SIRENIA will release its tenth studio album, "Riddles, Ruins & Revelations", on February 12 via Napalm Records. On this magical output, the French-Norwegian quartet combines a heavy symphonic sound with modern influences, The follow-up to 2018's "Arcane Astral Aeons" sees SIRENIA offering an exciting new twist to its songs, spicing them with electronic vibes, but never losing sight of their musical core. "Riddles, Ruins & Revelations" was produced, mixed and mastered by mastermind Morten Veland.
The disc's second single, "We Come To Ruins" can be streamed below. The song skillfully portrays SIRENIA's multifaceted nature and adds harshness to the record's characteristic elements, while transforming the "beauty and the beast" concept into a modern yet dark atmosphere. Stamping guitar tunes are underlined by evil growls, ushered along by the vocal power of singer Emmanuelle Zoldan shortly after.
Veland states about "We Come To Ruins": "'We Come To Ruins' is the second single from our upcoming album. This song shows SIRENIA from a heavier side, although it is a very dynamic song with many changes in both atmosphere and intensity. It is probably a more 'typical' SIRENIA song than our first single, but still with a modern approach."
With "Riddles, Ruins & Revelations", SIRENIA remains as true to the album title word-play as it does to its dedication to symphonic soundscapes, drawing the listener into a pounding narrative about the darkest aspects of life. All eleven songs accumulate step by step to an integral sound artwork, where the versatile mezzo soprano voice of Zoldan always shines in high-profile. In addition, there are many enchanting, instrumental surprises lurking on the way that absolutely need to be discovered.
"We Come To Ruins" offers a contrast of harshness to the more modern-orientated songs on the record, like "The Timeless Waning", and skillfully portrays the multi-faceted nature of the band. On "Downwards Spiral", Emmanuelle is supported by the remarkable voice of longtime friend Joakim Næss on clean vocals, who has joined the symphonic metal outfit on previous releases. SIRENIA's tenth full-length ends with a cover of DESIRELESS' 1986 hit "Voyage Voyage", where the unit again impressively combines symphonic sounds with electronic atmosphere, which doesn’t count only for this final epos, but for "Riddles, Ruins & Revelations" as a whole.
Veland comments: "'Riddles, Ruins & Revelations' is SIRENIA's tenth studio album. The album is very diverse, as a SIRENIA album should be. There's a lot of material that shows the band from a new side, and there is lots of material that is to be expected from the band musically. All in all the album will take the listeners through a journey that will cover both familiar and unexplored musical landscapes. We hope that you will enjoy the journey."
"Riddles, Ruins & Revelations" track listing:
01. Addiction No. 1
02. Towards An Early Grave
03. Into Infinity
04. Passing Seasons
05. We Come To Ruins
06. Downwards Spiral
07. Beneath The Midnight Sun
08. The Timeless Waning
09. December Snow
10. This Curse Of Mine
11. Voyage Voyage
SIRENIA is:
Morten Veland - guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards, programming
Nils Courbaron - lead guitar
Emmanuelle Zoldan - vocals
Michael Brush – drums
Photo credit: Richelle ter Heege
