ANATHEMA

What is apparently the band's first attempt to capture the "unplugged" feeling of their old songs--a talent they had found to be successful (and popular) in their live concert settings.

1. "Fragile Dreams" (5:30) originally from 1998's Alternative 4. Okay. Nothing to write home about. (8.75/10)

2. "Leave No Trace" (4:52) originally from 2001's A Fine Day to Exit. A powerful version of an-already great song. (9.125/10)

3. "Inner Silence" (3:40) originally from 1998's Alternative 4. Just okay. (8.75/10)

4. "One Last Goodbye" (6:03) originally from 1999's Judgment. Nice version of a good song. (8.875/10)

5. "Are You There?" (5:18) originally from 2003's A Natural Disaster, woven threads of picked stringed instruments (guitars, mandolin, harpsichord?) with pleasant folk-like vocals over the top (including choir-like b vox). (9/10)

6. "Angelica" (5:00) originally from 1996's Eternity thus making it the oldest song to be reworked for Hindsight. Electric guitars and full drums and electric bass are used here as well as strummed acoustic guitars and open snare, making it the one song on the album that sounds most like a proggy Anathema. The vocal and melody sound a lot like The Church or The Cure. (8.875/10)

7. "A Natural Disaster" (6:20) originally from 2003's A Natural Disaster, here given the lead vocal to Lee Douglas, who sings it like a Country singer (think Mary Chapin Carpenter or even Emmylou Harris). Even the electric guitar and cello add to the country feel and sound. But it's a grower: it keeps feeling better, Lee's sincere vocal performance getting under your skin. Vince's background performance on vocoder adds a lot, as well. Lee is just such a powerful, naturally moving singer! Matter of fact, this might be the most memorable and haunting song on the album. (9.25/10)

8. "Temporary Peace" (5:10) originally from 2001's A Fine Day to Exit. Rich Kid A-like electric piano with strummed acoustic guitar, muted vocals from Vince supported by Lee's b vox and some nice cello and Irish mandolin as the song progresses. Very nice. (9/10)

9. "Flying" (6:27) originally from 2003's A Natural Disaster, this version was the flip side to the "Unchained (Tales of the Unexpected)" single I picked up back in 2008 and was thus not only an introduction to the band and its music but became and remains a band favorite to this day. Drums and bass with strumming guitars, Irish mandolin, and cello also on board. (9/10)

10. "Unchained (Tales Of The Unexpected)" (4:18) the album's only previously-unreleased song, it was one of the first songs I'd ever heard by the band and has always been (and remains) a favorite. a weave of gently picked acoustic guitars and with mystery-deepening cello backs Vince vocal (with Danny's occasional background harmony support). I love the two main chords chosen: each presenting totally different moods (but not quite major and minor). (9/10)

Total Time 52:44

It's never easy how and where to place/categorize albums of remakes: they're not a greatest hits or compilation, just different studio versions (here, acoustic) of (mostly) songs that appeared on previous studio albums. The band did it again in 2011 with the eminently beautiful Falling Deeper. I guess it works for me cuz I like these versions of the songs well enough: some of them perhaps better than their original versions.

B+/4.5 stars; another near-masterpiece of stripped down, more-acoustic prog rock from these masters of delicacy and atmospherics. More Lee Douglas, please!

This may well be my favourite prog DVD of all time, recorded just after the release of Weather Systems. This has quite an intimate feel utilising the Plovdiv Philharmonic sucessfully and is perfectly recorded. The band includes all the Cavanagh brothers as well as brother and sister John and Lee Douglas on drums and vocals plus Daniel Cardoso on keys. Wiesław Novak is concert master and plays first violin. The tracks are all you could want for and they go back as far as the classic Judgement but nothing from the early prog metal years as far as I can see. Highlights for me are The Storm Before The Calm, A Natural Disaster (wonderful Lee Douglas vocal!) and the classic Fragile Dreams.

