Tristitia
One with Darkness (CD) 1995 Holy records
Everybody who has heard Misanthrope, the mediocre band from Holy records owner Philippe, has wondered at least once in his life, how it is possible that the leading man from this band has such a good musical taste. Holy Records is one of the best underground labels around, giving shelter and support to such great bands as Septic Flesh, Elend, On thorns I lay and this amazing Tristitia. L.B. Galvez, the brain behind this band, is one of the few technically amazing guitar players within doom-metal. 'One with darkness' is exactly what it pretends to be: a very dark, slow doom album. The excellent acoustic guitar intro 'Sorrow' immediately immerses the listener into the dark, mourning and depressive atmosphere of this album. Theatrical, low clean vocals alternated with frustrated screams, beautiful, melodic guitar work and dark, threatening keyboards set the sorrow drenched sound of this band. The lyrics of the song 'One with darkness' illustrate perfectly what one can expect from Tristitia: "Pray to Thy whom has failed/mighty Contact with the Dark One". How more doom can one get?	1. Sorrow 2. Kiss The Cross 3. One With Darkness 4. Winds Of Sacrifice 5. Burn The Witch 6. Hymn Of Lunacy 7. Ashes Of The Witch 8. Dancing Souls 9. Adagio 1809 10. Reminiscences Of The Mourner 11. Dance Of The Selenites Approx. 55 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
Crucidiction (CD) 1996 Holy records
Tristitia have been since years one of my favourite melodic doom bands, combining outstanding, semi-technical melodic guitar lead, tasteful acoustic guitar intermezzo's, passionate vocals and dark synth sounds. Their unique, mournful atmosphere makes them stand out in the highly melodic -yet mostly devoid of depression and misery- Swedish metal scene. Their second effort 'Crucidiction' is not different than their other two releases; the band works further on the path set by their classic debut 'One with darkness'. The highly distinguisable guitar melodies are once again present, and so are the insanely mournful vocals of Thomas Karlsson. The album departs with the excellent intro 'Ego sum resurrecto': heavy doom mixed with Gregorian chants is a combination which evokes many «wows» during the listening experience. The outstanding 'Christianic indulgence' follows with its unforgettable opening phrase : «Pray to your Mighty God/and I will pray to mine». However, most of the other material on this album isn't that impressive and I still don't know exactly what it lacks. All the ingredients are still present, but somehow they fail to elicit the same emotional response as they did on their two other albums. Is it perhaps the absence of the highly sarcastic lyrics or the depressive song structures of the first album, or the absence of the epic feel which the band developped on this album's follow up 'The last grief'? The digipack version of the album I own also contains some bonus material, which are all unreleased versions of tracks from 'One with darkness'. Unfortunately, these versions appear to be inferior to the 'official' versions, both production wise as in execution. The good points of this release are the once again excellent artwork and package -but this is hardly surprising for a label like Holy Records. I would advice those who are not familiar with the sound of this band to check out the other releases of Tristitia first. However, I would still recommend the album to the fans of this band because it certainly has its moments.	1. Ego sum resurrecto 2. Christianic indulgence 3. Crucidiction 4. Wintergrief 5. Envy the dead 6. Lioness' roar 7. Mark my words 8. Gardenia 9. Final lament 10. One with darkness 11. Winds of sacrifice 12. Dance of the selenities 13. Dancing souls 14. Kiss the cross Approx. 55 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
The last grief (CD) 2000 Holy records
The third album from Tristitia finds the band using a different vocalist than Thomas who sung on the first two albums. Fortunately, this didn't result in any changes in the sound of this amazing band. Richard Bengtsson, who is responsible for the session vocals, has a clean, powerful voice that seems to be made to fit with the music on this album. Although I'm addicted to the 'sick' vocalist on the first two albums, I must say that Richard's voice really suits the music on this album more that any other vocals I can imagine. But those who liked the first two albums, have no reason to worry. The melancholic, melodic guitar solo's, depressive atmosphere, monk chants and beautiful instrumental, acoustic parts are all still there, and so are the heathen, anti-Christian lyrics. Quite remarkable is an up-tempo, instrumental 'pot pourri' called 'Instrumental hollowcoast'. However, my favourite tracks on this album are the epic, melodic masterpieces 'Angelwitches palace' and 'Darknia: The last grief' which closes this album flowing into a very beautiful, acoustic outro. Add to all this the -once again- outstanding artwork, up to the high Holy Records standards, and the clear, powerful sound quality (contrary to their first two albums), and you'll understand that this is essential material for both Tristitia fans and fans of epic doom with clean vocals in general.	1. Once upon a dawn 2. In the light of the moon 3. Slaughtery 4. Evolic 5. Golden goddess of fire 6. Tears & Tequila 7. Angelwitches palace 8. Memory's garden 9. Instrumental Hollowcaust:   I. Burning, Death,   Destruction   II. Hills High   III. All I Save Is My Pain   IV. the Cold Light of Day   V. Skullsession   VI. the Stillness In the   Rain   VII. Slaughteariums Nest 10. Medievil 11. Under the cross 12. Darknia: The last grief Approx. 48 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou