Sirenia
Biography
Somehow, leading Norway's Tristania to the top of the goth metal heap wasn't enough for vocalist/guitarist Morten Veland, who unilaterally seceded from the union in the year 2000 to found a brand-spanking-new though similar-sounding band named Sirenia. Picking up pretty much where he'd left off stylistically, Veland hand-picked compatriots Kristian Gundersen (clean vocals, guitar), Hans Henrik Varland (keyboards), and French singer Fabienne Gondamin to quickly perform on the following year's At Sixes and Sevens debut. He and Gundersen then found a more permanent support staff in vocalist Henriette Bordvik and drummer Jonathan Perez to work on their 2003 follow-up, An Elixir for Existence. An EP, Sirenian Shores arrived in 2005, followed by the full-length Nine Destinies and a Downfall in 2007. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
I think I have a higher liking for T13F and ASAS than anything else this band has done. I get way more AEFE than anything, and the music is excellent, but Henriette just ruined the record for me.
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Well, Tristania and Sirenia are almost perfectly equal in my mind. If I HAD to choose I would say I prefer Trstania, but there's little difference. One thing about Tristania is that it's way more complex and varying then Sirenia.
And yes, I think we all agree that ASAS is still the ruler of the Sirenia albums. |
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my dad doesn't mind the music I play for him, but he doesn't like constant growls and stuff. I think symphonic metal is probably too intense for him (especially Nightwish).
Tristania is very doomy next to Sirenia. I'm not completely into doomier goth metal, but I prefer Tristania over Sirenia. maybe their songs are more solid and complete than this band's (next to NDAADF and AEFE at least). |
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13thF is a pretty friendly album to those new to the genre. It's got a lot of pop appeal and the harsh vocals are way diminished. It's a good album, but I'm still staunchly in favor of ASAS.
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at sixes and sevens is a goth nite at a taveran by the same name in liverpool-i think they still hold it-really...
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Harsh. I played The 13th Floor for my mom and she actually liked it.
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I always thought Tristania was more doomy than Sirenia...Mo r e emphasis on slow heavy riffs than Sirenia ever was.
My mom likes most everything I listen to that focuses on clean vocals. She'll put up with growls if they're backing and have the purpose of providing appropriate contrast, but she won't listen to stuff that's fronted by harsh vocals. She forced me to burn Nightwish's DPP album for her, after I showed it to her. |
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Yeah, earlier Sirenia was much more reliant on rough vocals. I really liked that, although I'm sure not everyone did. ASAS kind of sounds like Tristania, as Morten was just out of there, and I like that. SS was where I think the band started moving toward a more original sound.
When I played an Epica album for my family, my mom described it as "Excorsist music". She really doesn't like most of the stuff I like. :) |
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Final verdict on At Sixes And Sevens: I like it well enough, but it's definitely not something I can subject my family members to unlike the other symphonic/go t h i c / p o w e r metal albums I listen to (they either genuinely like those other albums too or just tolerate them without complaining) , there's just way too much growling and 'rough' vocals for them.
But then I pretty much knew that before I bought it, heh. |
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I picked up the 13th Floor a few days ago and I have to say, it's amazing!
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"In Sumerian Haze" is easily my least favorite on that album. It's the only song I actively dislike on it.
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Congratulati o n s , Matt! I'm sure you'll love it. I think the best songs are On The Wane, Meridian, In Sumerian Haze, and Manic Aeon, but that's just me. :)
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the growling is the only reason why SS keeps me listening to the vocals. lol
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Well, I just picked up At Sixes And Sevens on one of those 3AM whims (along with an E.S. Posthumus album, glee!) - so far, so good! But then I'm only on track #2, heh.
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Perhaps. I just don't remember any vocals other than Morten's on SS and it annoyed me.
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hmm... growlers don't tend to annoy or move me at all. maybe because the one in gothic metal are too... bland, perhaps?
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I'm not a real fan of growling in general, though it works better in certain examples than others (After Forever's last album for instance), but I can't really be annoyed when Mark Jansen is growling because he's so darn hilarious - the dude seriously sounds like the cookie monster singing metal lyrics.
It usually feels very out of place, and the songs would probably be better off without those sections, but it always makes me chuckle so I don't really mind all that much, heh. |
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Morten is without a doubt my favorite growler. He's very versatile too, he can go from high shrieking to guttural growling in a second. I'm particularly fond of his growling in On The Wane and Beyond Life's Scenery.
