The doom-death influences are still quite apparent on this album, especially on tracks like “Shroud of Frost” or “Cerulean Twilight”. Nevertheless, The Silent Enigma is not exactly a revolutionary album in Anathema’s discography. But the difference in quality (and potential) between the two singers is as clear as day, especially on the more melodic tracks like “Restless Oblivion” or “Sunset of Age“. In truth, on The Silent Enigma, Vincent does not stray too far away from the vocal style of his predecessor, mixing in equal parts growls, spoken parts, and semi-melodic gruff vocals.
It will be a decisive move for Anathema: Darren’s vocals – halfway between thrash gruff and death metal growls – were okay(ish) for the death-doom sound of the debut album, but would have been too limited to allow the band to push the boundaries in more melodic and atmospheric directions. Original vocalist Darren White left the band just before the recording sessions of The Silent Enigma, and Vincent Cavanagh, the band’s rhythm guitarist, took his place behind the mic. The rapid evolution of Anathema’s sound between 1993’s Serenades and 1995’s The Silent Enigma was facilitated by a big change that occurred between the two albums. The Silent Enigma moves a further step (or two) in this direction: the songwriting becomes more accessible, the riffs and melodies are catchier, and the tempos are not as oppressively slow as on the doomier Serenades. Fans of the band should have seen this coming: already on Serenades the band had showed their inclination to experiment with more cinematic and atmospheric pieces, such as on “Sleepless”, “J'ai fait une promesse”, or the 20-minute keyboard drone “Dreaming: The Romance”. On The Silent Enigma, Anathema started leaving behind the death-doom sound of their debut album Serenades and incorporating traces of the more melodic songwriting that will dominate their future discography.
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