Silentium have in one form or another been going for a number of years since they were resurrected from former gothic metal band Funeral. The Finns have a number of releases behind them too but this is actually the first time I have heard them and had quite high hopes for liking them as I dipped into Amortean, fully aware that this was another female fronted gothic metal band that were likely to have operatic vocal arrangements. This has taken a long time to sink in and perhaps as it turned up around the same time as the new Sirenia and perhaps because it really is a bit of a mixed bag; it has not exactly overwhelmed me.
Sweeping into ‘Leave The Fallen Behind’ this suffers over emphasis on overblown orchestration in much the way that Nightwish do. In fact as Riina Rinkinen joins the fray it is impossible not to think of this as a bit of a clone, even down to the fact that melody wise it reminds a bit of an up-tempo ‘Bless This Child.’ It is a fairly strong and well arranged number but the crux of the matter is that this is nothing you have not heard a hundred times before and done better. From there the dynamics are on slow burn. ‘The Messenger’ centres more on the strong vocals and offers a ballad in essence, perhaps too early on for the album to flourish. ‘A Knife In The Back’ is the chance to bring back the velocity but musically things get even more soporific. I think this is the reason this album has taken so many listens as it really is truly dull at times and has me losing both patience and concentration. “Come close your eyes” is the cry on the next number and there is no problem, by now I already have and am snoring loudly.
After ‘My Broken Angel’ another bloody ballad, this time with foppish male vocals we go into Danny Elfman territory with ‘The Cradle Of Nameless’ which might be a good title for a Tim Burton movie, it certainly sounds like they are trying for the theme song with this one. Finally though with ‘Embrace The Storm’ we get a song I can be positive about. Despite the fact that again we have something plundered, this time a Stream Of Passion title, it has a strong and memorable chorus and one that really gives the vocals a chance to shine. If everything on the album was this good I would be heaping praise on it. Unfortunately with just one out of nine tracks here really hitting the mark we do not have a particularly good album.
http://www.myspace.com/silentiumband
http://www.silentivm.com
