Spirit Tomb is the solo music project of musician Leon Kristoffer who’s based in Norway. Since forming in 2020, he’s now released his debut EP titled The Lotus of Dahlia, which constitutes part one of his Aandegrav trilogy focusing on themes of grief, loss and catharsis. The tracks in this opening chapter are laced with gothic sentiments and dark ambient undertones.
The album, which is centered on grief, consists of two elegantly sorrowful songs that are quite poetic and soft on the ears. “In Her Heart of Hearts” and “A Desire for Beauty” pine for a lost love that appears to have transcended the earthly plane. The female entity in the first composition is a blazing beacon of divine affection and passion. In the following piece, the singer tells of a state of being only the heart can comprehend and truly grasp. Both tracks express anguish and solace, and Kristoffer’s delicate and hushed vocals further capture these distraught emotions.
All the more impressive is the artist plays the piano and cello and composes the music himself. The melodies of both instruments exquisitely match the album’s melancholic mood, and while listening to the EP, I couldn’t help but imagine a gothic mansion perched on a dark hilltop amid a rainstorm. The strings really shine in all their glory in the song “In Her Heart of Hearts,” communicating a deep-seated aching in the soul.
When you listen to the tracks, I definitely recommend lighting a few candles, reclining and closing your eyes to allow yourself to bask in the sounds and lyrics. This is music that urges you to slow down, pause and listen with your senses. I’m eager to hear how the rest of the trilogy unfolds.
In the following interview, Leon Kristoffer opens up about his musical background, his reasons for creating Spirit Tomb and shares other fascinating details about himself.
Q: Before we talk about your debut EP, I want to delve into your musical background. You launched your music project in 2020, but you have experience playing the piano and cello, and you’re a vocalist. How did you get involved in the music field? Did you study music and undergo training or are you self-taught?
A: For as long as I can recall I have been in love with music, and at the age of 9, the urge to start playing an instrument came with full force. After about a year of begging, my parents bought me a guitar, and I finally got started when I was 10 years old. That’s 27 years ago now.
I started out taking lessons from the very beginning. My teacher was simply fantastic. He pointed out the importance of listening to all kinds of music and to take inspiration from everything that resonates within. In addition, he taught me the importance of learning the fundamentals, but also to improvise and make my own solos instead of just learning things exactly note for note.
I was taught by him until I was 13, and from that I taught myself by using everything from sheet music to figuring out stuff by ear.
Combining being self-taught with being taught is, in my opinion, the best way to go. It’s really the best of both worlds. It’s kind of stupid spending years to figure out something on your own, when it is already an existing technique etc, that a teacher can show you.
Technique is one of the many tools of the soul, and one of many factors contributes to its fullest expression. It would be a shame if creativity was hindered by technical abilities.
Q: What motivated you to begin producing and recording your own songs? Did you already know the aesthetic and sound you wanted to establish?
A: My background in music is mostly based around rock and metal, and I have been in bands since I was 12. I started writing my own music more or less as soon as I started playing the guitar, which means that I have been writing since I was around 10-11 years old.
Writing was something that came to me in a very natural way, and I have been writing ever since, in many different forms and styles of music.
From the very beginning, I also got very interested in the process of recording, and I started using old tape recorders to record everything from my own practice sessions to recording band rehersals. This later on led me to build my own recording studio, and to become a recording, mixing and mastering engineer as well. There is something very magical about capturing a performance and being able to preserve it for all eternity—to be able to relive something that can never happen again in the exact same way.
Creating the music for Spirit Tomb started out with me digging deeper into music theory and starting to learn the ecclesiastical modes, in addition to getting more and more into the sounds that an old vintage piano and cello can provide. I wanted to express something that was very much different and new, yet somehow old and familiar.
Q: The Lotus of Dahlia is the first part of the Aandegrav trilogy, and it centers on the theme of grief. Where did you look for inspiration when working on this initial chapter?
A: It is based on my recurring nightmares and fears of loosing the one I love. These nightmares and fears reflect the vast love I have for this person. There is a certain kind of beauty to this.
Q: The lyrics for “In Her Hearts of Hearts” and “A Desire for Beauty” are so poetic and beautiful. How does the writing process compare to composing the instrumentation? Do you enjoy one more than the other?
