SIRENIA – PERILS OF THE DEEP BLUE - by PlanetMosh (www.planetmosh.com)
Simon Bower 11 June 2013
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..
To say I’ve been chomping at the bit to get hold of this album to listen to is an understatement, one of Gothic Metals best loved bands are finally back on the scene with their sixth album ’Perils Of The Deep Blue’. In many respects Sirenia have always been a bit of an enigma, formed in 2001 by Morten Veland (formerly of Tristania fame), the bands path has at times been a rocky one and not just in the musical sense, with numerous line up changes consistency has been a very hard thing to achieve but with Mortens steadfast and resolute approach the underlying vision and ethos of the band has remained unchanged. Genre classics such as ’Nine Destinies And A Downfall’, ’The 13th Floor’ and 2011’s ’The Enigma Of Life’ are each milestones and in many ways define all that Gothic Metal is about.
However, ’Perils…’ puts everything previously released into the shade and that’s not easy for me to say, ’Nine Destinies..’ is after all, one of my favourite albums of all time and will always remain so but the grand scale of this latest offering just takes everything on to a whole new and wondrous level, a more complete and accomplished body of work you would be hard pushed to find.
Leading from the intro track comes ‘Seven Widows Weep’, a track that has everything, does everything and wants for nothing. Male vocal, female vocal, piano, strings, orchestral, choral and riffs that shake you to the core, it’s akin to listening to a whole album in a single track, with each listen, something else leaps out and grabs you, a plethora of sounds and visions surround and enchant, much like the mythical Sirens themselves.
Female vocalist, Ailyn really comes of age on this record, her ethereal and soulful sound is perfect, set against such a stunning musical backdrop as this, bringing each story to life in such a beautiful and remarkable way. The whole Sirenia sound on this album is one of a solid rhythm guitar base supporting further layers of Metal, infused with Classical elements and atmospheric piano segments that have you immediately hooked. Diversity is the key word here, each track, whilst gelling perfectly with the next, stands alone, listen to ‘Seven Widows..’ and then ‘Ditt Endelikt’ and the difference between the two is marked and yet they make such good bed fellows that it all flows seamlessly.
‘Perils Of The Deep Blue’ is as career defining an album to Sirenia as ‘Once’ was for Nightwish, it really is that good. Songs like ‘Decadence’ and ‘Darkling’ to name but two are stunning, whilst ‘Stille Kom Døden’ is as truly a spiritual experience as it is a musical one, demonstrating exactly what Sirenia have developed into, namely one of the leading Gothic Metal bands on the planet.
If you are a fan of Gothic and Female Fronted Metal, then this album is an absolute essential purchase, if you are not a fan of the aforementioned then this is the album that will convert you.
Sirenia - Perils of the Deep Blue - by Sonic Cathedral (www.soniccathedral.com)
Sirenia - CD Review
Perils of the Deep Blue
CD Info
2013
Nuclear Blast
13 Tracks
English/Spanish Lyrics
When it comes to music, there are few things more exciting than a good comeback. Now, every band has its ups and downs, but in the case of Sirenia, it’s been essentially one long ride downhill. While At Sixes and Sevens is considered a gothic metal masterpiece, a regular staple of old-school gothic metal collections, Sirenia’s last few (read: four) efforts were frankly subpar, the lowest points being the rather abysmal Nine Destinies and a Downfall and the cesspit of redundancy that was the band’s previous record The Enigma of Life. That’s not to say these albums didn’t contain decent songs (oddly enough, they actually contain some of my favorite Sirenia tracks), but, as I explained in my review of the previous album, most of the music seemed as if it was forced into a formula, like shoving a square peg into a round hole, and it all sounded pretty much the same down to the fact that every song had a choir part in the same place. My advice to Morten then was to let the songs take their own shape and let them grow on their own, adding in certain elements only where they sounded like they were supposed to be.
Well, apparently Morten took my advice (or more likely came to the realization on his own after reading nothing but bad reviews). Sirenia’s new album, Perils of the Deep Blue, is such an improvement over the band’s previous material that I’d even go as far as to say it’s the best album they’ve released since At Sixes and Sevens. Why such high praise, you ask? Because Perils of the Deep Blue is everything Sirenia has always tried to be but previously failed to achieve: it’s bombastic, heavy, dark, beautiful, epic, and melancholy all at once and in the right proportion. Part old-school charm, part modern gothic sensibility, it’s a perfect example of an updated gothic metal that’s true to its roots.
This is evident from the first notes of the lachrymose "Ducere Me In Lucem," where singer Aylin shows off her new-found classical leanings over a sorrowful piano line an backed by the signature Sirenia choir. But suddenly, the somber tune is overtaken by the combined bombast of the choir, drums, and guitar in "Seven Widows Weep," where Morten takes over with his harsh vocals, singing of lost sailors lured to their deaths by enchanting Sirens, which perfectly describes the vocals of Aylin in this song. In the chorus we hear her pushing her voice to new heights with a power we haven’t seen from her before, yet switching effortlessly to a softer, soothing croon in the bridge. "Seven Widows Weep" is a perfect example of the "new" Sirenia. There’s a new-found heaviness here, demonstrated by pounding drums and crushing guitars, that’s both supported and juxtaposed by the symphonic elements and Aylin’s vocal prowess. Now, she’s always been a good singer, but you can certainly hear the major improvements over the last few records. Her range is wider and she’s learned a few new tricks, improving her diction quite a bit as well (something that was hard to listen to at times on previous albums).
