Liv Kristine
Liv Kristine Espenæs (born 14 February 1976) is a Norwegian singer who has performed and composed songs mostly for various subgenres of heavy metal music. She started her career as a vocalist of gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, and is the former lead vocalist of symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes. She is known for her work in close association with her then-husband and leader of German band Atrocity, Alexander Krull.
Also recorded as Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
Liv Kristine

Georges Seguin (Okki) · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Liv Kristine
- Birth Name
- Liv Kristine Espenæs
- Born
- 14 February 1976
- Died
- YYYY MM DD
- Birthplace
- Stavanger, Norway
- Occupation
- * Singer
- Nationality
- Norway.
- Fields
- music composing and singing.
- Languages
- Norwegian.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Liv Kristine Espenæs (born 14 February 1976) is a Norwegian singer who has performed and composed songs mostly for various subgenres of heavy metal music. She started her career as a vocalist of gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, and is the former lead vocalist of symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes. She is known for her work in close association with her then-husband and leader of German band Atrocity, Alexander Krull.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Liv Kristine. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q236103 · wikipedia · Liv Kristine
In this article
Biography
Biography
Kristine worked across singer, singer-songwriter and musician. The registers place that work in gothic metal, symphonic metal, industrial metal, folk metal, viking metal and pop rock. This article rests on 49 catalogued compositions, 23 issued recordings and 23 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.
The recorded working language is Norwegian. The field of work recorded is music composing and singing. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are gothic metal, symphonic metal, industrial metal and folk metal. Black Sabbath is recorded as an influence. Residence is recorded at Stavanger.

Liv Kristine presents "Vervain" at Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg
Anastasiia Ivanova
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Liv Kristine • Birth Name — Liv Kristine Espenæs • Born — 14 February 1976 • Died — YYYY MM DD • Birthplace — Stavanger, Norway • Genre — * Symphonic metal • gothic metal • folk metal • pop rock • Occupation — * Singer • songwriter • Years Active — 1993–present • Label — Metalville Records • Current Member Of — * Liv Kristine • Past Member Of — * Theatre of Tragedy • Leaves' Eyes • Website — https: livkristine.net/
Career
Career
Liv Kristine was born in Stavanger, and joined Norwegian gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy in 1994 as a backup singer, but was soon sharing lead vocals duties with Raymond István Rohonyi. She was fired from Theatre of Tragedy in 2003, a fact she learned about through an e-mail message. She had been living in Germany since 1996 and collaborating with death metal band Atrocity, whose singer Alexander Krull she married on 3 July 2003. With the five musicians from Atrocity she formed a new band, Leaves' Eyes, in August 2003. She has also released six solo albums, the most recent of which was released in October 2025 through Napalm Records. The first, Deus Ex Machina, was released in 1998, and was re-released in 2024. She continued her pop-influenced solo career besides fronting Leaves' Eyes. In early 2006 she released her second solo album, Enter My Religion on Roadrunner Records. Her fifth solo album Vervain was released in October 2014 and featured contributions by Doro Pesch and Michelle Darkness. In 2005, Liv Kristine was nominated for a Grammy award with Cradle of Filth for the song "Nymphetamine". She also performed live with Firewind on their 2014 tour. In 2016, she joined Eluveitie as a session vocalist for a couple of their live shows after the departure of their singer Anna Murphy. On 16 April 2016, Leaves' Eyes stated that Liv Kristine, who formed and had the idea of the band project, was no longer the singer of the band. In December 2017 it was announced that Liv Kristine joined her sister Carmen's band Midnattsol. She was originally announced to be a guest on their new album but after some discussions, the band picked her up as a permanent member. In 2021, her solo album Have Courage Dear Heart was released, followed by River Of Diamonds (2023). Her last material Amor Vincit Omnia is released in 2025 through Metalville Records.[24]
Personal life
Personal life
On 3 July 2003, Liv Kristine married Atrocity vocalist Alexander Krull. They have a son, Leon Alexander. Kristine and her husband split up in early January 2016. She married Michael Hansen (Espenæs) in June 2021. Kristine is a keen runner. Her younger sister, Carmen Elise Espenæs, is the vocalist of the German symphonic/folk metal band Midnattsol and of the Norwegian gothic/folk metal band Savn. After living in Switzerland for a few years and follow-up her solo career, she came back to Norway in 2025. • Illustration — Kristine at a live show in Israel, 2016 Liv Kristine helped pioneer the contrasting operatic female vocals with male growls in symphonic metal. Paradise Lost and The Gathering had already made use of this technique on some songs from their earlier albums, but it was the Norwegian Theatre of Tragedy, Kristine's first band, that released an entire album devoted to this approach with their self-titled debut in 1995. Kristine has a soprano vocal range.
