The 3rd and the Mortal
Sorrow (Mcd) 1993 Voices of Wonder
Beautiful Nordic fjords and gorgeous landscapes are the first things that come to mind when listening to perhaps one of the best atmospheric doom albums of all time. Long span guitar solo's and one of the best female vocalists ever to grace as frontwoman of a metal band, K. Rueslåtten, make this short Mcd to a wonderful epic experience. Not only does the music remind one of the beautiful nature of their native Norway, but the first track is also in Norwegian. The other 3 tracks have well written English lyrics about loss of love (the title track) or loss of hope ('Silently I surrender'). Althrough sometimes unjustly compared to other bands with female vocalists (they were one of the first) it is actually hard to compare The 3rd and the Mortal with any other band. Their sound is unlike most other doom bands, more atmospheric and dreamy but with NO connection what so ever to gothic music; highly guitar based music.	1. Grevinnes Bønn 2. Sorrow 3. Ring of Fire 4. Silently I Surrender Approx. 20 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Tears Laid in Earth (CD) 1994 Voices of Wonder
The album opens with a track of just K. Rueslåtten singing in Norwegian without any instrumental backing. After being taken back to a mystical past by this great track the long, sorrow filled music they already proved to be masters of on 'Sorrow' kicks in on the next track 'Why so Lonely?'. Once again The 3rd and the Mortal paint a musical soundscape that touches the very soul. One only needs to close one's eyes to see the fjords of Norway and be projected back into a mystical land of unknown beauty and unknown sorrow. Most of the tracks are in English but there are as you might have guessed also a few songs in Norwegian or as on the song 'Shaman' just chanting. Absolute highlights of this album for me are the tracks 'Salva me', a desperate cry of a (female) vampire to be released from her curse, and 'Song' on which K. Rueslåtten voice touches ones soul in such a way it is hard to remain unaffected. The album ends with the epic 18 minute long track 'Oceana'. The extremely atmospheric and dreamy doom-metal The 3rd and the Mortal make might not be everybody's cup of tea, some might find it to simply be to mellow, but most open minded fans will definately be in treat. This album however not only marks the departure of K. Rueslåtten, who now is enjoying a relatively successful career as a solo artist in Norway, but also marks the end of The 3rd and the Mortal as a doom-metal act. The albums after this one mainly focus on experimentation and creating even more dreamy soundscapes.	1. Vandring 2. Why so Lonely? 3. Atupoéma 4. Death Hymn 5. Shaman 6. Trail of Past 7. Lengsel 8. Salva Me 9. Song 10. In Mist Shrouded 11. Oceana Approx. 66 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Nightswan (Mcd) 1995 Voices of Wonder
'Nightswan' can be seen as a transition between the old The 3rd and the Mortal and the new The 3rd and the Mortal. With new female vocalist A. M. Edvardsen they gained a more varied vocalist but her voice can not match the emotional power that K. Rueslåtten used to have. However given the more experimental nature of this album her voice fits well. Beautiful melodies are mixed in with strange noise and weird experimentation to paint a very surreal soundscape. This makes the music a lot harder to digest than on the previous albums. Personally I find this album to miss any and all focus. It more resembles a musical loose cannon that goes off into every direction. But people who enjoy extreme experimentation and don't mind if the continuity of an album suffers under this will probably enjoy it.	1. Neurosis 2. From the Depth of Memories 3. The Meadow 4. Vavonia (part 1) Approx. 23 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Painting on Glass (CD) 1995 Voices of Wonder
