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Rating: 1998: The Tristania, a very young (the band members hadn't even turned twenty yet) Norwegian band, released their wonderful debut album: “Widow's Weed”. We are not talking about a good album, but it would be reductive to call it even a masterpiece; indeed, it is the definitive summary of everything that concerns Female-Fronted Gothic Metal. If some years ago fellow countrymen Theatre of Tragedy created the genre, popularly renamed by the more imaginative as “Beauty And The Beast” Metal due to the alternating dual vocals, Tristania takes much from these masters but adds new and fresh innovations.
Subsequently, many tried to recreate the superb atmospheres present in this CD, but the results are not even comparable to what was achieved by the Norwegians. In short, a must for the most romantic and decadent metal: already in the cover (a medieval castle with grayish tones) and the booklet (images from ancient manuscripts), the album’s atmospheres are conveyed. Additionally, the lyrics, with their retro touch thanks to archaisms, help to recreate the romance that emanates from their music. The latter is based on the alternation of Vibeke Stene’s ethereal and soaring voice, more lyrical and structured compared to her contemporaries, and Morten Veland's aggressive and intense growl, who is also the main composer of the band. Added to this are guitars with a clear death metal foundation, rough and at times almost buzzing, played by Veland himself and Anders H. Hidle. The bass (played by Rune Osterhus) and drums (played by Kenneth Olsson) do not take on particularly important roles, unlike the keyboards (played by Einar Moen), which have a soloistic and important role, creating atmospheres sometimes foggy, sometimes majestic. Completing the picture is the violin, played by Pete Johansen, who will become a regular guest of Norwegian Gothic albums.
The CD opens with an introduction, “Preludium” indeed. Chants and Gregorian with keyboards reproducing the organ sound give a very gothic touch to the introduction. “Evenfall” is the first actual piece, of medium-long duration just like all the tracks on the album: the duet between the two voices is absolutely striking, and the piece enjoys various tempo changes, in which, however, the underlying melancholy remains intact: towards the end, the atmosphere changes; the keyboards become more wicked and dark. “Pale Enchantress” is a piece with disarming sweetness and intensity, thanks to the enchanted and dreamy keyboards and the almost moving violin. “December Elegy” is not only the best track on the album, but also one of the highest moments in all of Gothic. It has a very slow and Doom-like cadence, with its granitic and monolithic riffs, and is pervaded by a malignant yet at the same time magical aura. Literally without words is the piece where you hear the flow of water, and while the violin and keyboards peek out, a graceful creature, Vibeke, recites dark words and emerges from the crystalline waters to give us a finale full of pathos and drama.
“Midwintertears” resumes the scheme and atmospheres of “Pale Enchantress” but with a more horrific and mystical outlook. The beautiful intimate interlude leaves Vibeke alone with just the accompaniment of the keyboards. Subsequently, the violin peeks in, and to give more emphasis to the song, a male narrating voice is added... but the apparent calm is broken in favor of something more distressing. “Angellore” is opened by a duet between nostalgic strings and the shrill laughter of a child. This piece stands apart from the other tracks on the platter, presenting a more flowing and rocking rhythm, akin to the songs of “Aegis” by Theatre Of Tragedy, released the same year, or even to pieces that will be performed by Sirena, the band founded by Morten Veland after leaving Tristania. It features a very catchy riff, which doesn't leave your mind. We also have the participation of Osten Bergoy and his clean voice. “My Lost Lenore” is another grand track; the keyboards create a soft and decadent melody, which will be revisited at the end imitating the sound of a Carillon. “Wassterland’s Caress” is the last true track of the album: claustrophobia and oppression prevail over all emotions, anticipating the path taken with the subsequent “Beyond The Veil”.
Finally, with its ecclesiastical bells and its choirs, “…Postludium” closes this wonderful album excellently.
