The Crest was a gothic metal

Gothic metal

Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...

/Darkwave

Darkwave

Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...

 band from Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 noted for their gothic metal with catchy melodies, massive guitars, and a soothing female voice. The band was formed in 1996 by Nell and Kristian Sigland. After going through some changes in name and line-up, the band settled on the name "The Crest" in 1999, after recording their second demo where they started to develop their own characteristic sound.

In 2001, The Crest recorded their first full album, Letters from Fire

Letters from Fire

Letters from Fire is the debut album of Norwegian gothic metal band The Crest. It mainly features re-worked songs from the band's previous demos.-Track listing:#"Fire Walk with Me"#"Butterflies & Dragons"#"Thorn"#"Never Sleep Again"...

, in Sound Suite Studio together with Terje Refsnes, the producer of Tristania

Tristania

Tristania is a monotypic genus, native to New South Wales, Australia, closely related to Cistemon. The genus had a number of species, but some have been reclassified as Lophostemon and Tristaniopsis....

, Carpathian Forest

Carpathian Forest

Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1990.-Biography:Carpathian Forest emerged with the demo tape "Bloodlust and Perversion" in 1992. In 1993 the band released a second demo: Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern...

, The Sins of Thy Beloved

The Sins of Thy Beloved

The Sins Of Thy Beloved is a gothic-doom metal band from Bryne, Norway.- Biography :The band was formed in November 1996 by Glenn Morten Nordbø, Arild Christensen and Stig Johansen. The band was initially called "Purgatory" but they soon decided to change their name to something less common...

.

In 2003 the band took a sabbatical to regain time and energy for their next album. Nell and Kristian dedicated some time to a side project named "Rustflower Incorporated", experimenting with electronic music. Also in 2003, Nell replaced Liv Kristine

Liv Kristine

Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull , better known as Liv Kristine, is the former vocalist for the band Theatre of Tragedy and current vocalist for the band Leaves' Eyes.- Career :...

 as Theatre of Tragedy

Theatre of Tragedy

Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre.-Biography:...

's vocalist.

The Crest reunited in 2004 and went on to record their second album, Vain City Chronicles

Vain City Chronicles

Vain City Chronicles is the second album release by Norwegian gothic metal band The Crest.The album was recorded in November 2004 at Top Room Studio and produced by Kristian Sigland. The album was released on May 17, 2005....

, at the Top Room Studio in Norway. The album features, according to the band, "a heavier, more guitar-based side of the band, while still focusing on the characteristic melancholic melodies and of course Nell's soothing voice."

By October 2010, both Nell and Kristian stated that The Crest has actually split up in favour of other projects.

Current

• Nell Sigland
  Nell Sigland
  Nell Sigland is a Norwegian heavy metal singer. She is the co-founder of The Crest. On June 3, 2004 she joined Theatre of Tragedy, replacing Liv Kristine.-With The Crest:* Straightjacket Singalongs – Demo...
  
   - Vocals, keyboards (also member of Theatre of Tragedy
  Theatre of Tragedy
  Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre.-Biography:...
  
  )
• Kristian Sigland - Guitars, vocals, keyboards, programming
• Magnus Westgaard - Bass, vocals
• Sebastian Aarebrot - Guitars
• Klaus Blomvik - Drums

Demos

Most of these demos ended up on the band's first release Letters from Fire.

• "Straightjacket Singalongs" – Demo (1998)
• "Childhood's End"/"Thorn" (1999)
• "Thunderfuel" (1999)
• "Dark Rock Armada" (2000)