Liv Kristine
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Liv Kristine
Since Liv Kristine appeared in the music scene, she turned out to be one of the most extraordinary and creative female artists in Europe. She has left her footprints in various genres: with her gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy she secured her position in the history of music. Moreover, as solo artists she has secured her position within the tops of the pop business. On her Way to the Top In 1995, Theatre of Tragedy appear in the European music scene. The band around Liv Kristine starts their career as the first act to combine dark metal sounds and angelic female voices in a revolutionary mixture. With 125.000 sold copies of their hit album “Velvet Darkness They Fear”, Theatre of Tragedy reach their final breakthrough. Their single “Der Tanz der Schatten” soon turns out to be the official anthem for the entire gothic scene. “Der Tanz der Schatten” resounds through all dark clubs throughout Europe and is surely one of the songs with the strongest appearance on samplers of gothic music. Theatre of Tragedy is the definition and base of the “Beauty and Beast” - phenomena and Liv Kristine herself becomes the face of gothic metal. Pop up in Pop After her participation on Atrocity's chart album “Werk 80” (German Top 30) Liv Kristine starts to work on her solo career. March 2nd, 1998 she releases her first Liv Kristine - album “Deus ex Machina”. Although Liv is expected to present dark gothic sounds in her solo project she surprises everybody with atmospheric and fragile pop songs. Visually she represents her creative diversity in an angelic white outfit in the middle of snow-white doves. With fantastic melodies, soft ballads and fresh pop-hits Liv captures the listener on their way to her fairy world. One of the highlights is her duet “3am” with Paradise-Lost-singer Nick Holmes. It appears on a special single edition and soon becomes the hit track of the album. Within a couple of months “Deus ex Machina” sells more than 35.000 copies and Liv Kristine has established herself as a solo artist. Two months later, Theatre of Tragedy and Liv release “Aégis“. The record will be a milestone in the history of metal and hits the German billboards at position 40. On their tour Theatre of Tragedy plays in front of more than 8.000 people with their first concert in Greece, Athens. At the Zillo Festival they play in front of 20.000 people. “Aégis“ is still one of the most successful releases of the scene. Songs for Crimes Liv Kristine gets the honour to sing “3am” as the title song for Germany's most popular TV crime series, “Tatort”. With the broadcasting of the episode “Dagoberts Enkel” her name is now well-known outside the gothic scene. Due to this success, the song “One Love” is composed only for her - a romantic ballad which is written to be the title song for the TV-thriller “Sehnsucht”, a series of the Schimanski-films. The episode receives some of the best rating results in the history of this show (ca. 9.92 mill. viewers). Right after its release November 7th the telephone lines of Westdeutscher Rundfunk, producer of “Schimanski, glow hot. Never before there has been such an enormous request for one of the series' title tracks. European largest youth magazine “Bravo” honours the song with a participation on the “Bravo Hits - Best of 1999”-sampler, printed in an edition of more than 925.000 copies. At the age of 23, Liv Kristine has climbed the top to be the most successful female artist of the gothic scene. Breaking the Waves In 2000 Theatre of Tragedy comes up with a dozen of hits on their first electro gothic rock album “['mju:zik]“. The chart entry at position 39 and a week-long rotation of the video clip “Image” on Germany's music channels prove their success. The single reaches position 15 in the German Alternative Charts of the year 2000. Unlike her idol Madonna, Liv Kristine goes through another metamorphoses and now appears in a completely new look with her legendary red leather suit. Sexy and modern like never before she shows her strong individuality and outstanding position among the singers in the gothic scene. Changes After living together for seven years Alexander Krull (Atrocity) and Liv Kristine finally marry July 3rd, and in December Liv gives birth to son Leon Alexander. But at same time a sad message is announced: After their album “Assembly” and after ten years of cooperation and more than 500.000 sold copies, Theatre of Tragedy all of a sudden decides to part ways with Liv Kristine. But what seems to be the end of a career, turns out to be the personal deus ex machina (“divine dispensation”): Together with her friends of Atrocity Liv has a sensational comeback with Leaves' Eyes. In the spring of 2004, they release their debut “Lovelorn” on Napalm Records. On this conceptual album Liv combines classical, pop and even opera-like and opulent vocals in one - the press compares her with Kate Bush, Loreena McKennit a.o. Being a mother now and reaching new heights with Leaves' Eyes there's no doubt about who really owns the title “the Gothic Queen”. With their latest releases Leaves' Eyes hit the German charts in 2005: The single “Elegy” stays four weeks in the Single Charts at #76. Moreover, “Vinland Saga” hits the Album Charts at #62. A Desirable Guest Liv Kristine has established herself as a guest singer with Atrocity and has also had collaborations with a number of other bands. Her most successful and well-known guest appearance is the duet “Nymphetamine” with Dani Filth of the legendary Cradle of Filth. The baroque video clip is played by all important music channels around the world. The unbelievable success of “Nymphetamine” beats all expectations and Liv Kristine and Cradle of Filth are finally nominated for the most important award of the music world, the Grammy. Sounds of the Future In the autumn of 2005 Liv Kristine will finally release the follower of “Deus ex Machina” on Roadrunner Records. The album is expected to be an atmospheric and dark pop album where Liv Kristine once again enchants with her personality and unique artistic knowledge. One thing is sure: Liv Kristine will again prove that an artist who was born with such a fantastic voice can have many faces and facets, however still keeping the one and only personal note of her own.