So going into this album I am a big fat goose egg (0). It appears that I have only heard one Anathema song before now (which I liked, apparently). They are listed as Prog Metal (more precisely as Experimental/Post Metal on ProgArchives.com). However, I don't THINK they use cookie monster vocals, so we shall see.

Track 1 - Untouchable Pt. 1

An upbeat fingerstyle acoustic starts us off, soon to be joined by vocals. Nice harmonies join in and the whole intro is backed with subtle sustained synth. The rhythm section kicks in after the first verse. So far, I like their sound. So far, I'm not feeling any metal at all. OK, now some distorted guitar kicks in around 3 minutes in, but not really metal sounding, yet. The vocals and instrumental arrangement are both fantastic. The song ends with everything but the synth dropping out, with colossus out the song.

Track 2 - Untouchable Pt. 2

This part starts with piano playing a chordal pattern. The vocals join in after a moment. Female vocalist Lee Douglas joins in and it becomes a vocal duet. Vincent Cavanagh is the male singer/multi-instrumentalist (gtr/keys/bass, etc.). String synth sounds join in with the piano, followed by bass & drums. (BTW, the rest of the band is multi-instrumentalist (gtr/bass/keys, etc.) Daniel Cavanagh, and drummer John Douglas. After a little checking, I found that we have 2 sets of siblings here. Additionally, there are numerous other session musicians credited for different tracks.

Track 3 - The Gathering of the Clouds

Gentle thunder sound effects start this one off, followed first by keys, then joined by acoustic guitar, then harmony vocals. The vocals get more layered as we progress through the song. The arrangement is very symphonic, with only cymbal swells for percussion, and maybe a steady bass drum.

Track 4 - Lightning Song

This one starts without a pause from the previous track. We continue with the symphonic sound while Lee Douglas takes the lead vocal spot. Subtle drumming comes in just before the 2-minute mark, with a bass drum and rim shots on the snare creating a 6-8 rhythm. Heavy guitars come in at around 3:15 and the drumming becomes stronger. Still not really metal though. Almost more power ballad-like. Most of the instruments drop out at around 4:35, except arpeggiated guitar with keys and Lee's vocals, this leads to the song winding down to a conclusion.

Track 5 - Sunlight

This one begins at a moderately slow tempo with clean guitars & keys joined by Vincent on lead vocals again. Subtle tom toms begin building as we go along. Slightly heavier guitars join in around 3 minutes in and then we explode in an almost Who-like manner about 3:15. We hit a big power chord around 4:30, then subtle instrumentation closes out the track.

Track 6 - The Storm Before the Calm

A triplet pattern starts us off here, with occasional accents and vocal sounds. There are some sounds that sound like they are recorded in reverse. We go into a heavy, almost funky groove for the first verse. The cycle repeats for the second round. The lyrics are primarily "It's getting colder?" This one, so far, is more about the feel & groove, and I like it. Siren-like sounds begin to build up at around 4 minutes in. At 4:50 everything drops out except an electronic hum sound. Then clean slow guitars take over, to be joined by piano and the rhythm section. Then vocals join. There is a bit of a gradual crescendo happening, leading to big, beautiful chords with a shifting meter. Excellent track.

Track 7 - The Beginning and the End

We have a moderately slow piano part, joined by the rhythm section in 6-8 time. Male vocals join us. The intensity gradually builds. This song has a great sound to it, very warm production. Good guitar solo, not a display of virtuosity, but it fits the music well. The piano takes the spotlight then things wind down. Nice Track.

Track 8 - The Lost Child

This begins very quietly with humming. Piano and strings join in. A mellow male vocal part comes in, eventually joined by female harmony. This one is also in 6-8. The rhythm section joins in, and we have a slow build. This track is very dramatic and orchestral. Things drop down at around 5:45 to just strings and piano. And things wind down at the end.

