The Seventh Life Path

Looking back, a reasonable percentage of my positive appraisal given to Sirenia's last album, Perils of the Deep Blue, was not because of what the album "was", but moreso due to what it "wasn't". I was expecting a continuation of the yawn-inducing, trudging appeals to a more mainstream audience dished out throughout the late 00's to a non-responsive public, but instead I heard qualities drawn from their heavier and more adventurous early material crawling back into their music. I was overjoyed and even bought a limited vinyl edition which included a friggin’ poster of that mermaid hottie. Sweet. A year later I'm thinking it still holds up, but in retrospect it’s just a decent affair with some ace songs but also some dull filler tracks not too far removed from what they were churning out circa The Thirteenth Floor. Still, my expectations were pretty high for their next release, and thankfully The Seventh Life Path delivered. At the very least, it's an announcement that the days of Sirenia aspiring to be the next shitty Within Temptation clone are long gone.

With the majority of tracks reaching past the six minute mark, the song lengths alone already indicate that this album has much more in common with At Sixes and Sevens than The Enigma of Life before even hearing them. The presence of harsh vocals, already making a comeback on Perils, has further increased to a point where Ailyn isn't always the centerpiece anymore. This is actually pretty good news since Veland's mid-ranged growls possess this reptilian nature that goes well with the dark yet bombastic vibe of the music. There's also the continued inclusion of boisterous choirs dishing out variations of terms like "Spiritus Maximus" or something on numerous occasions, keeping the pompous flames ablaze.

The extended lengths endowing the bulk of these tracks were obtained by a similar design in terms of framework. In regards to much of their output from the last decade, the second chorus was followed by a brief bridge and a weak guitar solo that often merely mimicked the vocal melody for about half of it before the song concludes with a third and final chorus. With this release though, an overwhelming portion of these tracks, after the second chorus, veer wayward into an entire new set of riffs, genre shifts, creative and well performed solos that don’t ape the singer, and new vocal melodies and passages until the third chorus finally brings all that shit home. It's almost like a miniature alternate tune was crammed into the main composition, fattening it up to a non-commercially viable level. And honestly, that's a good thing. The main opener, "Serpent", was initially gearing up to be quite a letdown compared to "Seven Widows Weep" from their prior album until the second chorus gave way to much more interesting shit, bordering on 'progressive metal' at times before the final chorus arrives. It's the unpredictable elements tossed in during the latter portion of the song that completely redeems it, and this goes for a few other beefed-up tracks as well.

Not every song is based off this format, and some of them stand out just for being unique in general within the context of The Seventh Life Path. "Elixir" is probably the most obvious example, not simply for its usage of clean male vocals and limited inclusion of Ailyn, but for the music almost coming across like some Fields of the Nephilim tune plopped onto a conveyor belt and sent through the 'Sirenia Machine'. One of my favorite numbers, "Earendel", starts off with this snazzy juxtaposition of a triumphant flag-waving guitar melody over a dour, descending chord progression. It sounds pretty fucking demented, plus during the post-second chorus grab-bag section, the song switches gears into what sounds like the kind of music I hear at some Mediterranean patio bar while I'm guzzling down drinks with little umbrellas decorating them. If Sirenia was aiming for something medieval in vibe, I don't hear it, but it's pretty cool regardless. "Sons of the North" is another obvious mention, particularly concerning its lyrics, eschewing the typical drearisome themes for some serious Viking pride. A bit over-the-top and silly, but it’s all good since the music gets real heavy here, with underlying influences from the sort of symphonic black metal that was all the rage in the late nineties seeping in to its architecture.

Which leads me to "The Silver Eye". It's hands down one of Sirenia's finest moments, and wouldn't feel out of place musically on either of their first couple of albums. It bounces around from a thrash gait to mid-paced stomps bolstered by double bass pedal spazzing, and the tremelo riffing and keyboard bashing is like a majestic otherworldly onslaught. The vocal distribution is perfect as well with Veland's creepy harshness volleying with Ailyn's ‘unsheathed sword’ battle cries, even if the lyrics themselves are more gloomy than rousing. After such a monstrous epic, "Tragedienne" makes for a gorgeous denouncement, being the sole ballad that showcases Ailyn's high vocal range while steering well clear of anything resembling pop territory.

Production-wise, The Seventh Life Path rings similar to Perils of the Deep Blue, compressed and with a sharp buzz tone of the guitars, practically a staple of their sound at this point, but there are a couple of minor changes, with one of them being a slight improvement concerning the drums, sounding less sterile than their last effort. The other alteration involves the vocals being lower in the mix, which I suppose adds a bit more vastness in the music's overall presentation, but one some occasions Veland sounds distant to the point of barely reaching audibility, such as during the gravelly mumbling verses of "Insania". Ailyn bears no such issues, as her naturally shrill tone can pierce a brick wall like a platinum spike, but those who her consider her a bit overbearing may find her more tolerable for this outing as she's sonically on a more level playing field with the music. I always found her voice strangely sexy, and her continuing improvement adds to her allure.

