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Morten Veland (Tristania/Sirenia)


Requiem

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There are many great bands in the gothic metal genre, but I want to talk about an individual. 

Any Morten Veland fans out there? He was instrumental (pardon the pun) in creating Norwegian band Tristania's two masterpieces back in the late 90s 'Widow's Weeds' and 'Beyond the Veil', before leaving to start his own more or less solo career with Sirenia. 

Sirenia just keep on pumping out great gothic/symphonic metal albums, but in the last few years Morten has stepped beyond the very good and into the great. I reckon it all started with 'Perils of the Deep Blue' which was just next level when it came to the songs, as well as the production which suddenly got fatter with more crunch and atmosphere. After some good but not brilliant albums it was like he finally decided to knuckle down and write the songs of his life. 

The last three albums have all reflected this commitment to quality. Check out a song from the most recent album 'Dim Days of Dolor' which is arguably Morten's greatest work. As usual for Sirenia he does the growled vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming, production and engineering. 'Dim Days of Dolor' is also the first album with new French vocalist Emmanuelle Zoldan who is just phenomenal (with that French accent). 

 

Requiem's Ranking of Morten Veland's Albums from Least Best to Best Best

10. Sirenia - 'The Enigma of Life' (2011)

Vocals by Ailyn. This is ultimately a disappointing album considering when it was released, and sounds like Morten is quite flat and dried up creatively. Ailyn is a saving grace, and while the first two tracks are pretty good, this is a lame duck album unfortunately. Morten really is a hit and miss songwriter and producer when you compare this album with 'Perils' that would come out two years later. 

9. Sirenia - 'Nine Destinies and a Downfall' (2007)

Vocals by Monika Pedersen. I do enjoy this album but it's a fairly workmanlike approach from Morten here - almost a little paint-by-numbers. The track 'Seven Keys and Nine Doors' is a wonderful highlight hidden away at track 7. It's a good album but ultimately lacks a little depth. Vocals are fine but unexciting. 

8. Sirenia - 'The Seventh Life Path' (2015)

Vocals by Ailyn. This should have been a classic coming off the back of the brilliant 'Perils' album, but the songs are just too long and overinflated. Most tracks run between 6 and 9 minutes, and while this works on 'Perils' it just doesn't work here for some reason. Ultimately, there aren't the riffs to sustain this approach and it's quite emotionless despite being really well produced. The album really lags and sometimes by about minute 6 or 7 in some tracks I'm completely lost and so is Morten...

7. Sirenia - 'An Elixir for Existence' (2004)

Vocals by Henriette Bordvik. A great follow-up from the debut, there's a big jump from the last entry on my list to this one. Great opening track and solid songs throughout. Vocals are cool but not life changing. This has a brilliant album cover by the way. 

6. Sirenia - 'At Sixes and Sevens' (2002)

Vocals by Fabienne Gondamin. The mighty debut, this is a brilliant album although it has a little more filler than some of the kinder fans seem to remember. There's no denying how great it is though, and when 'Meridian' kicks in it totally takes me back to the good old days. It was a great album to put out after parting ways with Tristania and it just smashed what they were doing at the time. 

5. Sirenia - 'The 13th Floor' (2009)

Vocals by Ailyn. This is a really cool album that seems to have slipped under a lot of radars in the music press. The songs are catchy, Ailyn sounds fantastic and the vibe is really good. Tracks like 'The Mind Maelstrom' are world class. 

4. Sirenia - 'Dim Days of Dolor' (2016) 

Vocals by Emmanuelle Zoldan. Seriously this is a 9/10 album. It looks cheap at number four but that's only because the three ahead of it are landmark albums. The production is phat - everything sounds amazing. It's such a pleasure to listen to. Great songwriting - Morten trimmed at least a minute off the songs compared with the laborious 'Seventh Life Path' and the result is tight and oh so sweet. All killer, no filler. The new singer is brilliant too. 

3. Sirenia- 'Perils of the Deep Blue' (2013)

Vocals by Ailyn. This came out of nowhere after the misfire of 'The Enigma of Life'. The two albums are chalk and cheese. I couldn't believe how deep (no pun intended) and emotional these songs were when I first heard them. For the first time since I've been listening to this band (over ten years at the time) I was getting the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. The detail and effort that went into the songwriting and performance was 300% over 'The Enigma of Life'. Maybe Morten knew he needed to kick his own arse? The long songs work perfectly and there was a new found motivation and inspiration at work here. One of my favourite albums. 

