieze, Metal Female Voices Fest

Their clothes, combining tribal urban design with street fashion and rock wear, fits Tristania perfectly. With lots of original details and great accessories, Mariangela and Gyri instantly fell for the brand and chose to wear Psylo clothes on the Rubicon promotional photos shot in angst-im-wald photo studios in Germany earlier this year.

Mariangela wearing Psylo

Since the start of the ongoing Rubicon tour, kicked off with the relase party in Tristania’s home town Stavanger on September 25th, band members have been using Psylo wear live. On the first date of the European part of the tour, Tristania played in Camden “Underworld” near PSYLO’s London headquarters and enjoyed a visit to their main store in the Stable Markets, where they were endorsed with a selection of great stage outfits. As a result of the teaming up, Mariangela will be the face of Psylo’s new Black Label collection – more news to be announced about this later.

About the Psylo brand:

“As global travelers, Tribal explorers, surfers, dancers and seekers of new experiences, Psylo’s design team started making the comfortable, stylish, durable and fun clothes they needed for their personal expression and their adventurous lifestyles. The factory is based in Bali, Indonesia, famed for its strong traditions of design, arts and crafts. The tailors utilize cutting edge stitching techniques, mineral washes, color discharge, hand knitting and a variety of application techniques, combined with the highest quality fabrics.”

Psylo website: www.psylofashion.com
Psylo store: UNIT 49 the Stables Market Camden Town, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8AH

If you haven’t checked the site before, log on to Facebook and search for “Official Tristania“, push the “Like” button, and get updates, photos and more directly from the band.

“The Norwegian gigs went really well, and we were all very excited about showcasing Tristania anno 2010 for a foreign audience. The energy from the people attending the first two shows has been absolutely amazing. There’s been a really good turnout for both shows, and the feedback from the people we have met by the merchandize stand after the show has been nothing but great. We cannot wait to continue our travel through Europe. And we hope to see many both old and new fans” the band says from Amsterdam.

The Rubicon Tour’s reminding dates are as follows:

10 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Amsterdam, Melkweg
11 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Paris, Glazart
12 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Stuttgart, Die Röhre
13 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Frankfurt, Batschkapp
14 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Hamburg, Markthalle
15 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Glauchau, Alte Spinnerei
16 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Kraków, Loch Ness
17 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Bratislava, Randal
19 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Prague, Exit Chmelnice
20 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Berlin, K 17
21 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Munich, Backstage
22 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Pratteln, Z7
23 Oct, 2010 Tristania in Wieze, Metal Female Voices Fest

The happening will take place in the PSYLO Store from 12am on the 8th of October, in The Stables Market Camden Town, Unit 49, in London.

“We know there has been great interest for our show in London, and when the idea came from PSYLO to do a signing/meet and great session we thought this would be a nice treat to our fans going to the show. We’re looking forward to the European leg of the Rubicon Tour very much, and this will kick it all of nicely” the band says in a statement.

Silje, who has successfully worked with the Gathering since 2008, started her career as a singer in Gyri’s former band Octavia Sperati in 2000. Octavia, which has creatively been ‘on hold’ for the past two years only occasionally performing at a few special events, did several tours in the UK from 2005 to 2008, and even did a few shows together with Kjetil and his former band, Green Carnation. Gyri is very excited to share the stage with Silje again in this new context!

Silje says:

“I am honored to be singing with the nice guys and gals of Tristania here in my hometown Bergen. I’ve been following the band since Gyri joined them and really like their new sound and album Rubicon. It will be great fun to play with Gyri again as with Kjetil, Mariangela and the rest of the band”

“We knew we were going to meet a lot of old friends in Kristiansand, and it will be great to share the stage with both Jonathan and Kjell again. We have very fond memories of our time together, and we’re so happy that it’s mutual.”, the band says.

Current Sirenia drummer Jonathan Perez played with Tristania on Wacken Open Air in 2005, and also featured on the following Norwegian tour. Kjell Hagen’s bass duties with the band included the Nightwish tour in 2005, plus headliner shows in Europe and the Latin America tour the same year.

September 30th @ Bingen, Kristiansand (U18): Band contest will decide
September 30th @ Kick Scene, Kristiansand: Vulture Industries, Double Barrel Remedy
October 1st @ Betong, Oslo: Vulture Industries, In Mourning (Sweden)
October 2nd @ Pakkhuset, Farsund: Roen
October 6th @ Arena Scene, Leirvik: Vulture Industries, Enchanting Darkness
October 7th @ Garage, Bergen: 66crusher

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/vultureindustries
http://www.myspace.com/doublebarrelremedy
http://www.myspace.com/in_mourning
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roen/124842374205230
http://www.myspace.com/enchantingdark
http://www.myspace.com/66crusher

After playing on the Rubicon Release Party in Stavanger, Johansen will rejoin the band in London on October 8th for the concert at Camden Underworld, and stay on board until after the Krakow concert on October 15th.

“This wasn’t really planned at all. Pete was supposed to join us for the release party in Stavanger and that was all, but on our first rehearsal together just a few weeks ago everything just clicked. We did actually joke with Pete about him joining us for the tour, and little did we know that only two days after, Pete would offer his incredible talent to us for so many more gigs than planned. We’re all really buzzing about this, and we think our fans will see this as a nice bonus”

the band says to Tristania.com

Pete Johansen rejoined forces with Tristania for the Rubicon studio sessions earlier this year and recorded guest violin parts for several of the songs on the album. This was the first collaboration since World of Glass (2001).

“For the meet-and-greet session in our rehearsal room, we do have a restricted amount of places to offer. But if there are still people wanting to come in from abroad, we will certainly try to make room for them. So there’s still a chance.”

In addition to being invited to the last rehearsal before the Rubicon tour (on September 24th), foreign fans will also be treated with free tickets for the Release Party the following day plus a backstage pass for the same event.

“We’re all extremely excited about the next few months, and it’s going to be a really special evening in Stavanger on September 25th. For us, it will also probably be an emotional show, as this might be the last time we share the stage with Østen. There has been a lot of interest for the show both locally and from abroad, and we really cannot wait to get the party started.”

Tristania will be doing a special show when they visit Kristiansand, Norway on Thursday September 30th. It was recently confirmed that the band has accepted a proposal to do an Under 18 show at Bingen on the same date as the Kick Scene concert will take place. There will be organized a band contest by the promoter Bingen Booking, and one lucky young metal band will get the chance to support Tristania.

“We thought this was a nice thing to do. Kjetil knows about Bingen Booking from before, and they’ve organized similar gigs with other big Norwegian bands like Turboneger and Big Bang. This has turned out to be a great success for the kids, and we’re also hoping to give them a great gig which can be inspiring and overwhelming”, comments the band.

The gig at Kick Scene will go ahead at the same time as planned

Also – it was today confirmed that Tristania will play at the legendary venue Pakkhuset in Farsund on October 2nd.

“I grew up hearing about Pakkhuset all the time, and I’ve been there a few times but never played there. Farsund is a smallish town, but the organizers are optimistic that the Tristania gig will become a big happening. And we’re really looking forward to playing there”, singer Kjetil says.

