Sirenia (band)
Sirenia is a Norwegian gothic metal band from Stavanger, Norway founded in 2001 by Morten Veland.
Sirenia | |
|---|---|
 Sirenia performing live at Norway Rock Festival in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Stavanger, Norway |
| Genres | Gothic metal, symphonic metal, doom metal, death-doom (early) |
| 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 Jan Erik Soltvedt Emmanuelle Zoldan Nils Courbaron Michael Brush |
| Past members | Fabienne Gondamin Henriette Bordvik Kristian Gundersen Monika Pedersen Bjørnar Landa Michael S. Krumins Ailyn Jonathan Pérez |
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.
Biography
2001–2003: At Sixes and Sevens
In January 2001, Veland, a founding member of Tristania left the band, within a few weeks Veland had a new band along with three other members.[3] He had written material for Tristania's next release but because of the split, he used it towards Sirenia's debut album At Sixes and Sevens with other new material written for it as well. The band entered the studio by November or December 2001. The band failed to find a suitable singer prior to recording in France, so they hired a session female singer named Fabienne Gondamin.[3]
2004–2006: An Elixir for Existence
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 in May 2005.[4]
In November 2005, Henriette Bordvik left the band, citing personal reasons.
2006–2007: Nine Destinies and a Downfall
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 5 November 2007 Monika Pedersen quit the band over musical disagreements. Her departure caused Sirenia to pull out of a planned European tour with Therion.
2008–2009: The 13th Floor
Sirenia began looking for a new singer in November 2007.[5] 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.[5] On 9 April 2008 Sirenia announced Spanish X Factor contestant Ailyn as their new female vocalist.[6]
On 19 May 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 12 June 2008 Sirenia announced that for the first time in their career, they had decided to work with a bass player 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 in 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 26 December 2008 as a digital download.
2010–2011: The Enigma of Life
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. It was released on 21 January 2011.
The first single, "The End of It All", was released on 21 December 2010 as a digital download.
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On 19 April 2011, Michael left Sirenia to put in more time on his own bands and projects. Jan Erik Soltvedt joined the band and filled in as the lead guitarist. Soltvedt accompanied Sirenia on their American and European tours in 2011, including the Gallus Sonorus Musicallis festival (GSM Fest) held in June 2011 in Barcelos, Portugal, and the Wacken Festival in Germany, held in August.
On July 16, 2011, and as one of their most important performances of that year, was held at the famous heavy metal festival Masters of Rock, which takes place annually in the city of Vizovice, Czech Republic. Previously, their first and only participation dates from 2008.
By the end of July and the beginning of August 2011, Sirenia made their second Latin American tour, which took them back to countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and for the first time to Peru and Chile in October.
2012–2013: Perils of the Deep Blue
On 16 October 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".[7]
On 13 April 2013 the band announced the title of their album on their Facebook page: Perils of the Deep Blue.[8] Their single "Seven Widows Weep" was released through Nuclear Blast on May 12, 2013. On June 3, 2013, the official music video of the song was released. It was filmed in April of the same year in Serbia by iCODE Team.[8]
Perils of the Deep Blue represented the first Sirenia album in US charts, such as the Billboard Hard Rock Albums and the Heatseekers Albums.[9]
2014–2016: The Seventh Life Path, Ailyn's departure
The band announced they had returned to Napalm Records on 3 April 2014 with a pending album release for early 2015.[1] On 10 February 2015 Sirenia announced the title of their next record called The Seventh Life Path.[8] On 12 March 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.[8][10]
On 5 July 2016 Sirenia announced that after 8 years they were parting ways in good terms with longtime vocalist Ailyn [11] but that the work with the upcoming album will proceed as normal.[8] The same day, Ailyn Released a statement disputing the bands claim, saying that the decision was not hers and she wasn't a part of it.[11]
2016–2018: Dim Days of Dolor, new singer, North American tours
On 29 August 2016 Sirenia revealed eighth full-length album Dim Days of Dolor before their official announcement of their new singer.
