ANATHEMA — The Silent Enigma (review)

ANATHEMA — The Silent Enigma album cover Album · 1995 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Thorn Metalcore
TIDE HAS TURNED
Buy this album from MMA partners
Write The Story, Change The Plot Metalcore
AETHERIALITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tea Time & Fault Metalcore
AETHERIALITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
The God Particle US Power Metal
ATTACKER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Mortality Technical Death Metal
REPLICANT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Tide Has Turned - "Slave to Misery" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 6 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Letdown" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 6 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Break Away" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 6 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - Far From Reality (Official Lyric Video)
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 6 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Cave In" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 6 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed