The Silent Enigma

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.

It’s clearly debatable when some of the original doom/death metal bands started to lose their death ’n doom elements and what they started to sound like instead – which is if you’ve heard plenty of these 90’s kind of albums sometimes hard to describe. In Anathema’s case, you'll still find plenty of ingredients the style would be made of (woe is me kind of lyrics, dramatic clean/harsh vocals and moving guitar leads). As you might see, I’ve excluded the rhythm section because this one differences quite a bit compared to the band’s earlier works. Pentecost III still relied on notes that made one feel doomed, but here Anathema lack the physical weight I often associate with any form of doom metal. Only ‘’Restless Oblivion’’ feels like a slightly exception, with a bulldozer-of-a-riff opening and its brute chorus, but to call The Silent Enigma a proper doom/death metal album might be far-fetched.

It's tricky to describe what Anathema have ended up with instead. We're not dealing with the melodic guitars on autopilot approach that Katatonia was responsible for with their second album, nor does The Silent Enigma resemble any familiar sounding transitional gothic metal efforts. Aggression is more so caused by the vocals and not so much by the guitar work itself - as ''The Sunset of Age'' clearly demonstrates; slowly working towards that emotional climax through juggernaut chords, enigmatic acoustic passages and and an apocalyptic solo that might end up rather frustrating for those seeking approachable or gruff doom metal variants.

Having taken over in the vocal department, Vincent Cavanagh sounds like a man who goes on a lonesome journey in search for happiness but ends up spiraling into depression instead. ‘’Shroud of Frost’’ feels like a cry for help where the throaty roars become almost too much to handle (literally perhaps, you can almost hear his voice break in there!) while the introspective ‘’A Dying Wish’’ unfolds itself as an acceptance of an unfortunate fate. While certainly emotionally provoking, The Silent Enigma does also have its clumsy moments that prevents it from falling into the classic category though. Sometimes the guitars aren’t engaging much and the spoken passages become too prominent, which causes certain songs to become somewhat powerless. Take the title track for example, where Cavanagh sounds like a whining tenor who thought Tom Warrior didn’t whine enough in the late 80’s and decided to imitate him. ‘’Cerulean Twilight’’ hints the direction Anathema would take with Eternity; sounding more like autumnal rock than self-pity metal (which includes the majority of these tunes in case you wondered), but with a whispered vocal approach feels like a missed opportunity while ‘’Nocturnal Emission’’ features some distorted spoken notes and someone grasping for air in between (?!) - It’s hard to find any real value in it.

Saved by its highlights, Anathema still manages to deliver the goods, not to mention opening and closing the album with their best tunes is a solid trick. ‘’Restless Oblivion’’ shows the band at their heaviest and most instant; a spiteful vocal performance howls between the hypnotic verse and shattering chorus. The aforementioned ''Sunset of Age'' has some of the better vocal effects used to lead the verse, while the final verse emerges with enormous emotional power. The gloomy preface of ‘’A Dying Wish’’ is somewhat misleading, as it quickly becomes clear the tune has some real fire to it: an energetic closer with an interesting contrast between the adventurous guitar acrobatics and the vocals that express nothing but regret. It’s the fastest tune on the album and no wonder the band still play this song live (well, sometimes at least).

Anathema would soon lose most of their rough edges, as Eternity showed a new direction of the band. Now I like that album as well, but a part of me wonders what the band could have ended up with, had they worked on the strengths that they demonstrated here. The verdict is rather simple - The Silent Enigma doesn’t fall in the classic category, but occasionally it's rather great.

1995 was a transiting year for Anathema, Darren White had left the band after recording Pentecost III and the band needed a new singer for their album "The Silent Enigma". Instead of searching for a new singer, guitarist and back up vocalist Vincent Cavanagh decided to take over as vocalist and would remain the vocalist for the majority of Anathema's Career. So how would "The Silent Enigma" sound compare to its previous releases?

First off, the album has a good qualities in terms of structure, atmosphere, and lyrical themes. While the band still sounds like its death-doom self, there are few moments where the album becomes melodic. With the inclusion of keyboards in the album, All of the instrumental songs are dark and very melodic that sets the mood for the entire album. "Alone" gives a calm break from the aggressive sounds of the previous two tracks, and Black Orchid gives a somewhat good ending to the album even though it's concluding part of the song could have ended with an epic guitar riff. Most of the album has epic moments where the listener can get into some death-doom style music fromsongs like "Restless Oblivion," "Sunset of Age," and "A Dying Wish"has great combination of heavy doom inspired guitar and rhythms, as well as showing softer atmospheric sounds by introducing keyboards into Anathema's music.