2. Tristiania - 'Beyond the Veil' (1999)

Vocals by Vibeke Stein. It's a little unfair including these albums in this list, but the thread deals with both projects so here they are. The second Tristania album is a masterpiece and moment in time. The songwriting was a bit more upbeat and rocking, but all the ingredients of perfect 90s gothic metal are here: violin, atmosphere and great songwriting. Chills, chills, chills. 

1. Tristania - 'Widow's Weeds' (1998)

Vocals by Vibeke Stein. The debut contains that dash of magic that can only come from an exciting, youthful and momentous album of untouchable gothic metal. Put it in my coffin with me. 

 

Here's 'Goddess of the Sea'. Any other Morten fans out there? I accept that this thread could be a slow burn but I'm willing to wait hahaha.

 

 

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  • 6 months later...

Hey @Earendel I see you’re a Sirenia fan and made an interesting comment on the new singer - I thought it would be cool to discuss it all in this thread.

In particular, of the last three albums I love ‘Dim Days of Dolor’ and ‘Perils of the Deep Blue’ and can’t really get into ‘The Seventh Life Path’ on the same level. Allow me to explain.

I think Emmanuelle sounds amazing and even though not fully operatic, still more operatic than Ailyn. I don’t want Morten to go too far down the opera path though. I just think the choruses and songwriting work so much better on ‘Dim’ than ‘Seventh Life Path’ which I found too overblown and unfocused. The tracks on ‘Seventh’ all clock in between 6-9 minutes and they all feel like they should have ended around 5. I think Morten might have recognised this too because the tracks on ‘Dim’ are all 3-5 pretty much.

So I actually really love ‘Dim’ and ‘Perils’ but am actually a little disappointed with ‘Seventh’. The songwriting focus on ‘Dim’ is so perfect. Check out the chorus on ‘Cloud Nine’ - so good! 

The production of these albums is also incredible. The crunch and heaviness, yet epic feel, is perfect.

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11 hours ago, Requiem said:

Hey @Earendel I see you’re a Sirenia fan and made an interesting comment on the new singer - I thought it would be cool to discuss it all in this thread.

In particular, of the last three albums I love ‘Dim Days of Dolor’ and ‘Perils of the Deep Blue’ and can’t really get into ‘The Seventh Life Path’ on the same level. Allow me to explain.

I think Emmanuelle sounds amazing and even though not fully operatic, still more operatic than Ailyn. I don’t want Morten to go too far down the opera path though. I just think the choruses and songwriting work so much better on ‘Dim’ than ‘Seventh Life Path’ which I found too overblown and unfocused. The tracks on ‘Seventh’ all clock in between 6-9 minutes and they all feel like they should have ended around 5. I think Morten might have recognised this too because the tracks on ‘Dim’ are all 3-5 pretty much.

So I actually really love ‘Dim’ and ‘Perils’ but am actually a little disappointed with ‘Seventh’. The songwriting focus on ‘Dim’ is so perfect. Check out the chorus on ‘Cloud Nine’ - so good! 

The production of these albums is also incredible. The crunch and heaviness, yet epic feel, is perfect.

I think Perils of The Deep Blue and The Seventh Life Path are the best albums recorded with Ailyn :) Especially Perils of The Deep Blue. This album is truly masterpiece. Compositions although they are long aren't bored (the longest is The Funeral March. It's over 12 minutes!) Lyrics are also really good. When I listen to Perils of The Deep Blue I get the impression that I sail with the sirens through the ocean of mysteries of life. I agree with you. Although I really like The Seventh Life Path, this album unfortunately has some disadvantages. I feel the same about compositions. They should be 4-5 minutes. On ,,Perils" there were long songs so for the balance songs on ,,The Seventh" as  I said should be 4-5 minutes. Also some of lyrics (I mean Once My Light, Tragedienne, Insania and Contemptuous Quietus) aren't too good to not say weak. But the biggest advantage of both albums is Ailyn voice. She sound like true siren! Ailyn has lyrical soprano voice. She was learning classical singing. I have impression that on The 13th Floor and The Enigma of Life she could not properly use her beautiful voice. On Dim Days of Dolor I ran out of Emma's opera singing. (I'm opera freak so I think this is the cause) A little more operatic singing for me will be great on Dim Days of Dolor and next album :) I like the fact that DDoD refers to two firsts Sirenia albums. You're right lyrics on ,,Dim Days" are perfect. My favourite songs from Dim Days of Dolor are Cloud Nine, Veil of Winter, Playing With Fire and Treasure and Treason. I hope you understand what I wanted to say because I slept only 2 hours today and I cannot formulate correct statement :???: 

Btw what do you think about Ailyn and Emmanuelle ,,My Lost Lenore" covers :D? 