The dates in Norway are now as follows:

September 25th: Stavanger (Folken) Release Party
September 30th: Kristiansand (Samsen) U-18
September 30th: Kristiansand (Kick)
October 1st: Oslo (Betong)
October 2nd: Farsund (Pakkhuset)
October 6th: Leirvik, Stord (Arena)
October 7th: Bergen (Garage)

“We’ve received a lot of great feedback after registering our Twitter account and launching Official Tristania on Facebook. For us, this is new territory, and we’re thoroughly enjoying the increased communication with our fans. But although we are represented on a lot of different social media sites, the new-look www.tristania.com is still where our fans will find the relevant and big news about the band.” says guitarist Anders Høyvik Hidle in a message from the band.

For the first time in the band’s history, the band members also participated in a “meet the band” session on the official Tristania community www.theillumintated.net Monday evening. The session was according to the band a nice experience, and a new “meet the band” session will be organized again in the near future.

Find Tristania in social media:
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
Official Community

Even if this day most of all feels like an end, it is the beginning of something much bigger, and much more exciting. We are now a band strong, eager and hungry to get back on the road to play, to serve the songs on “Rubicon” justice, and play a variety of songs from Tristania’s remarkable career. Old fans will meet some new faces, but many of you know us very well by now. And I think every Tristania fan will recognize the spirit, identity and vision of the band.

Stay in touch, and keep up the support. It is much appreciated. “Rubicon” should be available in a record store or an iTunes shop near you.

Best,
Ole

One of these features will have a premiere on Monday, August 30 as this is the very first time in Tristania’s history that the band members will all be online on The Illuminated at the same time to answer questions from the fans.

“The idea is to do these question-and-answer sessions time and again. We have realized, through our Official Facebook and Twitter accounts, that our fans really appreciate being able to communicate with the band. And there seem to be a lot of questions out there. So we’re optimistic this new treat will be well received”, it says in a statement from the band.
The time for the first net meeting on The Illuminated will be revealed during the upcoming weekend.

Amnesia is the brand new song from Rubicon added to the audio player.
You can now listen to it along with Year of the Rat, Exile and Sirens.

Enjoy!

In addition, Tristania’s members have decided to give fans coming to the release party from abroad some very special treats. The band states:

“All fans coming from abroad to see our show will be put on the guest list, giving free entrance to the gig. They are also invited to a very special meet and greet session at our rehearsal room in Stavanger on the evening before the release party, Friday 24th.”

If you want to attend the show, write an e-mail marked “Rubicon release party” to webteam@tristania.com, containing your full name(s), address and country, and whether you will attend the meet and greet on the Friday rehearsal.

All in all, things are looking really good. There’s a lot of interest in the release party both locally and from abroad, and the band is really looking forward to this special evening!

Rubicon Release Party
Saturday, September 25th
@ Folken
Løkkeveien 24, 4008 stavanger
Tickets for sale at www.folken.no

Østen has written the following statement for the fans:

“I think it was about a year ago I announced that I was taking a break from Tristania to be with my girlfriend and the twins she was carrying. As some of you might recall, I promised that this break was just temporarily and that I would be back within a year or so.

I am sorry to say that I have to break my promise. I never intended to, but the time I have spent with my family has made it obvious that it is impossible for me to combine playing an active part in Tristania with playing an active part in my children’s life. Based on these conclusions I have decided to leave the band. It has been the best ten years of my life, a wonderful experience.

It is hard to write this without getting sentimental. I will miss you all.

I do not feel that I am fleeing a sinking ship – the current line-up in Tristania is the strongest ever in my opinion – the new album is a killer and with Kjetil and Gyri aboard – the band seems to have the motivation for serious touring to get the music out to stages all over the world.

I want to wish Tristania the best of luck in the future.

Thank you all for your patience and your dedication and for the good times.

Take care.

Love,
Østen”

The band regrets parting with a long-time band member and a dear friend, but emphasizes that they understand and respect Østen’s decision to prioritize his role as a father. They also feel confident that Kjetil, who has worked with the band for well over a year now, is the best replacement they could possibly ask for.
On the occasion of the changes in line-up, www.tristania.com has done an in-depth interview with old and new band members. Anders talks about Østen’s departure:

“It was with a great deal of sadness I received the news from Østen when he informed us that he’d realized it was impossible for him to return to the band. Østen has been one of my closest friends for the last 15 years and I love him as a brother. I was the one who asked him to work with us in the first place – first as a guest and later as a full member. The years we’ve shared together in the band have been amazing. At the same time I admire him for being true to himself and I completely understand that it would be impossible for him to combine his role as a father for his one-year-old twins with an active role in Tristania, especially considering the extensive touring and other activities we are planning with Rubicon.

Even though it’s a sad thing for us to know that Østen will stay home when we’re doing tours in the future, it is great news that Kjetil has accepted to become a full-time member. Kjetil was the first person that came to my mind when Østen first told me about his babies, and I’m really glad he accepted our offer. In my eyes he is the perfect replacement for Østen. I’ve known Kjetil for almost ten years, and he truly is a great guy. As a singer he is impressively professional.

Kjetil was also the first person coming to Ole’s mind:

“Kjetil has been one of my best buddies since I toured with Green Carnation in 2005. After facing the fact that Østen had obligations with his family and had to move on, we had to try and replace him and keep moving the bandwagon forward. Kjetil was the first name that came to my mind as a replacement, and when I told Anders, he had already thought about him, too.

About his new role in Tristania, Kjetil has issued the following statement:

“I was asked to join Tristania permanently early this year after a period of filling in for Østen. You might say it was easier to accept the proposal since I wasn’t entirely new to the band anymore, but it still was a big decision to make. After my time with Green Carnation and Trail of Tears I had been ready for a different approach to music; I wanted to work more in the studio with projects and not to be in a touring band.

For me there were a few decisive factors for accepting the offer from Tristania. I’d got to know the individuals in the band even better during the last year, I had become a small part of Tristania’s proud history, and most importantly I had learned that this is still an extremely ambitious band, working on an extremely ambitious new album. Those factors added together made the decision easier for me, and I accepted shortly before entering the studio in February 2010.”

With a new partner in crime and on stage, Mariangela regards Kjetil’s vocals as a perfect match to her own voice:

“Kjetil is a very talented and experienced singer, and our vocals sound very good together. I must say his humour and attitude also fit the band perfectly. He’s a nice person to have around, and we always have lot of fun. Kjetil is a very social guy, ready to open up and share of himself, which is a quality I really like. We also get along well on stage – it will be a killer!”

Kjetil assures that he doesn’t take lightly on his new responsibility:

“Since the first time I heard Østen’s voice I have had great respect for him as a singer, and after I got to know him as a person my respect has only grown. He has been an important member and contribution to Tristania’s development ever since joining the band, and now it’s my job to contribute to Tristania’s development in my own way.”

Anders, certain that the band has made the best possible choice, concludes:

“After doing shows with us since last summer and laying down a remarkable piece of work with the recordings of Rubicon, I’m absolutely confident that Kjetil is the perfect guy to fill Østen’s shoes. Tristania’s future is looking bright, and Kjetil is definitely an important part of it!”

As some of you may have expected, the band has one more line-up change to announce. Having suffered a knee injury for several years now, Kenneth has been forced to stay home from most of the touring since back in 2005. This year he came to the conclusion that it doesn’t make sense to be a member of the band and not being able to tour, and decided to step back in order to let his live replacement, Mr. Tarald Lie, take over the drums on a permanent basis.

