SIRENIA, the well known gothic metal band from Norway has returned with a new album The Enigma of Life, their fifth, and their second with their relatively new singer, Pilar Giménez García, known now solely as Ailyn. She reminds me very much of the female singer, Michela D'Orlando from the now defunct band POWER SYMPHONY. Not in the way her voice sounds, but in the passion of the delivery of the words. In my opinion, the heartfelt passion is remarkable. I loved POWER SYMPHONY, so I fully expected to like this album after I heard the vocals. This is a truly great album. The dirty vocals are kept to a minimum as they should be with such a brilliant lead singer. They also incorporate epic choruses that sound just like they came out of an Opera house. They really fit the 'epic' label nicely. It doesn't sound forced or contrived either. It sounds very natural to my ears. I fully intend to listen to their entire discography as soon as possible. SIRENIA has just broadened my musical horizons.

I don't listen to a lot of gothic metal so I am unable to draw comparisons between them and other bands. I simply don't have the time to listen to everything. That said, I don't know if they can top this effort. It truly is rock solid from start to finish. Seeing that they have had multiple lineup changes, hopefully this will stop and they can keep this lineup together. Nothing is worse than a band with a constant revolving door. ICED EARTH and PRONG change members all the time, but those bands are largely just solo bands of their founding members, Tommy Victor or PRONG and Jon Schaffer of ICED EARTH. This band is not a solo project. Some continuity would be nice. Ailyn's vocals are very pleading and majestic. She is the definition of what I think of when I hear the phrase 'Singing your heart out'. I can tell she is not just saying the vocals, but she is feeling them inside as well. If they change vocalists again, it would be a tragedy.

The production is as good as possible. It doesn't get any better than this production wise. All of the instrumentation is top notch. The bass blends in seamlessly and the guitar has just enough crunch to make it "metal". The drums are also rock solid. If you love beautiful female vocals; then this is for you. For example, the acoustic version of "The Enigma of Life" is the vocal highlight of the album. It is simply wonderful. The tempo never gets too fast to fall into the power metal category and the ballads are poetic and fit the genre well. No complaints from me at all in that regard. If you are a fan of Gothic Metal, then you should be thrilled with "The Enigma of Life". I most certainly am.