(See Ailyn's Hottest (50+) Pics and 99 More of the Top 100 Ladies of Metal Hammer/Billboard/Revolver/Rolling Stone/Kerrang! at www.ladiesofrock.com)

Ailyn (Sirenia)


0 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the beef?, December 22, 2011 By Necronomicona "666" (Somewhere, USA) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) Although this is still a better album than Downfall, this desperatly needs more of Velands rough vocals to counter the cavity inducting chipmunk sound. Ailyns vocals are no denying, very beutiful, and have almost super human qualities. But without the male rough vocals it's hard to even hear the metal in any of this. This is a great CD for a sing a long and vocal training, but headbanging and smashing stuff is better saved for Elixer and Sixes. The patterns are boring me to death as well. verse corus, verse corus, hook, corus end. Bottom line, it's mostly candy for dinner with no meat.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, October 24, 2011 By rsb90 - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) The fifth Sirenia offering is just blah. I think Morten is overworking himself with this and the Mortemia side gig. In fact why even have a solo project when Sirenia is the exact same thing but with female vocals. I'm sure Sirenia fans wouldn't mind having the now whiny female vocals dropped from a song or two. The Enigma of Life is just the same thing, more songs with chorus verse chorus verse and then insert guitar solo and occasional growls here and there. If you're a die hard Sirenia fan than this is for you but if you're new stick to the first two albums as they were much more diverse and worth listening to.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Fluffy Pop, August 24, 2011 By Scrod - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) I loved most of the prior work of this group in general but not this time around. The editorial review calls Sirenia a "Norwegian Gothic Metal band". Um no. This is fluffy pop with a guitar track and some spooky lyrics from time to time. So be aware, if you are looking for another release like 13th Floor you need to look elsewhere. If you need another bland main steam pop release that is totally forgettable this could be for you.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Symphonic Pop-Metal? Yet..., July 29, 2011 By SymphMetalDevourer (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) So, I happen to be one of those people who likes the direction Sirenia is going. If that makes me more of a supporter of "mainstream," I don't see it, but I don't care what others think. Living in the United States, there is definitely a broad line between this and mainstream. Now, I understand where the fans who have followed Sirenia from the beginning are coming from. This music sounds completely different from An Elixir For Existence. I do see how this might sound more "pop" than older releases. But the symphonic element is definitely still there, the metal element is obvious, and Ailyn's voice is perfectly fitting with the band. The prominence of repetition and melody is what makes this sound "pop" but I happen to like songs that get stuck in my head easily when they are enjoyable. Others have also said this sounds like an extension of The 13th Floor, which I can understand. Especially "The Twilight in Your Eyes" and "The End of It All" which have eerie similarities to "Path to Decay," but are able to stand on their own. The Enigma of Life is not a carbon copy, though it is obvious that there was no evolving in terms of sound or composition. The songs are still lovely. Of course, this review is coming from someone who discovered Sirenia when they had Monika as a lead singer. And I loved her voice too, though multitudes of people complained about that album (Nine Destines and a Downfall). Appreciation of this release all depends on your perspective (as does all music). If you didn't mind Monika, liked Ailyn, and loved The 13th Floor, then this album is for you. If you wish Sirenia still sounded like their older releases, well, you already know what to expect. But I still say, give this a chance. Stand-out tracks: "Fallen Angel," "All My Dreams," "Coming Down," "A Seaside Serenade," "Fading Star," and "The Enigma of Life" (The other tracks do sound more commercial, but are addicting as well!)

