I have been listening to Silentium for a long time now and I have heard them change their sound in several different ways. What was once a very dark and atmospheric sound is now more full and less bleak than in the past, if that's the right way to put it. I think the addition of Riina Rinkinen has made this even more apparent. She has a voice that reminds me of Helen Vogt of Flowing Tears and I think this adds to Silentium's more modern feeling.

The first track, Hangman's Lullaby, starts out slowly with a use of keyboards and cello, creating a deep, dark atmosphere. Then the guitars come in heavily, followed by the vocals of Riina Rinkinen. The song picks up a bit towards the middle with some pretty heavy guitar riffs and a nicely done melody for the chorus. Serpentized is a bit heavier and we get a taste of the growled vocals from Matti Aikio. I personally like his voice; it adds a very rough and distinct sound to the music and offsets the clean female vocals in a good way. The next four songs follow much in the same way, shifting between slow to mid-paced. I like the way the songs on this album seem to flow together, one right after the other. Unfortunately I do not hear much on this album that is new and different. The songs are decent, but there is nothing groundbreaking that really makes me sit up and pay attention. The atmosphere that is created here also feels less dark than Silentium’s past work and seems more generic somehow. However, the album does have its moments towards the end. Empress Of The Dark is the fastest song on the album and definitely one of my favorites. There is some interesting stuff going on here. The vocalists use their different styles to offset each other and I can hear a lot of emotion in their voices. This is also a longer song and yet I never found myself becoming bored with it. The final track, Seducia, is a ten-minute epic that also sees the band doing some different things. The harmonized male and female vocals are a nice touch. The song structure is also quite dynamic and keeps things from getting too repetitive.

Overall this is a good gothic metal album, but by no means a great one. I expect much more from Silentium at this point in their career. The talent of this band is obvious, but I think they really need to start pushing the boundaries of their sound. Until then they will continue to sound like your typical gothic metal band, as they do on this album, with the exception of a few bright spots.