SIRENIA Guitarist Says Former Singer's 'Health Issues' Made It Impossible For Her To Do A Good Job

Fan-filmed video footage of Norwegian symphonic metallers SIRENIA performing on November 14 at B90 in Gdańsk, Poland can be seen below.

SIRENIA‘s new album, “Dim Days Of Dolor”, was released on November 11 via Napalm Records. The cover artwork was once again created by Gyula Havancsák from Hjules Illustration And Design. The CD was mixed at Hansen Studios in Denmark.

SIRENIA recently parted ways with their Spanish singer Ailyn Giménez García for “personal reasons.” She has since been replaced by the French vocalist Emmanuelle Zoldan. SIRENIA guitarist Morten Veland told Heavy Music Headquarters about the band’s latest lineup change: “Sadly, Ailyn was not able to do a good job for the band anymore,‭ ‬so we had no other choice than to end the cooperation.‭ ‬Our other option was to end the band,‭ ‬but we thought it was a bit too early for that still.‭ ”

He continued: “We experienced a lot of problems the last‭ three‭ ‬years and we could all see this situation with Ailyn coming from miles away.‭ ‬Actually, we were expecting her to leave at some point,‭ ‬rather than slowing the band down and causing lots of problems. That would be the honorable thing to do.‭ ‬She has health issues that makes it impossible for her to do a good job for the band,‭ ‬especially touring had become a huge problem over the last few years.‭ ‬She does not want to talk about these problems and I totally respect that,‭ ‬so I won’t go into any details about it.‭ ‬I just find it really disappointing that she publicly stated that we fired her,‭ ‬but at the same time she did not say the reason why.‭ ‬That just makes all the bandmembers look like a bunch of assholes that fired her without any reason whatsoever.‭ ‬The fact is that we had all the reasons in the world to end this cooperation.‭ In fact, most bands probably would have done so‭ three‭ ‬years ago.‭ ‬We wish her all the best though,‭ ‬and we are grateful for the good years we had together as a band.”

Morten adeded: “When we searched for a new singer, the choice fell on Emmanuelle right away,‭ ‬because she is such a diverse singer.‭ ‬She can handle all kinds of techniques and styles.‭ ‬We have worked with her for more than a decade,‭ ‬but mostly with her being a part of the choir.‭ ‬I have always been a fan of her voice.‭ ‬I always loved her voice and felt sure that she would do a great job and fit well into the band.‭ ‬And, as expected, the recordings turned out fantastic.‭ It was also a great learning experience for both of us.‭ ‬So I feel sure that we will even improve our cooperation even more in the years to come.‭ ‬She added a lot of diversity to the album.‭ She is making great variation with her singing, which is a huge step forward for us.‭ ‬I am already excited about writing new material for Emmanuelle‘s voice,‭ ‬now that I have learned even more about her strengths as a singer.”

Regarding how SIRENIA‘s sound has evolved on “Dim Days Of Dolor”, Morten said: “We have done some remarkable changes with this new album.‭ ‬The most obvious difference is, of course, the change of singer.‭ ‬Emmanuelle has added a new sound and touch to SIRENIA‘s music.‭ ‬The diversity is bigger than before,‭ ‬and I also think that the performance level has been raised a lot.‭ ‬Furthermore, we have changed mixing and mastering engineer for this album.‭ ‬We worked with Danish producer Jacob Hansen for the first time.‭ ‬I think that he has really perfected our sound and taken the band to new heights as well.‭ I also think that the song material is really strong and diverse,‭ ‬and there is some cool new elements on the album that have not been done in the past.‭ ‬I feel quite sure that the SIRENIA fans will really appreciate this album.”

Ailyn was best known as a former contestant on the Spanish version of “The X Factor”, the biggest television talent competition in Europe.

She appeared on four studio albums with SIRENIA: 2009’s “The 13th Floor”, 2011’s “The Enigma Of Life”, 2013’s “Perils Of The Deep Blue” and 2015’s “The Seventh Life Path”.