The album continues in a similar vein with "My Destiny Come to Pass," which boasts one of the heaviest and most epic intros Sirenia has produced to date. This song is a perfect example of Morten letting the songs grow into themselves instead of molding them to a predetermined formula. All of your typical Sirenia elements are here: the choirs, the growls, the memorable chorus, the chugging riffs, but here they don’t seem at all out of place. They all have their parts and they blend together to make one hell of a song where nothing seems superfluous as it often does with Sirenia.
And while the typical Sirenia elements are oh-so-present on this album, the band also tries to go outside their comfort zone a little bit with songs like bilingual "Ditt Endelik," a bit more of a typical alternative gothic rocker sung in Norwegian, featuring Joakim Næss on vocal duties and only featuring Aylin whispering Spanish lyrics before and after the final chorus. It seems Sirenia doesn’t stray too far from their comfort zone, though, as the album dives right back into familiar territory with "Cold Caress," which again showcases Sirenia’s new heaviness and the full extent of Aylin’s vocal abilities. Truthfully, this song is very much like some of the previous ones, featuring the same general structure and recycling the elements we’ve already heard on "Seven Widows Weep" and "My Destiny Come to Pass." It may have been too much to hope that Morten would entirely abandon his penchant for formulas, but on the upside, I didn’t really notice that these were basically the same song until I really listened to them carefully.
Again, "Darkling" and "Decadence" continue in a similar vein, but heavier and darker still. The former showcases an interesting layering of elements: a forlorn female vocal over a chugging guitar riff, followed by Morten’s growl backed by pounding drums and Aylin’s croon. This is yet another example of a more organic approach to songwriting, as the transitions here between all the different elements are flawless, something Morten has struggled with on the past few albums. "Decadence" brings us a touch of industrial metal, something the band began to experiment with on The Enigma of Life, one of that album’s very few positive notes. In fact, Sirenia could switch entirely over to industrial metal, and you wouldn’t hear me complaining. They’re quite good at it! This song also features the album’s first guitar solo in addition to some clean vocals from Morten reminiscent of At Sixes and Sevens.
"Stille Kom Doden" slows things down a bit. This 12-minute epic starts off slow and heavy, mournful and doomy, very much reminiscent of early Tristania. Aylin comes in strong, yet sorrowful. Despite the fact that she’s singing in Norwegian (yet another accomplishment!), you don’t need to understand the lyrics to feel the emotion she conveys. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Sirenia song without a bombastic choral interlude about half-way through. The second half of the song switches effortlessly between maelstroms of Morten’s growls and riffs, and quieter somber passages featuring softer sides of both vocalists over a bed of acoustic guitar. Morten really showcases some great guitar work toward the end, adding to the chaotic vibe of certain passages. In true gothic fashion, the song ends with the sound of church bells ringing during a thunderstorm, leaving the listener a moment to ponder what he just heard before the album takes another turn for the more typical Sirenia in "The Funeral March." While I enjoy Morten exploring territory outside his comfort zone, this song, clearly a throwback to the style of more recent Sirenia albums, is actually one of the best on Perils of the Deep Blue, which just goes to show that Morten is a master at his craft, limited as it may be. Thankfully, this album only has one or two songs truly following the formula of the past few albums instead of an album with one good song and twelve slightly edited copies.
"Profound Scars" heads back into industrial territory and manages to be the heaviest song on an already fairly heavy album. Its brilliant layering of choirs and synths over a fantastic riff, its downright creepy verse, the memorable chorus, Morten’s epic grows, and a generally dark and heavy ambience make this song easily one of the best on the record. The album closes with "A Blizzard is Storming," which is sadly doesn’t live up to its place of honor on the record as the closing song. It’s creepy vibe and, for lack of a better word, bouncy verse make for a good listen, but this is one of those songs that suffer from the Sirenia curse. While the rest of the album has a very organic feel to it, "A Blizzard is Storming" sounds a bit discordant and lacks the smooth transition between different elements. It ends abruptly and is rather anti-climactic for a closing track, leaving you wondering whether Sirenia just forgot to include a song to close off the album. For a song that’s a relative disappointment, it couldn’t have been put in a spot that more effectively exposes its weaknesses.
Despite the disappointing ending, this album is extremely enjoyable. Perils of the Deep Blue is what gothic metal’s been missing for many years. While the other pioneers of the genre have gone on in more alternative directions, Morten has stayed true to his roots and has finally produced an album worthy of his status as a gothic metal legend. Hardcore Sirenia fans (who seem to worship the band with a fervor most of the world’s religions would envy) and old-school gothic traditionalists will rejoice at the band’s amazing comeback, while perhaps this album will also win back the legions of gothic metal enthusiasts who’ve all but given up hope for Morten and the crew. With Tristania also having released one of the best albums of the year, it looks like gothic metal is making a comeback, with its original pioneers leading the charge. We can only hope this trend continues!
8.5 / 10
Standout tracks: "Seven Widows Weep" "Stille Kom Doden" "The Funeral March" and "Profound Scars."
Sirenia – Perils of the Deep Blue (Nuclear Blast) - by Dead Rhetoric (deadrhetoric.com)
By David E. Gehlke June 18, 2013
When one door closes, another one opens, especially in the case of Sirenia leader Morten Veland. Leaving Gothic metal veterans Tristania in 2000 due to musical differences, he put Norwegian act Sirenia together the following year and has been productive ever since, with Perils of the Deep Blue the sixth studio album in 12 years. Featuring a mix of gothic, rock, and extreme metal influences, the quartet rely on this dynamic yin-and-yang riff-flow with symphonic crescendos to create a larger than life aural outlook.