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars New directions and familiar sounds, June 14, 2011 By Margaret H. McDonald (Portland, OR, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) Sirenia's new album surprised me by moving into new artistic territory: folk-rock and pop influences, with minimal use of swelling orchestral sounds or epic chorales sung in Latin. Initially I was concerned that this new direction might disappoint me, as with Tristania in the absence of Morten Veland and Vibeke Stene (because I adore Sirenia's operatic style). However, the album has grown on me with its sparer, subtler melodies. The two Spanish-language tracks are a wonderful addition; as a Spanish speaker, I've noticed that symphonic metal has an active following in Latin America and would love to hear more material in Spanish.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars This is The 14th Floor., May 14, 2011 By Nick Shredder (Netherworld) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) Sirenia takes the sound to a higher level on Enigma of Life. The sound and song structure are similar to The 13th Floor, however this album has much more depth, experimentation, and everything just works better. I really liked The 13th Floor, but I think this is a better album. If you listen to both albums back to back you'll see that this one is the stronger of the two. I think of The 13th Floor and Enigma of Life as "sister" albums because they share the same musical DNA. If you were excited about The 13th Floor, then you absolutely have to pick up Enigma of Life. It's like The 13th Floor Part 2, or as I have been calling it, "The 14th Floor." I went down the song list to find all of the songs that stood out. And I found that 9 of the 12 songs on the album are worth mentioning. So that's pretty much the whole album. So there's no use in mentioning each individual song. The album is great. I personally loved the bonus tracks. I loved the Spanish version of the song Enigma of Life, and the song Oscura Realidad. You don't have to speak Spanish, Ailyn's performance is so powerful that you just understand.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars More of the same is a good thing!, May 8, 2011 By TFamily "Pet lovers" (Kansas) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: The Enigma Of Life (MP3 Download) Nice album. It took me a couple listen-thrus to appreciate the full album since there is not a lot of variety in the music. If you like the recent work from Sirenia, you will like this album too. Less edgy than their early albums, there is still a lot of that multi-track vocal harmony that is part of their style.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Another Step Backwards, May 3, 2011 By Formerly known as "The Professor" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Enigma Of Life (MP3 Download) After improving on Nine Destinies and a Downfall with The Thirteenth Floor, Morten Veland has taken Sirenia another step backwards with The Enigma of Life. The ultimate reason this album fails is that is reverts back to the simplistic, hackneyed compositions found in Nine Destinies and a Downfall. Short intros followed by verse-chorus, verse-chorus, guitar solo-chorus formulas render the album trite after just a few listens. This is NOT what made Sirenia unique with its first two albums that consisted of multiple vocal styles, rhythm breaks, and just pure coolness. Veland has now basically split his sound into two works: The new more poppy Sirenia and the female-lacking Mortemia. While I prefer Mortemia to this, neither of these projects is as strong as when Veland puts all of his eggs in one basket. With the last Sirenia album I found Ailyn to be an improvement over Monika, however there are some songs here where she sounds just as whiney. Choir and death vocal sections are scarce and sometimes sound like they were just slapped onto songs wherever--just for the sake of putting them in there. They add little depth to the songs in general, which sound not only less dynamic, but also less heavy than previous works. Some of the guitar solos become predicable--often consisting of Veland just playing the same harmony as the chorus(s) like Twisted Sister. The musicianship as a whole is still strong. But no matter how well the instruments are played or how tight the album is mixed, boring compositions leave the songs sounding predictable and mundane. Borrowing the final words from The Enigma of Life, "I cannot take this pain no more."

