Sirenia – The 13th Floor
Nuclear Blast Records
(5/5)
Just, as it seems, as most other Symphonic metal bands, Sirenia is not unaccustomed to line-up changes (particularly with singers), but they are pushing on and making excellent music exemplified by their newest album The 13th Floor. The new female singer for the band is Spanish singer Ailyn, and she sounds fantastic! Backing her up vocally is band founder/guitarist Morten Veland who adds clean male vocals to the mix as well as his guttural screams and growls. Together, these two make an excellent vocal pair to lead this band with the help of new guitarist Michael S. Krumins and drummer Jonathan A. Perez. On the album, Morten plays bass, but the current live bassist is Kristian Olav Torp. As stated by Morten, “…it’s the strongest Sirenia line-up to date…” Digging more into the album, this is the first Sirenia album I have experienced, but it will certainly not be the last, or even the last Symphonic metal album, as this style has been popping up in my music arsenal more and more. Generally speaking, The 13th Floor is vocally dominated by Ailyn, but Morten does get his chance to shine in the ninth and final track “Sirens of the Seven Seas”. Either way the vocals go, both members are excellent and really compliment each other and the music. Besides “Sirens of the Seven Seas”, other great tracks on this album include “The Mind Maelstrom” (Track 3), “The Seventh Summer” (Track 4), and “Winterborn 77″ (Track 8). There have only been four tracks mentioned, but in all honesty, the entire album is great. The overall feel is one that is entirely epic and before you know it, you’ve listened to the whole album five times. All in all, this is a fantastic album that should be had by any Sirenia fan as well as fans of bands such as Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Epica, Therion, and more.