After the 3:33 “Ducere Me In Lucem” intro set up that features the high operatic range of female vocalist Ailyn which will probably double as their backing tape before hitting stages over the next year, the choirs signal the metal movement “Seven Widows Deep,” a steady diet of Veland’s buzzsaw guitars and extreme vocals volleying next to the orchestral keys and Nightwish-like layers of progression. The plodding bass that starts “My Destiny Comes to Pass” has a twinge of “Runnin’ with the Devil” in its sight, otherwise this is another commercial oriented arrangement with Ailyn’s melodic/siren vocals leading the way.
The 11 songs on this effort just don’t grab my eardrums or brain enough to warrant Sirenia more than a cursory listen. An epic like the 12:42 “Stille Kom Doden” takes far too long to get into gear, and when it does the main riff is something I would expect from mid-1990’s Metallica, not a symphonic Gothic metal band from Scandinavia. And 67 minutes of material is frankly about 20 minutes too much for the average consumer to handle.
Early Sirenia albums like An Elixir for Existence or Nine Destinies and a Downfall hold up much better in the performance, songwriting, and execution aspects. A case where the Tristania’s new release with Darkest White puts Sirenia’s latest to shame.
OUR RATING : 5.5/10
Perils Of The Deep Blue - Sirenia - by Metal Temple (metal-temple.com)
Perils Of The Deep BlueSirenia
Well, I have to admit, I have never been so fond of SIRENIA until I […]
By Tuoksu Holopainen • June 13, 2013
Well, I have to admit, I have never been so fond of SIRENIA until I heard the first song off this new album and it was more than revealing. It's so different than anything I've ever heard from them and I knew it promised some surprises, just as Morten Veland stated in the interview I had with him.
The album starts with a quite long but serene intro with keyboards and soft vocals then onto the best track of the whole album and my personal favorite among all SIRENIA songs: the previously mentioned "Seven Widows Weep". The whole album is somehow centered on this track. It's simply very epic, with such thrilling choirs, amazing growls, enchanting melodies and powerful riffs. The following track "My Destiny Come To Pass" continues in the same vein. The choirs, orchestrations and guitars are top-notch! Still, I'm not so fond of Ailyn's type of vocals but at least she fits in very well. In "Ditt Endelikt" we hear Morten's awesome clean vocals and some spoken lines in Spanish by Aylin. It's a more guitar-driven song but with a great keyboard melody. "Cold Caress" and "Darkling" are two more epic tracks, ornamented by great choirs again, and they feature the most pleasing vocal performance of Ailyn. "Decadence" is quite different, with an electronic vibe to it while "Stille Kom Døden" is a mellower and almost-Doom track. It's also one of my favorites for the moments. I like the somewhat-ethnic touch in "Profound Scars" and "A Blizzard Is Storming" is a nice wrap-up.
Well, all I have to say is this is certainly the best SIRENIA album to date for me.
Sirenia - Perils Of The Deep Blue (2013) - Review - by Terra Relicta (terrarelicta.com)
Details
Published on Sunday, 29 December 2013 15:15
Album title: Perils Of The Deep Blue
Release date: 28 June 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Tracklisting:
01. Ducere Me In Lucem
02. Seven Widows Weep
03. My Destiny Coming To Pass
04. Ditt Endelikt
05. Cold Caress
06. Darkling
07. Decadence
08. Stille Kom Døden
09. The Funeral March
10. Profound Scars
11. A Blizzard Is Storming
12. Chains [bonus]
13. Blue Colleen [bonus]
Morten Veland's second progeny (first being Tristania and the third Mortemia) is like a ship on a long journey over the seas: sometimes it flows smoothly and then it hits a harsh wave and almost sinks down. In other words: Sirenia’s discography has had its ups and downs (its biggest down being their previous release The Enigma Of Life) and fortunately, Perils Of The Deep Blue is one of its ups.
The album slowly opens with a serene and profound instrumental "Ducere Me In Lucem" and goes straight to powerful and rich in sound "Seven Widows Weep". This song shows Morten still knows how to make a vigorous gothic metal anthem. "Seven Widows Weep" has all the elements it needs: choirs, growls, harsh guitars and Ailyn’s beautiful vocals. At this point I must point out that Ailyn has never sounded better before and she really gave the performance of her life. She took her vocals to the limits and experimented with dramatic style, but always remained graceful. On the other hand, Morten’s growls are a wee bit disappointing on this record, as they lack depth and passion. Nonetheless, the combination of the two styles, accompanied with choirs is still giving this album its power.
As Mr. Veland has his distinctive style, I cannot really say this album does not have "Morten" written all over it. But it is a step forward on his path of composing and shows a lot more versatility. The songs flirt with electronic sounds by giving some heavy keyboard tunes, like for example on "Decadence" and "The Funeral March" and even with slower, a bit doomish rhythms on the epic "Stille Kom Døden". The surprise of Perils Of The Deep Blue must be "Ditt Engelikt", which features a fairly unknown singer, Joakim Næss, on clean vocals that carry out the song. Having a strong, catchy melody and Joakim's flawless performance it really brings the light to this album.
For those who enjoy the richness of sound brought on by the combination of melodic guitar riffs, keyboards and orchestrations, Perils Of The Deep Blue will be an enjoyment. The instrumental side of the album is nowhere near minimalistic, the vocals are emotional and the melodies have its smooth flow – especially in the second half of the album, so it is worth checking out the release with bonus tracks. Altogether, this record holds great energy and ambient. Perils Of The Deep Blue is definitely a record in Sirenia’s discography worth being proud of.
