Sirenia

Instead of carrying Sirenia further away from their ex-Tristania status, the followup to their 2002 debut sounds even more like the band they came from. They do the neo-classical goth metal thing well and leaning more to the epic than the rock’n’roll on this one improves the overall coherence. Add that to Tristania’s recent silence on the album front and who is derivative of who becomes less clear. New female vocalist Henriette Bordvik admirably fulfils her role within a heavy metal soundscape that boasts the expected clean and growled male voices, choral and orchestral arrangements, as well as electronic textures. An Elixir for Existence is a strong foray into an established sound, full of Wagnerian extremes contrasted by tastes of delicate simplicity, well accomplished even if it breaks no new ground.