''An Elixir for Existence'' is the second studio album by the Norwegian

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

band

Sirenia The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea-cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The Sirenia currently comprise two distinct f ...

, released in 2004. The album follows in the same vein as the previous '' At Sixes and Sevens'', but includes a new female vocalist, Henriette Bordvik. From this album, Sirenia has been presented as a 4-piece band, with

Morten Veland Morten Veland (born 4 December 1977) is a Norwegian musician. He is one of the founding members of the gothic metal band Tristania and the founding member of Sirenia and Mortemia. Background At the age of 14, Veland began saving to buy his ...

as the only permanent member.

Musical style

Like its predecessor album '' At Sixes and Sevens'' (2002), the musical style in ''An Elixir for Existence'' corresponds to the more classic Sirenia's gothic metal of their origins, with some elements of symphonic

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

. A large number of the songs are concerned with mental conditions, be it depression (''"Voices Within"''), drug use (''"Euphoria"'') or thoughts of

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

(''"The Fall Within"''); of course, the meanings of all of these songs are subject to further conjecture.

Track listing

All songs written by

Personnel

Credits for ''An Elixir for Existence'' adapted from liner notes.(2004). "''An Elixir for Existence'' liner notes". In ''An Elixir for Existence'' D booklet Napalm. Sirenia *

–

harsh vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

(tracks 1–5, 7, 8), guitars, bass, keyboards, drum programming, mixing * Henriette Bordvik –

female vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(tracks 1–8) Additional personnel * Kristian Gundersen – clean male vocals (tracks 3, 4, 7) * Anne Verdot –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(tracks 2–4, 6) * Damien Surian, Mathieu Landry,

Emmanuelle Zoldan Emmanuelle Zoldan (born 18 June 1977) is a French opera singer, best known for her work as a session musician in heavy metal bands as Sirenia, Trail of Tears and Turisas, among others. She is currently the vocalist of Sirenia. Career Zoldan ...

, Sandrine Gouttebel, Emilie Lesbros –

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

(tracks 1–5, 7–9) Production * Joachim Luetke – cover art, artwork * Terje Refsnes – mixing, engineering * Emile M.E. Ashley – photography * Ulf Horbelt – mastering * Wolfgang Voglhuber – photography

References

External links

Metallum Archives

An Elixir for Existence
at discogs.com 2004 albums Sirenia (band) albums Napalm Records albums {{2000s-metal-album-stub