Review Summary: The dark times of gothic/symphonic metal, Part 8
If "Nine Destinies and a Downfall" was considered Sirenia's first misstep, its follow-up "The 13th Floor" was the album where many fans abandoned them for good. Is it as bad as its reputation suggests? Yes and no. This is the kind of album that has moments of brilliance but also has a lot of very bad ideas, as we will see.
Opener "The Path to Decay" is a good example of what's both good and bad about this album. It has a heavy, dark riff, verses sung in a mysterious, sultry voice... and the usual Sirenia lyrics about becoming dead inside, the choirs that's in almost every song of theirs, a guitar solo that just replays the melody of the chorus, and a chorus where Aylin, Sirenia's 4th singer, kind of struggles with belting. Basically, everything on the album is summed up into the first song. Other songs are slightly better, others are worse.
"Lost in Life" is your typical, paint-by-numbers poppy symphonic metal song, with a generic riff and a simple piano part that sounds like too many others. While she sounds pretty good on the verses of "Decay" (and on others songs), the problem with Aylin's vocals becomes more apparent: she has a very light voice, and clearly struggles when she has to belt a chorus or even express some emotion. Her accent and intonation can also get a little strange, adding to the "unnatural-ness" of her singing. "The Seventh Summer" is even worse in that regard, with her flat singing on the verses and weird, high-pitched, childish singing on the choruses. "Winterborn 77", the most ambitious track, has a great melody, but her singing like a little girl kind of brings the song down.
"Beyond Life's Scenery" is another interesting track, with heavy riffs and a sense of urgency, but the chorus is once more ruined by the strained singing. However, the verses, where Aylin sings with a slightly darker tone, work better and make me understand why Morten hired her, which can be kind of a mystery on other tracks...
Of course, she's not the only Sirenia singer with a light voice, and while she's not on Fabienne Gondamin or Henriette Bordvik's level, she can sound very good on softer parts, like the melancholic verses of "The Mind Maelstrom". This one is musically more interesting, with its more ambitious and symphonic instrumentation. "The Lucid Door" has some pretty good riffs, and a nicer lower-pitched, laidback vocal performance. Morten's growls also give the song more energy, and for the most part, he sounds pretty good, like he did on Tristania's early days. "Led Astray" is another nice and melancholic track. Finally, "Sirens of the Seven Seas" is the last track and different from the others, as its about being hypnotized by sirens, and it's sung mostly by Morten.
This album is such a mixed bag, because it has a good structure, due to Morten Veland's songwriting. The album actually tries new things, instead of writing 10 songs with the same melody. It also takes more time to create a dark atmosphere, and it's much more creative musically. But it has flaws I can't ignore. Morten has a really unfortunate tendencies to write the same song over and over, and while this album isn't as repetitive as its predecessor, it tends to fall back on the same melodies and themes. A few tracks are blatantly chasing that poppy symphonic metal trend, which is not a good fit for Morten and co, and Aylin's vocals often disappoint. That's why both this album and "Nine Destinies" are both featured on this series, with the same slightly above average score. "Nine" has better vocals but less creativity, "13th" has more creativity but worse vocals, so they are pretty much equal. They both are albums I don't really hate, more like albums I can enjoy while admitting it's not really Sirenia's best. Maybe "Rubicon" , "Tear the World Down" or "Shallow Life" have made me sort of numb, or maybe the two Sirenia album really are better than these three.
