THE SILENT ENIGMA

Meet the new vocalist, same as the old vocalist.

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.)

"The Silent Enigma" is a highly melancholic, Romantic DOOM metal album. It has nothing to do with prog rock whatsoever. However, Anathema were excellent at playing that British doom style that they, along with bands like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, helped to create. The vocals are certainly not a weak point at all, they are actually fairly original, seeing as how Cavanagh would acutally growl "in tune" with the music. But if you can't handle extreme vocals, it might be a good idea to stay away from genres such as doom metal, black metal, death metal, etc. Otherwise, you will probably have a wrong impression of it.

This album rock's so hard it has givin me so much inspiration as a guitarist and a singer. I would love to see Anathema do alot more tour's in the uk and i'm sure alot of other people would as well. I have a very high respect level for this band as they have helped me get through the good and the bad times in my life. I would recomend this album to all who like slow cradle riff's and old school style depressing shouting.

If you like your music a bit heavy then try this. If you like your music heavy and you've never heard Anethema then definitley try this! Progressive and heavy. This album definitley shows potential from Liverpools best kept secret. If you like The Silent Enigma then listen ot Eternity. Eterity is not as heavy but it really does show how the band have developed into a more progressive band. I bet you will be hooked after those two albums. I was... I still am!!!

The orchestral part of "The Silent Enigma" is, most beautiful, the way they transform theese harmonic tunes into raging guitar riffs and devestating vocal, is less impressive I must admit, though in the songs "Dying Wish" "Sleepless 69" they manage to hold a relatively balanced sounds, where they have really connected the Singing/Growling with the guitar riff.

I like the album, but its obvious that it is no masterpiece

"The Silent Enigma" is somewhat a transitional album for Anathema. They are leaving the "doom metal" sound and becoming a gothic metal group.

From this album on, guitarist Vincent Cavanagh handles the vocal duties. As opposite to former vocalist Darren White, he actually sings (and also screams) avoiding those annoying (for me) "death" growls which were the signature on the band's earlier records.

This is the first Anathema's proper progressive metal release, however it stands far away from conventional prog metal. Most of the tracks features Sabbath-like riffs in a dark symphonic atmosphere. The exception being the gentle acoustic song "...Alone" sung by guest vocalist Rebecca Wilson.

People who stayed away from the first three records from Anathema should give "The Silent Enigma" a chance, it's not an essential prog-metal album but definitely an interesting listening.

A first transitional album in the career of Anathema. The vocals are still extreme metal, but this time they are done by someone who can actually sing. The music is now much more atmospheric, with a lot of melodic passages.

The album starts with "Restless Oblivion" and "Shroud Of Frost", two classic doom songs which end with a nice spoken part. The acoustic track #3 is called "Alone", beautiful song in the vein of "Everwake". The track "Sunset Of The Age" is a very depressive song with clean vocals for the main part (nice haunting song, one of my favorites on this album). After two forgettable songs, the album ends nicely with "The Silent Enigma" (which was later re-recorded as a great orchestral version), "A Dying Wish" (really powerful guitars here) and "Black Orchid" (an instrumental musically built like "Pentecost III" on their previous album - a slow opening and a threatening ending).

Rating: 73/100

Crushing emotional weight. With their second album, Anathema took their despondent Doom Metal into the darkest depths of agony while broadening their songwriting and sharpening their overall approach. Bleak, foreboding soundscapes merge with devastatingly heavy outbursts of anguish revealing the beauty of pain.

After the Pentecost 3 EP, original vocalist/lyricist Darren White was given his walking papers (along with his working title for this album, Rise Pantheon Dreams) as the band felt his approach was not fitting for their future destinations. As Darren went on to form The Blood Divine, guitarist Vincent Cavanagh would become his successor while brother Daniel and bassist Duncan Patterson would handle all music and lyric writing. I admittedly was a bit skeptical upon hearing of White's departure, but Vincent's performance on this album would silence all fears. Utilizing an array of vocal deliveries ranging from tormented screams of anguish to morose clean singing, Vincent Cavanagh was much more convincing than Darren White, at times coming across a bit like Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost. "Restless Oblivion" opens the album with a beautiful, serene passage that is soon disrupted by one of the heaviest riffs the band has ever written. There is a feeling of utter bitterness present throughout these songs, and "Restless Oblivion" harbors this for much of its duration. Other examples can be found within "Sunset Of Age", "Cerulean Twilight" and the most bitter song in the Anathema discography, "Nocturnal Emission". " Shroud Of Frost" is one of my all time favorite songs by this band, a bleak cry for an answer to this earthy existence...when Vincent shouts lines like...." Help me to escape from this existence, I yearn for an answer, can you help me?"...you can't help but feel the despair deep within. The song fades out in a stream of tranquil serenity, bleeding into "...Alone", an acoustic piece with female vocals performed by Michelle Richfield of Dominion.

