Liv Kristine Makes Peace With Theatre Of Tragedy

When Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull was relieved of her duties as vocalist for Theatre Of Tragedy in 2003, she was just as shocked as her fans. When she returned with Leaves’ Eyes a year later, fans were surprised to learn she was still in the dark as to why she had been let go, her former TOT bandmates having cut all ties with her. In addition, Liv had been replaced by The Crest vocalist, a young lady by the name of Nell. Rather than dwell on the matter, Liv focused all her energy on Leaves’ Eyes debut album, Lovelorn, which led to an extensive European tour at the end of 2004. A three gig stint in her native Norway marked Liv’s first live appearances at home since getting the boot from TOT, and resulted in unexpected and much needed closure.

“When Leaves’ Eyes played Oslo last October I invited Nell to come to the show,” says Liv. “I didn’t know her, but it wasn’t her fault that I had been fired from Theatre Of Tragedy. It was a strange coincedence, because my best friend was staying with one of Nell’s friends in Oslo, and Nell was living next door. So, I told my friend to tell her friend to invite Nell to the concert (laughs). I was very happy to see that Nell turned up, because though I hadn’t spoken to the guys in Theatre Of Tragedy I had invited them to the show in Stavanger the day before, and none of them came. We brought her backstage after the show and we had a wonderful evening. I really wanted to meet her and let her know that I don’t have any bad feelings towards her.”

“Then, in January I went to one of Theatre’s shows to visit Nell. I stood in the front row to show her my support, and I was a shocked because when Raymond (Rohonyi/vocals) finally saw me he jumped off stage and gave me a big hug, telling me how much they had all missed me. They stopped the concert and I was like, ‘Uh, don’t you still have one more song to do..?’(laughs). We all went backstage after the show and I finally had the chance to ask why they had kicked me out of the band. It turns out that, because there were some problems in the band at the time and I was the only one not living in Norway, they had decided to let it out on me. They knew it would be a big step to fire their lead singer and thought it might lead to better times. Things have certainly worked out for me, and there are no bad feelings between us anymore. I just told them that I didn’t agree with the way the chose to fire me. That was the thing that really pissed me off. But, we’ve cleared things up and I’m very happy about that.”

Although she is no longer involved with Theatre Of Tragedy, Liv was able to offer some insight on the band’s next studio album, which will be a return to their original goth metal sound.

“Nell told me the band was working on some demo tracks, and I know they’re the same songs I had recorded my vocals for before I was fired,” Liv reveals. “I had recorded 10 tracks, and those are the songs Nell is working with. And from what I’ve heard they’ll be getting a new record deal very soon, at which point they will start recording.”

Special report by Carl Begai

Source: bravewords