Review written by: Ines
Rating: 7,5/10
Sirenia – Perils Of The Deep Blue (Nuclear Blast) - by Ave Noctum (avenoctum.com)
A new collection of songs from the siren is always welcome for me because as far as symphonic metal is concerned these Norwegians have long been a firm favourite of mine. If you know their history you will be well aware that they formed after Morten Veland split off from former band Tristania and gave us not double bubble quite honestly as both groups seemed to go from strength to strength. It was probably the 2007 album ‘Nine Destinies And A Downfall’ that really did it for me creating a big impression with its hooky melodies and sweet and sour vocal interplay between Morten and Monika Pedersen. Unfortunately she was to leave but the band pulled together and a new female vocalist was found in the form of Spanish singer Ailyn aka Pilar Giménez García and have worked with her on the last few albums.
Perils Of The Deep is the group’s sixth album and one that its composer states is “the work of 2 and a half years of blood sweat and tears.” It certainly looks ambitious, noting before play is pressed that it has a rather epic(a) amount of songs on it and one is over 12 minutes long. Of course you may not have got that far if you actually have it on disc as the front cover artwork by Anne Stokes is enough to distract. We are eased in gently to the vocal choral symphony of ‘Ducere Me In Lucem’ which builds lushly before the full walloping swagger of Seven Widows Deep batters in. Could this be Sirenia’s Carmina Burana? It certainly suggests it even if the jagged guitar might not have been involved when that classic piece was originally composed. It is Morten’s rasps we hear first but only a while before Ailyn makes an impressive entry, one that comes close to taking your breath away. It’s pompous stuff but it is driving and as far as I am concerned dynamic enough to put it up there with the best that the genre has to offer. As we progress it is evident that Morten really has studied the past and puts the best of the old and modern world together in his heady arrangements.
I cannot give them a complete joyride though, like I said the album is long and although I love the sound of Ailya and have no problem with some beastly growls, leaving a track like ‘Ditt Endelikt’ to clean male harmonic vocals is not what I want to listen to in this sort of music. Besides that it sounds like it is the band’s attempt to have got in on the Eurovision song contest act; awful just bloody awful number, skip button every time. Luckily that is the only real shoot it in the head moment and we are back with that ‘Cold Caress’ of the female vocals which no doubt could easily have sailors dashing themselves on the rocks to get closer to. There is a bit of an electro beat going through ‘Decadence’ and this could be a song for a club dance floor, it also has one of the catchiest melodies chorus wise of the album. As for the long number it’s quite a ballad in places but rocks out in others and even descends into some proggy death metal bits. A recurring jagged keyboard refrain keeps momentum in the quieter moments and ‘Stille Kom Døden’ shows that Ailyn has no problem singing in Norwegian.
There is a lot to take on here. It definitely feels like you are getting your money’s worth with the full on sound and the strong arrangements. It’s like going to the cinema to see a blockbuster rather than staying in to watch a straight to video movie basically. The strongest number on repeated listens is ‘The Funeral March’ but how the hell can a song with a title like this sound so damn cheerful? I guess it’s a big celebration of life and there’s plenty of that in the album and fans of the style should certainly come out the listening experience feeling enthused.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
CD Review: Sirenia - Perils of the deep blue - by Reflections of Darkness (www.reflectionsofdarkness.com)
Written by: Askar Ibragimov
Published: 09 October 2013
Artist: Sirenia
Album: Perils of the deep blue
Genre: Gothic Metal
Release Date: 28th June 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast
Album Review
SIRENIA made a beautiful album. I am a long-standing fan of their first work, a masterpiece named ‘At sixes at sevens’. It is the essence of "beauty and the beast"-like vocals (female and growling together), overlaid by melodic "dark orchestration". After that release, however, the band was not capturing my attention for a while, and there I have a chance to review their sixth release called ‘Perils of the deep blue’. As said on the band’s website, it is “a very diverse and complete album that sums up the bands career in addition to adding new and exciting elements. With this album the band shows that they have staked out their musical path and perfected their unique style.” While many artists usually try to impress a reader with overblown introductions, I would agree with the self-characteristic this time.
I shall praise the music. How many times, a band would seemingly have everything necessary for a strong work - experienced musicians, good ideas and sound, nice artwork for good measure, but in the end their music would sound kinda boring. Here we got the absolute opposite. Instrumental parts are long and extremely captivating, melodic and beautiful. Torben Veland is a master and doing great for a while. Not every song I would call a hit, but there are some real gems. I shall praise the great level of sound producing. It's 21st century definitely - a complex, well mixed sound, crystal clear and multi-layered. There were a lot of tracks going into mix and they are well defined, well separated and very well tied together. When Torben's "dark", growling vocals are intermixed with the orchestral music, it's really electrifying. What else we have here? Fast drums, clean guitar solos, female vocals by Aylin (mostly high pitched but sometimes pleasantly deep - band should use low tones in her voice a lot more!), an a lot of classical instruments.
Still, SIRENIA on this record feels somewhat a prisoner of the gothic genre. It's a good question, where you'd draw a line between matching yourself to target audience and "doing things your own way". The announced diversity, as I feel, is simply a division between creative approaches. Some songs are your typical gothic ballads, where nothing much captures attention in song itself and it is more interesting to listen to orchestral parts. I'd simply call them "fillers". Other part are the songs where Veland's compositing talent is going completely unleashed. Other manifestation of the genre are the song names that are 100% Goth - such as ‘My Destiny Coming To Pass’, ‘The Funeral March’ - and the lyrics. Is that bad? For SIRENIA, probably not as much. It blends well with the music, with overall execution, and I have no particular issues at all - just saying. As a side note, the album features some Spanish verses on one of the tracks and ‘Stille Kom Døden’ is the song in Norwegian.