 

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12 hours ago, Earendel said:

I think Perils of The Deep Blue and The Seventh Life Path are the best albums recorded with Ailyn :) Especially Perils of The Deep Blue. This album is truly masterpiece. Compositions although they are long aren't bored (the longest is The Funeral March. It's over 12 minutes!) Lyrics are also really good. When I listen to Perils of The Deep Blue I get the impression that I sail with the sirens through the ocean of mysteries of life. I agree with you. Although I really like The Seventh Life Path, this album unfortunately has some disadvantages. I feel the same about compositions. They should be 4-5 minutes. On ,,Perils" there were long songs so for the balance songs on ,,The Seventh" as  I said should be 4-5 minutes. Also some of lyrics (I mean Once My Light, Tragedienne, Insania and Contemptuous Quietus) aren't too good to not say weak. But the biggest advantage of both albums is Ailyn voice. She sound like true siren! Ailyn has lyrical soprano voice. She was learning classical singing. I have impression that on The 13th Floor and The Enigma of Life she could not properly use her beautiful voice. On Dim Days of Dolor I ran out of Emma's opera singing. (I'm opera freak so I think this is the cause) A little more operatic singing for me will be great on Dim Days of Dolor and next album :) I like the fact that DDoD refers to two firsts Sirenia albums. You're right lyrics on ,,Dim Days" are perfect. My favourite songs from Dim Days of Dolor are Cloud Nine, Veil of Winter, Playing With Fire and Treasure and Treason. I hope you understand what I wanted to say because I slept only 2 hours today and I cannot formulate correct statement :???: 

Btw what do you think about Ailyn and Emmanuelle ,,My Lost Lenore" covers :D? 

 

Wow, I hadn’t realised these two videos existed. I’m actually away from home without wifi so I dare not tempt the data gods by watching YouTube, but I’ll definitley check these out in a day or two when I get back into wifi land.

Your analysis of recent albums is ring-a-ding-ding (highly pleasing). For some reason the long songs on ‘Perils’ work really well and don’t feel laboured at all. ‘The Funeral March’ is a great example. That’s a brilliant song. God they’re all fantastic in that album. It’s like everything came together with ‘Perils’ - songwriting, production, quality control. 

I love everything the band has done except for ‘The Enigma of Life’ which feels really uninspired. I think that’s why ‘Perils’ blew me away, it sort of came out of nowhere. 

When I get back to wifi land I’m going to rank all the Morten Veland albums (and have my MacBook rather than this silly phone to tap into!) Look forward to it ;) 

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Ok @Earendel I finally watched those two clips. Thanks for posting them! 

Firstly, gosh it's good to hear that old classic track again. Reminds me how great 'Widow's Weeds' is. 

Secondly, Sirenia live sounds like a pretty frustrating proposition with all those backing tracks. I've made my view clear on backing tracks in a thread in the 'Deep and Meaningful' forum. Basically, I'm against them in most instances. For a band like Sirenia which has keyboards throughout all of their songs, I really think they should invest in a keyboard player for live shows. It would make it so much more authentic. Same goes with Katatonia and Paradise Lost. Obviously this would mean paying another person, and it's not my money so I shouldn't complain. There's no denying it would be better though. It's getting to the point where we have three instrumentalists playing along with a recording of the song (basically) and that ain't much fun. There's no atmosphere when keyboards and bass are backing tracks. 

Anyway, on to the actual point of your post. I think I prefer Ailyn's version. She really nails it. Of course the two contexts are very different. Ailyn was singing on a huge stage with a good sound recording, Emmanuelle was basically on a tiny stage with a bunch of phones in her face. Kind of an awkward gig really. I know I'd much rather see the band in the small setting though for intimacy. Still, they both sounded good. Emmanuelle definitely has more of an opera vibe. 

Of course, my favourite version is the 1998 Vibeke version ;)

 

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  • 1 month later...

I agree with you! Sirenia should  invest in a keyboard player for live shows. They sound live would be definitely more authentic. on Tbh I love both versions but original versiby Vibeke is the best. By the way I still miss Vibeke in Tristania and I hope she'll come back one day.  Your top 10 is really nice! I love first and second place on your list. Widow's Weeds and Beyond The Veil are magical albums. Truly masterpieces.