With all the musical structure being said, I will say that there are a few songs that I felt I did not appreciate due to how they were made and how they ended. For example, the song "Cerulean Twilight" felt like it was dabbling around with power chords and little keyboard flare to even make the song interesting. While the intro of the song set the mood for its dark and depressing direction, the ending just kept going with more dabbling of the guitar and doesn't seem to go anywhere. While the song has a somewhat good tone and has some good melancholic vocals from Vincent Cavanagh, the song to me fell flat because of the questionable ending. "Cerulean Twilight" could have been much better if it had a better ending. The other song "Nocturnal Emmision," has a good build up for a creepy dark atmosphere thanks to the guitar, the drums, and the keyboards, but like "Cerulean Twilight" it ended up going nowhere and was dabbling with more power chords that felt that it could have been much more different or incorporated more of Vincents vocals. Although "Nocturnal Emission" gets a pass for its dark atmosphere, both that song and "Cerulean Twilight" felt like weaker songs compared to the rest of the entire album.

As I mentioned before, this is the first album in which Vincent Cavanagh takes over as lead vocals, where the listener gets to hear what Vincent can bring to the table as far as either death-doom or gothic metal. To me, I felt that I had a mixed feeling concerning Vincent's vocal approach in the album. The majority of the album showed some kicked ass harsh growling in songs like "Restless Oblivion" and "Sunset of Age" but also provided more melody to Anathema's music which would incorporates clean vocals. However, as far as Vincent's growling is concerned, it could have been much deeper. For example, on the song "A Dying Wish," Vincent showed off some really deep growling that gave the song more darkness, but it did not hold out for the rest of the song as the growling went up in a different tone and lost that deep sound that Vincent did in the beginning of the song. Overall, I felt that letting Vincent to take over as vocalist was risky, but it wasn't a total disaster. The vocals had some ups and down's an up which include an epic moment of clean singing from the song "Sunset of Age," but the growling could have been a lot better in some songs in the album.

To wrap up this review, I will say that "The Silent Enigma" was not perfect, it had a few flaws that could have been improved and had much lower production values as the Anathema's later albums, but it was still a great album to listen to from a death-doom standpoint. Anathema were still at their death-doom phase and in this period of their career, it provided death-doom with a gothic and melodic feeling for incorporating clean vocals, and keyboards. Though even if Anathema turned death-doom to a more melodic direction, the timing was beaten by their fellow peaveville record contemporary, My Dying Bride, who released Turn Loose the Swans two years before "The Silent Enigma" and took death-doom to a more melodic and gothic approach much earlier than Anathema. The Silent Enigma is still good to listen to for anyone who loves death-doom, but wants added melody or gothic influences into the music.

Favorite Tracks: Restless Oblivion, Alone, Sunset of Age, A Dying Wish

Considering the huge differences between this and Serenades, it's quite amazing to realize that this is only Anathema's second album, rather long EP aside. Starting off life as a slightly clumsy doom death outfit with gothic leanings in the lyrics, Anathema quickly worked out they didn't want to be a part of the whole English doom thing and ditched the heaviness as fast as possible, most of it being gone by the time they arrived at 1998's Alternative 4. The Silent Enigma sees the Liverpudlians between the slow doomy elegies of early days and the sprawling (sometimes directionless) tension and calmness of their Pink Floyd-orgy work, pushing most songs past the 6 minute mark and including plenty of quiet, hovering atmosphere in the midst of the guitars.

I'm tempted to say that this is the best Anathema album because the juxtaposition of metal weight and post/prog-rock experimentalism gives the album both focus and freedom, letting the songs unfold in a neither tedious nor ham-fisted manner. For those expecting actual doom metal, be warned that you will emerge sorely disappointed from the experience, since Anathema tend to use the down-tuned and growling guitars to create texture rather than simply to play riffs. That said, there is a definite shot at doom in the heavier likes of 'Sunset of Age' and 'Restless Oblivion', the former of which shows the band were still a dab hand with melody too. Those textures have the same kind of "shimmering" feeling that pervaded Pentecost III, making songs feel distant and old even as they introduce themselves. All this makes it hard to engage with the music on a physical level (no headbanging or air guitar, and certainly no dancing), but the emotions are mostly there and have equal input from vocalist and instrumentalists, all of whom do their best to add feeling to the playing at the expense of ordinary chops.

At times, they get the feeling absolutely perfectly, such as the closing section of 'Sunset of Age' when the guitars crash and drift out from an epicentre provided by the thundering drums, while the bass has a cheeky distorted solo behind the chaos. That part of the song reminds me of Monolithe, the epic French funeral doomsters, and is a great foil to the more graceful opening, though it's dispiriting (and not in the good, doomy way) that someone saw fit to stick not one but two flat clean sections in the middle. One of them would break up the composition and allow for tension to rebuild, yet two of them seems unnecessary, especially when they lag out to about two minutes in combined length. The same problem plagues several other songs, with a nice atmsopheric momentum being accumulated and then the band scrapping everything and going back to zero without any cause. That results in songs - and an album - that feels rather unpredictable and messy at times, which I feel was a mistake, since doom or atmospheric rock can be (and perhaps even should be) predictable in the sense that it's inevitable, the emotion always building up to something more dreadful and final.