Solo
Solo
Studio albums • Deus Ex Machina (1998) • Enter My Religion (2006) • Skintight (2010) • Libertine (2012) • Vervain (2014) • Have Courage Dear Heart (2021) • River of Diamonds (2023) • Amor Vincit Omnia (2025) Singles • 3AM (1998) • Take Good Care (1998) • One Love (1999) • Fake a Smile (2006) • Over the Moon (2006) • Trapped in Your Labyrinth (2006) • Skintight (2010) • Paris Paris (2012) • Love Decay (feat. Michelle Darkness) (2014) • Skylight (2019) • Gravity (2020) • River of Diamonds (2023) • In Your Blue Eyes (2023) • Love Me High (2023) • Portrait: Ei Tulle Med Øyne Blå (2024) • Amor Vincit Omnia (2025) • Ode to Life Pristine (2025) • 12th February (2025) • Lotus (Acoustic Version) (2025) EPs • Fake a Smile (2006) • Have Courage Dear Heart (2021) • Illustration — Liv Kristine performing in Nagold, 2025 Live albums • Liv(e) in Nagold 2019 (2021)
With Midnattsol
With Midnattsol
Studio albums • The Aftermath (2018)
With Leaves' Eyes
With Leaves' Eyes
Studio albums • Lovelorn (2004) • Vinland Saga (2005) • Njord (2009) • Meredead (2011) • Symphonies of the Night (2013) • King of Kings (2015) EPs • Into Your Light (2004) • Elegy (2005) • Legend Land (2006) • My Destiny (2009) • At Heaven's End (2010) • Melusine (2011) • Song of Darkness (2026)
With Theatre of Tragedy
With Theatre of Tragedy
Studio albums • Theatre of Tragedy (1995) • Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996) • Aégis (1998) • Musique (2000) • Assembly (2002) EPs • A Rose for the Dead (1997) • Inperspective (2001) Live albums • Closure: Live (2001)
Guest appearances
Guest appearances
• Atrocity – Werk 80 (1997) – (additional vocals) • Heavenwood – Swallow (1998) – (vocals on "Downcast") • Atrocity & Silke Bischoff – "Blue Moon" (non-album single) (1998) – (additional vocals) • Atrocity – Non Plus Ultra (1999) – (additional vocals) • WeltenBrand – Der Untergang von Trisona (1999) – vocals on "The Devil Gets the Profiteer" • Das Ich – Re-Laborat (2000) – vocals on "Des Satans neue Kleider" (Atrocity Remix) • Atrocity – Gemini (2000) – additional vocals • Atrocity – Thank You – A Tribute to The Sisters of Mercy (2000) – vocals on "More" • Genius – A Rock Opera Part II (2004) – vocals on "To Be Free" • Immortal Rites – Art of Devolution (2004) – vocals on "Mirror Reflections" • Hortus Animae – The Lotus Eaters – Dead Can Dance Tribute (2004) – vocals on "Summoning of the Muse" • Cradle of Filth – Nymphetamine (2004) – vocals on "Nymphetamine" • Atrocity – Atlantis (2004) – additional vocals • Umbra et Imago – Motus Animi (2005) – "Ein letztes Mal" (Leaves' Eyes Remix) • Delain – Lucidity (2006) – vocals on "See Me in Shadow" and "Day for Ghosts" • Atrocity – Werk 80 II (2008) – additional vocals • Doro Pesch – Fear No Evil (2009) – backing vocals on "Celebrate" • Legio Mortis – The Human Creation and The Devil's Contribution (2011) – vocals on "Life Denied" • Bob Katsionis – Rest in Keys (2012) – vocals on "Rendez-Vous in the Sky" • Týr – Valkyrja (2013) – vocals on "The Lay of Our Love • Romanthica – Eterno (2013) – vocals on "Despierta" • Primal Fear – Delivering the Black (2014) – backing vocals on "Born with a Broken Heart" • Savn – Savn (2014) – vocals on "I Am Free" • Emerald Sun – Metal Dome (2015) – vocals on "Call of Nature" • Tanzwut - Schreib es mit Blut (2016) – backing vocals on "Stille Wasser" • Cradle of Filth – Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay (2017) – vocals on "Vengeful Spirit" • Orden Ogan – Gunmen (2017) – vocals on "Come with Me to the Other Side" • Lux in Tenebris – To a New Eternity (2018) – additional vocals on "The Grand Design" • Ben Blutzukker – Queen of the Nite (2019) – additional vocals on "Queen of the Nite" • Myrkgand – Old Mystical Tales (2019) – vocals on "Chthonian Cyclops" • Coldbound – Slumber of Decay (2021) – vocals on "Slumber of Decay" • Sollys - Soul Pristine (2021) - vocals on "Soul Pristine" • Mortemia – The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions (2021) – vocals on "Decadence Deepens Within" • Tales of a Sleeping Giant (2022) – vocals on "Summer's End", "Lost in Emptiness", "Morgana" • Sollys – Rhodonitt (2023) – vocals on "Rhodonitt" • Don't Drop The Sword - Age of Heroes (2023) - vocals on 'A Murder of Ravens' • Alexandrite - Cold Stars (2025) - vocals on "Cold Stars"
Life and work
Life and work
Liv Kristine was born on 14 February 1976 in Stavanger. Kristine held the nationality of Norway. Married to: Alexander Krull. Recorded sibling: Carmen Elise Espenæs. Kristine worked as singer, singer-songwriter and musician. Kristine was active from 1994. The fields Kristine worked in include gothic metal, symphonic metal, industrial metal, folk metal, viking metal and pop rock. Kristine played the voice. Kristine worked in Norwegian.