My top 8 (I can't choose 10) :

8 Sirenia - The Seventh Life Path

7 Sirenia - Dim Days of Dolor

6 Mortemia - Misere Mortem

5 Sirenia - Perils of the Deep Blue

4 Sirenia - An Elixir For Existance

3 Sirenia - At Sixes and Sevens

2 Tristania - Beyond The Veil

1 Tristania - Widow's Weeds

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 09/11/2017 at 4:17 AM, Earendel said:

I agree with you! Sirenia should  invest in a keyboard player for live shows. They sound live would be definitely more authentic. on Tbh I love both versions but original versiby Vibeke is the best. By the way I still miss Vibeke in Tristania and I hope she'll come back one day.  Your top 10 is really nice! I love first and second place on your list. Widow's Weeds and Beyond The Veil are magical albums. Truly masterpieces.

My top 8 (I can't choose 10) :

8 Sirenia - The Seventh Life Path

7 Sirenia - Dim Days of Dolor

6 Mortemia - Misere Mortem

5 Sirenia - Perils of the Deep Blue

4 Sirenia - An Elixir For Existance

3 Sirenia - At Sixes and Sevens

2 Tristania - Beyond The Veil

1 Tristania - Widow's Weeds

What the hell is Mortemia? I'll have to check it out. Funny if Morten's doing a solo album considering Sirenia is basically a solo project in the studio. 

Great list. God I love these releases.  

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On 19/11/2017 at 11:07 PM, Earendel said:

Mortemia is Morten's solo project :D 

 

This sounds pretty cool, but apart from the vocals it sounds pretty much like Sirenia. Still, amazing that I didn't know of its existence. Just goes to show. I guess I'll have to buy it now to ensure that I have all his stuff. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I decided to put a few links to recordings of Tristania's concerts from Vibeke here. There are not many recordings with good quality. Beautiful concert video Widow's Tour has definitely the best quality.

There are only two songs on this recording from Hamburg, but the quality is also good

On this recording from Mexico unfortunately the quality of sound and video is really low but there are songs from Beyond The Veil. Not only from Widow's Weeds.

 

Just now, Earendel said:

I decided to put a few links to recordings of Tristania's concerts from Vibeke here. There are not many recordings with good quality. Beautiful concert video Widow's Tour has definitely the best quality.

There are only two songs on this recording from Hamburg, but the quality is also good

On this recording from Mexico unfortunately the quality of sound and video is really low but there are songs from Beyond The Veil. Not only from Widow's Weeds.

 

I almost forgot about these concerts! There is only sound on the following recordings. There is no video. Somehow the sound is a bit better than on the recording from a concert from Mexico. 

 

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  • 7 months later...

So the new Sirenia album, 'Arcane Astral Aeons' is out. I've dutifully got my copy. I've had it for a week or so and it's still very much sinking in, but overall I think it's a very good album, but not up to the standards of recent classics like 'Perils of the Deep Blue' and 'Dim Days of Dolor'. Let's have a look. 

Firstly, the album cover is the girliest artwork they've ever used. It shows a white dressed woman standing on a jetty with the sunset in the background over the ocean, with flowers in her hair and strewn on the pier. The pinky-blue colour scheme is a real red light to my gothic metal credentials, and true to expectations the music is very much in the current symphonic metal realm with precious little in the way of darkness or gothicism. It's quite a beautiful cover, but a huge contrast to the death themed covers of the last two albums. 

The music sounds like Morten is currently in a happy period of his life. The songs are upbeat and full of life, and a lot of effort has gone into the composition and performance. My two biggest problems with the album are the first two tracks, which sound exactly like Nightwish circa 2010 and the lack of darkness going on here. The first two tracks, 'In Styx Embrace' and 'Into the Night' are so goddamn Nightwish that Morten should share some royalties with Tuomas Holopainen. The structures, riffs and vocals sound exactly like songs from 'Dark Passion Play' and 'Imagenaerum'. And this sucks. 

It sucks because the best thing about Morten is that while he has (for some reason) chosen to step into the symphonic metal morass, his songwriting has always contained hooks and a quality that puts Sirenia waaaay above lightweights like After Forever, Epica, Delain etc. He's best at being Sirenia, not Nightwish. It's a really strange scenario and the first time I heard these songs I thought, "Oh no...".

Luckily the rest of the album gets better. The single 'Love Like Cyanide' is pretty good, especially the varied vocals and that middle black metal(ish) part. The album really improves on side B, however, with 'The Voyage' and 'Glowing Embers' being wonderful, amazing songs, right up there with some of Morten's best. Morten is great at killer choruses, and he nails them here. When he leaves Nightwish alone and just writes his own material he's an unstoppable force - I just wish he would stick with his own talent and not try to pilfer Holopainen's. 

