An Elixir for Existence is the second album by the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 symphonic metal

Symphonic metal

Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...

 band Sirenia

Sirenia (band)

Sirenia is a gothic metal band from Stavanger, Norway which incorporates a mixture of gothic metal and symphonic metal, as well as extreme metal and death metal elements...

, released in 2004. The album follows in the same vein as the previous At Sixes and Sevens

At Sixes and Sevens

At Sixes and Sevens is Sirenia's first studio album. It is their only album with the vocals of French singer Fabienne Gondamin. The girl on the cover is a Norwegian model, picked by the designer to represent a Siren.- Track listing :...

, but includes a new female vocalist, Henriette Bordvik.

A large number of the songs are concerned with mental conditions, be it depression ("Voices Within"), drug use ("Euphoria") or thoughts of suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 ("The Fall Within"); of course, the meanings of all of these songs are subject to further conjecture.

Track listing

1. "Lithium and a Lover" – 6:33
2. "Voices Within" – 6:52
3. "A Mental Symphony" – 5:25
4. "Euphoria" – 6:35
5. "In My Darkest Hours" – 6:04
6. "Save Me from Myself" – 4:14
7. "The Fall Within" – 6:48
8. "Star-Crossed" – 6:28
9. "Seven Sirens and a Silver Tear" (Instrumental) – 4:45

Credits

• Morten Veland
  Morten Veland
  Morten Veland is a Norwegian musician. He was one of the founding members of the Norwegian gothic metal band Tristania and later founded Sirenia....
  
   – guitars, harsh vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
   (on all tracks except #6 & #9), bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , programming, drums
• Henriette Bordvik – female vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
   (on all tracks except #9)
• Kristian Gundersen – clean male vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
   (on tracks #3, #4 & #7)
• Anne Verdot – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
   (on tracks #2, #3, #4 & #6)
• Damien Surian, Mathieu Landry, Emmanuelle Zoldan, Sandrine Gouttebel, Emilie Lesbros – choir
  Choir
  A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
  
  (on all tracks except #6)