Other than that, there's not a great deal wrong here unless you're in the mood for something lively and catchy, which Anathema have never catered for. It's best to listen to the album in its entirety rather than song by song; likewise, one should try to relax into the album instead of listening too avidly or trying to second-guess where the songs are going. I wouldn't pick out favourite songs instinctively, though I think 'Sunset of Age', 'Cerulean Twilight' and 'A Dying Wish' are most successful. For hazy summer afternoons or dreamy late evening abstractions, this is the perfect kind of music, and these guys really know how to play it, even if their song structuring leaves a bit to be desired. No one really sticks out from the mix, emphasizing the distance of the experience, but there are moments by all members that deserve attention, such as the lead bass already mentioned, the occasional great melodies, thoughtfully varied drums, and a vocal performance that sounds like a wounded warrior crawling home after his final battle. A calming and foreboding experience that sits pretty among Anathema's often difficult body of work.

The brigade of death/doom metal in the 90's was kind of strange. It seemed as though the style had two blatantly opposite sides of the same coin. First, there were very abrasive, heavy, more strictly death metal-driven bands that released maybe one or two stellar albums before splitting up. This first camp could be summed up with diSEMBOWELMENT, Winter, Dusk, and a plethora of Dutch bands. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were more atmospheric, depressed, doom metal-driven bands that dabbled in unique goth and symphonic influences on their first few albums, before naturally evolving (or devolving) into lighter styles. This take on the style was mastered by the likes of Paradise Lost, The Gathering, and My Dying Bride. Well, it almost goes without saying that Anathema was directly affiliated with the latter end of the spectrum.

With the exception of their very first demos, Anathema were always significantly lighter in sound than even the heavily gothic-influenced Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. While the latter two still incorporated some pretty gnarly death metal sections into their first two albums, Anathema never quite let it RIP the way that their brother bands did. Their Crestfallen EP and first album, Serenades, mostly consisted of a blend of slow, slightly morbid traditional doom riffage with some pretty miserable death grunts. This album naturally progresses from that style, taking a big step towards the romantic, prog-laden atmospheric metal that the band would unfold on their Eternity album.

First track 'Restless Oblivion' enters with a dreamy intro of clean guitars and gentle keyboards, before exploding into a kickass opening riff. I wholeheartedly believe that this first riff is the best moment on the album; the guitar tone is thick and heavy, the bass is nice and loud, and an angry, dominating mood swells. While this strong opening would have been perfect to lead to some Sabbathy, sludgy traditional doom, it rather leads to some galloping melodic doom/death metal stuff that sounds epic, yet romantic; very nice fluid leads flow over a grooving rhythm section, topped off with tastefully intricate drumming patterns, gentle clean interludes, and some pretty dire grunts from frontman Vincent Cavanagh. Overall, this track is significantly more aggressive and epic than anything from Serenades, which was more weeping, funereal, and solemn. Unfortunately, the rest of the album fails to continue on in such a fashion.

From there on out, the album alternates between two different styles; astral sounding, keyboard-laden atmospheric doom with screamed vocals, and very ambiguous, dreamy ambient sections of keyboards, clean guitars, and weeping "gothic" spoken vocals. I want to emphasize the album as a whole as being ambiguous, because it seems as if the band really struggled to decide what they wanted to play, and that is ultimately why I have rated the album at such a mid-grade level. As I said before, the band rarely let loose and really kicked the listener with the kind of heaviness that would be deemed appropriate for death/doom metal, and in this case, only about 60% of the album is even really metal. Quiet sections that would have been fitting as brief interludes get expanded to several minutes, and wind up taking up a good 1/3 of an entire track.

For example, fifth track 'Nocturnal Emission' starts off with a nice doomy riff, but then drops off to some weird gothic rock-inspired stuff with spoken vocals. It never builds back up to the level of its opening riff, nor does it lead to anything that keeps my interest. The same problem occurs in the track that follows, 'Cerulean Twilight'. The track, in its entirety, is build up that teases the brink of leading to something big, but never actually reaches it. The distorted guitars return with some harsh growls, but it more or less provides only a texture without ever becoming an actual guitar riff. Then, pure interlude tracks 'Alone' and 'Black Orchid' are practically filler pieces which are only good for skipping over.

The songs that are more metal-based are pretty decent. 'Shroud of Frost', 'Sunset of Age', and the title track all consist of slow, introspective, atmospheric doom that have a vaguely progressive, cosmic feel to them. The song structures are simplistic, and the distorted guitars create heavy textures that blend with the celestial synths and gloomy clean guitars. It's not very dark or aggressive, but the melodies sound nice and, when combined with the desperate harsh vocals, create a genuinely unique style that never sounds too much like any other band. Closing track, 'A Dying Wish', even carries on in the fashion of the albums opener, finally retaining some aggression and kicking up some thunderous up-tempo melo-death riffage.

