Sirenia's follow-up to 2009's The 13th Floor is basically a continuation of that effort. The Enigma of Life, the latest from former Tristania member Morten Veland, once again features the soaring female vocals of Ailyn surrounded by symphonic keyboards, bombastic riffage, choirs, and epic yet catchy arrangements. Fans of Nightwish, Within Temptation, After Forever, and Epica will no doubt gravitate to this one right away.
The problem is, though everything on The Enigma of Life is extremely well done, you kind of get the feeling of 'been there, done that' after making a few passes through the CD. Ailyn's voice is fabulous,but it's almost as if the band is featuring her too much and sacificing some of the elements that made Sirenia special in the first place. For the most part, Veland's growls are pretty nonexistant (though he roars to great effect on "The End of It All" and "This Darkness", if briefly), and the guitar riffs, while fairly crunchy at times, border on the generic, and take a backseat to the vocals and keyboard orchestrations. That being said, if you don't mind a less 'heavy' Sirenia, and welcome the bombastic orchestrations and overload of stunning female vocals, The Enigma of Life is actually a pretty classy and majestic gothic metal album. Unique it's not, but then again, the days where a female fronted gothic & symphonic metal band knocked you over with originality are long gone.
All in all, a nice listen, and another solid release from Sirenia.
Track Listing
1 - The End Of It All
2 - Fallen Angel
3 - All My Dreams
4 - This Darkness
5 - The Twilight In Your Eyes
6 - Winter Land
7 - A Seaside Serenade
8 - Darkened Days To Come
9 - Coming Down
10 - This Lonely Lake
11 - Fading Star
12 - The Enigma Of Life
13 - Oscura Realidad (bonus track)
14 - The Enigma Of Life (acoustic version bonus track)
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