''The Enigma of Life'' is the fifth studio album by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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 ...

'' and their second with the Spanish vocalist

Ailyn Pilar María Del Carmen Mónica Giménez García (born 29 May 1982), known professionally as Ailyn Giménez or simply Ailyn, is a Spanish singer. She is the current vocalist of Her Chariot Awaits and the former vocalist of the Norwegian symph ...

. It was released on 21 January 2011 through ''

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

''.

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...

SIRENIA: New Album Track Listing, Cover Artwork, Release Date Revealed
/ref> The album was mastered at ''

Finnvox Studios Finnvox Studios is a recording studio located in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. It was founded by Erkki Ertesuo, Kurt Juuranto and Lejos Inc. in 1965 and is the longest running studio recording facility in Finland. The original multi-track re ...

'' in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The download-only single, ''"The End of It All"'', was released on 21 December 2010.

Track listing

All songs written by

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 ...

. * ''"The End of It All" has a video.''

Personnel

Sirenia

–

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 ...

, all other instruments *

– vocals

Session musicians

*Stephanie Valentin –

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 ...

s *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 – The Sirenian Choir

Additional notes

*Spanish translations of "El Enigma de la Vida" and "Oscura Realidad" by Ailyn *"The Enigma of Life" was recorded in Audio Avenue Studios (

Tau, Norway Tau is a village in Strand, Norway, Strand municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the shore of the Horgefjorden, a branch of the main Boknafjorden. Strand Church (Rogaland), Strand Church is located in the village. Th ...

), additional recordings of choirs, acoustic guitars and violin were recorded in Sound Suite Studios (

Marseille, France Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern France ...

) *Written, composed, arranged, produced, mixed and engineered by Morten Veland *Pre-produced in Audio Avenue Studios (Tau, Norway) *Mastered by Mika Jussila,

* A+R by Jaap Waagemaker * Cover artwork & design by Gustavo Sazes *Band photos by Patric Ullaeus

Charts

References

External links

Metallum Archives

The Enigma of Life
at discogs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Enigma Of Life, The 2011 albums Nuclear Blast albums Sirenia (band) albums