Track 9 - Internal Landscapes

This song fades in in a dreamy kind of way. We have spoken dialog. Sounds like he is describing a mental breakdown and suicidal thoughts. He had "near-death experience." Acoustic guitar chords begin to accompany the dialog. Female vocals take over, followed by male vocals. We are in a slow 5-4 time here. The two singers alternate in a very seamless way as though one is merging into the other. The instrumentation gradually gets more dense. There are distorted guitars, but not super metallic. Fantastic harmonies with the 2 singers at around 6:05. The opening dialog resumes, describing the peaceful feeling of his near-death experience. We have a very slow fade out as the album comes to a close.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Wow! Not what I was expecting at all. Their description as "Experimental/Post Metal" had me thinking that this was going to be another heavy growly affair. It is not that AT ALL. This album has a very beautiful sound throughout. Excellent production? very warm tones. I quite enjoyed the album, but lyrically, it is very heavy, subject-wise. Might not be an all of the time album, but it is very well-done. 4 out of 5 stars.

With "We're Here Because We're Here", the eighth studio album by Anathema, the band from Liverpool, the progressive ensemble opens the door to a magnificent future wide open. Wow, what a record. It's always cool when an orchestra is added to the band's sound. However, the collaboration between Anathema and the London Session Orchestra is infused with such intensity that it completely blows away the listener.

Aside from the orchestra, Anathema manages to strike a good balance between their heavy side and beautiful melancholic counterweight. The first two songs can be considered robust in their own way. Well, one and a half songs, actually. The opening track Thin Air is initially quite mild with a lot of melody, until the distorted guitar blows the song up into almost gothic-like proportions. The following Summernight Horizon is a robust wild child full of pounding bass work and exhilarating drums. It's beautiful the band delves into melancholy halfway through.

Next, the band presents five tracks that already make this album legendary. Especially songs like the poignant Dreaming Light, the pulsating Everything where an angular theme sets the course, and the beautifully crafted A Simple Mistake with well-placed metal riffs contribute to that.

It must have been the ultimate task for Steven Wilson to have the opportunity to mix "We're Here Because We're Here". What a luxury he had under his fingertips. It's amazing how he managed to bring structure to the complex layers of sound. The music is grim, bombastic, dark, tender, and much more in all the right places. Anathema combines subtle guitar work with gritty chords, the keyboards and orchestra add depth to the whole, and the extensive harmonies combined with the often double lead vocals of Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas are also a convincing result.

Although the band has enough variety in their own input, there are a few guest contributions on the album. Ville Valo (HIM) provides vocals on Angels Walk Among Us, Presence features a narrator, and the bombastic closer Hindsight includes a spoken audio fragment at the beginning and end. It's all very enjoyable, topped off by the cinematic Universal. The first part of it is immersive until a sparkling piano ignites the orchestra to great heights.

"We're Here Because We're Here" sounds exceptionally appealing. The combination of atmospheric music and intriguing power has turned this album inside out. Spectacular, to say the least.

Orginally posted on www.progenrock.com

3.5 stars. I don't have the DVD of this concert only the audio. ANATHEMA were one of those bands I discovered early on when discovering this site. Their PINK FLOYD vibe and atmosphere along with the heaviness at times won me over rather quickly. Albums like "Judgment" and "A Fine Day To Exit" especially resonated with me. Man these guys have changed over the years. When I first heard "We're Here Because We're Here" I couldn't believe it was the same band but to my ears they sounded better than ever. So talented these Douglas and Cavanagh siblings that make up this band.

I feel I didn't do my homework for this one as they have released three live albums and I pick the acoustic one. Kind of a pet peeve for me these unplugged and acoustic records which is why Folk doesn't do much for me. We get 15 tracks with nine of them coming from the "Distant Satellites" and "Weather Systems" albums. Kind of cool to hear some old classics in there too. Man this is emotional music. I have mental health issues and had a rough two days last week and I couldn't listen to this record, just way too emotional at times. It was pretty cool though to listen to this band again it's been a while.

