The 3rd and the Mortal were a Norwegian experimental metal band, founded in Trondheim, in 1990. The band started out as a melodic death metal band, shifting to doom metal, mixing distorted guitars and heavy drumming with clean guitars and vocals. The band went on to experiment with genres such as progressive rock, jazz, ambient, folk and electronica. The 3rd and the Mortal were one of the forerunners of the atmospheric metal scene. Being among the first to have a female lead singer, they inspired bands such as The Gathering, Flowing Tears and Nightwish. "Tears Laid In Earth" (1994) was the band's first full album. Early on they also released two EP's: Sorrow (1994) and Nightswan (1995). These EP's were later included in the CD "EP's and Rarities", together with two bonus tracks. For this vinyl reissues series, we have made a vinyl containing the two EP's, with the bonus tracks from the "EP's and Rarities" CD moved to side 4 of the last album in this package, "Memoirs" (2002).