TRISTANIA have been around since 1996. Founded by Einar Moen and vocalist/guitarist Morten Vleland, the band really got down to business with the arrival of Kenneth Olsen, Anders Hidle and Rune Østerhus. In May 1997, the first demo was recorded with vocalist Vibeke Stene, attracting the interest of a number of labels, and TRISTANIA went on to sign a record contract soon afterwards. The mini CD TRISTANIA came out that same year, followed by their regular debut, Widow’s Weed, in spring. Having completed a number of shows with Lacrimosa in Belgium and Austria, TRISTANIA went on tour with Haggard in autumn 1998.

The second album, Beyond The Veils, came out in 1999, presenting an even more versatile band. Tours with Trail Of Tears, Tiamat and Anathema followed, crowned by a memorable appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival. Only one year later, the band were booked as headlining act, not only in Europe but also in Mexico and the States. Their third album, World Of Glass, was recorded in spring 2001 at the Sound Suite studios in France. After their return home, the band introduced their new vocalist Kjetil Ingebrethsen. World Of Glass saw the light of day in autumn 2001, followed by a European tour with support acts Rotting Christ, Vintersorg and Madder Mortem. Then South America beckoned again, and this time TRISTANIA played Mexico, Brazil and Columbia.

The 2005 release of Ashes, their SPV Debut, saw them on tour with bands like Therion and Nightwish.  Soon after, they began writing the new album Illumination, and entered Woodhouse recording studios with none other than Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil, The Gathering, Tiamat, Samael and many more) who completely captured TRISTANIA at their very best! 

Guitarist Anders Høyvik Hidle sees the biggest change from Ashes in the power and the energy that Illumination has.  Ashes was a more introverted album, and Illumination represents something completely different.  Some new elements have been added to the sound, and the band sees it as a natural consequence of the four previous albums.  They also worked with a string quartet for the first time, while still keeping the songs very heavy. “We worked a lot with the arrangements of the songs together with producer Waldemar Sorychta, and this resulted in a catchiness and a progress for every song – both the heavier tracks and the more atmospheric ones.”

On the track “The Ravens” the band was lucky to receive assistance from Vorph from Samael on guest vocals.  “When Kjetil decided to leave, the album was already planned and we quickly decided that didn't want to recruit a new member, but that myself and Svein Terje would take care of this for the future. As we were busy with the composing there wasn't enough time to rehearse the extreme vocals ourselves for the recordings, and we decided to have a guest singer who we knew would do the job well. We had a few names on our list, and Vorph actually was our first choice. As Waldemar knew him well he put us in touch and Vorph did his job brilliantly.”

Anders is also extremely happy with the creative process of writing and recording the album.  “As with the previous two albums most of the music has been composed by Einar and myself, with Waldemar as a co-writer on one of the tracks. Østen wrote most of the lyrics, and this time we enjoyed a creative process that fit us perfectly.  Waldemar is a producer that has been involved in some of our favourite albums (Wolfheart, Wildhoney, Ceremony of Opposites), and we had actually been thinking about talking to Waldemar about producing a TRISTANIA album for a long time – and this time it finally worked out. It turned out to be the perfect collaboration for us, and I felt throughout the whole process that we were working towards a common goal the whole time.”
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The goal that Hidle speaks of is called Illumination and definitely shows TRISTANIA at the high point of their career!