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As in most cases, Tristania is a band that has a huge following in Europe while in the USA they have a few yet loyal legion of followers. This reviewer happens to be among them. And is really a shame that this talented Norwegian act passes unnoticed by most of metal fans on this side of the world. The fact is that Tristania has to be one of the best gothic metal acts that have ever entered the scene. The key to this seems to be that they recruited some of the best available musicians in their part of world and put them together with one of the best female vocalist in the genre: Vibekke Stene. This girl has what may be the best vocal range in the scene only surpassed by Cristina of Lacuna Coil. And Vibekke is also a hot bombshell!!!

The importance of Vibekke’s presence on their third album "World of Glass" is vital to the overall result of the product. The fact of losing their original male singer did not made a negative impact on "World of Glass". Now Tristania mixes male and female vocals to create an unusual feel. As a result of combining the three different singers along with Vibekke allows for a great deal of diversity. They mix one deep voice (more gothic), another clean and melodic one, and a third more aggressive one, which is magnificently handled by Ronnie Thorsen from Trail of Tears.

The result is frankly awe-inspiring and gives Tristania back the status, they acquired on their debut "Widows Weed". This is a very personal impression because their second work, "Beyond The Veil", sold a lot of units, but I believe that it lost some of their initial freshness. "World of Glass" recovers this freshness and in a wonderful way. The first 5 tracks are spectacular. They are sweet and aggressive at the same time, and Tristania is not as "sweet" as some of the others bands among the scene.

Only two things hold me back from claiming "World of Glass" to be a classic of its genre. The first one is that I don’t get very excited with the fact that they add on several parts a semi-industrial air to the compositions. The second one is the fact of how they will plan to solve the singer issue when performing live and for a future album. At this point, they may have to pick a male vocalist as a full member, but he would have to be able to face the hard task of presenting "World of Glass" live and making a memorable successor. One more thing, we will have to wait until next album to pass judgement on this issue thanks to our beloved and "musically advanced" country and its music promoters.