Sirenian Shores is awesome! I think my favorite songs are: 1.On The Wane 2.Seven Keys And Nine Doors 3.Sirens Of The Seven Seas Of course, I might think differently tomorrow. |
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Yeah, Krull and Mark Jansen are probably the two worst I've heard thus far. Like I said, I like Veland's harsh vocals. "Sirenian Shores" is a pretty good song. "Meridian" is still my favorite though.
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Yeah, I just can't stand Krull, though. What about SS (the song)? It's like all harsh vocals.
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@LLM: Morten Veland's vocals are usually pretty understandab l e , and he's got a better growl than most goth metal growlers.
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@12nights: Yeah, it is real hard to find bands like those in stores but you can always try amazon or your local library. I know my local library has been great. I get awesome stuff for free. They just got the new Killswitch Engage, the new Hammerfall, a High on Fire Live album from '09, and the 13thF. Free music, yay!!!!!!!!
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@Plauge: That's the thing, though. I don't like the harsh vocals for this genre. They annoy me because I like the pretty female vocals and when the harsh male vocals come in, I hate it because I usually can't understand what they're saying.
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I cannot find a LOT of bands in stores. There's a place I go to called The Exclusive, which is pretty good for that sort of thing (it had a Brother Firetribe album!), but even then there are several bands which I have NEVER seen in a store. To list a few: Tristania, Sonata Arctica, Theatre Of Tragedy, Norther, Eluvetie, Edenbridge, and Draconian, among so many others. Also it seems like the only album anybody has by Within Temptation is The Heart Of Everything, I'd like to find Mother Earth!
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I'd actually prefer to get ASAS over 13thF, but I'd be happy with either, because they're both good. ASAS just seems more moody and atmospheric, with a stronger emphasis on harsh vocals.
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I already have Nightwish's Wishmaster on my Christmas list, but I dunno what else to add. some of the stuff I like might not be easy to get in a store. Best Buy is fine in some ways, but it's still not good enough... -_-
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Actually, The 13th Floor was the first album I got by Sirenia. I found it in the same store I get most of my music from, it was the only Sirenia they had. It looked so tempting, I just had to get it! I don't regret my purchase at all.
Although right now I'm holding off on the CD buying. |
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@LLM: Nice. One of these days, when I have the funds, I'll look into getting some Sirenia.
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Not sure but I'll find out and I'm getting the 13thF soon, maybe today.
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Taking a little different direction from the YouTube VS Grooveshark discussion.. . Does anybody know if Sirenia uses a real choir or a synth one? I ask because there's a choir in almost EVERY song, and I would like to know if it's real and, if so, what choir it is.
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@Plague: Yes, but there's the whole filter deal again with the school that doesn't allow YouTube. Plus, Grooveshark had all the Bodom covers before Skeletons came out. It's just more convient for me.
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really, 12nights? I found way more songs by the bands I mentioned below on Youtube than Grooveshark. . . interesting. but in the end, i guess both can't have every song ever created out there...
excellent insult for Willow, Black Swan! XD |
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Especially considering Lord Willowmort has several accounts, and he's still on here. Not to sound like an advertisemen t , but Slacker.com has more of the obscure bands. The problem is, they have more audio ads, and you have to pay to add variety to your station. To be honest, I like Pandora better, though.
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This is also an easy and convenient solution. I use the same website I'm familiar with, and I'm pretty much guaranteed to never run out of free hours unless I listen to 80 hours of music in one month, which I'm pretty sure isn't going to happen.
Just don't tell the admins I have two profiles. They may not approve of me taking advantage of loopholes. |
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@LLM: :D
So I checked out Grooveshark today, and I've got to say, YouTube seems far easier and more convenient than the former. I can find more obscure stuff on YouTube than I could find on Grooveshark. I mean, it didn't even have To-Mera, only one Unexpect song, and only part of Emperor's 'Prometheus' album. I can find all that stuff easily on YouTube (although only part of Unexpect's track list is uploaded and functioning) . |
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@Plague: That's all well and good, IF YOU'RE IN COLLEGE!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Unfortunatel y , below college schooling has filters that destroy everything good about the internet except Grooveshark, Wikipedia and search engines. So YouTube is EXTREMELY INCONVIENT FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. |
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One thing I don't like about YouTube (besides all the stupid convo) is that they don't have many songs by REALLY not famous bands. For example, there's hardly any stuff by Leverage on there, and I really like them.
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