Enigma

Screen Behind The Mirror

The End of Part 1

Review Score:

(10/10)
If you own all of the Enigma cds, you will notice subtle changes between each one. MCMXC a.D. is full of chants, drums, flutes, and just has that gothic, yet spiritual feel to it. The Cross of Changes has more of a pop beat to it, but still has elements of the the first. Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi, seems to be the product of MCMXC a.D. and The Cross of Changes. It combines gothic and pop, if that's how you would like to word it, plus the trademarks of Enigma, such as the chants and flutes. Each of these three cds flow into one another, but when comparing the first to the third, there's a MAJOR difference. This is where the fourth comes in.
The Screen Behind the Mirror wasn't the result of Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi flowing into it. Although it has some of the basic elements of the Enigma music, The Screen Behind the Mirror is almost its own sub-category in Enigma's music. It turned from flutes to electric guitars, yet it still of course had some flutes and chants, but not like the earlier cds.
The Screen Behind the Mirror, just like Voyageur, is somewhat controversial amongst Enigma fans. This cd hinted that the Enigma everyone knew and loved was changing and evolving into something new. It was straying away from your typical Enigma sound and feel. Listening to the first three cds, the music paints a picture of being at a temple or in the middle of a monk sancturary or in about any nature wonderland you can think of. The Screen paints a nigthlife scene in a European city into your mind.
And that was just the beginning. When LSD came out, the two new songs, The Landing and Turn Around, as good as they are, are not early Enigma. You can obvisiouly tell that Cretu made a turn down a different road and was intending to stay on it. So is this a road full of potholes and mud or a road of smooth pavement? Defiantly not potholes, but not quite smooth pavement. There are patches that need to be filled, but they will be. This is defiantly a road worth turning onto. The Screen Behind the Mirror is the conclusion to the first half of Enigma's music. It's still as wonderful as the other cds, just something different.

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