3RD AND THE MORTAL, (The) Painting On Glass CD (1996)

There is a specific kind of Nordic melancholy that only a handful of bands in the mid-nineties managed to bottle, and The Painting on Glass (1996) is one of the purest examples of it. The 3rd and the Mortal had already shed most of their doom metal skin by this point, and their second full-length lands somewhere between darkwave, trip-hop, and atmospheric rock, with Kari Rueslåtten's voice doing things over these arrangements that most singers would not even attempt.

Released the same year Rueslåtten departed for a solo career, this record catches the band at their most otherworldly, lush textures, slow-burning tension, and a gothic undertow that connects them to the broader Norwegian experimental scene of the era rather than any single genre. It sits comfortably alongside The Gathering's Mandylion and Theatre of Tragedy's early work as a document of a moment when extreme metal scenes were quietly producing some of the most interesting art music in Europe. Rare, atmospheric, and genuinely affecting.

Format: CD. Full length album, 1996 release. Origin: Norway. Genre: Melodic Doom Metal, Atmospheric Rock, Darkwave, Trip-Hop.

Fans of: The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy, Anathema, Tristania.