Customer Reviews

An Elixir for Existence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sirenia's debut "At Sixes and Sevens" was a great album, but for all its high points, it failed to explore anything near its full potential. First of all, almost every song was built off of the same riff, the same synth sequence, and the same vocal structure, so it tended to feel like one very long song. But seeing as he was kicked out of his old band Tristania only a year and a half before the album's release, I can imagine that he was more eager to just get something out and prove he was still around. But with "An Elixir for Existence," he's back to kick the dust off of his shoes and show his former bandmates that they can stab him in the back all they want, but it'll be little more than a slap in the face for him.

One downside is the new female vocalist, Henriette Bordvik. She's certainly not bad, but her vocals seem to be a little empty, unlike the previous singer Fabienne, who had a more ethereal and emotional, seductive "Sirenian" voice. Also, J.K. Barkved is absent and the clean male vocals are left entirely to Kristian Gundersen, who has more of an 80's rocker voice than a metal one. He only appears in three songs, and sounds like he has a cold. Veland doesn't dominate many songs vocally; it's usually an even split between him, Henriette, and the choir, which now boasts a third female voice. The only other musician on this album is Anne Verdot, the violinist, as Morten plays or programs everything else. And he's good. The instrumental closer proves that he's not only a killer vocalist and guitarist, but he can handle the keyboards with just as much (and I almost dare say more) skill as his former colleague Einar Moen. Standout songs? In my opinion, all but "The Fall Within," which sounds like a leftover from ASAS, deserve 5+/5 stars. So, if you like old Tristania and you liked Sirenia's previous effort, you will love this Elixir for the mindless mediocrity that plagues the music industry as of late.

Sirenia's debut album At Sixes And Sevens basically left no room for improvement. To Sirenia's credit they have made a few minor changes but kept the quality extremely high for this, thier second release. What you have hear is extremely rich Gothic metal with a mix of growl, clean, female and gothic choir vocals. Both of Sirenia's releases just reek of class which is not easy to do when you heavily utilize growl vocals.

For me the highlight for Sirenia is again the first track of the album. Lithium And A Lover is a driving number that really convices with it's outstanding lyrics and passionate vocal delivery. Comparing to At Sixes And Seven's lead track "Meridian" this one is a bit more straight forward and the same could be said for the whole album.

I did not want to give a full 5 stars because I feel this album is not quite as strong as the debut and not quite as spellbinding regarding the atmosphere and female vocals. Nonetheless, 4 and a half stars would not be a stretch at all.

Sirenia is a one of a kind band IMO and both releases are manditory of you have any use at all for Gothic style metal. So, so classy.

Sirenia continues to reing on my top ten favourites list. This band is perfect, everything from the guitars, to the epic choir chants. The whole cd is good, buy my favourite songs on this album are: "Lithium And A Lover", "Voices Within", "A Mental Symphony", and "Save Me From Myself". This band's sound is another example of a great combination between Gothic and Death Metal. I personally like Metal bands that use choirs, so naturally Sirenia instantly became one of my favourites. This is a great buy for anyone who is into bands such as "Tristania" "Penumbra", "Nightwish", "Within Temptation", "Ashes You Leave", etc...

First of all, I want to say that this band is very appropriately named. Sirens were the part-woman part-birds (sea nymph) that sang sailors to their doom by misleading them. And the cover art to this album (all of their albums, in fact) IS misleading. With sirens being female and a female being shown on the cover, one would think that this is another female-led band like Within Temptation or Nightwish.
Not so!
Fortunately I read the Amazon reviews before I bought it, so I didn't get misled. I was hoping for a female-lead for this group, since that's what it looked like at first, but I also don't mind growling every now and then. And to Morten Veland's credit, he growls his lyrics coherently. I've seen too many bands with lyrics written down and then when they sing them it's like "agjalghuahjühahg!!!"
As for the female singer, she only sings about two or four lines per song, even if she gets a song all to herself (Save Me From Myself). She's not bad, but she can't compare to Tarja from Nightwish or Sharon from Within Temptation.
There are only three songs on this CD that I liked: "Lithium and a Lover" has great, catchy background music and good lyrics, male growling, female singing, and a choir. This one is my favorite.
"In My Darkest Hour" has some great guitar work at the beginning and they repeat it about halfway through the song.
"The Fall Within" has background music that sounds almost exactly like that from "Lithium and a Lover", but of course I liked that track so much that more of the same doesn't really hurt.
And that is where my main complaint with this CD lies. I got that annoying sense of Deja Vu when I listened to the background music on several of the songs. They started to sound the same, some of them. And the other songs were not up to my standards. I do appreciate though that they have a purely instrumental piece at the end. Not a very good one, but at least they tried.
If you like growling, the groups that I like to listen to and consider my standards are: Finntroll, Einherjer, and Within Temptation. If you like female vocals more than you should try: Nightwish, Evanescence, and Within Temptation.
Overall, this CD is not all bad. It's convinced me to give their earlier album a try and I'll look forward to their future projects and maybe you will, too.

First, let me say that I am rather new in realising consciously my Antiquity-Goth tendencies and habits, therefore also basically new to delving into this genre of music, sifting through it all to see what types click with me. I'll also say that I'm definately NOT a fan of death growls and excessive heaviness - it doesn't do anything for me. When I listen to music, I want to FEEL. If it can make me feel deeply by touching my soul and laying it bare, then it's got my seal of approval. The songs off of this album that do just that are:

Save Me From Myself ***** [5 stars]
Seven Sirens & A Silver Tear ***** [5 stars]
Star-Crossed **** [4 stars]

[x] SAVE ME FROM MYSELF [x] The highlight of the entire album, in my opinion. Each time I listen to this, it never fails to caress my heart with a velvety touch and make it bleed. A haunting choir of wispy voices, heartbeat drums and the melancholic strains of a violin accompany a fallen angel as she sings...