While the album lacks a compact catchy number to boogie along to or an unabashed monolithic centerpiece like "Stille kom døden", there's still a hell of a lot to enjoy here. Even something like "Once My Light", a song I considered notable as being the one track outside of the ballad lacking Veland’s goblin pipes, grew on me as I started noticing its meaty bass playing and the cool and unusual placement of a spaced-out guitar solo during track’s finale. There's stuff going on here that I missed during the first few listens that revealed themselves after enough spins, and I dig that. Granted, a few of the main verse-chorus progressions concerning a few tracks are kind of rudimentary 'stock-Sirenia' standards, but even they give way to enticing sections during their second halves. Five years ago I never thought I would be saying this, but at this point in their career I would be surprised if their next album actually sucks. What a crazy world.

Sirenia came into existence following Morten Veland's departure from Tristania. Much like that group early on, this new creation had a very dark start to it's initial gothic metal soaked material. 2002 saw their debut album At Sixes and Sevens drop, garnering plenty of praise from fans and critics alike, as did their 2004 follow-up An Elixer for Existence. As time went on, the band focused more on their Symphonic aspect, and not so much it's darker presence. Four more full-lengths later, all met with mixed reception, and we've now come to the band's aptly titled seventh studio album, The Seventh Life Path, as well as a return to Napalm Records, the label that handled their first two efforts. But have they also returned to their musical roots, or is this yet another release destined to be hit or miss among their fans?

Well, The Seventh Life Path does stick to what the group has been up to lately as far as their performances are concerned, wrapping themselves up with beautiful performances based largely around romance, loss, even mental breakdowns, the latter of which is nicely portrayed in the powerful music video for "Once My Light". Thankfully, considering the aggression found on later tracks, this one still retains a bit of roughness to the overall output, keeping itself from becoming yet another sleek sounding gothic metal band to get lost in the crowd of similar faces. The guitars have a decent bite thanks to the dirtier sounding distortion, not to mention superb echo on the cleaner chords, and the bass is present well enough with a deep tuning that is worth paying attention to when allowed a moment to shine through. Sadly, the drums sound a bit compressed and tinny at times, which doesn't work as nicely as it does for the rest of the instruments. Even Ailyn's vocals seem weaker at times, as if a there's something heavy presenting an obstacle from the full projection being captured.

While the album easily could have been mastered better, a lot of the aforementioned elements, positive or negatively described, actually makes The Seventh Life Path sound genuine by accentuating the themes of each song within the lyrics and music. "Serpent" has some fairly crushing grooves in some of the bridges, as well as the infectious chorus with a background operatic choir, but the main verse really brings Ailyn's singing up a little louder with some additional echo, complimenting the slight burdening sensation that feels as monolithic as the interpretation of said serpent within the song. Morten's raspy vocals add to the lizard-like quality nicely by sticking to a fairly linear pitch one might expect a creature like this to have in reality.

But some of the most impressive material of The Seventh Life Path lies in the more aggressive compositions about half way through. "Sons of the North" introduces this, and it's an interesting mixture of Norwegian black metal influences intertwined with traditional gothic metal. While the latter is kept mostly to the chorus, the main verses capture the first of those two in a fairly blunt, spirit crushing manner that the harshened vocals compliment well, not to mention some of the nightmarish keyboard and symphonic pieces that appear about five minutes in that trudge along in a momentary doom metal trance. That blackened touch is carried into "Earendal" perfectly, though the structuring is about the same other than a momentary progressive metal bass line approaching two-and-a-half minutes in, as well as a Folk angle seemingly influenced by the lore and heritage of the band's home country through wooden landscapes and gypsy/carnival themes, complimenting the sensation of exploration and wonder this segment, the guitar solo, and chorus easily create.

"The Silver Eye", however, is easily one of the most impressive tracks The Seventh Life Path has to offer. The glorious melodies that erupt early on are reminiscent of Amon Amarth for a short time, eventually weaving together Pagan black metal laced with traces of keyboard-driven Helloween influenced power metal. It's an invigorating, albeit shortlived mixture, that gives way to channelling some briefly eccentric tones, usually following the heavily Viking-fuelled chorus that only helps to amplify the already over-the-top piece. But then there's "Elixer", which is basically the polar opposite. It comes across a combination of traditional Goth/Darkwave laced with explosive Moonspell-grade performances and a well executed Neoclassical guitar solo thrown in for good measure. While not the only time it happens, this one shows Morten taking over vocal duties for most of the track, capturing that B-Horror graveyard style atmosphere quite well, even when belting out a mixture of rasps and gutturals in the chorus. By the time Ailyn briefly chimes in, it all feels like some kind of gothic duet influenced by the musical The Phantom of the Opera.