This album seems to have been made with just one goal in mind: to create some of the most atmospheric music ever. And apart from the first song 'Magma' The 3rd and the Mortal make up a lot that they lost (for me) on 'Nightswan'. The music is still highly experimental but it holds more structure and works towards a common goal. The sheer number of additional instruments used illustrates well how experimental this album is; from trombone, organ and didjeridoo to a waterbucket. I doubt if this album can still be considered metal. While some people say The 3rd and the Mortal lost their metal edge on the next album, 'In the Room', it is hard to discover any real metal parts on this one. Instead we get a psychedelic, dreamy and ambient soundscape. It is easy to just dream away on this cd and float on its tranquil atmosphere. A point of criticism however, half the tracks on the album are instrumentals. This when the some of the best tracks like 'Crystal Orchids' and 'Dreamscapes' all feature A. M. Edvardsen vocal talents.	1. Magma 2. Commemoration 3. Crystal Orchids 4. Persistent and Fleeting 5. White Waters 6. Aurora Borealis 7. Dreamscapes 8. Aurora Australis 9. Azure 10. Veiled Exposure 11. Stairs 12. Eat the Distance 13. Vavonia (part 2) 14. Horizons Approx. 64 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
In this Room (CD) 1997 Voices of Wonder
Oh my god! After not being too impressed by 'Nightswan' and placing some question marks next to 'Painting on Glass', I did not expect this! This album is simply gorgeous! Having combined their experimental ambient sound of 'Painting on Glass' with jazz influences and a slightly noisy touch this album is so emotional it is scary. An opening track like 'Stream' almost puts me to tears and it sets the trend for the rest of the album. At times sad, at times angry but at all times dreamy, atmospheric and freaky. Other highlights like 'Harvest" and 'Sleep' make this to one of my all time favourite albums. Having said this I must note that a lot of metal fans will probably not enjoy this release. Not just because of the jazz influence but also because it is extremely experimental and most of the time even more mellow then most pop records. My only point of criticism is the track 'Sophisticated Vampires' which is too experimental even for my taste and I simply can not digest the vocals. It's a true shame that after first losing K. Rueslåtten on vocals, vocalist A.M. Edvardsen also decided to leave the band after this release.	1. Stream 2. Monody 3. So Pure 4. The Wooden Lodge 5. Sophisticated Vampires 6. Harvest 7. Did You 8. Myriad of Peep-holes 9. Sort of Invisible 10. A Touch of... 11. Hollow 12. The Barge 13. Sleep Approx. 53 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Memoirs (CD) 2002 Voices Music
Remember that atmospheric Doom-metal band with the wonderfully warm female vocals by Kari, the very same band which, through the years, has changed direction, moving towards soundscapes, and slowly losing all their ties and connections to Doom-metal and Metal in general? After their last vocalist, Ann-Mari Edvardsen, left the band (now in Tactile Gemma) news surrounding The 3rd and the Mortal petered out. All we had to go on for a long time was one trip-hoppy sample/video fragment of 'The City' on their official website. After more then a just a few years - five if you want to nit-pick - of absence, The 3rd and the Mortal is back with a new album. The album features songs recorded over the course of the last four years and because of the lack of a steady vocalist, features five different vocalists, both male and female. Musically they have evolved even further than they did on, 'In this Room'. 'In This Room' would these days perhaps be described as Post-Rock, whereas 'Memoirs' is a lot more electronically-based with a liberal dose of trip-hop elements. The music is still very atmospheric, but they don't paint such elaborate soundscapes anymore. The songs are more compact and also because of the different vocalists form rather distinct entities rather than one long atmospheric flow. The quality of the vocalists differs, but overall I think they picked talented people whose voices fit the music. It did strike me that the female vocalist on the first few tracks sounds a lot like Ann-Mari. I wonder if the band picked her because of similarity? Of course this album has nothing to do with Doom-metal, or metal at all for that matter. Still, however strange this might sound, whilst having changed 180 musical degrees this album still retains that typical The 3rd and the Mortal feeling. The progress feels natural and it remains out and out classic The 3rd and the Mortal. All in all this of course is something only for those of us who also enjoy electronic music. If the thought of samples, loops and scratching in favour of heavy guitars, rolling drums and pounding baselines frightens you, skip this one.	1. Zeppoliner 2. Good Evening Mr. Q 3. The City 4. Reflections 5. Thin Dark Line 6. Fools Like US 7. Those Of My Kind 8. Simple Mind 9. Spider Approx. 51 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel