With the rising popularity of ‘Femme Metal’ and the success of recent studio album ‘Ashes’, Napalm Records, former stable of these Gothic Metal stalwarts, have picked the perfect time to cash in on the Norwegian’s recent success. Rather than simply releasing a greatest hits package however, ‘Midwinter Tears’ comprises of a double disc set of deleted material. There’s plenty here to whet the appetite of fans of the band’s back catalogue with a CD featuring both the ‘Midwinter Tears’ EP and ‘Angina’ single. The real selling point here however is the second disc, a 45 minute live DVD of the ‘Widows Tour’ video, previously only available on VHS.

The band have often cited that they were unhappy with this live document, and it’s easy to see why given the poor lighting, unanimated crowd and limited camera angles. The four live tracks are however, highly enjoyable and show that there is no reason to doubt Tristania’s ability in the live arena. Given how much the band has changed in recent years, it is also a chance to see the original line-up in action, including former mastermind, Morten Veland and now backseat member, Einar Moen. This alone makes ‘Midwinter Tears’ an essential purchase for those more interested in the bands early career. The live cuts are complimented by the video for ‘Evenfall’, nothing more than a standard low budget Gothic Metal video and a tour of ‘Wastelands Caress’, showing footage from behind the scenes of the bands early touring days.

Unfortunately, the audio CD presented here is far less intriguing than its counterpart DVD. Consisting largely of tracks taken from Tristania’s first two albums, most fans will already own the majority of the material, aside from a couple of keyboard laden instrumentals and the utterly pointless ‘Opus Relinque’ radio edit (the same as the album version but without the good bit in the middle). The music is as superbly lavish as Tristania have always been, mixing gothic melodies with doom laden guitar riffs and classical interludes, but provides nothing new to those who already own the band’s albums. On their own, the original single and EP would certainly be collectable, but putting the tracks together on the same disc is rather a futile exercise for all except those without the band’s back catalogue in their possession.

‘Midwinter Tears’ will interest true fans with its live DVD, but those unfamiliar with the bands early work would be best advised to purchase the full albums instead.

Standout Tracks:  Angina.

Overall Score:   5 /10