The story of Silentium goes back to December 1995 into the ashes of a death/gothic metal band called Funeral. From the remains of Funeral, keyboardist Sami Boman and original vocalist Matti Aikio created Silentium by adding violin player Jani Laaksonen, guitar players Toni Lahtinen & Juha Lehtioksa and drummer Jari Ojala into the line-up. Silentium's first recording was the four-song-demo-tape Illacrimó which was released in the end of year 1996. Their second, six-song Ep-tape Caméne Misera was released in 1998 and featured female vocals by Tiina Lehvonen who then became a permanent member of the band. This second tape caught the attention of Sami Tenetz who was at the time setting up his record label Spikefarm. After some negotiations Silentium signed a deal with Spikefarm and their first Spike-release Infinita Plango Vulnera in 1999 had the honor of becoming Spikefarm's first CD, NAULA001. The record also introduced the new drummer, Janne Ojala. A heady mix of Melodic Goth with a dose of good ol’ fashioned Metal makes SILENTIUM’S fourth album a much better proposition than I had first thought. Positioned right beside such Goth luminary as NIGHTWISH fans of doomy slow paced guitars spiked with bright keyboards, the occasional grating disparate vocal and some fine soloing will find much to admire. A highlight is the voice of Riina Rinkinen yet another impressive female Scandinavian female vocalist who proceeds to stamp an air of authority across the album. As far as originality goes SILENTIUM don’t stretch the Goth musical spectrum to any degree plying the familiar sounds so entrenched to the genre. The opening brace of ‘’Hangman’s Lullaby’’ and the hard hitting ‘’Serpentized’’ are excellent stabs at Gothic Metal whilst the ballad ‘’Unbroken’’ is a real standout.