Sirenia

Sirenia is a female-fronted gothic metal band from Stavanger, Norway. Starting out with a very traditional gothic/doom metal sound, I fell in love with the style of At Sixes and Sevens, which incorporated a throwback to traditional goth rock. Later on the band evolved into more of a symphonic gothic metal sound and the female vocals took on more prominence. (I personally believe that their current vocalist, Ailyn, is the "hottest chick in metal," but then again I am a girl so take that for all it's worth. )
Despite not having a permanent violin player, they have been surprisingly consistent in employing different session violinists on their albums. These session musicians were: Pete Johansen (on album At Sixes and Sevens), Anne Verdot (An Elixir for Existence), and Stefanie Valentin (The 13th Floor, The Enigma of Life).

  

They have violins on almost all their albums (see those mentioned above) but my personal favorite is At Sixes and Sevens, I recommend giving it a listen! They have had live violinists in the past, but I haven't seen this in recent shows. In the live footage linked below, Pete Johansen is playing what looks to be a Zeta Strados electric violin, however, the violin on the recording for At Sixes and Sevens sounds acoustic. Anne Verdot's violin recordings sound acoustic as well. Stephanie Valentin is pictured on her homepage with an electric violin (possibly also a Zeta Strados?), and it sounds like she recorded with one as well.

Sirenia Official Site: sirenia.no

Recommended Songs for Violin Listening: "In a Manica," "At Sixes and Sevens," "Voices Within,"
 "The Mind Maelstrom"

A live clip from 2003, featuring Pete Johansen on electric violin:



Photo Credits: OHP