There's so much going on within the confines of The Seventh Life Path that it's almost impossible to compress one's thoughts or opinions into a single review without analysing pretty much every single track on the recording. Sirenia seem to be far more open and creative being signed with Napalm Records, as if Morten and Ailyn were finally able to realize their dream that had been stuck in neutral during their time with Nuclear Blast Records. This album also appears to have been recorded by the band as a whole (according to various articles on-line), and not like the prior three albums that list the recording members as a duo of the two just mentioned by name. Whatever the case may be, this new full-length is a powerful return to the group's roots, combined with the path they've forged for themselves up to this point, a sound that those going in expecting a light-hearted romantic romp on par with the single and music video behind "Once My Light" will be surprised at what they find, either for the better or the worst. At just under seventy minutes of beautiful, crushing music, Sirenia stand their strongest thanks to The Seventh Life Path, which is easily not only one of the most important albums of their career, but also one of the most impressive albums 2015 has to offer.

Review originally posted at Apoch's Metal Review.

It seems our problems oftentimes solve themselves, no doubt evident in the case of Sirenia and the second wind they have been riding for the past few years. After stinking up the scene with Monika Pedersen and subsequently wasting most of Ailyn's talent on two discursive and plastic-sounding symphonic... something albums in The 13th Floor and The Enigma of Life, Perils of the Deep Blue brushed the slate clean by virtue of the obvious: returning to what worked on the band's earliest albums. Variety returned in the form of epics like "Stille kom døden," and the end result was obviously one worth remembering. Naturally the question going into The Seventh Life Path is whether or not the band decided to maintain this momentum, wherein they marginally favor the metallic elements over the proclivity to overemphasize all manner of distractions.

Thankfully, this is indeed the case, and I dare say that Veland manages to beat At Sixes and Sevens at its own game at several points throughout this record, a revelation certain to perk many an ear up. Returned with open arms is the melting pot of dark, rich atmosphere and loose compositional clout that underpins Sirenia's riveting individual style, something that was a mere pipe dream only a few years ago. Ailyn's arching melodic sensibility and significantly improved singing voice goes a long way to solidify her growing importance to the band as a collective unit, rather than the "Veland and friends" circus that the band found themselves entrenched within at more than a few junctures. The Seventh Life Path sounds just as huge and sweeping as expected, yet it avoids the dreaded claptrap of superficiality that oftentimes fouls up female fronted fare of such caliber.

Whether or not the guitars are working their burly magic in the distance, Morten has developed such a fine ear for the keyboards that he grants himself the luxury of extended orchestral tangents, most evident on "Concealed Disdain," which is stuffed to the gills with diversity and exists as one in a number of consecutive six-plus minute tour de forces that comprise the entire second half of the record. Although I still find myself missing the quick and cheerful radio fodder numbers like "Lost in Life," "The Other Side" and "My Mind's Eye," The Seventh Life Path excels definitively in regards to its procession, something its direct predecessor couldn't even boast. "Sons of the North" is meant to be the true epic of the album, but its lasting power wanes cumulatively as each track after it manages to hit just about every mark without apprehension or falter. This is where Sirenia clearly excels, and Veland gladly opens his bag of tricks and delivers more than a few monster guitar progressions alongside some of the best vocal lines Ailyn has crooned up to this point. "The Silver Eye" opens and returns to a tremolo riff that sounds straight out of Oathbound-era Summoning, as strange as that may sound, and "Earendel" has plenty of meat on its bones, featuring guitar progressions redolent of "In My Darkest Hours," which was always a favorite of mine.

Although one may instinctively expect the band to bounce back and forth between two climes depending on whether or not the guitars are accentuated, some sort of happy medium is struck throughout, likely most evident on "Contemptuous Quitus," which reminds me of some of the stronger moments on An Elixir for Existence. All of this tension builds to a head and is released on the spectacular closer "Tragedienne," which is just... ridiculously morose and moving. It serves as a striking, delicate and crisp flood of ambiance hardly expected after the grand and majestic "The Silver Eye." Those who are heavily enamored by the voluminous, opulent patina of Sirenia's first two records will undoubtedly find The Seventh Life Path a logical continuance of such. This actually edges out Perils of the Deep Blue for me personally, mainly because I find myself continually enamored by more than half of the album, which features a level of quality we were only spoonfed on prior material. To be frank, I wasn't particularly concerned about whether or not Veland would bring it this time around, but the level to which he did certainly surprised me a fair bit. Great album and proof that Perils of the Deep Blue wasn't a fluke.