What about favourites? First, the beautiful intro. It's a short Latin prayer that indicates that you're about to listen to Goth record. I like ‘Darkling’ and ‘The Funeral March’ - the female vocal is more or less typical and does not make any "miracles", but when growling starts, song become really beautiful. Then, final tracks ‘Profound Scars’ and ‘A Blizzard Is Storming’ are quite captivating. It's like Morten finally meant to say "okay... I gave my label what they wanted, some typical stuff, now let's do the right thing". Vocals of Aylin become less high-pitched and more varied, melody seriously gains in depth and shows truly great parts, growling is now on par with clean vocals and everything is just so good.
Bottom line: definitely worth checking out, if you're into gothic metal. I give it 8/10 because still I am not so impressed by part of the album, but I still very excited about what I found here.
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 8 / 10
Sirenia – Perils Of The Deep Blue Review - by My Global Mind (myglobalmind.com)
Ailyn sounds as amazing ever, and from there the song takes off and becomes a classic that should especially impress fans of the debut At Sixes And Sevens....
Morten Veland has long been one of my favorite songwriters and musicians, ever since I first heard his final album with his former band Tristania, the masterpiece Beyond The Veil, which can be considered one of my favorite albums of all time. After leaving Tristania he formed Sirenia, and while his first two albums followed the same path as the aforementioned album, he quickly moved into something else: Something much more accessible and at times commercial sounding, with the lead female vocals taking center stage and everything else fading into the background. Most people had been disappointed by the last few albums, but even though I prefer the old style I have still been more than satisfied, in large part due to the amazing vocals of Spanish singer Ailyn, who Morten first brought in for the fourth album “The 13th Floor”, but she soon became the first Sirenia vocalist to stick around for multiple full length albums. Their third album together, and the sixth overall full length album by Sirenia, Perils Of The Deep Blue was released just recently, and while I had very high expectations for it, after several listens I stand amazed by just how spectacular it truly is!
As I mentioned above, while I personally loved their previous two albums, especially The Enigma Of Life, many of their other fans were not so pleased, and it seems both members took all the criticisms they received to heart, as while all the familiar elements are still in place, there have been many changes to make it a heavier, deeper and much more complex album. On Morten’s side, it seems he has taken equal parts inspiration from both the early Sirenia albums and the first two with Ailyn, but especially from his earlier days as this sounds like a much more traditional gothic metal album once again. There’s still the catchy choruses and accessible songwriting of the last few albums, but now the song structures are a bit more complicated like before, there’s an increased presence of crunchy guitar riffs, a much more darker and more atmospheric sound, and, perhaps most importantly, Morten himself does more growling here than he did on their last three albums combined, while the traditional choir vocals are as prominent as ever. What this means is the album is much more dynamic once again, just like it was back in his late Tristania/ early Sirenia days.
Meanwhile, Ailyn spent some time in between albums to take classical singing lessons with a Norwegian choir, which has helped make her a more dynamic singer, but also given her more range and clearly more confidence, as she sounds much stronger and more powerful than before. The classical singing is mostly used in quick bursts, so she hasn’t exactly become the second coming of Vibeke Stene (the former Tristania vocalist, for those who don’t know), but when she does use her classical vocals she sounds excellent. However, the biggest improvement she has made is simply with how more confident she sounds, as her voice has always sounded beautiful to my ears, but now she’s willing to go much further with her high notes than ever before, and so they can sound pretty spectacular at times.
Obviously, though, the most important thing is whether or not the songs are any good. Fortunately, this is easily the best collection of songs Morten has put out since the aforementioned Beyond The Veil. Perhaps my only complaint about previous Sirenia albums has been the fact that the songwriting always followed a specific formula, especially on those last three albums, so once you heard a couple songs you pretty much knew exactly what you’d be hearing the rest of the way through. While Perils Of The Deep Blue still has Morten’s usual approach to writing songs, along with all his trademarks and tricks, there is much more variety here and there are certainly more than a few surprises. In fact, every song has at least one or two huge moments to help them all stand apart from each other, and there’s no less than exciting part on the entire album.
The album opens quite impressively, first with a really nice intro track called Ducere Me In Lucem, where Ailyn shows off her classical training while singing in Latin, and then comes the absolutely incredibly first single “Seven Widows Weep”. I’m sure it had to have been designed to appeal to fans of the earlier albums, and right out of the gates it has some great riffs, epic choir vocals, a strong atmospheric feeling to the music, and the verses are growled by Morten, which are all elements that had been mostly missing for a while, except for the choirs. Then the chorus comes and Ailyn sounds as amazing ever, and from there the song takes off and becomes a classic that should especially impress fans of the debut At Sixes And Sevens.
Even the simpler songs feel so much bigger and more epic now, in part because there’s always so many layers to the music, with the guitars making a stronger impact, while the keyboards and symphonic elements are still as impressive and as prominent as ever. Add in all the vocal dynamics, and you have quite the recipe for success. After that impressive opener, we get something that feels more like the newer material with “My Destiny Coming To Pass”, except the riffs here are much better and there’s one particular sequence in the second half of the song that is simply amazing. A huge surprise comes on “Ditt Endelikt” which is sung almost entirely in Norwegian by guest vocalist Joakim Næss. The music is much lighter and more straight-forward than on the rest of the album, with a bit more of a commercial feel to it, but Joakim (who I have never heard anywhere else) does an absolutely outstanding job as he has a very warm voice and gives a very energetic and emotional performance, so much so that I don’t mind not being able to understand a word he’s singing. Ailyn’s only part in the song is in the form of whispered vocals in between choruses near the end, and this is done in her native language, so there is no English on the entire song.
