Sufferion - Hamartia of Prudence

Silentium, a gothic band from Finland. Well, nothing new I thought. There are so many bands playing gothic metal in Finland that you really don't expect something innovative from any new band that arrives. That said, Silentium are not exactly newcomers, but are fairly unknown to the masses (and, untill a couple of months ago, to me also). I cannot see why they haven't had more success as they are far better then many of the well known gothic bands. The melody, atmosphere and the obviously high amount of energy and work put into this release left me speachless when I first heard it.
This is a concept album, of two people in love, Antracone and Prudence, whose love is forbidden because of different social status. It is a tragic love and death story resulting in Prudence dying in the end. Somewhat cliché but I don't care. The story is told through 16 songs, 8 of them being spoken interludes explaining the story. And they are very well done, helping the story flow wonderfully. Now, to the songs. There are 8 of them. Basicly they all provide fantastic melodies, a mixture of male and female singing and excellent choruses, which you won't be able to put out of your head. There are even some scream vocals to be heard in the verses of Dark Whispers and a bit in Whiter In Silence. At first listen all the songs sound somewhat simillar but when you listen to it a couple of times it strikes you that every song is special in it's own way. No fillers, but no immediate hits. All of the songs are in the same quality level. The best thing is probably that the whole album just flows so well together. Still, if I had to choose a couple of best songs it would be : Flame still burns (fantastic chorus and a great female-sung verse that stuns me every time I hear it), Shame Forever Mine (just the whole song sounds great, a part sung in latin also), Dark Whispers (excellent vocals - screams, male & female cleans, it all fits in perfectly, second longest song on the album, but in absolutly flies by, as there is not a single dull or bad moment in it, a personal favourite), Whiter In Silence (fast paced song, excellent chorus)
All in all, if you like gothic or if you like a nice concept album you will love this. Highly recommended.