Sirenia (band)

Sirenia

Sirenia performing live at Norway Rock Festival in 2009
Background information
Origin Stavanger, Norway
Genres Death-doom (early), Gothic metal, Symphonic metal
Years active 2001–present
Labels Napalm (2002-2005, 2014-present)[1]
Nuclear Blast (2005-2014)[2]
Associated acts Artifact, Tristania, Sinphonia, Trail of Tears
Website sirenia.no
Members Morten Veland
Ailyn
Jonathan Perez
Jan Erik Soltvedt
Past members Fabienne Gondamin
Henriette Bordvik
Kristian Gundersen
Monika Pedersen
Bjørnar Landa
Michael S. Krumins

Sirenia is a Norwegian gothic/symphonic metal band from Stavanger, Norway.

The band uses melodic instrumentals, synthesizers, and distorted guitars with female vocals, male death vocals, clean male vocals, a choir and violins. The lyrics are concerned with human existence, emotion, and mental states.

Background

At Sixes and Sevens, 2001-2003

Sirenia came together in early 2001, when Morten Veland parted ways with his former band Tristania due to musical disagreements and personal differences. The band failed to find a suitable singer prior to recording in France, so they conducted auditions and found Fabienne Gondamin for the recording of their debut album At Sixes and Sevens.

An Elixir for Existence, 2004-2006

On the subsequent tour Fabienne Gondamin was replaced by Henriette Bordvik, with whom the band recorded the album An Elixir for Existence and the EP Sirenian Shores.

The band signed with Nuclear Blast Records in May 2005.[3]

In November 2005, Henriette Bordvik left the band, citing personal reasons.

Nine Destinies and a Downfall, 2006-2007

In 2007 they released a third album – Nine Destinies and a Downfall. The album features new singer, Monika Pedersen from Denmark, who joined the band in April 2006, and new guitarist Bjørnar Landa (from Artifact), who joined the band during the recording.

On November 5, 2007, Monika Pedersen quit the band over musical disagreements. Her departure caused Sirenia to pull out of a planned European tour with Therion.

The 13th Floor, 2008-2009

Sirenia began looking for a new singer in November 2007.[4] The process in finding their newest member took about six months. About 500 applied, at the end they wanted to find someone from the EU region for practical reasons.[4] On April 9, 2008, Sirenia announced Spanish X Factor contestant Ailyn as their new female vocalist.[5]

On May 19, 2008, it was announced that Bjørnar Landa left the band in order to have more time for his family and studies. He was replaced by Michael S. Krumins (Green Carnation).

On June 12, 2008, Sirenia announced that for the first time in their career, they had decided to work with a bassplayer for their live shows. The session bass player will be Kristian Olav Torp.

Sirenia started recording their fourth album in July 2008. It was recorded in Sound Suite Studios, France and Stargoth Studios, Norway. The mixing and mastering took place in Antfarm Studios, Denmark with Tue Madsen. The album, called The 13th Floor, was completed on September and the release date was 23 January 2009. The album features guest appearances by Jan Kenneth Barkved. The first single, "The Path to Decay", was released on December 26, 2008 as a digital download.

The Enigma of Life, 2010-2011

On 8 July 2010, the band announced that they started recording a new album. It was finished in November, and will be titled The Enigma of Life. The release date is 21 January 2011.

The first single, "The End of It All", was released on December 21, 2010 as a digital download.

On 19 April 2011, Michael left Sirenia to put in more time on his own bands and projects.

In April 2011, Jan Erik Soltvedt joined the band and will fill in as the lead guitarist.

Perils of the Deep Blue, 2012-2013

On October 16, 2012, Sirenia announced that they have entered the studio to record their next album for an early 2013 release. The band on their sixth album, "The progress on the new album is going very well — we feel confident that the sixth Sirenia album will have some nice surprises up its sleeve, as we‘ve been determined to make this record somewhat different from the previous two albums.[6]

On April 13, 2013, the band announced the title of their album on their Facebook page: Perils of the Deep Blue.[7]

The Seventh Life Path, 2014-present

The band announced they had returned to Napalm Records on April 3, 2014 with a pending album release for early 2015.[1] On February 10, 2015 Sirenia announced the title of their next record called The Seventh Life Path.[7] In March 12, 2015, the band announced on their Facebook page that Nightwatcher Films has signed Sirenia for the use of their song Ducere Me In Lucem of Perils of the Deep Blue for its soundtrack. The song will come out in the opening title sequence of a film called Abandoned Dead penned for release January 2016.[7][8]

Discography

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
BEL (Fla)
[9]		 BEL (Wal)
[9]		 FR
[10]		 GER
[11]		 SWI
[12]		 UK Rock
[13]		 US Heat
[14]		 US Hard Rock
[15]
At Sixes and Sevens — — — — — — — —
An Elixir for Existence — — — — — — — —
Nine Destinies and a Downfall — — 134 54 85 — — —
The 13th Floor — — 127 87 67 — — —
The Enigma of Life — — — 73 53 — — —
Perils of the Deep Blue 98 89 136 50 43 11 20 97
The Seventh Life Path — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released.

Extended plays

Singles & promo singles

Music videos

Members

Current members

Former members

Session members

The Sirenian Choir

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sirenia Returns To Napalm Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Sirenia Sign With Nuclear Blast Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Sirenia Sign With Nuclear Blast Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Sirenia Interview". about.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Sirenia Enlists 'XFactor Singer From Spain". blabbermouth.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Sirenia recording New Album". "http://blabbermouth.net". October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Facebook post". Facebook. Sirenia.
  8. ↑ "Abandoned Dead Nears Completion- Inks Sirenia For Film Soundtrack". AbandonedDead. AbandonedDead.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ "charts.de". Officialcharts.de. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "2013-07-13 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive - Official Charts". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Sirenia - Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "SIRENIA - Perils Of The Deep Blue Enters The Charts In The US". bravewords.com. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  16. ↑ "Metal By Numbers 4/29 – Italy, Cleveland Debut High". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Metal By Numbers 2/23: A Surprisingly (Un)Dead Week For The Charts". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Metal By Numbers 7/17: Like Festivals To Flames". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Metal By Numbers 7/24: Respect Walk Through Exits Only". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Metal By Numbers 8/7: Unsurprisingly, Five Finger Death Punch Have a Number 2 Record". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.

External links

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