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Had the potential to be better than 'The 13th Floor,' but suffers from a bad running track order., March 2, 2011 By jdb_shopper - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) When it comes to gothic metal, a solid running track order is vital when I'm listening to tunes on the road. When I listened to Sirenia 'The Enigma of Life' for the first time, I thought there was a LOT of potential, yet for one reason or another, I couldn't pinpoint why I couldn't completely warm up to it. Maybe it might of been the lack of atmospheric keyboards that can normally be found in previous efforts. (it was mostly piano & strings, and a few guitar effects taking their place.) But after awhile, I realized that it was the running track order. In 'The Enigma of Life,' the songs are either commercial, or artistic, but almost never blending the two. And when a song on one side of the gothic spectrum is followed by one on the other side, it becomes a total trainwreck when it comes to a good flowing track order. Commercial and traditional gothic metal are two different beasts, and seperately, they don't get along. Blend them seamlessly though, as was done on 'The 13th Floor,' you get a perfect album that never hits a brick wall. In addition, with the way the track order is listed, the album also suffers from a lack of vocal diversity, normally a strength of Sirenia. 'The 13th Floor' kept switching from clean female vocal, male grunts, the choir, and male clean vocal constantly. Between that and the seamless blend between the commercial and the traditional aspects of goth, the album remains fresh to the very end. But the track order of 'The Enigma of Life' concentrates mostly on the female vocals of Ailyn, while the other styles of vocal seem to get clumped all together on different parts of the album. As a result, the diversity of the vocal isn't as evident. Add in the seperation of the commercial and traditional aspects of goth, and the original track order destroys all the potential in the album. The songs, they're great. They just don't fit with this current track order. Long story short, Sirenia 'The Enigma of Life' HAS the potential to be their best album to-date. But the track order needs to be rearranged a bit to make it work. --- With that said, here's a suggested track order for anyone who has the power to do so via an .mp3 player playlist, noting that I have removed a few songs from the list to eliminate repetition or songs that could ruin the flow of the album. (also note, bonus tracks are not included in this mix.) 1.) This Darkness 2.) The End of It All 3.) Darkened Days To Come 4.) This Lonely Lake (Or Fallen Angel, or Winter Land. They're all of the same mold, but it would be redundant to use all 3.) 5.) All My Dreams 6.) Coming Down 7.) Fading Star 8.) The Enigma of Life 9.) The Twilight In Your Eyes This rearranged track order seperates the commercial songs from the artistic ones, and gives you the classic 9 track lineup most Sirenia albums possess. In addition, the vocal diversity is also much more evident with this change-up and helps with the transition to the back half of the album. (And yes, it was PAINFUL to cut out 'Seaside Serenade.' I like the track. It just doesn't fit anywhere.) If you have an .mp3 player of any kind, try this track order for yourself. 'The Enigma of Life' is drastically improved with this revision.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A little too much of a holding pattern..., February 26, 2011 By philippe deroin (Gaithersburg, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: The Enigma Of Life (MP3 Download) The Enigma of Life is a good album consolidating the new band formula and the second with Ailyn as lead singer. It is well written, well produced and catchy. By any standard, this is a good addition to Morten Veland's catalog but one can't help being somewhat disappointed. As good as it is, as pretty as songs like Fallen Angel or the title track are, as much as it tries to combine melody, eeriness and force, it comes across a little too much as coming out of the same mold as 13th Floor. On many songs, including the opener The End of It All or The Twilight in Your Eyes, you get the feeling that you are listening to a variation of A Path to Decay from the previous album. Therefore, if you liked the 13 Floor, you will enjoy The Enigma of Life as a slight variation on a theme. But don't expect to explore new territory. This might suggest that Veland, gifted as he is, does a little too much of everything in the band, a task made even more arduous that he was kept busy between the two albums by his other project, Mortemia, and their first album Misere Mortem published last year. In each case, Veland takes a big chance blurring the line between what constitutes a "real" band and what are almost solo projects. Even Arjen Anthony Lucassen, self-contained rock-inventor as he is, knows to surround himself to try to renew his sound as he has done with Guilt Machine or Star One... Sirenia seems tempted by the Epica mold while forgetting that the Dutch band shares writing and composing credits, helping to create a richer work. In many ways, The Enigma of Life reminds me of Rubicon, the most recent album from Tristania. Tristania, of course, was Veland's band before he left to create Sirenia due to the usual "creative differences" and is also adapting to a new singer. In both cases, the end result is very professional and quite good but you keep thinking both bands can do better...

A New Beginning, February 19, 2011 By kwprogster This review is from: The Enigma Of Life (MP3 Download) Excellent new release from Sirenia. Yes, it is a bit softer than their last record but the record flows much better. The vocals are excellent and the mix of female and male vocals seem better constructed. This release comes across like a stepping stone for a band reborn. Many songs are catchy and memorable and later in the record the more experimental tracks appear. I do not believe this is a band that is falling but rather a band rebuilding. I think we have not heard the best yet from Sirenia but simply an excellent release from a very talented band. Hopefully a live DVD will be in the near future.

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Be aware, February 16, 2011 By Fo2 "dutchz" (OH, United States) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Enigma of Life (Audio CD) I have no problem with anyone who enjoys this album. If it's what you like, power to you. But I have to make everyone aware who has followed this band from the start that the Sirenia you knew and loved is gone. The product description for Enigma of Life claims that the band is now the strongest it has ever been. Don't be fooled. Anyone who loved An Elixir for Existence and At Sixes and Sevens will tell you that the band hasn't been the same since. If mellow is your cup of tea, have at. This CD is not the Sirenia of old.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars aaahhh, yes!, February 7, 2011 By the master (australia) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Enigma of Life: Digi-Pak (Audio CD) This cd is incredibly beautiful given the fact that Ailyn is a brilliant singer. Although not as heavy as the 13th Floor, the vocal is more upfront and the singing by Ailyn is closed to perfection. The acoustic version of the Enigma of Life is as good as the standard version and you can find some beautiful lead guitar work by Morten Veland in some of the songs. Personally, I think the best song is "Coming Down" although nearly very songs are well arranged.