So overall this album is a bit of work in progress for me. Morten is so happy that all his songs are happy, chirpy, sympho metal with - let's be honest - some paint by numbers choruses. But when he hits the mark it's really good. 

As for the continued debate about new vocalist Emmanuelle Zoldan, in my view she's fantastic and a welcome addition to the band. Beautiful voice. I just wish Morten was providing her with 11 great tracks rather than 4 great tracks, some filler and some goddamn Nightwish rip-off stuff. 

 

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  • 3 years later...

Hello! 

Here are my overall thoughts on the legend that is Morten Veland. Here is how I got to know him and his music and my thoughts  and then I will go on to talk about my overall opinions.

 

When I first got into Metal, I first listened to the "entry level" (I hope that makes sense) bands. Testament, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, so on and so forth. I remember in HS listening to that one CoF song with Liv Kristine called Nymphetamine. I've always been into the melancholy, the darkness, etc. Somehow in the late 2000's when Youtube was becoming big, I stumbled into symphonic, gothic metal. I heard Nightwish for the first time. I was amazed! I had never heard classical vocals in metal before. The more I listened to them, the more I became intrigued and wanted to find more bands who were similar. Through my search I found After Forever, Epica, Delain, Tristania, Elis, Leaves Eyes, Draconian, Sirenia and so on. I also became intrigued by the beauty and beast dynamics. The one thing that set Sirenia apart from all those bands was that (to me) it sounded like a blend between gothic rock and metal. I cant remember which record was the first that I heard from them. What I can say is that At Sixes and Sevens blew me away. I just loved how it sounded completely different from music to vocals. I then heard Henriette's record. I thought she was a perfect fit. The first Tristania song that I heard was Equilibrium and first record was Ashes albeit is not an MV record but there it is. I remember putting them in the back burner for maybe a year. Then one day I thought to myself "Hey Morten used to play with them let me check out their earlier stuff." The first song/video that I heard was Preludium/Evenfall from Widow's Weeds. Let me just say...... I thought I was blown away by NW, Epica and Sirenia boy was I knocked out by that first song I heard. I loved everything about it and from that point on I became hooked to all things Tristania. My favorite alltime Tristania record and one of my top 5's in general is WW. I felt that record embodied everything I was into. Going back to Sirenia... to be honest I actually stopped listening to them. I haven't heard their last two installments in its entirety and I don't feel the need to. Mortemia... don't get me started! One thing I have to add is that I have seen Sirenia once. I live in Los Angeles so when I heard they were coming to the States for their debut appearance I got tickets. I didn't care if I didn't listen to them anymore but its MV! haha

 

Ok so now my opinions!

 

My overall opinions on Morten Veland are as follows. I think the dude needs a long break. Once there was a time were you can hear the greatness in his music. That was in his early years with his both Tristania and his first two Sirenia records. I feel as though ever since then he's been on a musical decline. I think that he does not have the spark he once had. To me, everything he's done as of late is either super duper "poppy" or/and does not have originality. I would say that I was happy when Ailyn said Veland was going back to his roots. I was excited to hear what was brewing in his genius mind. When I heard PoTDB for the first time with Ducere Me In Lucem I was thinking ok, ok, ok sounds good. But honestly.. I put it back on the shelf and did not really care for it as much as his others. I've been collecting his records but I havent purchased Sirenia's last two because I simply don't like them. Like I said earlier, he needs a break! The only thing he's been doing for the last couple of years is pumping out music like there's no tomorrow. Not only with Sirenia but Mortemia as well. Mortemia just sounds like Sirenia to me.  Like the phrase says Quantity over Quality. I feel that phrase relates to him so well. 

I'm not taking the fact that he's a great songwriter and composer away from him. I just think that he needs to give his brain a rest at least for a couple to rejuvenate and find his inspiration and spark again. I know he has it in him. I do admire the fact that he does everything himself. 

 

My biggest dream is for Tristania's old members to reunite at least for one last performance! One can only hope, right! 

 

So here is my rating from worst to greatest MV records. I will not be putting Sirenia's last two because I have only heard 2 songs from both. And also, I just simply don't care for them. 

1. The Enigma of Life

2. Misere Mortem

3. Dim Days of Dolor

4. The 13th Floor

5. Nine Destinies and a Downfall

6. The Seventh Life Path

7. Perils of the Deep Blue

8. An Elixir For Existence

9. At Sixes and Sevens

10. Beyond the Veil

and the all time greatest MV record is of course Widows Weeds!

 

 

 

 

If I sound like I'm rambling.. I'm so sorry its late here! Thankyou for reading :)

 

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