Customer Reviews

Silent Enigma

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

imagine what comes out combining pure doom metal melancholy with the atmosphere of pink floyd,yes pink floyd.i was/am amazed by this album,vincent's vocals(though i was afraid after darren left).it's divine dark and melancholic atmosphere are so beautiful given.start listening it from the begining, without stoping and you will realise that this is not just music but true melancholic emotions flowing from the deepest of anathema right into your heart.the lyrics can stand as a poetry anthology themselves,while anathema seem not to play music but create a dark world, a lost heaven.anathema are blessed by the nocturnal muse, and make history with the silent enigma.buy it with no second thought,i'd die for it.

In the ANATHEMA's history, this album is probably their most under rated due to the fact that it recieved almost no press. It is my personnal fave of all their albums (YES, I LIKE IT MORE THAN SERANDES, WHICH IS BRILLIANT). This was their first album after the departure of old vokillist Darren White, new vokillist, new sound. Here we start hearing the interjection of clean vocals but still a little deathy. The songs are more cohesive and tend to have a nice flow, but what really kills is the guitar riffs and harmonies. There are wicked textures added to the songs when they alternate from heavy to mellow guitar parts. Opening track 'RESTLESS OBLIVION' is worth the price alone for this disc. This album is a great link between their old and new material. Under rated classic.

I am not really that big a fan of the band, but a tremendous fan of this album!
It is truly a masterpiece. Yes it is dark and melancholy, but it is true art. The soundscape is magnificent, I marvel at the atmosphere they create. The back cover features an angel holding his head in what could be agony or frustration, and that is what this sounds like. Beautiful agony! To quite from the title track: "Happiness in a broken vision".

And most importantly, the album is a cohesive whole, not just a bunch of songs stuck together in a compilation. Listen to the full artwork, not just individual songs, and you might appreciate the journey it takes you on.

After buying Pentecost III, I was sure I had exhausted Anathema's worthy recordings. As a huge fan of Darren's vocals, I wasn't sure I could stand anything else. Well, I overcame my fear recently and bought Silent Enigma. I have no regrets, whatsoever. It turns out the vocals (performed by guitarist Vincent Cavanagh) are excellent, though different from Darren's. People have compared them to Celtic Frost. I've only heard a couple of CF songs, but I guess its a fair comparison. The music follows the path that Pentecost III was taking. No extreme changes have taken place. While each of the songs were pretty different from each other in P3, though, these songs are more consistent. That doesn't mean they're all the same song, they just fit together in a single album better. Overall, I was impressed with the general quality of this album. While nothing jumps out at me as brilliant, this is well produced and performed, original doom. I recommend this to fans of previous albums, but cannot speak for fans of recent albums.

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 ambience 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.

Transitions are often 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.

This album was something of a revelation for me, as the last thing from Anathema before this was "Serenades", which, while good, certainly did not capture my imagination in the way this album did.
When I first heard this I was still expecting some variant on classic British death doom but the signs were definitely there that they were moving away from that sound and progressing somewhere far more interesting.
Obviously, the biggest change to the band were Vincent taking on vocal duties. But stylistically there was more variance as well, more use of clean guitar, more creative use of feedback and other little embellishments that become more obvious on later albums.
I do find that I don't listen to this album as much as others in their back catalogue these days, but it did sustain a rather lengthy rotation through my CD player at the time.
I have given this album an overall 4 stars as it is a good, but realistically it is probably a 3.5 star album,. It's hard to say that, but, realistically, they did improve and change so far from here that it would be hard to give the album a higher review, in light of that.

Anathema are an excellent band. I can't understand some of these nasty reviews. If you don't like the music fine, but damn relax. Anyway, this is a strong Doom album. The lyrics and the "Floydian" vibe make this very cohesive. If you really want to know about the Doom metal genre, "The Silent Enigma" is/was a very important statement. Take the time, appreciate what this is and you will be rewarded. If you have to force yourself, then you don't understand "early" Doom.

I just pulled this out of my music library the other day. This is not bad...I always used to compare this to Serenades (Essential doom/death) and Pentecost III, and toss it aside. But, after all these years, I recognize that I may have overlooked the gems on this album. And there are quite a few. For all those fans who like the doom genre or My Dying Bride or Paradise Lost, this is an essential addon to your library. This album has Anathema starting to move away from Doom/Death with many songs actually sung. But, I have to say, the ones which I like the best are NOT. Restless Oblivion, Cerulean Twilight and A Dying Wish are classics. ....Alone is a great track with so much emotion. In fact, this Doom/Death genre or whatever it is, overflows with emotion. Brilliant. A definite buy. And please don't compare A Fine Day to Exit to this or anything before it. Its two completely different genres. Though, I have to say that Serenades, Pentecost III, and The Silent Enigma albums definitely stand out from the crowd...Fine Day to Exit blah blah don't compare....

This is one of those albums people tend to either love or hate, without much middle ground existing between the two. I happen to be among the former catagory. To me, The Silent Enigma is a quintessential Doom album. Sure, Vincent hadn't quite reached the peak of his vocal abilities when this was first released but he sings with more emotion on this than any other album. Kinda remiscent of the clean vox of My Dying Bride in some ways. the music is dark and brooding with influences ranging from Pink Floyd to Bathory. They also experiment with innovative reverb techniques that add an extra dimension to the overall ambience. When it comes to an ever evolving band like Anathema it is difficult to say which is the best album because all of them sound so different. Personally, I consider this, Judgement, A Fine Day To Exit and Eternity to be their best, however I know there's quite a few people who would disagree. So in conclusion I'd just like to point out that it wouldn't be a bad idea to just listen to the sound samples and figure out what you like from Anathema because the opinions differ so much.

Man, the first review I se for this album is the one wroted by a soft, havy metal guy, how knows nothing about it. This is not only the best album of Anathema, which by the way is the best band of all times, but is also one of the most wonderful albums ever made by human. Not only " The silent enigma", "Dying wish", and "Shroud Of Frost", but every song is great. If you know something about sad and melancolic doom metal, this is the best experience you will ever have. Like extas or trans of emotions. After Darren Wight left they not that great anymore, but this album will stay always in the same holy shelf where I kip " The Angel And The Dark River". No other words, is done by gods ! The best lyrics and music that can exist.