I could go on further about the rest of the album, but all that needs to be said is it’s all amazing, and feels like a combination of old and new Sirenia while also being perhaps more complex and more varied than any of their other albums. There’s also a slight progressive feel to some of the song structures, in the way some of the more unpredictable moments can come so suddenly. But the centrepiece of it all is the 12 minute epic Stille Kom Døden, which is sung entirely in Norwegian, Morten’s native language. It should be no surprise, then, that he not only growls in a few sections, but at one point he even uses his clean vocals which he unfortunately hadn’t used for a long time. As usual, he sounds great with both styles. The song itself is a masterpiece, and it manages to be everything I could have possibly hoped for from what I’m pretty sure is the first epic length song Morten has ever written. There are plenty of tempo changes, plenty of spectacular moments, and even a sort of semi chorus sung by Ailyn, though it doesn’t get repeated too much, as the song moves quickly and has many movements, all of which are equally impressive. While it seems weird that such a huge and impressive song wouldn’t be the final track, the album amazingly does not lose any steam afterwards. In fact, this is one of those albums where you can tell everyone involved was inspired, and there’s just a magical feeling to the whole album, as even the two bonus tracks included on my physical copy are quite awesome.
As a longtime fan not only of Sirenia, but of Morten’s work with Tristania, I am quite amazed by just how good Perils Of The Deep Blue is. I was expecting a great album, and instead I got probably the best gothic metal album since…. Well possibly since Beyond The Veil back in 1999, that’s how good it is. Fans of early Sirenia and of female fronted metal on the whole are highly recommended to give this at least a couple listens, as it really is an exceptional album.
Written by Travis
Ratings Travis 10/10
Sirenia: Perils of the Deep Blue - by Dangerdog Music Reviews (dangerdog.com)
Sirenia: Perils of the Deep Blue
Symphonic Power Metal
3.5/5.0
Nuclear Blast Records
by Craig Hartranft, 06.27.2013
There's little need to go into great detail about a new Sirenia album. Founder and principal composer Morten Veland and company offer another album of bombastic symphonic power metal with their sixth album, Perils of the Deep Blue.
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Sirenia: quite stylish. |
Of all the symphonic and gothic power metal bands in the world, I always thought Sirenia was the one to fill the gap when Nightwish parted with Tarja. Nearly every album reminds me of mid-period Nightwish. I'm sure the band tires of the comparison. Alternatively, when comparing this work with previous Sirenia albums, there's little distinction to be found. Call them a fluid series or a blur of the same, their music is certainly consistent and predictable. Melodic and symphonic, grand and bombastic are the continuous descriptive refrain for any Sirenia work. Of course, you must toss in Veland's pesky death vocals into the mix. Doesn't he ever get tired of this cliche in the gothic metal genre? While Sirenia does not disappoint by providing the expected same, they did toss in one song that caught my interest. That would be Ditt Endelikt (Your Demise) which has a great catchy rock groove and, gasp, Veland singing clean. Sirenia needs to explore this motif more often. Otherwise, with Perils of the Deep Blue, Sirenia simply stays true to their calling, offering more symphonic power metal.
SIRENIA - Seven Widows Weep (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
Sirenia – Perils of the Deep Blue (Album review) - by Cryptic Rock (crypticrock.com)
Zenae Zukowski
December 31, 2013
In the year 2000 Morten Veland made the difficult decision to leave a band he put his life’s work into with Tristania, and form a new band we now know as Sirenia. Over a decade since their formation and 5 albums to their credit, Sirenia’s unique blend of gothic, extreme metal, and classical orchestral elements continues to shine. Along with a spectrum of vocals ranging from haunting growls to clean male/ female singing, and epic choirs, Sirenia takes their fans beyond the average listening experience. Painting vivid imagery with music and words, Veland has always showed fascination with the human condition. Through a number of lead female vocalist changes, the band finally found stability when Spanish vocalist Ailyn was recruited in 2008. On the band’s 6th album and 3rd with Ailyn, Perils of the Deep Blue, the true sense of their style stands out. Work on the album began prior to the release of The Enigma of Life (2011) and took Veland and company 2 years of blood, sweet, and tears to complete.
The journey begins with the very slow mystical and spiritual intro of “Ducere Me In Lucem”, which molds into a dark symphonic ambiance. Ailyn’s vocals are poetic with darker classical chanting that instantly mesmerizes you. On “Seven Widows Weep” heavy instrumentation and harsh choir chants set the mood along with the vocal variations of Veland’s grunts and Ailyn’s soaring voice providing for a captivating listen. The tempo changes halfway to a more spiritual sound between the keyboard and vocals, gradually slowing down to an operatic and peaceful vibe until the drums and guitar kick in ending things with high impact. “My Destiny Coming To Pass” opens up with heavy drumming, strings, and vocals. The drums have a lot of great energy mixing with powerful guitar riffs keeping the track fast, dark, and deep. Ailyn rocks this song with her powerful delivery. The songwriting is nothing but perfection here along with lyrics that shine light on the darkness that all humans go through from time to time. Directly following is the quick entry of the catchy tune “Ditt Endelikt”, opening up heavy and dark with their Norwegian tongue. The 5th track, “Cold Caress” begins with a gothic and symphonic intro containing hypnotic chanting and heavy guitar riffs. The great harmony and a mixture of the vocalization is what fans know and love about Sirenia. The strong musical elements make the song stand out among the rest of the album.