Anathema's darkest hour, The Silent Enigma proved to be a very positive answer to the questions surrounding them in light of the departure of Darren White. A more satisfying Doom Metal album I have not heard. Indeed, this would be Anathema's final venture down such a path.

"....there is no song, just a delusion of silence..."

The band really takes form.

This is when Anathema really begins to take their shape, taking elements from their doom days and adding on to those in a more melodic and stylistic manner. Cavanagh's vocals utilize both death like qualities as well as traditional style singing. The material isn't quite at the progressive stage yet, but there are considerable leaps from their previous album.

The most notable thing here being the increased presence of the clean electric and acoustic as well as the track A Dying Wish which has a riff that was used on a later album. It's heavy, but not so ultra-heavy as to alienate many like a more complicated band such as Meshuggah might. The Black Sabbath references cited are poor choices, as this band really has little connection to them other than overall genre.

This is my least favorite studio release, and the most mundane, as it sort of sits in the middle of the fence without especially being great. Not as atmospheric as later albums, nor as emotionally deep. Pick this one up last after the other ones.

After my disappointment with Serenades I didn't pay any attention anymore to Anathema till I heard Alternative 4. I've revisited their entire catalogue since and this second album came as a pleasant surprise. Or should I say a remarkable one, as 'pleasant' isn't really the appropriate adjective here.

Anathema's imminent change towards more laid-back atmospheric rock pops up here on plenty of occasions. For instance in the moody chord picking intro of Restless Oblivion and a clearly Fields of the Nephilim-inspired Nocturnal Emission. There's also the acoustic pastoral moment Alone. As on the title track, also the influence from Celtic Frost is quite prominent. Some songs have a loose and lengthy structure, featuring melodious lead guitars and atmospheric synths. Elements that might win over the more gloomy prog fans here.

The attention for atmospherics, the organic song development and the entrancing repetitive nature of the music would serve as a huge inspiration for Agalloch. Still, the dominant features of this album are the oppressively slow doom dirges and the gruff vocals, this time from Vincent Cavanagh. It's a vocal style that suits him pretty well here. He doesn't have full control of his voice but he delivers with a unrelenting conviction. He would soon give it up this gruff style in favour of a more melodic approach.

The Silent Enigma isn't on the same level as the breakthrough albums of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but still it provides a good case why they were listed with those two other bands as the instigators of the doom death metal.

A good 10 years later, the American band known as Agalloch would take the rough material of this album, add some early Katatonia to it and mould everything into one of the most beautiful dark rock albums ever. By consequence, this Anathema album might be worth seeking out if you're curious about their doom death roots. 3.5 stars

The second Anathema studio hasn't much more to say than the debut "Serenades".

1995 is the year when the band started to change the sound a bit; with this release, together with the EP "Pentecost III", the band explores some of the progressive soundscapes, always maintaining their death doom metal style. The music is even darker than the debut, especially in songs like "Resteless Oblivion" or "A Dying Wish". The band uses even more calm, delicate moments, alternated with the violent ones. We know that very soon, with the release of their third "Eternity", these calm moments will prevail.

There are only a few good songs that save the album from a bad rating; the already mentioned "Restless Oblivion" is perfect, not one bad moment here; creepy, violent, nd a little disturbing at times. Perfect doom metal song. Even "Sunset Of Age" and "A Dying Wish" have some great moments, very haunting, but a little disquieting.

The rest is OK, definitely better at times than some songs from the debut. Maybe "Cerulean Twilight" is the song i dislike the most, boring and not appealing at all.

As a conclusion, I must say that, I prefer by a little bit the debut, since "The Silent Enigma" has only one great song, while "Serenades" has a few.

One of my friends is a huge "Anathema" fan, but he warned me about their early releases that he dislikes profoundly. I can only agree with him. A combination of doom with growling: ouch!

I thought that this album would be better since a "new vocalist" appears and while listening to the very first notes of the opening number, I was nicely surprised. But this effect only lasted for a few seconds, unfortunately.

As I have written in a prior review, as long as the instrumental passages are concerned their music sounds OK although it is hugely borrowing to Sabbath who remains the master in the genre IMHHO. At times, the music is surprisingly melodic but it is rapidly ruined by these atrocious vocal parts; but I am afraid that I will have to cope with this for a while?

This is really a shame because "Shroud Of Frost" holds some fine instrumental elements and could have been an excellent number by all means. Some great doom feel (I don't dislike the genre, per se) is filling your ears with "Sunset Of Age". But you know the story: doom with growls?

I can only agree with Easy Livin: it was a good opportunity that has been missed. Still, this work IS better than their debut album. Two stars.

5/10

One effort more rewarding than the horrible debut. But the vocals ...