The band would like to thank Kenneth for the great moments that have been shared together and wishes him all the best for the future. Anders comments:

“We were hoping that the Kenneth’s surgeries would make him fit for fight again, but unfortunately his injury hasn’t healed the way we all were hoping for. Considering this, it was an inevitable consequence that Kenneth would have to throw in the towel.

For us in the band Kenneth’s decision felt less dramatic than Østen’s – as Tarald has done most of our concerts for the last five years. Nevertheless, I really will miss having Kenneth on board. He is a fantastic guy, and he will always be important in the history of Tristania. As with Østen, I’ve shared some amazing moments together with Kenneth which always will have a place in my heart. Kenneth used to be the comedian of the band, and he never takes anything too serious. “

He continues to describe his first encounter with Tarald, showing that Tarald’s history with Tristania actually goes quite a long way back:

I first met Tarald in 1998 when we were touring together with Solefald. Tarald was at that time their live-drummer, and I remember that his brilliant drumming blew me away every night. Seven years later I wrote an advertisement in a Norwegian forum for musicians on the web, searching for a stand-in drummer for Kenneth as his condition made touring difficult. To my great surprise Tarald was one of the drummers who contacted us. I already knew he was a excellent drummer and a great guy, so we immediately invited him to Stavanger for rehearsals. As we are living in different parts of Norway, I hardly had seen Tarald since the tour in 98, but I soon realized that the social chemistry between Tarald and the rest of us was as good as it was on the tour bus seven years earlier.

Luckily, Tarald hasn’t only taken over the drum sticks from Kenneth: As his predecessor, Tarald is also the natural comedian of the band, who constantly provides absurd comments and jokes to the rest of the band’s great amusement. Tarald is a great guy, who I honestly think it’s impossible to dislike.

Gyri also emphasizes Tarald’s great sense of humour:

“Tarald is the band’s entertainer, or more precisely Tristania’s Nicko McBrain. Without him we would probably have been bored to death. He is the king of hilarious comments, filling every little halt in the conversation with facts and observations about life. Not to mention he’s a brilliant, rock solid and steady drummer.”

Ole concurs, and is more or less amazed by the level of commitment that Tarald has showed through the years:

“I’m happy to have Tarald as a permanent member of Tristania. He has played every show with Tristania since I joined, and he’s become a great friend of mine. He is a great drummer, and his humour and great attitude is invaluable. When we rehearse, travel, are in the studio or anywhere else, his extremely hard working attitude and persistence almost scares me sometimes. It seems he simply doesn’t get tired!”

Tarald himself comments his new engagement in the band in this way:

“I felt very honoured and privileged to be asked to join Tristania as a full-time member. Kenneth has done an amazing job in this band, and I will do my utmost to fill his shoes in the most respectful way. Being a live-drummer since 2005, I have gotten to know the band’s music and the members very well. I had the pleasure of following Tristania on their first tour ever, and have had a splendid time in their company since day one.”

Mariangela also welcomes Tarald, explaining why the band has become so fond of him:

“I’ve known Tarald since I joined Tristania, and he’s already a good friend of mine. Because of Kenneth’s knee injury, Tarald is actually the only Tristania drummer I’ve played with, and it feels natural that he is now a permanent member. He’s a very good drummer, and he owns the respect of the entire band for being so humble, friendly and honest. He’s the sweetest guy ever, and everybody is really happy to have him with us.”

Both Kjetil and Tarald have contributed substantially to the album. On Rubicon, Kjetil has been responsible for most of the male lead vocals, as well as the backing tracks:

“I entered the studio in February, having four or five full days to do my vocal tracking. Because of the amount of work that already had been done during the pre-production sessions, I had a fair idea of how the different parts were going to sound. But there were still room for some adjustments when it came to detail work, moods and stuff like that. I enjoyed the vocal sessions a lot, feeling very much part of something great.”

Tarald is also very happy with the result, and emphasizes the quality of both the songs and the new set of voices:

“Attending many of the vocal sessions in Oslo, I was impressed by the impact of the fresh blood pumping in the band’s veins, along with great tracks laid down by “oldies” Einar, Anders and Østen. It’s evident that the voices of Mariangela, Kjetil and Ole complement each other and constitute a distinct, upgraded and quite unique sound.”

Tarald goes on to report from his own studio experience:

“Recording the drum tracks at Fredrik Wallumrød’s studio in Sandvika, was an incredibly fun and interesting experience. He is a very knowledgeable composer/drummer/technician, and his insight was valuable and highly appreciated. It’s cool to exchange ideas and try them out with other drummers, and I really liked having him around as a sparring partner and inspirator. Anders and Ole were also there eating pizza and whipping my back, making it all turn out the way it did. Six hectic, memorable and very enjoyable days in Tanken Studio!

Apart from their musical contributions, Kjetil and Tarald are also welcomed for their personal qualities and social contribution to the band. Ole talks about Kjetil’s return to an active live band, describing him as a talented musician and very resourceful person:

“Kjetil had already heard some of the early demos of Rubicon, and was very supportive and impressed. Given his rather long break from the metal live-scene, I think he also was eager to get back on the stage. Having Kjetil in the band and in the team is very giving. He has one of the most recognizable voices I know, he has tons of experience, a huge network and is an unstoppable think-tank of ideas and suggestions.”

Gyri elaborates on Kjetil’s social and professional skills:

“Kjetil, in addition to being the possessor of an impressive voice and an equally impressive vocal range, is the band’s entrepreneur. With his extended knowledge of the music business and a thousand ideas of how to navigate around it, he always comes up with suggestions on how we can do things better. He of course has a number of super smart business ideas for himself that he may carry out one day, but those are super-confidential – and right now he’s strictly talking Tristania business.”

Ole reveals that also Tarald has other talents than just being a great drummer:

“Tarald also proved to be a very talented lyricist. I always knew he was a well educated man, with great ear for languages, but that he suddenly came up with several amazing lyrics for Rubicon was a pleasant surprise! I really can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us, because this is a man with wits and skills!”

Anders finally explains why Tarald is the right man for the job:

“After playing live with us for five years it feels right to have Tarald permanently in the band. He has done a wonderful job with the drum recordings on Rubicon, and I’m confident he will do so on many more Tristania albums in the future.”

So here it is – summer 2010, and Tristania is once more renewed, once more complete. The band is evidently proud of its past and feels privileged to have so many talented musicians and good people as part of their history. But now is the time to look forward. The new album Rubicon is a piece of history shared by all the present members, and the band is eager to present it to old and new fans. Kjetil shares his views and expectations for Rubicon:

“During my years in Green Carnation and Trail of Tears, I did a number of albums, and I have also been contributing on a diversity of albums with other bands. But I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced a composing and recording process as thorough as the Rubicon sessions. And I’m really proud of the result. Following Tristania from the outside through the years, I have always been fascinated by their ability to renew themselves. Rubicon fits very well into that tradition. There has been a few changes in the band the last few years, and of course it will sound different than earlier. But there are still elements of the old Tristania in the songs. So I think that a lot of the band’s very loyal fans will like Rubicon a lot.”

The band is now rehearsing intensively for the forthcoming Norwegian dates and the first leg of the Rubicon tour in Europe that will be kicked off in London on October 8th. The release of Rubicon is finally coming closer, and the guys are eager to get the album out and head for the tour. Anders is hopeful:

“I really hope we will get to do more concerts with Rubicon than we have done with any album before. The guys and girls are motivated and hungry for some serious touring, and I find the rehearsals very uplifting. Tristania anno 2010 is going to sound better than ever.”