Aside from the ambiguity and lack of focus within the album, another flaw that I can't help but ignore is the vocal performance. Vincent's shouts and screams aren't bad, though some deeper death grunts would have added more intensity and darkened the sound tenfold. The clean and spoken vocals are almost intolerable for me. The influence for the clean singing seems to had been taken directly from Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium album, as almost all of the non-growled vocals are whiny, moaned, weepy spoken vocals. This element has always been a big drawback for me in Anathema's early works, and I have to say I find it even more obnoxious with Vincent's higher vocal range than with Darren's deeper, gravelly voice. Though I'm sure I'm alone in this, I think a balance between deep death grunts and some bright, epic cleans could have really taken the album to a higher level than where it ends up being.

Although my criticisms for the album may seem a tad harsh, I would like to reiterate that there are still some really good passages throughout the album. The heavier, doomy parts are damn good, and create some of the best guitar melodies that I feel one can find in the realm of the style as a whole, most specifically in 'Restless Oblivion' and 'A Dying Wish'. As a whole, it is not a bad album by any means, but it's perhaps more suitable for someone who is looking for some proto-atmospheric metal, as opposed to someone who is looking for doom or death/doom. In terms of similarity, the album itself is perhaps closest to The Gathering's Mandylion album, mixed with Katatonia's Dance of December Souls, both of which are albums that I highly regard. I think those who are deep into the more romantic, modern sounds of bands like Saturnus, Draconian, or Before the Rain, this album could be worth checking into, perhaps even essential.

Anathema shift genres on almost every album. This is their second album, coming after their debut 'Serenades' and 'Pentecost III' EP and already they'd changed styles to a degree between those releases. This album sees a change in vocalist too, so obviously this adds to a different sound. Vincent Cavanagh has remained as lead vocalist ever since, but he sounds nothing like this these days. This is probably because back in 95 he was still trying to keep in touch with Anathema's doom roots, whereas now the band do whatever they want in whatever style they choose. Seriously the only other band that I can think of that changed so dramatically is Fleetwood Mac! This album is a million miles away from their modern atmospheric prog rock sound yet no closer to 'Serenades' either. There is a prog element at work here, but truly unique to this album. Atmospheric, progressive, gothic, doomy, melancholic....this album covers all those bases yet stands out from Anathema's discography as one of a kind.

As one of the so called 'Peaceville Three', it's difficult to not compare Anathema to Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. This album perhaps come closest to MDB's style, it has a similar gloomy atmosphere and slow, creepy riffs. It even has some of the heaviness of that band but that's about as far as comparisons go. All 3 bands had started to branch off into their own realms by this point, Paradise Lost being the most accessible, MDB being the heaviest and Anathema drifting in between. This album best exemplifies that, being neither too commercial nor ridiculously inaccessible.

Vincent's vocals are a mixture of a melodic crooning, spoken word (sort of) and a semi-growl vaguely keeping the style of earlier works with Darren White on vocals. Varied, but also slightly ill fitting at times. Lyrically, this typically deals with the familiar themes of lost love, darkness and misery. Unfortunately, while they try to be poetic, this just comes off as second rate My Dying Bride lyricism. Not terrible, but not awe-inspiring wordplay either.

Musically, this is great for the most part. The band expanded their sound hugely on this album, orchestral arrangements adding extra layers to the already dense sound. 'A Dying Wish', with it's mellow middle part followed by a huge riff and then a jaunty guitar line over the top best sums up the album style. 'Sunset of Age' features the strongest riff work of the bands' career. Female vocals are featured on 'Alone', a precursor to the future approach of the band post-2000 and they add a nice variety to that track. The songs are genrally pretty long, with only a few under the 5 minute mark. Luckily for us fans, the band know how to write interesting longer songs, keeping the attention with melodic riffs and mood changes.

It's hard to pigeonhole this album into one particular genre, even calling it gothic doom doesn't do it justice as this doesn't sound like Paradise Lost or Type O Negative for example. I've mentioned My Dying Bride as a comparison, but even that could be stretching it. This is easily the heaviest, most challenging work of the band with Vincent as vocalist and their last full blown metal album. It has tonnes of atmosphere and variety, excellent musicanship and songcraft.

I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for newcomers (go for Judgement or Eternity) but if you're a fan of the band and want to discover their heavier side then this is the album to go for.

Recommended tracks: Shroud of Frost, Alone, Sunset of Age, A Dying Wish (and the bonus track Sleepless 96)

The dream of drifting into oblivion in moments of calm desperation is contemplated in the sober realization of the futility of human desires against a universe whose order of operation appears antagonistic towards such interests; it is this condition that Anathema’s music laments, The Silent Enigma being the band’s bleakest examination, the work in its entirety becoming increasingly despairing throughout its duration, its expressive essence of the human spirit in continuous conflict with universal reality communicating the hopelessness of our ambitions in a world such as this, posing the question of the possibility of ever altering our dreams so that they correspond with universal laws, or if we should accept our condition in the useless endeavor of finding lasting peace in a suffering existence.