... They screw it up again. And that's because there's a new singer, one of the brothers Cavanagh. To my misfortune, his vocals are just more of the same, slow and guttural growls that drag unnecessarily undermining the patience of the listener.

What saves the album and justify my rating of 3 stars is the instrumentation. She is really very good. Apart from being awarded a production better than the first album, it was really poor. In addition, there are some more tracks "peaceful" as the acoustic Alone and closure Black Orchid. If they were clean vocals this would be a great album of progressive metal. But unfortunately they are not, and can not wait to drop the Anathema these abominable growls.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

If, out of the bands which formed the so-called Peaceville Three, My Dying Bride have stayed the most loyal to doom and death-doom metal over the years, whilst Paradise Lost have wavered back and forth between doom and gothic realms, Anathema may well be the member of the trinity that has strayed furthest from its roots, with heavily Pink Floyd-influenced atmospheric rock dominating the group's discography and little sign of a return to metal happening any time soon.

That makes The Silent Enigma, their last full-on death-doom album and only the second in their extensive discography, a crucial turning point for the band. The subsequent Eternity would steer away from death-doom into a sort of goth- doom hybrid, and then from there on metal would fade away from their sound altogether. Here, though, their death- doom roots are very much in evidence- especially in Vincent Cavanagh's growled vocals and Daniel Cavanagh's crushing riffs - but they're mingled with just enough touches of atmospheric not-quite-prog to be a bit of a different prospect from standard early death-doom.

As such, it's a transitional album, and I personally find that Anathema are more interesting on the cusp of this transition than they ever were before or since.

A doom band trying to find a new path... That's The Silent Enigma.

After the dissappointing and boring Serenades, Anathema expanded their sound by introducing a lot of keyboards and even orchestral arrangements in an album with a much deeper songwriting and variety. The result is a doom/gothic record with traces of progressive rock and psychedelic elements which is really interesting and very important for the band's career.

The production is also better than in their previous release, while Vincent took his role in vocals that he would never leave. He can't really sing in this album, but he sound tortured and dramatic enough, making him an appropiate frontman for a doom metal band. They also used female voices here, another trademark of Anathema's sound.

The Silent Enigma opens with Restless Oblivion, which starts with a 100% Anthema-typical guitar. After that we find a strong doom metal track with powerful bass lines and aggresive voices. The composition is surprisingly variable, almost progressive. And so is also Shroud of Frost, with a tortured vocal line from Vincent and excellent Danny's guitars toward the end.

Alone is my favourite track on the entire record, starting with a mellow acoustic guitar and keyboard melody. After that comes a beautiful female voice, with a strong melancholic feeling which introduces the mood of later releases like Alternative 4 or Judgement. Sunset of Age is a bit more gothic, very melodic, while Nocturnal Emission is a slow doom metal track with surprising psychedelic elements.

Cerulean Twilight es another typical doom metal song which suddenly transforms itself in a semi-acoustic tune in its second half. The Silent Enigma has very good melodies and a romatic ambience in the vein of the later Eternity. Good song! And also pretty good is A Dying Wish, maybe the best song of the album with typical riffs and Anathema's first epoch.

Black Orchid is an appropiate instrumental ending which woks as a summary of the album's style, both mellow, romantic and very dark.

Conclusion: the fans of Anahtema's last records will be dissappointed with The Silent Enigma. But this was my first Anathema's album two decades ago, and I still have a special affection for it. It's a good example and a band searching new ways to expand their music while maintaining the core style of their first album. Therefore is a perfect recommendation for doom metal lovers, but also for people desirous to discover one of the most interesting and stimulating transformations in prog rock history.

Best Tracks: Alone, The Silent Enigma, A Dying Wish.

My Rating: ***

Anathema very slowly progressing to prog! Not only is the first awkward vocalist gone but the growls of Cavanaugh are a bit more bearable - it is more screaming than growling which suits his vocal better. Musically, the band has improved on all fronts: drums, interplay between guitars and keys, memorable instrumental passages. Even as a doom metal fan, I can say that this release won't be lost when compared to other true doom-metal outfits like My Dying Bride. The riffs and melodies are bleak, nevertheless, they have their quality and moment.

The first songs kicks off the anger and despair with grandiosity and gradual tension. "Shroud of Frost" has a pretty good dark instrumental part resulting in strings and guitars duet in the end. "Alone" is a delicate acoustic number sung by female vocals and a welcome break from dark gloomy tones. "Sunset of the Age" marks more experimental doom metal. "Noctural Emission" seems to be going in more directions that are compatible - slow doom and quick rock pattern. "The silent enigma" is a good doom metal song marred by the weeping vocal that does not suit the music at all. "A dying wish" is on par with the first track - a well developed doom-metal song with multiple parts and tempo changes. This will appeal to many doom metal fans. The dramatic last track "Black orchid" proves the talent of the band which was not yet evident on the first release.