Two discs worth about 51 minutes each. I have a top three for each disc, in fact I'd love to have these six tracks on a cdr, an EP of moving acoustic music. So on disc one that three song run of "Untouchable Part 2", "Thin Air" and Dreaming Light" just melts me. So uplifting as well. You know I listen to these tracks and think this is an easy 4 stars but then a lot of the newer tunes done unplugged just don't do much for me. Disc two is about the classics like the opener "Temporary Peace" and the two closing tracks "A Natural Disaster" and "Fragile Dreams". Tough not giving this 4 stars but I need electricity! Regardless this is a moving album with a nice track selection.

Thank Heaven, the Cavanagh brothers and Duncan Patterson quickly realized that Darren White as a vocalist was simply not suitable for Anathema, so he was dismissed from the band, and Vincent Cavanagh took his place, and it was he who became the main vocalist from The Silent Enigma. The replacement was really successful: although Vinnie somehow did not know how to sing then, but compared to what was on the Serenades, the vocal component shone with new colors, because Vinnie showed his ability to convey thoughts through vocals as emotionally as possible. With Vinnie as vocalist, the main creators in the band, Daniel Cavanagh and Duncan Patterson, seemed to spread their wings, and The Silent Enigma was an incredibly big step forward.

In fact, we have a hyperemotional doom-death with an excellent vocal pressure and tragedy and more or less distinct structures of compositions, in which the sprouting roots of the brand Anathema are already visible. Personally, among other songs, I single out the opening Restless Oblivion, almost emo-doom Shroud of Frost with a stunning second half and a very depressing spoken word, a little melancholic and psychedelic ... Alone and, of course, the legendary A Dying Wish. Yes, perhaps, it is The Silent Enigma that is more worthy of being called a classic of death-doom (or doom-death, as you like). In addition, from the classical period of discography, this is the best that Anathema could offer at that time.

I must say that even though Anathema has the status of one of the pillars of doom-death, it is simply difficult to come up with a worse start to their career than Serenades. Perhaps the main problem is not in the ugly compositional structure of songs and even not in tortured riffs. The main problem with Serenades is vocals. Seriously, this is one of the most disgusting vocal performances I've heard in a long time. This is how I growl when I try to sing along to different death metal and similar genres. Darren White, with all due respect, is not the kind of vocalist who is able to set the necessary emotional tone for the sound of the band. Well, there is nothing special to distinguish from the songs, except J'ai Fait Une Promesse, which was sung in French (the only appearance of female vocals on the album, just a local "Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" of some kind). By the way, the band's attempt to "clear" the music lover's brain with a 23-minute ambient set at the end of Serenades is perceived, to put it mildly, ridiculously.

All of a sudden, brave creators from Liverpool decide to go back to their ideological roots, and not just anywhere, but straight to the fan-controversial A Fine Day to Exit, and decide to continue the story of the lyrical hero who eventually (spoiler!) changed his mind to drown in the ocean near the beach in San Diego, whose coordinates gave the name to intro of the Optimist. To be honest, I find this approach a little strange, because for AFDtE, as for me, it would be good to remain exactly as it was conceived by the "anathemists" themselves, unsaid, with an open ending, giving the listener the right to choose the fate of the main character. Besides, isn't a return to the past, a rollback - not a betrayal of their own principles, dogmas for the band itself, even if only in lyrical terms?

And to hell with the concept itself, with the lyrical component, although, of course, there are hardly more lines here than in the conceptual predecessor. Let's turn to the musical component. What have the eternal prophets presented to us on a saucer, who are fit to create their own religion and anathematize every parishioner for good, though known only to the group, purposes? And then out of my mouth comes a desperate and hopeless: "Eh, how come?". First, the "electronic" ending of the last album did not receive proper development. Although I admit initially that this is all subjective by and large, but still Leaving It Behind and instrumental San Francisco look much weaker than Distant Satellites and Take Shelter. At the point of the route marked by the city in the style of disco, the band so generally sounded almost like the eternally despised Coldplay, with whom the band was sometimes compared in the context of recent albums, although even a hedgehog can understand that Anathema wrote songs many times better. Here, the group took a serious step back.