Rhythm guitarist Vincent Cavanagh takes over lead vocals, expressing a range of dark emotions through desperate screams, hostile growling, and mournful moan-singing with a slight resemblance to Tom Warrior’s approach on Celtic Frost’s Into The Pandemonium, only more despondent as it interacts with slow, dismal riffs and tearful lead melodies within structures identifying a unification of clarified verse and chorus sections and lengthy atmospheric passages, abstract enough to stimulate the intellect as well as the emotions yet never losing a song’s point of emphasis through meandering too far, as if to keep the listener suspended between dream-state and the order of reality.

"(as one) forever searching
For landscapes serene
Amidst the sunset of age
With joyous masquerade...
...the summers died"

In a motion like that of encircling dark clouds, these somber riffs in expansive patterns exude a hypnotic quality as if to induce slumber, producing vivid melodies that sway between tranquility and sorrowful yearning emerging through the misty gloom to illuminate the development of harmony, producing an enveloping ambiance through its structure like that of aimless wandering through bleak landscapes, uncertain whether the sunlight just over the distant horizon is real or an illusion. The guitarists display an inventive technique of using feedback as atmospheric supplement to riffs and melodies like dream dust sprinkled over the music for the luring of enchantment, while elsewhere contemplative clean guitars and emotional solos bring to mind classic Pink Floyd in the “Comfortably Numb” style of drifting from concentrated sections into free-flowing atmospheric beauty through heartfelt guitar solos over an ocean of ethereal keyboards, establishing a mood of painful reflection increasing in sustain over the course of a song, perfectly timed for release, as if they know the audience cannot endure the experience beyond a certain point, thereby forming harmony between the alluring introductions of these songs and the offering of deliverance provided by the conclusions. The band’s compositional vision, specifically the forethought on part of the songwriters in the expectation of atmospheric shade and duration of suspension prior to climactic resolution, is really something special, an exquisite ability of portraying a character of mood through rhythmic tempo and melodic progression, executed with profound passion and brilliant artistic perception.

"Shroud of Frost" provides the most powerful example: An expansive atmosphere is established from the start, with a wide-open, spacious arrangement highlighted by the extended lead guitar melody illuminated by a backdrop of synths. Vincent's agonized cries penetrate through the sound, contrasting the serene melody with a mood of despair.

"Undying Odyssey...a myriad of times"

Ever the masters of suspension, after the vocal, the band halts the passage, leaving a dejected bassline over a quiet, static synth, just the right duration for the listener to become settled into its mood, before the verse section begins, defined by a free-flowing lead guitar melody, a slow, brooding rhythmic motion, and Vincent's mournful moan. The seamless transition from this downcast, sullen mood into the rousing, passionate chorus demonstrates Anathema's brilliance in creating powerful dynamics in mood. A heavy, churning rhythmic movement supports Vincent's desperate screams.

"Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralysed"

The expression of pure tormented anguish here is overwhelming. The singer's emotion is instantly felt, a crushing weight of emotional agony penetrates the heart of the listener in a very real and genuine manner. The expression powerfully captures sheer despair in a moment of futile frustrated passion in the grip of existential fear, an impossible yearning for deliverance from the burden of the human situation. If you find this too much, Anathema is not the band for you. It is a classic moment in the band's recorded history, exemplifying their expressive potency and thematic depth of self-analysis. Following the second verse and even more incensed chorus punctuated by Vincent's chilling scream of hopelessness, the song descends into a quiet spoken word section recalling the experience of an inner realization in a timeless moment, accented by subtle guitar, synth, and bass, another suspension and transition into a different shade of the thematic mood. For the last few lines, the full band enters with a passage of resolution, led by a gorgeous lead guitar melody and heavenly synths, over powerful drumming that does a great job of supplying rhythmic power to the dreamy atmosphere. The rhythm section fades, as the lead guitar and synth drift into an ethereal oblivion. A solemn, dark mood blossoms into a transcendent ascension into a blissful aura, a serenity of extinguished concern, a fade into tranquil harmony

