The 13th Floor

I am a firm believer that violins make everything better, and that does include metal. in the scandinavian region (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland) there is a huge base of metal bands that use an operatic female lead singer backed up by a hard guitar and drum setup with pianos and violins for accent. while some don't pull together nicely, this band does...sample path to decay... right now, ill wait.you have? good. the blend of light vocals mixed with heavy guitar and bass makes it sound simply amazing, and the violins are simply fantastic.

To start off, I never liked "At Sixes and Sevens" and "An Elixir for Existence." I couldn't like the vocals, especially the ones on "An Elixir for Existence." "Nine Destinies and a Downfall" was not impressive enough for me, it would be a 3 star album.And so, I didn't want this cd. But my friend told me to buy it.And I don't regret it.It starts off with a somewhat poppy song "The Path to Decay." A very good song, may I say. Then it goes to the catchy "Lost in Life." Then as it reaches "The Mind Maelstrom," the album takes off. The end "Sirens of the Seven Seas" is an excellant closing, in my opinion.Hightlights: "The Mind Maelstrom," "Led Astray," "The Seventh Summer," "Beyond Life's Scenery," and "Winterborn 77."Ailyn's vocals are the best in all of Sirenia. While she does not join the ranks of Simone Simons (Epica), Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish), Floor Jansen (ex-After Forever; Revamp, Nightwish), or Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), she is still a very talented singer.Thenceforth, I do recommend purchasing this album, unless you don't like Morten's occassional growls, which in that case, this might not be for you.

This album from the heavy metal group Sirenia, I consider outstanding! It is the best album I have listened to in years. Almost every track is a work of art, with beautiful harmonies and melodies. It can easily stand next to my other favorite albums from Nightwish.The singer has an amazing clear voice with great focal range and adds to the musical composition.

I like this group, but not as much as I do Nightwish. Still the music is interesting, and definitely shows musical ability as well as creative composition. Definitely worth trying, if you like gothic/ metal music, and can appreciate Classical influences.

This is some of the best music you will hear from this genre so you shouldn't think twice about buying Sirenia 'The 13th Floor'. The new singer Ailyn owns certain songs off this great work of art. The musical genius Morten Veland would do well to keep this woman around for a long time. 'Path To Decay' and 'Lost In Life' are Ailyn's songs now, I would not want to hear anyone else singing them. I love her Spanish accent! Almost every song is a 5 star winner, but I don't think Ailyn pulled of the vocals on 'Winterborn 77'. It's just to much for her vocal style. Better leave those highest notes to the opera singers Tarja and Simone. Can't they guest appear on some vocals?I can't pick a favorite song off 'The 13th Floor'. One day it'll be 'Lost In Life', the next day it'll be 'Led Astray' (and so it goes day-after-day). It really is that good. All these compositions are amazing. Even 'Winterborn 77', in which Ailyn's voice didn't work for me, is great music. Some days I think it's the best music on the CD.

I fell in love with Sirenia sometime ago. Her vocals and haunting lyrics on the cd 13tn floor is a great addition to her catalog. Unfortunately the USA has once again passed up on a great artist. the 13th floor is tightly mixed and compliments her vocals beautifully. Don't pass on this cd / the 13th floor by Sirenia will lead your mind and memories to places of beauty. the only downside to this cd is has an end track that leads you wanting more. check out her entire catalog. the 13th floor is only another great begining for Sirenia.

