Anathema Album: “The Silent Enigma”

MY DYING BRIDE, PARADISE LOST, CATHEDRAL, WINTER, disEMBOWELMENT, and lastly ANATHEMA are the god-fathers of the "Doom/Death" movement... Silent Enigma is what I like to consider the last truely original "Doom/Death" record... scores of bands count them as influence...

I have always nicknamed this release as the "Into the Pandemonium" of this era of "Doom/Death" metal... Vincent's "clean" vocals are very similiar to what Tom G. Warrior refered to as his "mournful vocal"... and the guitar work is simply brilliant, and crushingly heavy. This album is a very important release of this era and for those who dont own it, that's unfortunate.

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.

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.

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.

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.