“Angellore… revered of dusk/for thee I rose/ now descend… all alone/ rise for me… sothe my heart/so wide a sea/may I overcome… ”
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Evenfall (06:55)
Call thy name at nightfall
Reach out for thee life's rose
Cast thy veils at sunset
Trespass the waning in my halls
Prosperous beauty
Embraced by eden's heart
Call thy name out tearful
Reveal to me thy deepest loss
Cast... make haste my savage wall
for an end
Thy savage... bleak night
In life thy tears grow scarlet
Come desired nightfall
enchant my grievous loss
Life bewailed at sunset
Trespass the shadows in my heart
Arise before me
bequeath thy grievous loss
Dark at heart I mourn thee
Replace the vigour she once lost
03 Pale Enchantress (06:33)
Dark thou embrace my bleeding heart
my dreams uniting our tearful eyes enchanting
At night I kiss the serpent in thy tears
For years thy sorrow I've mourned
Harken my moonchilds cry
Yearning for another night
Mourning my once beloved
Mezmerized and ravendark
My pale enchantress of the night
At last my candle's burning down
The wintermoon is shining bleak
for thee my enchantress
Enchanting all my dreams
a beauty and her flood of tears
Nightfall embrace my heart
Mesmerized and ravendark
My pale enchantress of the night
I desire thee
Tearful I walk with thee through dusk
through winds of loss.
Her beauty and her flood
embrace my bleeding heart
Tearful I fall with thee, at last
lead me there to where thy shadows cast
They dance in velvet darkness lost
Rise bleak winterfullmoon
Rise
In life I kissed the serpent in thy tears
For years thy sorrow I mourned
04 December Elegy (07:33)
May thou carry me to the sea
Like autumn leaves... heaven wither
Savage is the winter prevailing within
I fall for thee... Sorrow entreating me
Makes me leave heaven
I find thy lilies there of snow
where once I died... weeping for thee
Everlasting seems the strife ascending within
Falling for thee...
Darkness confounding me
Makes me leave life Breed my woe
Descend with broken wings
Midwinternight inside
Merged by life... like thousand
frozen tears
Come melt the ice... maytime...
05 Midwintertears (08:34)
Shadowcast upon my heart
endark... thy bleak midwintertears
condemned to mourn in silence
The pale moonrise in her eyes
Serene... like a frozen stream
the flowing beauty in thy tears
I crave for thee my once beloved
Beyond the veils of darkness lost
where now thy roses wrapped in dusk
Dark enchantress
I suffer thy fullmoonnights
Trespass my undesired darkness
Tears flowing through thy dreams
Dark enchantress
the seventh fullmoon rise
I drown in dusk and dark rivers
Summon all my dreams
like roses on your epigraph
written in my tears
thy sorrow and my bleeding heart
She comes so serene
my fallen beauty crowned with leaves
Take me to thy dream
Thy candle will forever burn in me...
06 Angellore (07:18)
When summer's gone flee my angel
Winterwinds they might lead you far away
Beyond the pale horizon, a greaven silence
Over dreams to my heart yet not remain
Oh please believe
It's in her eyes
It is inside
It's in my heart, the same relation from which
I once led astray
Oh please believe
It's in her eyes
It is inside
It's in my heart, the same delightful place
I once felt in you
Angellore revered at dusk
For thee I rose, now descend all alone
Rise for me, soothe my heart
So wide a sea, may I overcome
[Spoken] Into the night strays an angel
So lost and tearful all astray
Into the night strays an angel
So lost an d tearful all astray
Lo where's the pale horizon
Oh where is dyingness
You reach for me beyond so wide a sea
Oh please believe
It's in her eyes
It is inside
It's in my heart, the same desire
I feel burning in me
Oh please believe
It's in her eyes
It is inside
It's in my heart, the same desire from
The empty pain within
Rise for me, soothe my heart
So wide a sea, may I overcome
Deep as the sea, wailing secrecies are burning in me
For a dream I once desired
I bequeth my sorrow and I regret to thee
Cannot cross that wide a sea
Angellore revered at dusk
For thee I rose, now descend all alone
Rise for me, soothe my heart
So wide a sea, may I overcome
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By lovelorn
Widow's Weeds is a true Gothic-romantic novel set to music that speaks of love and death, conveying all the pain and melancholy of a broken heart.
It was the consecration of the most beautiful soprano voice ever heard in a metal band – Vibeke Stene.
