The Third and the Mortal were a

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 the ...

metal band from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, founded in 1992. The band started out as

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

, mixing distorted guitars and heavy drumming with clean guitars and vocals from

Kari Rueslåtten Kari Rueslåtten (born 3 October 1973) is a Norwegian soprano singer, songwriter and keyboardist, who was well known for being the former lead singer and songwriter for the now disbanded Norwegian doom metal/experimental band, The 3rd and the Mo ...

. The band went on to experiment with genres such as

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

History

The pre-history of the band began in 1990, then known as Nightfall and playing

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

, consisting of Rune Hoemsnes, Trond Engum, Geir Nilsen and vocalist Terje Buaas. In 1992, Kari Rueslåtten replaced Buaas and, together with Jarle Dretvik and Finn Olav Holthe, they became The 3rd And The Mortal. Their first EP ''Sorrow'' was released in 1994 followed by the album ''

Tears Laid in Earth ''Tears Laid in Earth'' is the debut studio album by the doom metal band The 3rd and the Mortal. This album was the release in which the band was first categorized as a doom metal act; however, they have since experimented with genres such as pro ...

'' in 1994. After Rueslåtten's departure in 1995 the band had

Ann-Mari Edvardsen Ann-Mari Edvardsen (born 6 November 1973 in Trondheim) is a Norwegian coloratura soprano opera singer and keyboardist. She is best known as the former vocalist of Norwegian doom metal/avant-garde band The 3rd and the Mortal from 1995 to 1997 a ...

join as vocalist. With her, the band released full-length albums ''

Painting on Glass ''Painting on Glass'' is the second studio album by The 3rd and the Mortal. Track listing # "Magma" - 4:25 # "Commemoration" - 5:41 # "Crystal Orchids" - 2:59 # "Persistent and Fleeting" - 5:58 # "White Waters" - 2:50 # "Aurora Borealis" - ...

'' in 1996 and explored an even more experimental sound in 1997 with ''

In This Room ''In This Room'' is the third studio album by the band The 3rd and the Mortal. This was the band's second and also last album with Ann-Mari Edvardsen on vocal duty. The band had also left the doom metal sound for a more "atmospheric" sound. The ...

''. Before ''In This Room'', it was reported that the band's total sales were 50,000. After the departure of Edvardsen and an absence of 5 years, the band returned in 2002 with ''Memoirs'', an album with recordings made during previous years. A new female vocalist was found in Kirsti Huke, with Andreas Elvenes backing her up on a couple of tracks. ''Memoirs'' differs from previous albums by being more electronically based. After ''Memoirs'', the band played in Mexico City on July 19, 2002, along with eight shows in Germany and the Netherlands during September and October 2002. In 2004, the band released ''EPs And Rarities''. This is a compilation consisting of the ''Sorrow'' and ''Nightswan'' EPs, the b-side of the ''Stream'' single and the bonus-track from the Japanese ''

'' album. In 2005, the band split up, but not before releasing one last album, ''Project Bluebook: Decade of Endeavour'', a compilation EP with two new studio tracks, another unreleased song performed live in 1998 and four different live versions of Mortal classics recorded on the European tour in 2002.

Members

Final line-up

*Rune Hoemsnes –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

electronic percussion Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sound ...

(1990–2005) *Trond Engum –

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and acoustic guitars (1990–2005) *Geir Nilsen – electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards,

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(1990–2002, 2003–2005) *Finn Olav Holthe – electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards (1992–2005) *Frank Stavem – bass (2002–2005) *Andreas Elvenes –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2002–2005) *

Kirsti Huke Kirsti Huke (born March 6, 1977 in Melhus, Norway) is a Norwegian singer, and composer. Huke was best recognized as the lead singer for Norwegian doom metal/experimental band The 3rd and the Mortal in the final line-up. She is also known from c ...

– vocals (2002–2005)

Former members

*Terje Buaas – vocals (1990–1992) *Jarle Dretvik – bass guitar (1992–1994) *

– vocals, keyboards (1992–1995) *

– vocals, keyboards (1995–1997) *Bernt Rundberget – bass guitar (1994–1998) *Sander S. Olsen – keyboards (2002–2003) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * ''Memoirs'' (2002)

Singles

* "Stream" (1996)

EPs

* ''Sorrow'' (1994) * ''Nightswan'' (1995)

Demos

* ''The 3rd and the Mortal'' (1993)

Compilations

* ''EP's and Rarities'' (2004) * ''Project Bluebook: Decade of Endeavour'' (2005)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Third and the Mortal, The Norwegian doom metal musical groups Norwegian progressive metal musical groups Norwegian ambient music groups Musical groups established in 1992 1992 establishments in Norway Musical groups disestablished in 2005 2005 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups from Trondheim