Interview Sirenia

The symphonic metal band, Sirenia, have released a new album entitled ‘’Dim Days Of Dolor’’ feautering the new vocalist, Emmanuelle. I had the pleasure to have an interview with the master of Sirenia, Morten, who talked about the new album, future touring and other stuffs related to the band.

 

Hi Morten, it’s my pleasure having this interview with you. How things are going?
Things are going fine these days. Everyone in the band are really excited about finally being able to tour again. Just came back from our European tour and already looking forward to a lot more touring in 2017. We are also very excited about having the new album out, we have received a lot of great response on it so far.

Sirenia made it to release an 8^th album, ‘’Dim Days Of Dolor’’ with the new vocalist, Emmanuelle. Is this album a concept one?
All the songs on the album were written individually so there is no specific theme or concept behind them. My lyrics were always leaning towards a dark and melancholic expression though, so there is a red thread throughout the album though. With way more than hundred songs under my belt by now I admit it gets harder and harder to find subjects to write about in order to renew myself. I have written a couple of songs with references to Norse mythology lately. I always was very fascinated by mytology, especially Norse and Greek.

The last album was released last year, ‘’The Seventh Life Path’’. When did you start to write the new album, I would say, all quick after one year another album to be out…
I already began working on ‘Dim Days of Dolor’ before ‘The seventh life path’ was released, so I spent around two years making the album, which I usually do. Having my own studio at home and twenty years of experience enables me to work a bit faster nowadays than in the past. But it is extremely important to me to take the time I need to make everything perfect.

Comparing the sound, lyrical themes and the female vocals of the old Sirenia albums with the recent ones, what can you tell me about these?
I more or less write about the same themes as before, so I guess the biggest change for me is that I always try to develop my style and way of writing. Some albums I have written more direct lyrics for, while others are very cryptic so to speak. I always look for new subjects to write about too, but at the same time I need to write about things that is meaningful to me as a song writer, and the themes needs to match the feelings and atmosphere in the music.

Aylin have left the band from personal reasons, how was this decision for Sirenia?
The cooperation was not working anymore, so it was the only right decision. The only other option would be to end the band. It is always sad when a bandmember goes, but like in any other profession that happens. We did not part ways with Ailyn because of personal reasons, because she is a nice person that was liked by all in the band, we parted ways due to her health issues. A personal matter for which the details not neccesarily are meant for the public eye.

As mentioned earlier that Emmanuelle is the new voice of Sirenia, she took part for Sirenia albums since 2004…
Yes, she has been working with us since 2003, so we go back a long time and we have worked a lot together in the past. I have always been a fan of her voice and loved all her performances with different bands she’s collaborated with over the years. She is a very diverse singer that can handle a lot of different styles, be it classical, opera, modern style, rock, jazz – whatever really. She is very good at interpretating the songs and putting a lot of emotions into her performances. She is also very serious about her work she has many years of experience as a professional singer. Furthermore Emmanuelle has a very nice personality, and she really got along well with the whole band from the very beginning.

I’d like to ask, you do not have a bass player, you had ocassionaly during the live shows, why is that?
For several reasons, but mostly economical. Being a band coming from Norway has always worked against us. It is a high cost country and whereever we go we are dependent on expensive flight tickets. Having bass on tracks is a way for us to save costs and enable ourselves to play more concerts due to lower travelling expences. On the albums I play the bass. As soon as Sirenia becomes a bit bigger we intend to add a bass player to our line up. We also got very used to being a four piece and it is very convienient on stage.

You are the founder of Sirenia, writing the music for, actually managing everything in the band. How do you see Sirenia’s activity from the beginning until present?
The last three years have been very silent on the live front, we have played few shows. Now the situation is changed and we look forward to play more shows for our fans. We have hooked up with some great partners that will help Sirenia touring a lot more in the years to come.

Are you going to tour soon to promote the new album? Maybe for next year aswell?
Yes, we just came back from a European tour supporting the new album. We already have lots of plans for next year too. Agents are working on a South America tour, a North America tour, festivals and so on. I think that 2017 will be a very exciting and busy year for Sirenia.

Mortemia is another band you have founded, with one album released, any news about this band too?
I have not done much with this project lately, but I have some new songs in the works, I think there will be some new music of Mortemia for next year. My first plan is to release a digital single.

Would you like to end the interview with a message to all the Sirenia fans?
Cheers to all our fans out there, hope to see you on tour next year. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you!

Thank you Morten again, cheers and hope to see you on stage soon!
My pleasure. See you along the road!

 

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