The first album featuring Vincent Cavanagh on vocals, includes fan favorite 'A Dying Wish' on Mayhem Music.
CD Reviews
UNDER RATED
devil-boy | CANADA | 03/24/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
"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."
Masterpiece
Music Lover | South Africa | 11/08/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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."
One of the best British doom albums
Tom Z | USA | 12/19/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Anathema's forgotten album
G. Wachman | Minneapolis, MN United States | 12/19/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