Tarald is also really happy with the chemistry of the new line-up:

“Playing live with the various constellations of the band has taught me to appreciate and cherish the current atmosphere of common focus, commitment and team spirit. We are a group of individuals that are complementary to each other in a number of ways, trying to lift each other to a new level.

This also goes for composing the new material and making the whole recording process happen: Everybody in the band has – in different ways – participated in pushing the making of Rubicon forward, an album that in completion turned out to be exactly what we set out to accomplish.

The tours, festivals, gigs and rehearsals with the new line-up of the band have made us a very tight-knit unit, now facing our audience with a solidified definition of what Tristania 2010 is all about: Respecting tradition, while exploring new horizons, expanding the ‘Goth playground’.

We can’t wait to present the new songs live, while also paying homage to the past by playing older ‘evergoths’”.

Ole sums it up perfectly:

“In all the new and exiting things going on with Tristania right now, it’s not without sadness I have to acknowledge that the days of playing with Østen is over. Nevertheless am I certain that Tarald and Kjetil are the right persons and musicians to carry the Tristania torch, and to ensure that Tristania still continues to grow and evolve. We are all very proud of the name, and while we seek to expand the boundaries of our music, we always remember where we come from.”

All being said, and the rest yet to be done, it is only natural that Tarald should wrap this up with the infamous last words:

“Playing for Tristania fans makes all the blood, sweat and beers worthwhile.”

As some of you might know we have posted a new taster of our upcoming album, Rubicon on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4xKK34zPs

We are in addition happy to inform you that the first release dates are official:

25.08.10 – Spain
27.08.10 – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italia, Sweden
30.08.10 – Rest of Europe
31.08.10 – USA/Canada
(South American dates to be announced)

The cover photo and design is by angst-im-wald . photography and marketing for music
copyright: angst-im-wald. photography and marketing for music

Best
Tristania

We started out six weeks ago in Oslo. Me and Anders then spent three days in a project studio with Waldemar, just going through all the arrangements, details and putting final touches to the songs. One of the songs was not complete, and together with Waldemar we co-wrote the rest of the song. It’s called “Vulture” and will be one of the heavier tracks on the album!

Then after three days we moved on to Tanken Studio in Sandvika outside Oslo to record the drums. Tanken Studio is run by Fredrik Wallumrød, drummer of norwegian rock act El Caco. He was engineering the drum recordings, which happened in an awesome huge round room that used to be an actual tank (hence the name…) for color in clothes production. Me, Anders and Tarald spent seven great days there. We instantly hit it off with Fredrik, who is an outstanding engineer/producer, but most of all an incredible nice guy!

After Tarald was done with his recordings, we set the course westward, to Stavanger. There we rented a room in what used to be one of the finest studios around back in the ninetees. Now there is no commercial studio there, but the room acoustics and sound preparations are the same, and the room sounds amazing for recording. We set up some of our own equipment, and some rented, hi-class equipment, and we were set for two weeks of guitar/bass/violin/Østen recording. This is where Pete Johansen did his work. It was really nice for me to meet him for the first time, and it was really enjoyable to listen to him and Anders reminisce about the old times and share stories and memories of the tours and recordings.

Many beers, sigarettes and pizza slices, and two weeks later we were bound for Oslo once more. This time for the grand finale. Vocals. We did all the vocal recordings in Amadeus Studio in Oslo, with engineer Sigmund Vegge. As an outstanding tech, engineer, musician and friend, he had all the vocals recorded with a smile.

What now remains is for Waldemar to mix the album. He will do this during March, and we will most likely have a finished Tristania album in our hands by Easter.

I like to thank all of you for reading, and please stay in touch. There are lots of good news underway. I can’t say anything about the release date yet (are you familiar with the expression “don’t hold your breath”?).

Anyway, there will be an album, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if we can get some tasters out within a month or two.

Come hang out on twitter, I’ll be there! https://twitter.com/TristaniaBand

cheers

Ole

We are proud to announce collaboration with Mayones Guitars. Anders and I will use Mayones guitars and basses for the upcoming recording of the sixth Tristania album, and on the following tours.

Anders has got three guitars, among them a beautiful custom built Regius 6, with Tristania flame inlays, and I have two custom Be Gothic 4-string basses. They play and sound like a dream, and look astonishing too! More info and pictures will come soon!

Ole

This being my first official blogpost as a member of Tristania, I would first direct my humble gratitude to the band, and to all you readers, listeners, fans! I have loved my time in Tristania so far, and we’re just getting started. Thanks for all the nice emails and all the support!

Well, enough smooth talk, let’s get down to business! We have a new record in the making, as some of you might be aware of. The songs are mainly done, the lyrics are getting there, and recording dates are to be booked soon. The creation of this album has been for me personally the most exciting and exhausting task I have ever embarked on. 13 ideas are slowly but steadily growing into 13 brand new songs. From idea to draft to sketch to demo to pre-prod, and soon, to the new Tristania album.

When I joined the band, they told me that the creative process was a collective effort. My opinions and ideas would count just as much as the people that has been in the band a decade or more. To some it may seem ridiculous to “jeopardise” the most important aspect in the band, the songwriting, by inviting someone completely fresh to participate. Even if we had very different musical background and preferences, Anders took the initiative to find the common ground, and create new music, and after working together with Anders only a couple of sessions, it was clear to me that we had much more in common musically, than our background would indicate. I was actually stoked in the beginning, that they would let me into the songwriting process. I didn’t have much experience as a songwriter, and very little to show for. This is probably where I am the most grateful. That Anders from the beginning encouraged me to write, and always made me feel that my ideas were, even if the earliest ones were rather immature, welcomed, and were considered seriously.

Now, thousands of working hours, hundreds of ideas, dozens of half songs and drafts and 13 brand new Tristania songs later, what I am really proud of, is that we have lived up to the most important principal in Tristania’s music ever. That principal is not a certain mood, guitar sound, vocal style or lyrical content, but the fact that Tristania’s music changes according to our hearts, it grows with the band. What you will hear on next year’s album is the accurate sound of where Tristania is NOW. We have an amazing blend, where all seven members have contributed creatively. Still it sounds like Tristania, which means it doesn’t sound like anything else, in my ears! Remember how World of Glass sounded fresh and different, and maybe a little strange, after Widow´s Weeds and Beyond the Veil? World of Glass quickly established itself as a natural part of the Tristanian sound. The same thing happened with both Ashes and Illumination. To some, they maybe didn’t sound like “Tristania” immediately, but now they are a natural part ofthe band’s history and sound. My point is, the music that is going to be released in the near future from Tristania, is not going to sound like “Tristania” immediately. But it will sound like the sum of all the members of Tristania now. And I dare to bet that it will find it’s very natural place in Tristania’s great and diverse discography. Just like all the other albums.

This is, like I said the single most important principal. Tristania creates music from the heart, and not from an idea of what Tristania is.

All this being said, I can’t wait to let you hear the music. It’s tiring to write about music. Just as when I read a review or an article about music, I want to HEAR it. It’s more or less the same when I write about music. I want to PLAY if to you!

“-Writing about music, is like dancing about architecture” (Frank Zappa)

Until next time, have a good time!

Best
Ole

We are very happy to announce that Gyri Losnegaard has joined the ranks of Tristania, as a permanent member! It was never a hard decision to ask her to get on board. We quickly got to know her as a hard working, talented guitarplayer, skilled songwriter/lyricist, and most of all an easy going, loving person, that fit straight in the family from day one!

