One of the most striking features of this, the third album from Norway’s In Vain, is the quality of production. As you would expect of a Progressive Metal album, there is completeness of sound which captures all the elements. The man responsible is Jens Bogren who has looked after Borknagar, Opeth and Soilwork amongst others. Interestingly I detected elements of each of these bands in small degrees. The other key link is Solefald, for whom In Vain play live and maybe from whom the band take inspiration for the few quirky moments of this album.
Of course great production would be futile if there was no content. “Ænigma” comes from the heavier end of the metal spectrum. Death metal roundedness comes with delicate harmonies on “Against the Grain” and epically-driven choruses on “Hyne til Navet”. Above all this is a fluid death metal experience, slowing down to drive its point home on tracks like the “Culmination of the Enigma”. Parts of this album are pulsating and exciting. There are step-ups and step-downs, especially in the initial parts of the album. After the first two tracks of lofty hell-for-leather metal, there’s a short mellow and lush interlude. “Hymne til Navet” is equally lofty and with the familiar growling vocals but with the epic folk-like chorus, there’s an element of Borknagar. I liked the storm-filled “Culmination of the Enigma”. The dark cloudiness is interrupted for a spooky spoken part before the slab transforms into Opeth-like thunderously shadowy territory. “Times of Yore” is another battering ram, but by this stage I was finding the substructure to be the same. As a technical exercise it deserves full marks but I couldn’t give it the same for passion and excitement. In Vain’s way of dealing with this was to insert occasional items of interest, which came after a passage of extremely dark metal on “Rise Against” in the form of a bit of Middle Eastern spice and another spoken section. The tension is momentarily heightened but the backing is much the same. “To the Core” again has a Borknagar “epic” element but the vocals didn’t do it for me. I found myself waiting for crumbs. I did not entirely wait “in vain” as “Floating to the Murmuring Tide” rose to the occasion with the dusky and most unexpected sound of the night in the form of the plaintive trumpet. There is a heartbeat. The tempo rises. An impressive black metal inspired progressive section follows and challenges the brain. At least the album finishes with a flourish.
I hesitate to say that “Ænigma” is strait-laced, because the album contains a mixture of impressive dark metal and subtle musical touches and ideas. For me the two distinct sides didn’t hang together well, as if the imaginative sections were bolted on rather than integral to the musical theme. It wasn’t clear where the album wanted to be, so I don’t know if it got there. I liked a lot of “Ænigma” but until the final track found myself left waiting for the moment. Good as it is technically, there was nothing to capture the nerve ends.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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