In every song, the transitions are marked by alterations in tone or extended melodic guitar or bass line, while themes are accented by extended solos, subtle keyboards, or increased activity in percussion, isolating acoustic guitars and female vocals for the distant and dreamy “…Alone” to portray a fragility of loneliness in the aftermath of abandonment. The melodies represent concept in a captivating method of intuiting the feeling of an experience actualized in a living moment, unified with rhythmic patterns and tonal motion to correlate with the perceived movement of time during the experienced thematic event, produced with a quality of sound intended to emphasize each contrasting element towards unification in commonality with previous works, but here the overall spirit of the music is less overtly romanticized while taking on a more introspectively anguished character; The Silent Enigma is Anathema attempting to bring our existential condition into perspective, confronting the sources of our suffering in a more personally direct fashion than was the case before. This results in a decidedly different sound than the ethereal romanticism of the first album, with a more diverse approach to songwriting and more expansive concept of melody. Like all Anathema albums, the music offers moving moments of sweeping atmospheric beauty in an instant of musical grandeur, brought to artistic actualization through the band’s fantastic ability of channeling the exact emotional experience of yearning for tranquility in a world where our hopes are threatened by the very fabric of the universe, in dark yet enchanting songs that invite the listener into an experience to be deeply felt and contemplated, screaming the universal torment of existence in one ear while whispering the bliss of nothingness in the other, leaving the heart and mind to engage in vigorous dialogue in an attempt to find a meaningful resolution.

I was particularly wary of Anathema when growing up, I'd often see their name dropped in magazines, and had a few acquaintances who were bang into them. At the time I thought they were an arena rock band, and in my pubescent glory days arena rock was a no-go zone. It wouldn't be until years later that I finally checked out Anathema.

This, The Silent Enigma was my first taste of the band, and now I'm older, and ever-so-slightly wiser I can finally appreciate this band. Arena rock!? What a fucking moron I was, I'll be eternally cringing over that notion. As I'm sure you're well aware Anathema formed a third of the whole "Peaceville three" thing, playing one of my favorite kinds of death metal, the doomy kind.

Since this is the only Anathema album I've heard to date (I assure you that will change) I can't really comment on their output pre or post The Silent Enigma. Also, for anyone yet to hear this album I think the whole death/doom thing should be taken lightly, the album is without doubt routed in doom, but I wouldn't lump it in with the death/doom crowd.

The Silent Enigma is actually, a very beautiful album. Ornate, drawn out arrangements, utilizing almost achingly sombre lead guitar lines are spliced with heavier, almost aggressive sections. Acoustic guitars dance in and out of the albums run time, not to mention some quality piano and keyboards. The vocals are quite great, with the more aggressive vocals being right up my alley in the sort of disgruntled shouting style ala Matti Kärki or Johan Liiva. Clean vocals are proficiently handled in quality mid-range, and choirs are used to good effect.

The performances are spot on throughout, with no one member standing out in particular, all serving the purpose of pushing forward the music. Tracks such as the opening majesty of "Restless Oblvivion" and its following number "Shroud of Frost" show Anathema at their best, evoking a stifling atmosphere. Heavy riffs are used at the most opportune moments, and the bass is perfect in the mix setting the riffs off perfectly.

Altogether The Silent Enigma serves as a haunting, sorrowful affair that is a perfect soundtrack to the autumn months. The album cover, and the music contained help in creating the atmosphere as well as the autumnal vibe I get listening to this. Whilst maybe a little light in comparison to some of their contemporaries this is still a worthy addition to any doom/death/gothic collection.

"The Silent Enigma" is the last Anathema album that could be described as a doom/death album, although with this album Anathema’s music is already loosing a lot of their death metal influences, as they started to use a lot more clean vocals and spoken passages and there is more clean guitars than on their earlier albums.

After the release of the ep, "Pentecost III", Anathema’s original vocalist Darren White left the band, and their guitarist Vincent Cavanagh took the singing duties. Vincent did a good job on taking White’s position, although his death growls were far away from being as good as Darren’s, but his clean vocals were much better. Vincent could also bring more emotion to the songs with his voice.

Music on "The Silent Enigma" – as I already said – is still mostly doom/death, but with this album they already started to experiment with other influences - although not as heavily as on their later albums, which don’t really have any metal left – but you can already hear that they were on their way to something completely different. In this case they were on their way to become a more depressive and doomier version of Pink Floyd. The biggest difference on "The Silent Enigma" to their earlier albums is that this has more clean vocals and a bit more clean guitars, otherwise this isn't that far away from their earlier albums. Anyway the music is pretty much as depressive as music can get, but depressive in a good way. In a way that this kind of metal music is supposed to be, which is a feeling of romantic depression (that’s the best term I could describe the feeling), and in that this album succeeds at least most of the time.

The problem with this album for me is that the album starts out very strong, but after the song "…Alone" the quality does a giant step down, until with the title track the quality rises again. There is three songs after that "…Alone" track that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, they sound like those songs would have been written quick just so they could get to release this album. Although none of them are horrible songs, as they do have some good moments. Good example would be the song "The Sunset of Age", which starts out very promisingly, but around the three minute mark the quality drops dramatically.

Anyway this is an good album for fans of "Brave Murder Day"-era Katatonia and for fans of My Dying Bride, but if you don’t really care about those bands or doom/death in general this album isn’t for you.

Highlights: "Restless Oblivion", "Shroud of Frost", "The Silent Enigma" and "A Dying Wish"

Well, after hearing Serenades I decided I'd listen to their follow up The Silent Enigma, which like Serenades is a classic doom metal album and most probably helped defined modern doom.