Compositions, 1998
Catalogued output
Compositions, 1998
The entries below are works composed by the subject, as the institutional registers catalogue them; later performances and commercial recordings of the same music are listed separately. They belong to a run of 49 titles in all, from 1998 to 1998.
1 composition carry the date 1998
Cassandra
1998
Compositions without a settled date
Catalogued output
Compositions without a settled date
48 further compositions are catalogued under Kristine's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it. A selection is set out below and the complete run may be opened beneath it. Have Courage Dear Heart. You Are The Night.
Stronghold of Angels
Meet Me in the Red Sky
Waves of Green
Streets of Philadelphia
For a Moment
Good Vibes Bad Vibes
All The Time In The World
Train to Somewhere
The Rarest Flower
The Man With the Child in His Eyes
Good Vibes Bad Vibes (Dance On The Ocean)
Vanilla Skin Delight
The complete catalogue · 21
Stronghold of Angels
Meet Me in the Red Sky
Waves of Green
Streets of Philadelphia
For a Moment
Good Vibes Bad Vibes
All The Time In The World
Train to Somewhere
The Rarest Flower
The Man With the Child in His Eyes
Good Vibes Bad Vibes (Dance On The Ocean)
Vanilla Skin Delight
Ei tulle med øyne blå
Huldra Part III. Two and a Heart
3 am (Single Edit)
Trapped In Your Labyrinth
Take Good Care
In the Heart of Juliet
Wait for Rain
You Take Me Higher
Over The Moon
Issued recordings, 1999–2014
Primary material
Issued recordings, 1999–2014
These are published sound issues catalogued under the name. Most postdate the works they carry, and an issue is never counted here as a work of composition. 5 issues carry dates between 1999 and 2014. The run opens with Deus ex Machina and closes with Vervain. The 2010s are the densest part of the run, with 3 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. They belong to a run of 6 titles in all, from 1999 to 2014.
Issued recordings without a settled date
Primary material
Issued recordings without a settled date
1 further issue are catalogued under Kristine's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it. Fake a Smile.
Recordings and discography
Primary material
Recordings and discography
The discography assembled here shows how Kristine's work has been published in sound, not what Kristine made. 17 sound issues are catalogued, carrying dates from 1998 to 2026. An issue is a published recording, distinct from the composition it carries, from a printed score of that composition and from any single performance of it; none of the entries below is counted in the catalogue of compositions above, and several of them carry the same work in different readings. The 2020s are the densest decade of publication, with 5 issues. The performers and issuing labels are as the discographic register states them; where it names no performer the article names none.
Enter My Religion
2006
Deus Ex Machina
1998
One Love
1999
River of Diamonds
2023
Fake a Smile
2005
Skintight
2010
Have Courage Dear Heart
2021
Amor Vincit Omnia
2025
3 am
1998
Vervain
2014
Stille Wasser
2016
In Dreams (music video edit)
2026
Libertine
2012
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Liv Kristine”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q236103: Liv Kristine
Unverified · Wikidata
Where the work is held
Institutional memberships
Kristine is recorded as a member of Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes. Membership is stated by the bodies' own records and is not read here as evidence of office or of any particular role within them.
Authority records
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Liu YaowenPerson
- Liu YijunPerson
- Liuba María HeviaPerson
- Liudas Jakavicius-GrimalauskasPerson
- Live Maria RoggenPerson
- Live MusicOrganisation
- Live Nation EntertainmentOrganisation
- Lívia RévPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Liv Kristine?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.