SilentScream213 Much like it took some time for Death Metal to shed its Thrash roots, and Doom Metal to evolve out of Trad Doom, so too did Death Doom undergo a lengthy transitional phase. In the late 80’s into the early 90’s, Death Doom was, more or less, slow Death Metal, and many of the early releases no longer represent what the genre would become. In time, Death Doom added its signature focus on atmosphere and melancholia, and became something completely separate from Death Metal, named more so for the inclusion of harsh vocals and other extreme metal tropes.

The Silent Enigma is one of the earliest examples of Death Doom in its fully fleshed out form, completely forgoing any hint of Death Metal stylistically and taking a full focus on crafting melodic yet crushing pieces of dark atmosphere and morose despair. A surprising amount of energy is found here, with the opening track aggressively assaulting you with poetic shrapnel of hopelessness. A great deal of variety is found in the following tracks, with classic plodding Doom full of panic-attack inducing atmospheres, gentle gothic style interludes, and a few that sit somewhere in between. The penultimate track, A Dying Wish, remains a crowning achievement of Death Doom, the 8-minute track delivering an uncompromising death throe of mourning and regret.

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

After the good but not excellent 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: ***

This review was originally written for ProgArchives.com

Warthur 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.

bonnek After my disappointment with Serenades I didn’t pay much attention 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 are rather 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 maybe 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

Phonebook Eater 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. 3 stars.

Peacock Feather 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.