''Beyond the Veil'' is the second full-length album by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

band Tristania. It is the last album to feature the band's former vocalist, guitarist and core songwriter,

Morten Veland Morten Veland (born 4 December 1977) is a Norwegian musician. He is one of the founding members of the gothic metal band Tristania and the founding member of Sirenia and Mortemia. Background At the age of 14, Veland began saving to buy his ...

Background and influence

Tristania stood apart from the other bands of the genre with their use of three distinct vocal styles in the "operatic soprano

Vibeke Stene Vibeke Stene (born 17 August 1978) is a Norwegian soprano and actress. She is best known as a former member of the gothic metal band Tristania, which she joined in 1996 and appears with on five albums. as the band became "one of the world's p ...

, clean-singing counter-tenor Østen Bergøy, and harsh, black metal-style shrieker

". ''Beyond the Veil'' made use of a ten-member choir and featured violin passages from Pete Johansen of

The Sins of Thy Beloved The Sins of Thy Beloved was a death-doom/ gothic metal band from Bryne, Norway, founded in 1996. Biography The band was formed in November 1996 by Glenn Morten Nordbø, Arild Christensen, and Stig Johansen. The band was initially called ''Pu ...

, earning "rave reviews" across Europe. By then, the band had risen to "the top of the

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

heap" with their "lush, symphonically enhanced" approach. The album features "tender ethereal female voices" and "the brutality and harshness", making it a promoter on the gothic metal scene. They were "dealt a potentially crippling blow" when singer, guitarist and principal composer Veland left the group to form

Sirenia The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea-cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The Sirenia currently comprise two distinct f ...

. Tristania has continued to prosper with subsequent releases and has since been "regarded as one of the world's premiere goth metal bands".

Track listing

Personnel

Tristania

– lead vocals, backing vocals *

– rhythm guitar, harsh vocals, backing vocals * Anders H. Hidle – lead guitar, backing vocals * Rune Østerhus – bass * Einar Moen – synth and programming * Kenneth Olsson – drums, backing vocals

Session members

* Østen Bergøy – clean vocals * Pete Johansen – violin * Jan Kenneth Barkved – clean vocals on "Heretique", choir * Hilde T. Bommen Rasmussen, Maiken Stene, Sissel B. Stene, Jeanett Johannessen, Rino A. Kolstø – choir

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums Tristania (band) albums Napalm Records albums