Symphonic Gothic Metal band from Norway of my favorite band
SIRENIA was formed by Morten Veland in january 2001. Morten’s musical work was already well known through his work with his former band Tristania, a band he co-founded back in the mid nineties. Being the main songwriter for this band he was a part of defining the gothic metal sound from a very early time on. With SIRENIA his intention was to bring everything to the next level, a task he succeeded to fulfil. Up to date SIRENIA has released 3 albums and an EP, their latest work ‘Nine Destinies and a Downfall’ made it to the charts in 6 countries, receiving great reviews worldwide. Meanwhile their single ‘My Mind’s Eye’ taken from the same album topped radio charts in several countries. Their new album ‘The 13th Floor’ was released on the 23rd of January via Nuclear Blast Records.
SIRENIA sounds like a mixture of gothic metal and rock with classical influences, in addition to some elements from more extreme metal genres. Their sound have a solid base in the powerful drums and bass supported by massive rhythm guitars, dressed with atmospheric keyboards and spiced with melancholic violins and 12-string guitars. The vocal styles are diverse and consist of female vocals, choirs, growls, screams, clean male vocals, whispers and samples. The songs are very intense and the atmosphere changes frequently. The lyrics are based on reflections on life, death, love, hate, paranoia, anxiety and mental decline in general.
The band has been through some line-up changes over the years, but has now settled with a very strong line-up. In addition to Morten performing guitars and vocals the band consists of Ailyn: female vocals, Jonathan A. Perez: drums and Michael S. Krumins: guitars.
Ailyn original name Pilar Giménez García
(born May 29, 1982 in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona) is a Spanish singer, known as Ailyn. She is the female vocalist of the gothic metal band Sirenia.
On April 9, 2008 it was announced that Ailyn was chosen as the new singer of Sirenia out of over 500 women. "I got selected as Sirenia’s new vocalist as an accident," she later told an interviewer. "My sister added them to my myspace’s friends, but we didn’t realize that if you wanted to audition for the band you had to send them your demo or add them as friends, so I was shocked when they wrote to me asking to go to Norway and audition for the new vocalist. I went there twice, the first time was a studio audition and the second one with all the band members. I think I was selected because I’m what Morten was looking for the band, and also since the first moment we connected all the members from Sirenia.
Her first album with the band is The 13th Floor, which was released on January 23, 2009. She is also the female vocalist on Sirenia's fifth album The Enigma of Life, released on January 21, 2011. Although Henriette Bordvik performed vocals on both An Elixir for Existence and the EP Sirenian Shores, the release of The Enigma of Life makes Ailyn the first female vocalist to record two full-length albums with Sirenia.
Members:
Current members
Morten Veland – Harsh vocals, Clean vocals (studio only), Guitars, Bass (studio only), Keyboards (studio only), Programming (studio only), Drums (studio only) (2001–present)
Ailyn – Vocals (2008–present)
Jonathan A. Perez – Drums (2003–present)
Jan Erik Soltvedt – Guitars (2011–present)
Former members
Henriette Bordvik – Vocals (2003–2005)
Monika Pedersen – Vocals (2006–2007)
Kristian Gundersen – Guitars (only live) & Clean vocals (2001–2004)
Bjørnar Landa – Guitars (only live) (2004–2008)
Michael S. Krumins – Guitars & Harsh vocals (only live) (2008–2011)
Kristian Olav Torp – Bass (only live) (2008)
Roland Navratil – Drums (only live) (2004–2005, 2009)
Session members
Fabienne Gondamin – Vocals (2001–2002)
Jan Kenneth Barkved – Clean vocals (2001–2002, 2008)
Pete Johansen – Violin (2001–2002)
Anne Verdot – Violin (2003, 2004)
Stephanie Valentin – Violin (2008, 2010)
The Sirenian Choir
Damien Surian (2001–2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Emilie Lesbros (2001–2004, 2008, 2010)
Johanna Giraud (2001–2002, 2004)
Hubert Piazzola (2001–2002, 2004)
Mathieu Landry (2003–2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Emmanuelle Zoldan (2003–2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Sandrine Gouttebel (2003–2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Discography:
Albums
At Sixes and Sevens (2002)
An Elixir for Existence (2004)
Nine Destinies and a Downfall (2007)
The 13th Floor (2009)
The Enigma of Life (2011)
EPs
Sirenian Shores (2004)
Singles & Promo Singles
My Mind's Eye
The Path To Decay
The End Of It All
Music videos
My Mind's Eye
The Other Side
The Path To Decay
The End Of It All