Please give her a warm welcome!

Some words from Gyri:

Hi guys,

Two years ago, in August 2007, I met this very cool girl from Sardinia at Wacken Open Air in Germany. We quickly connected and ended up hanging out for the rest of the festival. She told me she was going to Norway in a couple of weeks to audition for a band, and for my part there was no surprise when only a few weeks later, Mariangela announced that she was assigned as the new singer of Tristania.

A year passed. After eight years of great adventures my band Octavia Sperati decided to put band activities aside. I told Mariangela, and incidentally it turned out that her band was short of a guitar player at the time. She asked me to get in touch with the guys, and so I did. February 2009 I met with the band to rehearse for the first time, and at the end of that weekend I was welcomed into Tristania as a live guitarist.

I want to thank the guys for accepting me as a band member so quickly. So far in my musical career I had only played in one other band; a band that started out, and always kept being, a project between friends. You can’t imagine how relieved I was to find that behind the name Tristania was a bunch of very, very great people. I’m probably not the most outgoing of persons, but these guys are really easy to get along with and to become fond of, and each and every one already feels like family. I was asked to join in permanently after my first two gigs with Tristania in June, and I find it a privilege to be playing with this band. I hope I will stand up to the task of being the second guitar player of Tristania.

Glimpsing into the future, I see good things happening for the band. The new material is great, it is groovy, energic and a pleasure to play live. I’ve done a few more gigs with Tristania now, met some of the fans and seen their reactions to the new material, and I’m excited. I can’t wait to get out and play again and meet even more of the people who are the reason we want to keep doing this.

I know there’s been a lot of changes to the band lately and that people, especially the fans, are not sure what comes next. But I’m confident that we will be given a fair chance, and that we will live up to your standards and deliver – in every way.

Best, Gyri

Greetings from Østen the family man.

On behalf of the band I would like to express our deepest gratitude to the ones who attended our shows in Jørpeland and Kristiansand last weekend. Thanks for making this weekend the special party it was.

These two shows are probably the most exclusive ones we’ve ever done – with one surprise being revealed after the other. I think itfelt equally special for the people in the audience and the nine of us who were on stage on Friday and Saturday.

Of course, the biggest surprise of them all was the announcement of Kjetil´s role as a stand-in for Østen, who is awaiting his twins in a couple of months. All of us are very happy for Østen and Silje, and we wish them all the best with their family. Østen will surely be missed, though, when we now will do tours without him, as he´s been a part of the live edition of Tristania since 1999. He is a social cornerstone in our band. At the same time, I know now that we couldn’t have found have found a better stand-in for Østen than Kjetil. He is a good friend of us from before, and his great ability as singer and stage personality he is the perfect choice to replace Østen, while he will be busy with changing diapers and sleepless nights.

These two shows were unique as both Østen and Kjetil were on stage. Østen opened the show, while Kjetil took over after a few songs. They also performed Shadowman and Sacrilege together, which were memorable moments. Even I felt shivers down my spine when they did Shadowman together.

We´ve read your nice reactions on our temporary vocalist, and I know that Kjetil finds it very motivating to see this overwhelming reception to the news and the video we posted after the show on Jørpeland was finished on last Friday.

Another big surprise for this weekend was that Gyri Losnegaard, who some of you already know from Octavia Sperati, was presented with her first gigs as Tristania live guitarist this weekend. Gyri is fantastic. Expect more news about her within a few weeks.

As I’ve posted about before, Kenneth has had problems with an old soccer injury in his knee during the last couple of years. He has already gone through one surgery, and we still don´t know whether he has to have another one. This has prevented Kenneth for doing live shows with us for a while. The positive thing, though, is that he recently started to rehearse together with the rest of us again - so far without much pain.

We´ve had a great live replacement for Kenneth in Mr. Tarald Lie, who has done shows with us since 2006. I first met in Tarald back in 1998, when we were on tour together with Tristania and Solefald. Tarald was then their session live drummer, and we’re really happy that he wanted to help us out. Tarald is a fantastic person; the big comedian of the band – and an amazing drummer.

A very nice thing for us in the band was that that Kenneth joined us on stage and played Angellore and Beyond the Veil with us. Kenneth’s unexpected arrival was obviously a pleasant surprise for the local audience at Jørpeland, judged by their fantastic feedback.

In Kjetil’s hometown, Kristiansand, we got a couple of more local guests on stage. Jonathan Perez (Sirenia, ex-Trail of Tears) joined us on stage for Tender Trip on Earth. Jonathan did help us out as a live drummer on Wacken Open Air and the Norwegian tour in 2005. Kjell “Kjellhammer” Hagen (also from the band formerly known as Trail of Tears) was our session bass player from 2005 to 2007, and in Kristiansand he played bass on The Wretched. It’s been a while since last time we met Jonathan and Kjell and it was great fun to play with them again.
We’ve got some film material from the concerts and we will make a short film around it for the future.
Soon, we will also post online some high quality photos from the gig in Kristiansand.

The set list we played this weekend was:

World of Glass (Vocals: Østen – with Kjetil on backing vocals)
Mercyside (Vocals: Østen – with Kjetil on backing vocals)
Tender Trip on Earth (Vocals: Østen)
Circus (Vocals: Østen)
The Emerald Piper (Vocals: Østen – with Kjetil on backing vocals)
Shadowman (Vocals: Østen & Kjetil)
The Wretched (Vocals: Kjetil)
Angellore (Vocals: Kjetil)
Beyond the Veil (Vocals: Kjetil)
Lotus (Vocals: Kjetil)
Protection (Vocals: Kjetil)
Libre (Vocals: Kjetil)
Sacrilege (Vocals: Østen & Kjetil)
Down (Vocals: Kjetil)

Photo by Linda Tungaland

Enjoy!
Tristania

June 5th: Folkets Hus – Jørpeland (close to Stavanger), Norway – 21:00. Support: Artifact
June 6th: På Hjørnet, Kristiansand, Norway – 21:00. Support: Gorg

We are happy to announce these two gigs in Norway that will take place prior to the big festivals in Europe.

We will play a complete headliner set; including new and unreleased material – along with a mix of songs where all our six albums will be represented.

Support bands will be Artifact in Jørpeland and Gorg in Kristiansand.

Our new live guitarist will also be presented with these shows, and a big surprise will be announced…

Tristania

World of glass got good reviews in the magazines – like it’s predecessors – some extremely positive – and a few were a bit more reserved.

For some musicians good reviews and the recognition and status that comes with them are extremely important. It is easy to forget that journalists are just human beings that write their opinions – they are critics – just like every fan that is into the music. Some responses from die-hard fans were quite harsh – but every bands focus should be on the music – not the opinions held by others.

The album was released on the second or third day of our European headlining tour. This meant that our new songs were unknown to most of the people in the crowds. They would still recognize the old ones and the reception of The Shining Path, Tender trip on earth and World of glass was fairly promising (the 3 new songs that we played). However, the new material wasn’t the biggest change that had been made since the last show. There were changes in the lineup as well.

Morten was out and Kjetil Ingebrethsen and myself – eventually full members – were handling the male vocals. Obviously this kicked up a lot of dust. Kjetil’s stage-appearance was quite different from Mortens. Where Veland was a static piratish man with a guitar, Kjetil was like an attacking pitbull – running all over the place – and frenetically whipping the crowd. He loves the kind of attention you get on a big stage – playing with the lights and doing his robot-like dances.