A: Thank you kindly! The writing process for the lyrics is fairly similar to writing the music. Certain words evoke certain moods, just as certain chords or notes do. And when these two aspects merge, then that is poetry in itself.
Q: I love the macabre atmosphere you channel in the short film for your EP. How did you come up with the concept?
A: Thank you! Spirit Tomb is as much a visual entity as a sonic one, and each installment of the Aandegrav trilogy will have their corresponding films. This short film is both a direct and abstract visualization of the music and lyrics, with a heavy focus on atmosphere. It just came to me completely naturally, and this is the result.
My good friend Nicolai Karlsen was the man behind the camera for this film, and he is a genius in his own right. He is one of the very few people I work with, and he gets me. It is an absolute pleasure to work with him. This was actually my first time editing a film, so that was a hugely rewarding experience, and I look very much forward to start working on the next one!
Q: Your art certainly embodies a dark aesthetic. What do you appreciate about the gothic genre and the macabre?
A: It goes where it hurts. It makes you look within. It dares to touch upon the things that hide in the shadows of our psyche.
“And in the darkness of the shutted eye the secrets will lie,
For this is a darkness we need to feel in order to become whole —
To become who we truly are.
Embrace it, my dear,
For there is beauty in everything.”
—Prologue from Spiritus Lacrimarum
Q: You’re based in Norway, a place that’s on my travel bucket list. First, what recommendations do you have for a spooky soul wanting to explore the country? And when you’re not working on your music, what do you enjoy doing?
A: Norway can be a very unpractical country to travel in, and it is easy to get dragged into the “big” cities and miss the gems that are to be found elsewhere. I would seriously recommend going to the Ervik Cemetary and Selje monastery. These are somewhat close to my home town, and it is always a sublime experience to go there. In addition to that, I can also add that a trip to Nidarosdomen is a must.
As for activities other than music, I do enjoy watching movies a lot, and I have a collection of something like 2000 films. Horror is of course one of my favourite genres, old as well as new ones.
Q: What do you have planned next for your music and creative projects? Any teasers you’d like to drop?
A: Yes, indeed! Next up is the second chapter of the Aandegrav trilogy: Spiritus Lacrimarum. All the lyrics for this album are poems by the one and only Edgar Allan Poe. I have carefully selected 8 of his poems, and put them in a sequence that tells a beautiful story of loss and love. If all goes according to plan, it will be released this autumn. A short teaser for the track “Annabel Lee” is to be found here: https://youtu.be/LHy5ZlqWokc
Vamp Jenn's Corner 
Another amazing interview. That is quite impressive. The music is sad but beautiful. I certainly agree with “Norway can be a very unpractical country to travel in”. We drove from Sweden to Trondheim, no problem, then we tried to drive south inside Norway and that was very difficult, plus I got tickets on the tollroads.
With all the mountains and fjords and the thin landscape, it’s so difficult to drive, plus the toll roads, and Norway is pretty expensive too. Sweden, which also has mountains, but less of them, is much easier to drive in (and no tolls). Sometimes I wonder if it would be practical to drive into Sweden when you visit Norway and just come back into Norway for the places you want to visit.
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Thank you for the kinds words! And that’s interesting information to know about travel in Norway. I had no idea. I’ll have to keep that in mind if I make it out to that part of the globe.
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His music sounds a lot like baroque but with a dark twist underside to it.
A melody by Bach or Vivaldi combined with the dark somber tones of Beethoven’s Fur Elise.
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Ah, yes. Interesting comparisons.
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Great interview, Jenn! Fitting that, like you, Kristoffer’s first exposure to music was in the classical genre. I can see how that influenced similarly both your aesthetics.
Neither here nor there, but I’ll mention it anyway – for a guy and for a musician, Kristoffer has beautiful handwriting. One expression of his artistry, no doubt.
When I spied his album title I thought at first it referenced the notorious Black Dahlia mystery. Especially as the case is steeped so deeply in dreadfulness and in the unknown. Obviously, the Dahlia doesn’t resonate as intensely for someone who grew up in Europe instead of L.A. Oh well, Kristoffer’s work is intriguing all the same.
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Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it. And I agree with you regarding his handwriting. I, on the hand hand, have horrid penmanship😄 I can see how the album title brought the Black Dahlia to mind. I didn’t think to ask him the story behind the title.
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