THE SILENT ENIGMA

In my review of "Serenades", I was somewhat scathing of the vocals which were not so much a weak point, as a complete disaster. It was therefore with some optimism that I noted that Darren White was no longer with the band, Vincent Cavenagh having assumed vocal duties.

Unfortunately, Cavenagh "sings" in exactly the same way as his predecessor. It really is a pity, as there's some really good instrumental work here. Musically, the sound is similar to Black Sabbath around the time they almost become progressive (Sabotage"/"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" the latter incidentally featuring Rick Wakeman). The tracks are well constructed with sensitive lyrics, soft acoustic sections, and powerful riffs. There are symphonic overtones, a lovely soft female vocal lead track ("..Alone"), and a melodic instrumental track to finish ("Black orchid").

All the other tracks however are completely spoiled by the death metal, monotonic, growled vocals. Occasionally, they do threaten to break into song, but never actually get there. It really is such a tragic waste, this could have been a really good album, if only they'd employed a singer. (Nice packaging too.)

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