The main challenges when you are on stage with five or six fellow band members is the space you give/take and where you want to have the main attention. Me, Kjetil and Vibeke all had solo parts – and on a couple of the songs there were soft duets with Vibeke and myself. On this tour we played a lot of ‘old’ songs where I had either no lines or only a few and I would leave the stage and watch the show from the back. It took me a long time to find my role in this lineup. Kjetil had all the aggressive lines – inviting headbanging and all sorts of craziness – while Vibeke – as a natural frontwoman – didn’t have to move much to get the crowd’s attention. She could lean on her impressive vocal capabilities and that would get people going. I brought my ‘stageact’ from The Morendoes – basically just clinging to my microphone stand like it was the ONLY thing that could save me. In the Tristania – setting this didn’t work out very well – my vocal parts – as you all know are mainly low pitched and mellow on the earlier Tristania albums, and I felt like Kjetil and Vibeke and Anders and Rune would get the crowd moving and I would make them stop. Would YOU jump around to these words: ‘Perchance to dream, you’re my dancing Queen, Behold thy haven of light’? Of course you wouldn’t! I also had restrictions on dancing, climbing and headbanging – due to a couple of fuckups the previous year.
I was the boring blond guy to the left.

Only a few weeks before this tour a couple of crazy extremists crashed a couple of planes into the World Trade Center – horrible things on the TV – I remember especially being shocked when I saw the images of people throwing themselves out the windows. I remember getting an SMS from Anders saying ‘Turn on your TV – there is some crazy shit going on, it’s like watching a video for ‘Wormwood’. Indeed it was.

Most metal acts from Scandinavia are drinking bands. The bands from the south are usually more into health food and the occasional spliff when the mood is right. On every Tristania tour I have been alcohol has been the fuel. The WOG-tour was no exception. A few beers takes the edge off your nerves before you go on stage but there is always the risk of drinking one too many. Too many is not good – it might make you lose your focus – and trick you into believing everything is fine when it is not. Every fan that shows up on a Tristania-show deserves the full treatment. And after every show there is a party – and you start the next day with a couple of beers to keep the hangover away. Try this diet for 4-5 weeks – add 50-60 cigarettes a day – old friends and new friends – Norwegians, Greeks, Swedes, Germans, English bus drivers and people from Holland – a community of metalheads – speaking broken English – on two tour buses – a parallel universe moving up and down the endless Autobahn. It works for a few weeks but it wears you out in the long run.

On this tour there were supposed to be six bands but it ended up with four – which for me is still – one too many. However, I suspect the reason to be something that has to do with money. We were headlining and ‘Rotting Christ’ from Geece were second. Apart from the rather uncharming name, their music has nothing in common with ours. I would say they play Black Metal. Looking back in the rearview mirror I can’t help wondering exactly why somebody thought that putting our two bands on the same tour was a good idea. But I am just a stupid singer so what do I know? I am quite confident that we didn’t win too much sympathy from their fans. And I don’t believe that any Tristania fan would buy RC-t-shirts. But the guys were great – they didn’t drink much – but were pleasant to be around. Nicest satanist-Greeks I’ve ever met. The third band on the bill was Vintersorg from Sweden – they had quite an audience – especially in Germany. Another strange choice of act to put on the tour – they were signed on Napalm – so that must have been the link. I guess Vintersorg plays a mix of progressive Folk/Blackish metal.

I must say that I enjoyed their liveshows – and especially when they played their hitsong ‘Till Fjälls’. You would see hundreds of hands in the air and the crowd was shouting TILL FJÄLLS! ‘Till fjälls’ can be translated into ‘To the mountains!’ and I couldn’t help wondering if the fans knew that. The people in Vintersorg were nice, drunken Scandinavian bastards just like ourselves. The last band – the opening act – was Madder Mortem from Norway. We hit it off with them immediately. Great band with great music and their frontwoman Agnete is an amazing singer. They are also extremely easy going and funny to hang out with. We still meet people from that band when we are visiting Oslo. If you get a chance to see a Madder-show you should grab it with both hands.

On a tour like this – the people that do the actual work – is the crew. They do all the rigging and they keep two eyes on the stage during the concerts to make certain that everything runs smoothly. And when the shows are done, they rig everything down again and pack it in the trailers. While OUR job was to play for about 1.15 – have a shower and get the party started. And when everything was packed, the bus drivers could start to carry out their part of the mission.

On this specific tour there was Andi, a German, who loved AC/DC. A Belgian sound guy named Luc and a light-technician we knew very, very well: Michael ‘Hille’ Hillenbrand. Hille had been a crew member on all earlier Tristania-tours. A great guy – He is still in the business – we met him in Greece last year. And there was Franzi- the merch girl. And there was the two bus drivers from England, The Steves. Last but not least there was a huge Dutch guy named Carlo. He was the drum tech and when the tour was over, the band decided that we would never do a show without him. And that is still the case today. Carlo is family and I think the feeling is mutual – you must have seen him on the countless YouTube – clips.

One of my fondest memories from this tour is that one of our buses broke down in a curve of an autobahn. The driver tried to stop the other bus to inform them about the situation, and their driver, followed by a line of six to eight half-nude Scandinavians came out to help. It was one of those ‘Kodak moments’ that I will never forget.

I also recall that one night Hille and Kenneth swapped places on ‘My Lost Lenore’, the last song of the set. Hille did the drums and Kenneth did the lights.

Anders established a well-deserved reputation as the number one beer drinker on this tour. The Steves noticed that Anders bought more bear during every stop at a gas station, no matter what the time was, and at one venue they equipped his microphone stand with two beer glasses and straws, so he could play and drink at the same time.

Another memory is that one night, me and Hille being the last ones to hit the sack, the bus stopped and we took a pee outside before calling it a night. The following day Steve told us that while he was driving about 120km/h on the autobahn, when suddenly the door of the back lounge slammed open and a football vanished into the night. He threatened that he’d kick those responsible in the ass if he found out who they were: Hille and I wisely kept our mouths shut.
A fun fact is that, if I recall this right, Vibeke had been sleeping on the bank in said lounge earlier that night. Luckily no one got injured.

This was just a few memories from a tour we did almost eight years ago and I enjoyed sharing them with you.

Østen

Check out Tristania at http://www.vampirefreaks.com/TristaniaOfficial

Enjoy!

We are still in a writing and pre-production mode, working with producer Waldemar Sorychta. 10 of the tracks for our 6th album are more or less completed, while several more are under way.

I always find it hard to describe our current musical direction with new material in general, and, specifically, before an album is completed. We will record 15-16 tracks for this session, and we still don’t know which ones will make it in the album.

The selection process is always done in the studio and we always try to pick songs that will make the album complete, rather than the single tracks that we favour at the time. Personal favourites have a tendency to change all the time and usually we prefer the songs that have been completed recently, which is to say we tend to look at the album as a whole. The perfect Tristania album should have some sort of running theme throughout the album, although the dynamics between the different songs are just as important. Good examples are songs like Sacrilege and Fate from Illumination. Both were intended to be bonus tracks, as they differ from the rest of the album in their own way. In the studio, I regarded songs like Down and Mercyside to be prominent and, in many ways, defining the album. However, during mixing we found out that these two tracks would fit perfectly into the album and give it the diversity and dynamics we are known for. Today, I see that songs like Lotus, Fate and Sacrilege are just as important for Illumination’s identity as Down and Mercyside.