The album starts in a similar fashion to their debut, holding down 1 note on the synthesiser. Then we get the song Restless Oblivion, followed by Shroud of Frost, both great songs. Then after this, things start to go downhill a bit (ironically a bit like the band to great releases then they really went down hill). It's not all bad though,later on A Dying Wish and Black Orchid are also pretty good songs.

What's good about the songs I've talked about is the aggression that can be found in them. This album is about 40% metal and 60% easy listening/ambient/w/e which is a real short coming. I would much prefer an album which was the opposite. Anathema have never been a band to hide their soft side. The non-metal parts of the album are dull and boring at times. The metal parts are doomy and pretty interesting.

Vincent Cavanagh takes over vocal duties from Darren White, the former being a much better vocalist. White did vocals in a very emotionless way while Cavanagh is the opposite, just listen to A Dying Wish. Also, he has a much better tone and sounds far more aggressive than White. There are no clean vocals on this one.

This was the last classic doom that Anathema released. With Eternity, the band decided to take another direction, away from doom. This was a real shame for had they gone the other way (i.e. more aggressive, less easy listening parts) they could have released some real gems. Essential for those who love doom.

Conclusion: The above is recommended for download or purchase.

Relaxing yet dull would be an apt description for Anathema's second album, The Silent Enigma. Riding high on the merits of the previous (and awesome if I may add) EP Pentecost III, Anathema decide to continue the atmospheric streak in that work but also take most of the good elements out of it as well.
The first notable difference is that there is no Darren White, instead we get a guy who thought Tom Warrior's vocals on Into the Pandemonium were super nifty and decided to ape them. Yeah the vocals suck balls, even though Darren was no great singer himself, his moaning and actual growling(not pitchshifted talking Danny boy) fit the dismal and melancholic sound that Anathema was shooting for.

While I believe shitty vocal performances do not necessarily make for shitty albums, the music here does not make up for it. But before I go all negative and critical, let me talk about the good. First off production, two phrases: massive and 4ADish. Yes this album boasts a dreamy and somber soundscape that would be the envy of many a gothic doom band with songs about sad dreams (relevant what say you?) and reminds a whole lot of those classic Cocteau Twins albums. This definitely is what makes this album listenable and makes you occasionally ignore the droll and mundane songcraft. Also there's some cool riffs that pop up from time to time, but you usually get third-rate riffs bought at a Peaceville yardsale.

But then we talk about the music. First off structure is lacking, these songs just meander with the one exception being Silent Engima. Let's look at the opening track Restless Oblivion, begins ok with reverbed acoustics, builds into a heavy doom riff that maybe signifies this track might be killer and then blows it with some shitty noodling that goes through the verses returns to the doomage with the chorus and then repeats for another cycle and then goes to... acoustic meandering with Danny "serenading" (catch the allusion) the audience with poetry that would make Robert Smith cringe. Then back to the cycle. Not to mention you hear the chorus more times then you want to as you get hear him lament the loss of his Inamartu (spelled it wrong, don't give a shit). Now repeat this formula 4 more times, throw in two non-Metal breaks, one song combining all the worst aspects of this album for 7 minutes which combines both the dull acoustic meanderings with the generic doom riffs and rent boy vocals, and then one cheesy single that got an even cornier video and you have a recipe for failure. Oh and did I mention the bass player is horrid and they put the bass high in the mix so you can hear him failing to keep up with guitar parts? Way to go Anathema!

Back to that poetry part, if you don't cringe and start hugging your Possessed records then you're a 14 year old fat emo chick who no one understands, except for Anathema of course. Lamenting lost loves in such bad taste and other such saccharine topics won't endear them to most men in long hair and denim vests, they at least aren't as bad as the next album. (I LIE HERE... NNNAAAKKIIID... IN THE RAINNNNNNN!!!!) You also get hear these adventures in mire wallowing and sing along with them while doing mundane tasks, like writing reviews about metal, since they sing the chorus during every song 40 FUCKING TIMES!!!

I sounded maybe a bit too hard on this album but these pussies kind of deserve it. I heard it was rushed and most of the songs were written in the studio. The proof lies in the recording. While once in a blue moon and with some THC added, this album sounds alright but when sober and during the other 364 days of the year, this work sounds dull and monotonous. I say your time is better spent listening to their earlier works (All Faith is Lost demo forever!!!)

Masterpiece, one could argue that Anathema has known almost nothing but since their inception. This album, in its many facets is a testament to their original sound and showed them pushing the Doom boundaries even further. Today, this is still just as brilliant as it was when it came out.

