Silentium - Seducia
CD Info
2006
Dynamic Arts Records
8 Tracks
English lyrics
Silentium is a lightly progressive symphonic gothic metal band from Finland and this is their fourth disc. All of their discs feature unusually lush and dramatic gothic metal arrangements with pervasive acoustic symphonic instrumentation. Their early discs were blackened doom / gothic metal, from which they have progressed to a dark but hookier gothic metal, of which Seducia is their best to date. The songs are heavy and crunchy with pervasive acoustic symphonic keys and cello. Their dynamic range is quite broad, from beautiful, though often melancholy, acoustic passages to dense, dramatic, thundering gothic metal. Almost all of the arrangements contain a nice lightly progressive complexity, primarily in the mood and tempo changes, as they move back and forth from dark, ominous, even a bit disquieting gothic metal to extremely upbeat, catchy choruses. Though the lyrics are very poetic, Seducia appears to be a concept disc about the seduction and ultimate destruction of a young woman, possibly by demons, as in the end she "becomes one of us". The mood of the songs follows the story closely; the earlier songs tend to be suggestively ominous but still mostly warm and melodic, whereas the later songs become more and more intense and menacing with unsettling horror carnival touches, reaching a frankly disturbing climax in the last song, the title song, Seducia.
Their new female vocalist, Riina Rinkinen, has a soaring alto style with a deliberate, melancholy delivery that adds an additional texture of both warmth and menace to the arrangements. Indeed, sometimes she has an almost festive Broadway musical singing style, especially on the choruses, and then abruptly switches to a deeper, more darkly emotive recitation of the enigmatic but disturbing lyrics. Their male vocalist is Sami Boman, who also writes all their music. He has also been the male singer on their previous discs, with a rather dull, flat, unemotional gothic singing style that is not a good fit for the superb music he writes. Fortunately this time out he has adopted a vocal approach much more in keeping with the mood of Seducia – it is a harsh, almost shouting style, with a very aggressive and creepy edge, and he employs it sparingly to excellent effect on the disc.
Seducia is a masterpiece of truly dark gothic metal, with its seamless integration of music and lyrics along with the startling contrasts in mood and tempo throughout. This is a disc that is best listened to in a dark room with undivided attention; it will draw you into its sinister world with a deceptive lushness that even after many listens continues to surprise me with its effectiveness.
For more information visit the band’s MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/silentiumband or http://www.silentivm.com
9.0 / 10