This is the last growling album and sunrise will slowly come on the next band's releases that will start discovering new sonic soundscapes. A three star album but only two stars for this webpage as there's still too little for a progressive listener to find.

On The Silent Enigma, Anathema started leaving behind the death-doom sound of their debut album Serenades and incorporating traces of the more melodic songwriting that will dominate their future discography. Fans of the band should have seen this coming: already on Serenades the band had showed their inclination to experiment with more cinematic and atmospheric pieces, such as on "Sleepless", "J'ai fait une promesse", or the 20-minute keyboard drone "Dreaming: The Romance". The Silent Enigma moves a further step (or two) in this direction: the songwriting becomes more accessible, the riffs and melodies are catchier, and the tempos are not as oppressively slow as on the doomier Serenades.

The rapid evolution of Anathema's sound between 1993's Serenades and 1995's The Silent Enigma was facilitated by a big change that occurred between the two albums. Original vocalist Darren White left the band just before the recording sessions of The Silent Enigma, and Vincent Cavanagh, the band's rhythm guitarist, took his place behind the mic. It will be a decisive move for Anathema: Darren's vocals ? halfway between thrash gruff and death metal growls ? were okay(ish) for the death-doom sound of the debut album, but would have been too limited to allow the band to push the boundaries in more melodic and atmospheric directions. In truth, on The Silent Enigma, Vincent does not stray too far away from the vocal style of his predecessor, mixing in equal parts growls, spoken parts, and semi-melodic gruff vocals. But the difference in quality (and potential) between the two singers is as clear as day, especially on the more melodic tracks like "Restless Oblivion" or "Sunset of Age".

Nevertheless, The Silent Enigma is not exactly a revolutionary album in Anathema's discography. The doom-death influences are still quite apparent on this album, especially on tracks like "Shroud of Frost" or "Cerulean Twilight". Even the structure of the album resembles that of Serenades: both albums open with two meaty pieces, followed by a short, acoustic interlude with female vocals as track #3; halfway through both albums we find a catchier, gothic number ("Sleepless" on Serenades; "Nocturnal Emissions" on The Silent Enigma); and both albums close with a cinematic instrumental track. The Silent Enigma and Serenades are also similar in that they both showcase some psychedelic, vaguely Floydian influences, especially in some dreamy, lysergic guitar parts that bring to mind Gilmour's guitar style (the closing part of "Shroud of Frost"; "The Silent Enigma").

However, The Silent Enigma is a better album than Serenades, both because of the higher quality of the songwriting ("Restless Oblivion" ranks among the best songs that Anathema have ever recorded; "Shroud of Frost", "Sunset of Age", "Nocturnal Emissions" and "A Dying Wish" are also strong tracks) and because The Silent Enigma is more cohesive as an album. Serenades, with its disparate influences, gave me the impression of an album where Anathema were not quite sure yet in which direction to take their music. The Silent Enigma is more assured in this respect, with the various influences of the band better amalgamated with one another, and the album as a whole feeling less disjointed as a result.

Overall, The Silent Enigma is a good album that finds Anathema at the crossroad between their past and their future. It is clear that the band are ready to leave behind the doom-death sound of the debut, but they have not quite yet found the right formula to express the atmospheric melodic style that they will embrace from Eternity (their next album) onwards. As such, The Silent Enigma is perhaps better described as a transitional album, which nevertheless showcases some strong tracks that fans of the band, old and new, will surely appreciate.

[Originally posted on www.metal-archives.com]

Thank Heaven, the Cavanagh brothers and Duncan Patterson quickly realized that Darren White as a vocalist was simply not suitable for Anathema, so he was dismissed from the band, and Vincent Cavanagh took his place, and it was he who became the main vocalist from The Silent Enigma. The replacement was really successful: although Vinnie somehow did not know how to sing then, but compared to what was on the Serenades, the vocal component shone with new colors, because Vinnie showed his ability to convey thoughts through vocals as emotionally as possible. With Vinnie as vocalist, the main creators in the band, Daniel Cavanagh and Duncan Patterson, seemed to spread their wings, and The Silent Enigma was an incredibly big step forward.

In fact, we have a hyperemotional doom-death with an excellent vocal pressure and tragedy and more or less distinct structures of compositions, in which the sprouting roots of the brand Anathema are already visible. Personally, among other songs, I single out the opening Restless Oblivion, almost emo-doom Shroud of Frost with a stunning second half and a very depressing spoken word, a little melancholic and psychedelic ... Alone and, of course, the legendary A Dying Wish. Yes, perhaps, it is The Silent Enigma that is more worthy of being called a classic of death-doom (or doom-death, as you like). In addition, from the classical period of discography, this is the best that Anathema could offer at that time.