Metal Underground.com

After 2011’s less than positively received “The Enigma of Life,” Sirenia is making a comeback in a big way with the excellently-arranged “Perils of the Deep Blue,” which just may take its place as the best album in the band’s discography. Moving past the beauty and the beast dichotomy, Sirenia’s latest full-length is consistently epic across 11 tracks, utilizing the symphonic elements in impressive and ambitious ways.

Despite the track’s length and presence of operatic vocals, “Ducere Me in Lucem” is essentially just the obligatory intro segment, building up to the real metal and one of the album’s strongest tracks in “Seven Widows Weep.” The song was a shoe-in for the music video with its large scale, sweeping sound, and strong mix of harsh and soft. Sirenia has definitely hit its stride on combining the two opposing styles, and it shows on nearly every cut the disc has to offer. “My Destiny Coming To Pass” throws gigantic booming drums next to serene singing courtesy of vocalist Ailyn, while “The Funeral March” matches the stringed instruments and synths perfectly to the guitars.

Despite being labeled a “gothic metal band,” there’s really very little in the way of goth going on here, as “Perils of the Deep Blue” definitely isn’t a Tristania release. The closest thing to that sound would be the backing choir chants in some songs, but they are presented in more of an epic symphonic style than a gothic one. In fact, much of the album could easily be used as a film score or fantasy video game music. There are also a few unexpected additions added in, like the classic rock singing on “Ditt Endelikt,” which also brings out some “Pure Moods” style atmospheric sounds to throw the audience a curve ball. The nearly 13-minute “Stille Kom Doden” is another trip off the beaten track, using spacey and atmospheric meanderings along the lines of Tiamat.

In short, the album’s heavier parts hit harder, the instrumental parts are more compelling, and the band doesn’t skimp on the angelic clean vocals either. There’s no doubt about it – Sirenia is currently beating out a lot of the other symphonic and female-fronted bands with “Perils of the Deep Blue.”