I was thinking today which songs should definitely make it in our new album, but I know from experience that whatever I say now will definitely change when the songs are recorded and completed.

Another issue that we always have to deal with is that the songs we are most happy with during pre-production, tend to be a disappointment when finalized. It may be the singers who just do something a little bit differently during the album-recording that gives the song a slightly different expression, or a song can take a different direction sound-wise compared to the pre-production stage. A synth sound might be changed or the cymbals played differently. Small details like these can make any of our favourite songs lose their magic for us, even though everyone loves that song.

The perfect example that comes to show my personal disappointment is Hatred Grows from World of Glass. This was one of the songs I had highest hopes for, prior to the recordings. The intention was an ultra-heavy and atmospheric doom tune but, in my eyes, it took another direction and ended up becoming quite anonymous. It made it to the album because everyone else liked it, but for me Hatred Grows has always been a song that should have been deconstructed and re-recorded in order to find the atmosphere and heaviness that the song should have had. I have to admit, it’s the only Tristania song having my name in the credits that I’m not proud of given how it ended up sounding, considering my intentions and hopes for the song.

Luckily, it’s the other way around with the “outsiders”. Songs that we are not entirely happy with or grew bored of during pre-production, often turn out to be positive surprises in the studio and end up as key songs for the album. Personally, I think songs like Lost (World of Glass), The Wretched (Ashes) and Sacrilege (Illumination) are the most valid examples.

When we recorded World of Glass during spring 2001, Lost was one of the songs that were far from completion when we entered Sound Suite studio in Marseille. We’d worked out the main parts and arranged the song over the night and when this was done, we really liked the energy and drive that Lost represented but we didn’t know how to approach it regarding the vocals. Pete Johansen, who played violins on the album, stepped in to save us with his brilliant ideas for both vocals and lyrics. I remember it very well; Pete, Einar and I were sitting in the flat where we were staying for the recordings, having this conversation about the songs, the progress, etc. when we told him about this song. A song we liked a lot but for which we haven’t got any vocals or lyrics yet. Pete liked the song and said he will give it a try with the lyrics. We played it 3-4 times, and after 15 minutes he had the complete lyrics in hand and the rhythmics for the growls. We were really happy about what he came up with and I immediately realized it will work out really well. The next day, he recorded a lead track for Ronny Thorsen in the studio and the final result was amazing. Lost is still one of my personal favourites from this album and we want to make a live version of it some time in the future.

The Wretched was a good song when it was recorded in 2004 but both I and Einar felt that there was more potential to the song than we had managed to get out of it. We discussed it the day before it was going to be mixed and agreed that all parts were great, except the two verses with growls, which we felt were a bit too static and boring. We had been working all day with final details and mixing of other songs but decided to keep on working through the night, hoping that we could improve these parts. It has become one of our most memorable nights during studio sessions. We removed everything except drums and started to make new verses with guitars and bass from scratch. At this point we were really done with all recordings and all amps, etc. were removed. We had to rig it up again. However, the amps were used since I last recorded the other guitars, so we were facing a big problem with the sound being different in the rest of the song. We had to make a new guitar sound and now, if you listen carefully to the song, you will hear that the guitar changes radically its sound from when the first verse starts with the slide. We basically just began making one bar at the time. I improvised and when we had something we liked, we recorded it. We ended up with a very original and progressive verse which is really heavy. Everything was recorded by around 6 a.m. and we were both exhausted but extremely happy and pleased with the new version of The Wretched, which still remains one of my absolute favourite Tristania songs.

Although I really liked Sacrilege after Illumination pre-prod, I believed it would end up as a bonus track because I felt it was a bit on the side of the rest of the material and a bit too repetitive and one-dimensional. However, this was one of the songs that blew me away in the studio after it was completed; Waldemar’s production really fits this song I think, and it was a revelation to replace the programmed drums from the pre-production with Kenneth’s drumming in the studio. Østen did a magnificent job on this one, in my opinion. We were quite in doubt how it would turn out, as the high notes in this song are way higher than Østen’s natural range. This was of course intended by Einar when he made the vocal melodies for Sacrilege. We wanted it to sound hysteric and desperate, fitting with the lyrics which deal with religious fanaticism. I remember thinking before the vocal recording of this song in Woodhouse that I was afraid it would end up sounding like a parodic Ozzy-interpretation but Østen did it really well and it lifted the song up tremendously. When we came home from studio and played the final mix to some friends, this was the first song that people pointed out and remembered after the first listening through the album.

I know it probably sounds twisted to discuss songs as if they had their own life and will, but for me this is usually how it feels. A song that I start working on is living its own life and often ends up totally different from the initial ideas. And usually it’s for the better.

Most of the time, we all agree if we are not happy with a song during studio sessions, if it doesn’t live up to its full potential, if it doesn’t live up to our expectations – we wreck it; songs like this have never been used as bonus tracks. I remember we did a complete recording of The Ravens in Top Room studio during the Ashes-sessions. If I remember correctly, the original title for that track was simply Ashes. Somehow the song didn’t work out the way we intended it and we threw it away. Years later, we picked it up again and made a new version on Illumination which worked out very well. This is a common phenomenon in this band; we can work on songs or fragments for years. If we are stuck with something, we leave it and simply forget about the whole thing. Then it’s easier to find out what the song or theme needs when we pick it up years later. Originally, I wrote most of the parts of Shadowman for World of Glass. It didn’t work out but later we picked up the pieces with Ashes, and it became one of my favourite Tristania songs. Again, the main Mercyside-parts were written for Ashes but were included in Illumination.
A lot of our songs have been developed over many years this way. We still have good parts written over the last 10 years which have never been used. From time to time, we pick up parts like this and try to fit them into a context.

As most of you already know, the upcoming album is going to be recorded in Woodhouse Studios in Hagen, Germany and we continue our collaboration with producer Waldemar Sorychta. Although there are things I’m not totally happy with on the Illumination-production, it is still Tristania’s only album I really like sound-wise.

We still don’t have the final dates, but hopefully we can record our 6th album around June. If it is up to us we could start in April but, naturally, there are other factors we have to take into consideration. Like the time Waldemar needs to find for this, given his extremely busy schedule, available slots in the studio for recordings, etc.

Anyhow, the main reason why we have to wait is that the label situation needs to be clarified. As I write these words, Waldemar and his assistant and engineer Dennis Koehne are mixing three of the new songs; The Emerald Piper, Protection and Patriot Games. These will be used as a demo for SPV as they have an option to release the next album. If they don’t like them, we will approach other labels that might be interested in signing with Tristania. As soon as we have a clear view on this, we can book the studio for five weeks, and record this baby.

It’s a very strange feeling to be on top of things and to have written so much about the album before the studio is even booked. Usually, the last couple of months before studio-recording are a real nightmare when we work around the clock, seven days a week in order to be ready for studio. This is always extremely stressful but the good thing about it is we always work well under pressure. When we started recording Ashes only half of the songs were ready. We used the studio as our playground and spent nearly 3 months in it. It was an interesting but stressful way to record an album, and of course not exactly cheap. With Illumination we did a complete pre-production for most of the songs together with Waldemar prior to the recordings, but still quite some lyrics and vocal melodies had to be finished in the studio. We promised ourselves that next time we will be ready with every single note and every word of the lyrics before entering the studio. It looks like we will be that much prepared this time, and it’s a brand new feeling of having control.