On 8 September 2016 Sirenia announced their new singer Emmanuelle Zoldan, a French mezzo-soprano singer from Aix-en-Provence who has worked with Sirenia for 13 years and is part of The Sirenian Choir.[12] She has contributed to lead vocals before on the Sirenian Shores EP cover of "First We Take Manhattan" by Leonard Cohen.[13]
Sirenia toured with Arkona and MindMaze in May 2017 for their debut in the United States and Canada.[14]
In October 2017 before a European tour, French guitarist Nils Courbaron unexpectedly was invited to participate in the live performances replacing Jan Erik Soltvedt. In November, longtime drummer Jonathan Pérez left the band and joined officially Green Carnation. Consequently, Sirenia temporarily again included Austrian drummer Roland Navratil, a live member in 2004-2005 and 2009.
The band returned to North America to join various bands on the heavy metal cruise, 70000 Tons of Metal for two shows on February 2 and 3, 2018.[15]
Sirenia toured North America for the second time with Canadian metal band Threat Signal in April 2018, with support from Valinor Excelsior, Graveshadow, Niviane and Dire Peril.[16]
2018–present: Arcane Astral Aeons
On August 14, 2018, Sirenia had revealed the title of their ninth full-length album Arcane Astral Aeons, along with a European tour in the fall. The album was released October 26 of the same year.[17][18]
A lyric video was made for the single "Love Like Cyanide" released on 21 September 2018. The song features a guest appearance by Yannis Papadopoulos from Finnish band Beast In Black.[19] On October 12, "Into the Night" was released as the second single, followed by a music video. Both videos were directed by Swedish filmmaker and musician Owe Lingvall.[20]
Following a European tour in the spring, Sirenia had announced that they would be joining Leaves' Eyes, Forever Still and Lost in Grey on a European tour in the fall of 2019.[21]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Fla) [22] |
BEL (Wal) [23] |
FRA [24] |
GER [25] |
SWI [26] |
UK Rock [27] |
US Heat [28] |
US Hard Rock [29] | |||||||||||||
| 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 |
|
198 | 122 | — | 68 | 77 | — | 18 | — | |||||||||||
| Dim Days of Dolor |
|
— | 150 | — | — | 89 | 34 | — | 25 | |||||||||||
| Arcane Astral Aeons |
|
131 | 150 | — | — | 80 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Extended plays
- Sirenian Shores (2004)
Singles and promo singles
- "My Mind's Eye" (2007)
- "The Path to Decay" (2009)
- "The End of It All" (2011)
- "Seven Widows Weep" (2013)
- "Once My Light" (2015)
- "The 12th Hour" (2016)
- "Dim Days of Dolor" (2016)
- "Love Like Cyanide" (2018)
- "Into the Night" (2018)
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "My Mind's Eye" | iCODE Team |
| "The Other Side" | iCODE Team | |
| 2008 | "The Path to Decay" | Patric Ullaeus |
| 2011 | "The End of It All" | Patric Ullaeus |
| 2013 | "Seven Widows Weep" | iCODE Team |
| 2015 | "Once My Light" | iCODE Team |
| 2016 | "Dim Days of Dolor" | Owe Lingvall |
| 2018 | "Into the Night" | Owe Lingvall |
Members
Current members
- Morten Veland – guitars, harsh vocals, other instruments on studio (2001–present), live bass (2018–present)
- Emmanuelle Zoldan – female vocals (2016–present), choir on studio (2003–present)
Former members
- Kristian Gundersen – guitars and clean vocals (live only) (2001–2004)
- Henriette Bordvik – female vocals (2003–2005)
- Monika Pedersen – female vocals (2006–2007)
- Michael S. Krumins – guitars and harsh vocals (live only) (2008–2011)
- Ailyn – female vocals (2008–2016)
Live members
- Jan Erik Soltvedt – guitars (2011–present)
- Nils Courbaron – guitars (2018–present)
- Michael Brush - drums (2018–present)
Former live members
- Bjørnar Landa – guitars (2004–2008)
- Kristian Olav Torp – bass (2008)
- Roland Navratil – drums (2004–2005, 2009, 2017)
- Jonathan A. Perez – drums (2003–2017)
The Sirenian Choir
- Damien Surian – choir on studio (2001–present)
- Mathieu Landry – choir on studio (2003–present)
- Emilie Bernou – choir on studio (2012–present)
Former Sirenian Choir members