The next track “Darkling” opens up with a slow and peaceful guitar riff growing heavier with a spellbinding rhythm and beautiful harmonization between Ailyn and Veland. Lyrically strong, the chorus expresses a way to conquer your own personal struggles with the words, “You got to chase your demons on the run. Put out their fire, their dark desires. The exorcism has begun. Slaying all, leaving none”. The most captivating aspect of the song is that it begins and ends structured around the same single guitar riff. Adding a funkier electronic element, “Decadence”, is a bit lighter of a track, although there are moments of heaviness and force. Next we are provided the longest song on the album entitled “Stille Korn Doden” which clocks in over twelve minutes long and opens up with a stormy intro, vocals that have a classical twist, and instrumentation being a big focus during the beginning. Dark grunts enter at almost 5 minutes in, which then returns to a classical soft operatic tone providing for a constant change in tempo of soft to heavy throughout. As with the previous track, this song also mirrors the opening during its closing. The 9th track “The Funeral March” starts out heavy with various electronic sounds. Lyrically, the song remains poetic as the singing continues to sparkle; exhibiting the band’s ability to continue pushing the perimeters instrumental and vocally.
Winding down the album, the tenth track, “Profound Scars” begins with another energetic and impeccable intro. This track emerges more playfully than its predecessors. This is yet another example of Sirenia’s signature style and could be the best song off the album. Ending things is “A Blizzard is Storming”, which starts out as a whisper progressing more delicately than the previous track. It slowly grows into a darker and heavier song leaving us with a powerful ending to a near flawless album. If you are able to get your hands on the limited edition version of the album, “Chains” and “Blue Colleen” are bonus tracks which are an enjoyable listen.
Sirenia has truly tightened and perfected their style in Perils of the Deep Blue. There is also slightly more diversity from their prior albums with additional elements, making their unique style grow even deeper. Sirenia definitely found their niche and can keep any listener on their toes. Their use of tempo changes, diversified vocals, along with poetic lyrics truly make them stand out. CrypticRock gives Perils of the Deep Blue 4.5 out of 5.
Sirenia – Perils of the Deep Blue - by Black Wind Metal (blackwindmetal.com)
July 9, 2013
Sirenia
Perils of the Deep Blue
2013
Written by Allyson Kenning
I didn’t get my hopes up too much when I heard that Sirenia was releasing a new album this summer because their last three albums have been completely terrible and disappointing after releasing really good (and by now, practically ancient history) gothic metal with 2002’s At Sixes and Sevens, 2004’s An Elixir For Existence, and the 2004 EP, Sirenian Shores. After three year break, Sirenia released Nine Destinies and a Downfall – and what a downfall it was. It was less gothic, much more poppy and radio-friendly, had less atmosphere and less complexity, and was just generally disappointing after coming to love the sound of their previous releases. The downward trend continued after Spanish singer Ailyn joined the band for the next two releases, which had me scratching my head at composer and mainman Morten Veland’s decision making, seeming lack of inspiration, and propensity towards shorter, poppier material. Where was the Sirenia of old? It seemed to have gone the way of the dinosaur, replaced with vapid, uninspired songs and repetitive themes. June 28 (July 9 in North America) saw the release of Perils of the Deep Blue, and I was hugely skeptical about it, despite some teasers released by label Nuclear Blast that sounded quite promising.
Well, what can I say? This new album is a vast improvement over the previous three, and I can honestly say that I think Sirenia is back. Perhaps not to their original form, but close enough for my liking.
One of Morten’s strengths as a song-writer is his ability to create mood and atmosphere, and one of the ways he does this is with a small choir that’s balanced a little more on the male, tenor/baritone side of things than the female alto/soprano. In Perils of the Deep Blue, we start off with quite a wonderful choir piece, with Ailyn singing a soprano solo in Latin.
Which allows me to segue into one of the best parts of this album – Ailyn’s voice. In one of the teasers, Ailyn revealed that she had taken to heart some feedback from fans and worked on her vocals a bit between the last album and this one, and she joined a classical choir to learn some new techniques and to improve her range. And all that hard work has really paid off; she sounds sublime on this album. She is more powerful, she has improved her tonality and range, and she uses some classical technique. The opener, “Ducere Me In Lucem” shows this off well and gives the listener a sense of what is to come. I for one have never disliked Ailyn’s voice, by the way, however I have always thought that she was given mediocre material to work with, which is not her fault.
When we arrive at the second track, the single “Seven Widows Weep”, we get one of what will be several duets on the CD, and this song is excellent. It tells the story of seven sailors who set out for “adventure and conquest” but are lured into the deep by some pesky sirens, where their ships sinks and they all drown. It has a kind of Leaves’ Eyes-esque Nordic folk metal feel, which I really enjoyed. The other things I love about this song are Ailyn’s powerhouse vocals, and the fact that this is a hearty, meaty complex song compositionally, something I haven’t heard from this band in years. No, it’s not the most original story or lyrical theme ever, but it does make for a great tune. The album continues along with another very strong offering called “My Destiny Coming to Pass”, which includes some ominous, powerful drumming and more moody choir arrangements.
The fourth track is a bit odd, however. “Ditt Endelikt” is sung in Norwegian and Spanish and is a duet between Ailyn and a dude called Joakim Naess. It’s a straightforward metal song with a decent hook, but it seems a little wedged in there for no real reason, though I guess if I spoke Norwegian or Spanish, I might understand it more. Was curious about the inclusion of a guest singer, too; I’m not sure why this decision was made.
“Cold Caress” is a break-up song, Sirenia-style, and then we get into the parts of the album that are all strong musically but kind of fall apart for me because of Morten’s obsession with certain lyrical themes that he keeps regurgitating album after album, and those themes include negative mental states and moods. With the exception of track 8, which is another song sung in Norwegian, the rest of the album is dark and dreary in lyrical content, and it just made me wish Morten would branch out a bit in terms of subject matter. That’s also what makes “Seven Widows Weep” such a great song; it’s a sad story, but it’s not about the darkness of the soul and life running afoul and stuff like that.