The production is more or less on par with the 'Pentecost III' EP (which translates into it’s alright for the time). The guitars are incredibly crafty & original. They're interweaving harmonies, leads and rhythms’ are spell binding. This is a pretty heavy album considering the amount of atmosphere contained within. The guitars have a unique take on the traditional lead and rhythm rolls. This album really expands the concept of what they did with 'Serenades' and thrusts it into a new realm (this is also the bands last album where the guitars are tuned to 'B').

The bass is good and does a good job of not following the guitars constantly. The drums are expertly played and executed. They're creativity only adds to the over all brilliance of this album. They avoid the clichés of the style.

This is also the first Anathema album to not feature original singer Darren White as well as the first to have rhythm guitarist Vincent Cavanagh sing. This could have been a bad play for the band (and one could argue it was, see 'A Vision Of A Dying Embrace' DVD for more) but his studio vocals sound excellent. His vocal delivery is different than Darren's but he dose fall back on some of his patters/moods in some places when singing clean.

The guitars, vocals, and lyrics are incredibly emotional and full of longing and woe. The lyrics are incredibly poetic and fairly intellectual. This is an epic and depressing recording, that is more straight forward than their previous effort. The music is loose yet tight and the song structures complicated.

This album just flows from start to finish. There is not a bad spot on this recording. This is one of the better (possibly best?) romantic Doomdeath Metal bands/albums ever. This is sadly the last Doomdeath album by one of the original Peaceville three as well.

It’s not possible to recommend this album enough.

Its amazing to think that the Anathema of today created this essentially death/doom metal full-length considering the musical road they have gone down in recent years, notably leaning more and more towards the atmospheric rock side of the spectrum. I'm not a fan of the Liverpool based band's latter works, or its previous full-length to this one, however i do quite enjoy this in parts. For me, this full-length, entitled 'The Silent Enigma' was a huge sign of potential when i first heard it a number of years ago. In part, this is brilliant. But on the other hand it also contains a lot of mediocrity. To be honest, overall i found this album to be highly disappointing. There are far too many nothing tracks for my liking but, on the other hand, some magnificent ones too.


Before the release of 'The Silent Enigma' the band were going through troubling times, as it has been well documented with the departure of the lead vocalist Daren White. His duties were filled by one of Anathema's then current guitarists, Vincent Cavanagh. This gave an extra dimension to the performance of Anathema with his unearthly screams and anti-exuberant whispers of desolation and torment. Vincent brought a more emotionally driven and intense sound to the band, which suited the music far better, at times depicting the grief Anathema This record contains four notable highlights; Restless Oblivion', 'Sunset of the Age', 'A Dying Wish' and 'Shroud of Forest'. All are emotionally draining, relentless in there approach and create a sonic wave of grief and sadness. With the use of acoustics and punchy rhythmic sections, Anathema play side-by-side with the painfully driven vocals from Vincent, creating a barrage of emotive sound up there with anything any death/doom metal band has produced in the past and present. The music has the ability to wrap its arms around you and slowly lead you into the abyss. I feel the lyrics to 'Shroud of Forest' are particularly useful in helping this process along:


'Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralysed'


The music paralyses its listener and sweeps you away with its mournful riffs and haunting atmospheric nature. I thoroughly enjoy the way in which Anathema creates its soundscapes through the ensuing agony of the bands heart and soul. However, the band does contain some negative aspects. First, as previously stated, there are far too many nothing tracks which spoil the atmosphere of the album and generally don't tend to add anything worthwhile to the piece. Second, the backbone of the full-length, or the middle of it, is very weak. There is a sequence of these nothing tracks which may perhaps deter the listener from continuing. Which is a shame considering the powerful end this album has. And last, the music has the unfortunate ability which sees a lot of it merge together. Sometimes, in certain genres, this isn't a bad thing, but it is here.

Anathema's second full length release The Silent Enigma is a pummeling, doom-laden dark melancholic rollercoaster of emotion and misery. One of the more well known modern doom metal bands, which drew heavy influence from the great Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. I will be the first this album has influenced many great bands(Lacrimas Profundere for starters looking at you) as well but despite its undeniable quality I do feel it is a tad inconsistent. Very worthwhile release nonetheless, with quite an excellent contrast of aggressive doom and reflective and at times hypnotic clean electric guitar passages.

Like many of these incredible doom bands, they focus on building on bleak and desolate soundscapes(contrasting in heavy and softer passages) adding lyrics of despair, angst and helpless dark romanticism. There are flourishes of keyboards and other sombre instrumentation which grace this album as well as female vocals on the track ...Alone so there is some diversity although repetition can become an issue. My main problem is that despite have some clearly amazing songs which include Restless Oblivion and This Dying Wish, this album contains much solid to very good modern doom metal and the occassional passable moments. This is usually not the case however it falls a bit short at times to other bands. An excellent, influential doom album rough around the edges with a few downright amazing songs if you ask this reviewer.

This album is pretty well a must for anyone who considers themselves intrigued by doom metal in the early 90's. Or just get it for A Dying Wish(that song is really worth the affordable purchase price).