- Johanna Giraud – sirenian choir (2001–2004)
- Hubert Piazzola – sirenian choir (2001–2004)
- Emilie Lesbros – sirenian choir (2001–2010)
- Sandrine Gouttebel – sirenian choir (2003–2010)
Session members
- Fabienne Gondamin – vocals (2001–2002)
- Pete Johansen – violin (2001–2002)
- Anne Verdot – violin (2003–2004)
- Jan Kenneth Barkved – clean vocals (2001–2002, 2008; died 2009)
- Stephanie Valentin – violin (2008–2010)
- Joakim Næss – clean vocals (2012–2016)
Timeline
References
- "Sirenia Returns To Napalm Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Sirenia Sign With Nuclear Blast Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Sirenia- Old Is New Again". deadrhetoric. deadrhetoric.
- "Sirenia Sign With Nuclear Blast Records - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Sirenia Interview". about.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
- "Sirenia Enlists 'XFactor Singer From Spain". blabbermouth.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
- "Sirenia recording New Album". "http://blabbermouth.net". October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- "Facebook post". Facebook. Sirenia.
- SIRENIA - Perils Of The Deep Blue Enters The Charts In The US
- "Abandoned Dead Nears Completion- Inks Sirenia For Film Soundtrack". AbandonedDead. AbandonedDead.
- "SIRENIA Parts Ways With Singer AILYN GIMÉNEZ GARCÍA". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
- "SIRENIA Recruits Singer EMMANUELLE ZOLDAN, Releases 'Dim Days Of Dolor' Album Samples". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 2016-09-09. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
- "Sirenia". www.facebook.com.
- "Arkona, Sirenia Announce North American Tour". Metal Underground. February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- "Sirenia Confirmed For 70000 Tons Of Metal 2018". Metal Underground. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- "Threat Signal Announced As Support For North American Tour With Sirenia". Metal Underground. February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
- "Sirenia to release 'Arcane Astral Aeons' in October". Metal Insider. August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- "SIRENIA To Release 'Arcane Astral Aeons' Album In October". Blabbermouth. August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- SIRENIA: Lyric Video For New Song 'Love Like Cyanide'
- Sirenia Premiere 'Into the Night' Music Video
- "LEAVES' EYES And SIRENIA To Headline Female Metal Voices Tour 2019 With FOREVER STILL, LOST IN GREY And More". Bravewords. September 17, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be.
- "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be.
- Hung, Steffen. "lescharts.com - Les charts français". www.lescharts.com.
- "charts.de". Officialcharts.de. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- Hung, Steffen. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". hitparade.ch.
- Peaks on the UK Rock Chart:
- For Perils of the Deep Blue: "2013-07-13 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- For Dim Days of Dolor: "2016-11-18 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- "Sirenia - Chart history - Billboard". www.billboard.com.
- "SIRENIA - Perils Of The Deep Blue Enters The Charts In The US". bravewords.com. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 4/29 – Italy, Cleveland Debut High". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 2/23: A Surprisingly (Un)Dead Week For The Charts". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 7/17: Like Festivals To Flames". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 7/24: Respect Walk Through Exits Only". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 8/7: Unsurprisingly, Five Finger Death Punch Have a Number 2 Record". Metal Insider. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Metal By Numbers 5/21: Sales beyond the veilMetal Insider". 21 May 2015.
- "Metal By Numbers 5/28: The charts have got solMetal Insider". 28 May 2015.
External links
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