I was really happy with this album, after so many disappointments from Sirenia in the past. Here we have shades of “old” Sirenia, with dark, ominous soundscapes, lots of gloomy atmosphere, and melodramatic lyrics. Ailyn should be commended for her vocal performance here because she really did an outstanding job (it helped that the material was better). Sirenia seems to be back on track, and I sure am glad, because their old stuff was one of my first introductions into the gothic metal genre, and it’s really been missed them.
3.75 // 5
Sirenia: Perils of the Deep Blue - by Sea Of Tranquility (www.seaoftranquility.com)
One look at the lovely mermaid adorning the cover of Sirenia's latest release Perils of the Deep Blue and you just know you are in store for some enchanting female fronted symphonic metal. Of course, if you've followed this Norwegian band over the years, you already know that gothic tinged symphonic metal is the name of their game, led by former Tristania guitarist/vocalist Morten Veland. The current version of the band also consists of vocalist Ailyn, Jonathan A. Perez, and guitarist Michael S. Krumins. Though the bands last few releases have been solid, it seemed as if a wall had been hit somewhat and the band haven't really been inspired, but with Perils of the Deep Blue you can toss that idea out the window.
Add Tristania, Nightwish, Renaissance, and Epica in a blender, puree on high, and out comes Sirenia. Ailyn's vocals just soar here, mostly above crushing guitar riffs and huge swells of keyboards, and when Veland joins in with his effective death metal growls, the results are quite good. Lovely symphonic tunes like "Stille Kom Doden" (featuring perhaps the most gorgeous vocal from Ailyn on the album) balance well with the mix of symphonic & extreme metal tracks like "Darkling" and "My Destiny Coming to Pass". Power metal fans will love the chugging riffs, powerful drumming, symphonic keyboards, and daring vocal interplay of "The Funeral March". As strong a vocalist as Ailyn is, this band seems to be the most effective when she and Veland play off each other. Yes, the formula of 'beauty & the beast' vocal duels have certainly been done before (Tristania, Epica, After Forever, etc.) but these two really have figured out a way to perfectly work together within the confines of a song, to the point where you really look forward to their interplay with each other. Listen to them both on the powerhouse metal attack that is "Profound Scars", one of the more complex tracks on the album featuring some great guitar passages, loads of keyboards, choirs, and all sorts of stuff.
Sirenia are back doing what they do best here on Perils of the Deep Blue, once again putting themselves near the top of the heap as far as female fronted symphonic metal bands go. Recommended!
Added: July 3rd 2013
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sirenia
Perils of the Deep Blue - by Sputnik Music (www.sputnikmusic.com)
4.0 Review by DragonHeartstring
July 1st, 2013
Review Summary: A magnificent shot at symphonic/gothic metal from a band that was previously on a downward slope, this has an amazing vocal performance and solid instrumentation throughout.
The cover art of Sirenia's latest studio album Perils Of The Deep Blue should be a good indication as to how they sound. The image of a mermaid surrounded by skulls, carelessly trying to seduce the person looking at the artwork gives an insight into the wonderous and yet occasionally brutal style of music this band plays. They are a symphonic/gothic metal band hailing from Norway that has occasionally added in dashes of death metal music to make for a very enjoyable formula. Or at least that was until the release of 2011's The Enigma Of Life, which showcased a stripped down, boring album with little to no merits about it and is just painfully average throughout. Thankfully, their sixth studio album does a lot to correct this wrong.
Aside from the 2005 EP Sirenian Shores, this may well be the band's finest outing to date. It contains arguably more harsh vocals than ever before, but the vocal palette is not limited just to these. The clean singing is absolutely beautiful here, and will no doubt come close to pulling the listener into a trance. Whilst Morten's harsh vocals are strong, it is Pilar "Ailyn" Garcia who steals the show here. The Spanish singer puts in the performance of a life time, hitting some incredible high pitched notes but also expanding her range to include more mid-range vocals. Stille Kom Doden, a thirteen minute long song, is perhaps the best example of this, with countless fantastic vocal lines and some amazing notes hit by the front woman. The single from this album Seven Widows Weep is also a fantastic performance from her, with some brilliant highs and it best shows off her newer, more improved and more energetic style. The previously mentioned Stille Kom Doden is probably the standout track here for the simple fact that it never really lets go of the listener. It has a lot of emotion behind the vocals, whilst there are constantly little passages that will catch your ear, such as the amazing keyboard performance.
The instrumental performances are a lot better here as well, being a far cry from the minimalistic, stripped down nature of instrumentation that was present throughout The Enigma Of Life. The keyboards here keep the symphonic side of the band alive, particularly coming into their own throughout the second half of the album. The symphonic section of this band is mainly limited to the keyboards, but they really are beautiful and make for an awe-inspiring experience throughout. The rest of the instrumentation is no slouch either, and nor is it left behind by the keyboards and vocals, both of which are massively improved from anything else Sirenia has done on this album. The guitars are both thick in tone and very heavy, and are quite creative. The riffs are nothing too special but it is certainly nice to hear an added dose of skill behind the playing. Decadence shows off some quite nice drumming, but there are some cool fills throughout, and it is also nice to be able to hear the bass for once on a Sirenia album despite the fact it doesn't really stand out at any point throughout the album.
This is an album that really took me by surprise, with some much-needed improvement on the symphonic frontier and an incredible vocal performance, not to mention the beautiful riffing and the highly melodic performances across the board. Recommended tracks would be Decadence, thirteen minute epic Stille Kom Doden and beautiful closer A Blizzard Is Coming. These songs capture this band at their absolute peak and showcase why they deserve more attention than they receive. This is not a perfect album by any means but it definitely shows the band willing to move forward and come off of the back of their worst studio album with what is arguably their best to date.