The process of writing the material for this album has been extremely creative, fun and efficient. The line-up changes that we’ve been through have put on a positive spin in the composing process. Two people who didn’t contribute much on the creative side have been replaced by another two who do so.

Ole has been a regular member of this band for only a year now but has already become one of the main song writers in Tristania. It has been extremely fruitful for me and Einar to get Ole on the team with his new ideas and great skills as a songwriter. In addition, Ole is a good singer who will contribute with vocals both live and on the album. His natural vocal range is different than Østen’s, and this gives us new possibilities to combine their voices on the new stuff as well as when we perform the old material live.

Mariangela’s role should be appraised as well. She has made several of her vocal melodies herself, and this has also been a big step forward for us as a band. I think it’s always the best thing if singers come up with melodies themselves, giving them more natural expression. I love how Mary has developed the vocals on live versions of Lotus, Down and Libre. Actually we’ve been considering re-recording re-arranged versions of both Down & Libre with the current line-up. I think it would be an interesting way to tie together present and past. One of the new songs where her contributions have been crucial, is the already mentioned tune Protection. She has her vocal melodies on both the verse and the chorus and has also co-written the lyrics together with Østen.

As I said, it’s hard for me to describe the musical direction we will take with the upcoming album; it’s easier to mention some key words and associations I get from some of the songs.

Protection is a classic Tristania song; heavy and slightly symphonic with a powerful chorus and a great vocal performance by Mariangela.

Patriot Games is an up-tempo song with an energy and intensity which make me think of Sacrilege. Mary, Ole, Østen are all singing the same melody in the chorus, with growls by me in addition; all voices mixed together to sound like one voice. The whole thing sounds very unique and is unlike anything we’ve done before

Sirens is dark, heavy and hypnotizing, built around chanting vocals by Østen.

The Emerald Piper is a goth-rocker with a twist; the chorus reminds me of “Manson-gospel” á la Mechanical Animals, but a friend of mine told me the other day that the song reminded him of Kate Bush.

Images is atmospheric with acoustic guitars and an epic chorus.

In other words, it will be a diverse album. A natural next step from Illumination, yet totally different from anything we’ve done before. You know the drill by now.

Oh, by the way, we have started to rehearse with a new guitarist. No name will be announced yet but this person has experience from touring, composing and recording albums with another band some of you might now.

And one more thing – we have made a short film called Illuminated, based on our own video recordings from the Illumination studio sessions in Woodhouse. It’s a bit too silly to be called a documentary, but I think you will find it quite amusing. It will be published when the next Woodhouse dates are announced.

Stavanger, March 30th 2009,

Anders

I know that most of our fans read our lyrics and some know them by heart. We’ve heard you sing along – I have seen your lips – moving to the melodies at our concerts. That is very touching. Continue doing that.

The dark side of the fact that most of you know the words is that We can’t just write some nonsense and expect to get away with it. Not that we WANT to write nonsense of course. We all want each word to deserve it’s space and carry poetry and meaning to each song and to the world. And to you guys.

I have finalized the lyrics for about half the new songs – six or seven of them. So far there are no shubiduas or shalalas or yeahyeahyeahs. And I don’t think that there will be any.

Mariangela, Ole, Anders, Einar and myself have all made vocal melodies and this huge variety – this width of ideas – has made the challenge of writing lyrics even more complicated than before. The new songs are all very strong and the words reflect the moods.

In my best moments I manage to lift the songs and add flavour and depth and meaning. In my worst moments the lyrics are shite and needs rewriting and rethinking. I am quite moody when I do this kind of work, and I complain a lot.

Besides the never irrelevant themes of fucked up relationships, and the feeling that existence lacks meaning, I have tried to imagine myself at another place – a more extreme spot in the world – and tried to understand and recreate what people such places must be going through. I am fascinated by extremism, madness and chaos. I don’t think I want to be more specific than that at this point.

I hope you like the new website as much as we do – Tinko and his team has done a great job – we will try to bring you relevant news about the progress on the new album soon. There is no title ready for the album yet. We’ll get back to you as soon as we have found the perfect one.

Some song titles: Patriot Games, Year of the Rat, The Emerald Piper, Sirens.

Hope to see you all soon.
Østen

Our second home for several months

The majority of the music for the 6th Tristania album is already written, and we are very proud of the song material. Like last time we will record the album in Woodhouse Studios together with producer Waldemar Sorychta.

The album is scheduled to be released during fall, and we are looking forward to record it.
Within a couple of weeks we will give you a more extensive report including our own photos from the studio.

Tristania

At the same time, we are delighted to announce the new bass player in Tristania; Ole Vistnes. We first started to work with Ole about a year ago, and it worked out great in every way. Some of you have already seen Ole on stage with us last year. The rest of you will surely get the opportunity to do so during the upcoming tours in 2009.

Ole is an amazing bassist, who has a degree in his instrument from the University in Kristiansand. He is a great guy that fits perfectly into the Tristania family. In addition, he is a skilled composer and has been heavily involved in the songwriting for the upcoming album.

Please give Ole a warm welcome!
Tristania.

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Some words from Ole:

Hello everyone. This is Ole, the new bassplayer in Tristania. As some of you may already know, I have been touring with Tristania for one year now. Permanent member from end of the last tour in South America, and involved in composing this fall. Let me express my gratitude towards first and foremost the guys in the band, for giving me such a warm welcome in the band. Never a single day did I feel like “the new guy”. I approach the challenge of playing bass in Tristania with humility and respect for the work of Rune, but I am also given the freedom to be Ole, and not having to be a constant copy. This combination of true respect for previous deeds and eagerness to move on, is the balance that keeps the classic work alive, but also empowers growth and evolvement.

I will also use this opportunity to thank Anders and Einar for involving me heavily in the composing. They have truly boosted my self confidence and creative muscles with their great support and encouragement.

And I would like to thank our fans. I have already met quite a few of you, and your enthusiasm and love for Tristania´s music is overwhelming.

As some of you might have discovered there is a chat area included in the web page. Pretty soon we will schedule a net meeting where the fans will be able to speak directly with the band members. You will also get to know things you didn’t know about the band members in the personal member bios, both the old farts and the fresh additions to the band. We will upload our own photos from studio and tours, and we will post our own video clips here in the future. To sum it up; the band itself will be active here, and we will include you in the process of the 6th Tristania album.

Tristania would like to thank our web team, consisting of Tinko Georgiev, Bee K. Greene and Tjeerd van Sas.

Tinko is the new webmaster of tristania.com, Bee is running the official Tristania MySpace page, and Tjeerd is in charge of the official forum.

These three talented people are all fans of the band who have contacted us in order to help promoting Tristania on the web. Each of them is putting down hundreds of hours of work for the band – without payment. We would like to express how thankful we are to Tinko, Bee and Tjeerd; we owe you big time!

Very special thanks to Konstantin Atanasov for coding the tricky parts of the website and Georg Binder (aka Deadlocked) who is the official forum global moderator.

We hope you all will like the new website as much as we do, and that you will drop in often. A lot of news will be posted here in the near future, and the page will be updated at least two times each month. There will be several surprises, and we look forward to share our little jewels with you in the future.

Thanks for the support!

Tristania.