First off, you cannot go wrong with this. This is simply the ultimate gothic metal album. It takes you to a moonlit place of marble ruins and ivy, sea caves and sirens. Beyond solitary twilight voyages, I can see it working equally well as the throbbing pulse of the goth club, replete with leather-clad vamps and crimson velvet.When I was an awkward, grubby freshman in college (circa 1995), my dorm room neighbor had the most impressive collection of black metal, doom metal, and death metal I had ever seen. Actually, it was the only collection I had ever seen. Prior to that, all I knew of metal was Pantera and White Zombie-- and I knew it well, playing it pretty much to death every day in the weightroom or in my 1978 Mustang II hatchback (not a muscle car, by the way). But this guy Myles made me a doom metal tape that had all the mega-hits from bands like Amorphis ("Black Winter's Day" anyone?), The Gathering ("King for a Day"), Tiamat ("The Sleeping Beauty"), Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, St. Vitus, and Candlemass.His efforts were not fruitful-- at first anyway. When I wore out my Alice in Chains and Nirvana records during those halcyon summer glory days, I turned back to metal. And for fourteen years now, going strong, death metal has been my choice for hazy late-night sessions. Who wants emotion on a daily basis? Not me. If those doom bands really want something to cry about, they should move to an American city and try their hand at being a corporate wage slave. I came to depend on the reliable purveyors of diamond-cut DM, bands like Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse.Meanwhile, those European bands changed styles faster than a NASCAR driver changes gears. If they were budding young minds instead of bands they would immediately be prescribed Ritalin.Now, the miraculous thing is that experimentation, like genetic mutation, is not always a bad thing. The current legion of female-fronted symphonic metal bands (i.e. "gothic metal") is a new, stable phenotype, the evolution of which can be traced back through the fossil record to the original doom bands. Epica, Delain, Demurtas-era Tristania, Ailyn-era Sirenia, latter-era After Forever-- by bringing in strong frontwomen and slightly faster tempos, these bands took Theatre of Tragedy's beauty and the beast template and made it listenable. And, it must be said, they kill their American counterparts.Personally, I cannot get behind some guy singing in a high-pitched voice unless he is Rob Halford, and don't even talk to me about those male opera vocals. Ailyn's voice, however, is unforgettable. Her voice lured me into the Gladsheim of gothic metal in the same way that the bone-chilling voice of Layne Staley got me into 90s hard rock. Just how the scrambled howl of John Tardy got me into death metal, or the way Rudy Ratzinger's (:W:) electronic scalpel of a tongue got me into industrial.Sirenia also boasts the best male vocals in the genre courtesy of Morten, whose voice possesses that cold, distorted, industrial quality of the best black metal vocals. Not to mention that he is a songwriting genius. Don't get me wrong; I understand why this genre is often overlooked by metalheads. But when the day comes that you are looking for something different and you run into a song like "The Path to Decay" or "Led Astray", it will be a good day. This is a true celebration of METAL: Let us toast to mead, minstrels, and valkyries.

Truly creative.Who would have suspected heavy metal would have gone to Norway and transformed into something so amazing?

The CD is just a CD, nothing special about it. Delivery was prompt and no issue. If you like this music then I recommend it. You can always check YouTube to view/listen to a few tracks.

cute tnx

great album

all ok without problems

Sirenia are a curious band and to me, at least, it appears they haven't quite sorted out where they're going musically. I think it's detrimental to change the vocalist after each recording as this makes their overall sound less identifiable. I don't think the new singer is any better than the last one. Intros are often powerful but this is almost instantly dissipated when (weakish) vocals come in. I'm not that keen on the heavy backing music mixing with weak melodies which have poppy leanings. As other reviewers have said the belated entrance of growls (not that I'm a fan) is like a write-by-numbers reminder of their Gothic roots. The choir does sound magnificent in places but this has all been done before and Sirenia are nowhere near as dynamic or dramatic as Epica or After Forever not to mention the big 2.There are a couple of nice guitar breaks (most symphonic metal groups couldn't play solos to save their lives) but Morten Veland comes across as a good craftsman rather than an inspired songwriter. I find the constant reviewer references to Abba inappropriate as Sirenia have a long way to go to come up with unforgettable melodies like their Scandinavian counterparts. Song titles seem to centre around numbers for some obscure reason. My favourite tracks are the opener "Path to Decay" and the last one - "Siren of the Seven Seas" and I prefer the two bonus instrumentals to their sung versions. Overall "Nine Destinies" was a stronger album and at best Sirenia are just marking time. Not an essential purchase (but a helluva lot better than Tristania or Lacuna Coil)!