--

Save me now
Before my world falls
Save me now from myself
Before the dawn

Save me now
I'm at the Reaper's door
Can't you see?
You hold the key
To set my mind free...

--

The violin interludes on this just makes your soul lose itself within the bittersweet beauty of it all. So simple yet so poignant.

[x] Seven Sirens & A Silver Tear [x] An instrumental done with piano and a few soft haunting voices. It starts very slowly with piano and then builds up pace near the end with voices and stronger instrumentation until finally... the whirlwind ends and the soft tone of piano we heard in the beginning lulls the song to sleep. Very beautiful piece that successfully imbues a sense of a calm ocean turning turbulent with storm before drifting back to peace and the sirens all on a high sea rock together. With a bit of imagination, a story can unfold.

[x] Star-Crossed [x] The reason I gave this only 4 stars instead of 5 is because it has a lot of death growling and raspy male voice reciting the lyrics (which I personally think would have been better done by a non-raspy female voice). The melody itself is absolutely gorgeous, especially at the very beginning of the song where it brings across the meaning of 'star-crossed' lovers exquisitely. I listen to this song solely for that lovely melody.

Buy the album or download these songs at http://www.mp3search.ru but, either way, find a means of listening to them.

There is something compelling about music that has a layered complexity. Listen one time and hear one thing. Listen another time, hear something different. Totally refreshing and never tiring. As a teenager, I found that in very early Chicago (up to Chicago VII), Pink Floyd, Mike Batt, Led Zeppelin, among others. But popular music today seems to lack strong song writing and relies on beat and video to capture the imagination. Hence at 46 years old, I have discovered the beautifully layered complexity of goth (?) metal. I am a recent afficianado of Sirenia and find "An Elixir For Existence" to be absolutely captivating. The vocal textures are superb varying between growls, male vocals, female vocals and choir accompaniment. The interweaving of guitars, strings, and percussion is amazing. A few years back I said that if I was stranded on a desert island with only three albums I would want Chicago Transit Authority, Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery And Imagination and Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. Which one should I jettison to keep Sirenia's "An Elixir For Existence"? An exquisite album.

This album is very enjoyable and relaxing with some good heavier part thrown in. Which is how good Gothic Metal should sound. Not like the processed commercial sound that pathetic excuse for a Gothic Metal band Lacuna Coil has.

This album is exactly what you would be looking for in a Gothic Metal band. Good, growly Black Metal vocals coming from a male, and a sweet symphonic angels voice coming from a beautiful female singer, along with some good guitar riffs and cool yet relaxing electronic, keyboard, and piano sounds. Theres even some violin play in the songs!!!

The only thing bothering me about this album is the structure of all the songs go in the same pattern. Growly vocals, then clear. Or growly, clear, growly, clear. The songs become predictable in that vocal sense. But in every other aspect this album is a fine example of todays Gothic Metal. I strongly reccommend it.

Suck it up Lacuna Coil. You lose.

For all you Symphonic Metal Beauty and Beast fans, An Elixir for Existance by Sirenia is a must have!

Morten Veland who used to be Mr. All Purpose for Norwegian B&B band Tristania, left a couple years ago, hinting at artistic differences, which I always suspect is a euphemism for couldn't get along. Anyway the fact that Veland is a mega talent can't be denied. With Sirenia's first release Sixes and Sevens he set the table with a very nice appetizer but folks, the main course is now being served and it is your favorite meal, cooked just the way you like it.

In my opinion, An Elixir for Existance is at least as good and any previous album by the best practitioners of this subgenre like T.O.T, T.S.O.T.B, Tristania, Penumbra and After Forever. Speaking of After Forever, Mark Jansen's spin off from After Forever, Epica's debut release Phanton Agony, also an astounding album, is the only compitition for Beauty and Beast album of the year.

Now Veland who does just about everything on these recordings except the part of beauty, a position he has upgraded with the addition of Henriette Bordvik, who's vocals, to me, seem to be a little richer than Fabienne who was on Sixes and Sevens but still not quite as good as Vibeke Stene, a nightingale and Veland's previous lead singer with Tristania.

Tracklist:

1] Lithium And A Lover *****
2] Voices Within ****1/2
3] A Mental Symphony ****
4] Euphoria *****
5] In My Darkest Hours ****1/2
6] Save Me From Myself ****
7] The Fall Within ****1/2
8] Star-Crossed *****
9] Seven Sirens And A Silver Tear *****

prime example of symphonic rock with great tunes and orchestral back grounds. My second favorite Scandinavian opera metal band.

I'm not typically one to appreciate this genre of music. I'm a born and true metal head, but death-metal has never been on my "must have" list. I am a student of all genres, and so long as it isn't the watered down mush that makes up mainstream radio, I'm usually game for an honest listen. (Please see my previous reviews to note the wide range of music I have included within my own personal collection)

I have a very limited collection in the genre that now includes Sirenia. I have two albums by Opeth, and I feel they're somewhat overrated. I have Forest Stream's only release and feel they're dynamically underrated, and I have early works by Tiamat and feel they are what this genre was intended to be.

Sirenia is new to me, but I have recently added Elixir and Sevens to my collection. Sevens is a decent album--far above average but just below my own standard of perfection. Elixir reaches that pinnacle and surpasses it. This is truly one of the best albums I've ever heard. I've listened to their new album (13th) and feel they've lost the edge and reduced themselves to the mainstream pressures that tend to plague all bands trying to finally "break" into the big time. However, this album is sheer brilliance, and previous or latter work should not be used as a judge and jury. Regardless of your musical affiliation, you will find parts of each song that suit your taste. Sit back and enjoy. Sirenia takes you for a wild ride.