Siren Interview

All questions answered by David – Guitar and Vocals

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Siren is a Blackened Doom band from Cincinnati, OH. Jared and I having met through a mutual love of Doom, Black Metal, fantasy and occult imagery, wanted to create a band that encapsulated all of these influences and aesthetics, thusly Siren was born.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

‘A Kingdom Aflame’ is definitely a record that will strike a chord with a lot of people. Musically is flows naturally between Black metal, Doom, and Traditional metal. From a production standpoint we wanted to go for a sound that was very organic and ‘real’, without treading to far into the territory of the raw black metal sound.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

A lot of the songs cover themes of fantasy or the occult. We actually based two songs on the record from Game of Thrones (Bastard of the Dreadfort and Fire & Blood), whereas songs like The Devil Rides Out and Into the Starless Night both have clear inspiration from certain ideologies and occult ideas.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Siren'?

The name is taken from greek myth, a creature that calls Sailors to their doom with it’s song. There’s really no further meaning and why need there be.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

One of the most memorable experiences with Siren so far was a small run of shows we performed with our friends Warseid from Wisconsin, a snow storm hit immediately after the final show which turned a 5-hour drive home into one lasting over 12-hours.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We are currently working with our label to get regional tours across the US booked, starting with the east coast and working our way west.

7.The album was released on Draconum Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Draconum are an independent extreme metal label from Virginia, we have a great history with the guys their and with our label mates, Yesterday’s Saints. It’s a very comfortable home for our music.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

Feedback on Siren and ‘A Kingdom Aflame’ so far has been absolutely fantastic. People seem to be enjoying the record a great deal and the response from audiences previously unfamiliar with Siren has been incredible!

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Jared and myself are both members of folk metal act ‘Winterhymn’, right now we are just starting the recording process for our new album. Brandin (Drums) other band, Hell Scorched Earth have just finished recording on their new album, so it’s definitely a bit of a juggling act between all 3 bands to ensure everyone gets the right level of attention.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I do not foresee any huge musical changes for Siren, we’re very happy with the sound that we have created and it’s really a matter of refining that sound and making it completely perfect.


11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The influences on our music really differ with each member of the band. I find myself drawing a lot of inspiration from bands like Primordial, Grand Magus, and Dissection. On constant rotation right now is the new Paradise Lost records, The Plague Within, absolute brilliance.

12.Does Occultism play any role in your music?

To an extent, yes. None of us believers in an ideology, but I find a lot of the imagery and mythos that you find in anything that deals with the occult to be very interesting, and it definitely has a place in Siren’s music.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Music is what takes up a huge portion of our lives.


14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I’d like to thank anyone that has already picked up a copy of the new album, and to anyone who has not yet heard us to check out some tracks online and come down to a show to really drink deep on the bands energy.

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Siren/A Kingdom Aflame/Draconum Records/2015 CD Review

  Siren  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  heavy  metal  and this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "A  Kingdom  Aflame"  which  was  released  by  Draconum  Records.

  Clean  yet  distorted  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  the  music  foes  for more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  sound  that  mixes  doom  and  black  metal  together  and  adds in a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  and  the  vocals  combine  black  metal  screams,  deep  death  metal  growls  and  clean  singing  power  metal  vocals  together  while  the  solos  and  leads  add  in  more  of  a  traditional  metal  and  NWOBHM  musical  vibe  to  the  bands  musical  style.

  At  times the music  brings  in  elements  of  thrash  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  both  clean  and  heavy parts  and  you  can  also hear  a  lot  of  doom  metal  influences  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  and  as  the  album progresses  the  music  starts  getting  more  atmospheric  in  some parts  of  the  recording and  they  also  bring in  a  brief  instrumental  acoustic  track  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  on  the  following  tracks.   

  Siren  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  very  heavily  rooted in  doom  metal  but  also  mixes  in  the  aggression  of  black  metal  and  the  melody  of  traditional  metal  to  create a  musical  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Siren  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  heavy  metal  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fire  &  Blood"  "Bastard  Of  The  Dreadfort"  and  "The  Devil  Rides  Out".  8  out  of  10.

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