As for the classic songs, the group again, for the fourth time in a row, writes the same thing, trying to cross out the logical ending in the form of the title song for the group from the same Distant Satellites, with the difference that the melodies have become weaker and more nondescript. I don't know what the situation is, whether Danny is in a state of mind, which is about the time of recording the album, caught another mental problems, or in the long course of recording the album itself. A sense of deja vu is present even among the songs themselves, when Endless Ways and The Optimist begin almost identically, despite the fact that they follow each other.

It's funny, but at times the Optimist still does not disappoint, but pleasantly surprises. Post-rock song Springfield is really beautiful with its appropriate cold beauty (perhaps the best song on the album), Ghosts and Wildfires adequately accumulate a mixture of the classic sound of Anathema and subtle inclusions of electronics, and Close Your Eyes along with You're Not Alone from the last album can rightfully be considered as the most unusual song of the group. Beautiful and elegant dark jazz, which would like more timekeeping.

At the same time, I have no questions about the technical side of the execution. Everything is as always good and verified. The only thing that bothers me (and the band lives, unfortunately, confirm this) is that Vinnie has started to give up on his vocals. Lee Douglas, on the other hand, remains at her old, very high level, and this time there's a hell of a lot of her on the album itself. Yes, I am certainly happy to hear her wonderful, feminine voice, but in comparison with past albums, she was somehow indecently given a lot of solo numbers. An attempt to equalize the rights of vocalists in order to bend under the current social trends? In fact, it's a consequence, as I said, of Vinnie's declining vocal range.

If Anathema were not in double demand as post-progressive rock prophets and undisputed masters of their craft, it would be possible to give up on this under-sequel of A Fine Day to Exit, because it really does not deserve the level of such a beautiful and diverse album, just as it does not deserve the level of its predecessors, which are among the best albums of Anathema. Alas, the reality is that with this album, my favorite English people from Merseyside have definitely failed. As if not to be Optimistic about the controversial end of the history of the most beautiful band, as it was with Porcupine Tree or Isis, and everything is going to this, given that the band went on indefinite leave, and Danny announced a new solo album and a project called Weather Systems, declared as "a continuation of the legacy of the previous group".

For the tenth album in their career, the Liverpudlians approached the status of inveterate prophets in the field of the so-called "post-progressive". The sea and cloud spheres have already been passed on the previous 2 full-length albums, and it's time to conquer space and its reliable, but so Distant Satellites.

It would seem that the time has come to explore new ways to communicate your philosophy and experiment with them, but no matter! The band seemed to intuitively feel that it still has something to say since the days of Weather Systems, and the first 2 songs already evoke a direct association with the Untouchable dilogy. Yes, structurally, the first 2 parts of The Lost Song really repeat the masterpiece dilogy. Does this mean that it is necessary to brand Anathema for self-plagiarism? Not a damn thing! I don't know how they do it, but The Lost Song has something different from the Untouchable, plus, I think it was on this album that the duo Vinnie and Lee finally found the optimal balance for the group in terms of vocal parts. Only one thing is unclear: why do we need a frankly useless and unnecessary third part? Well, to hell with it, actually.

In general, it is still a big mystery to me how this band still does not have the same popularity as its colleagues from Muse and Radiohead. The desire of the band itself not to be so mainstream? To be honest, for me, hits like Ariel, which is dedicated to Danny's newborn daughter, or the tense Dusk, would be just monumental rock hits of the 2010s, in an age when the aforementioned bands are now releasing outright hack work, blood from the nose is needed by bands like Anathema. And the title track for the band was just a wonderful epitaph, in which the guys finally expressed everything they wanted to say in these 11 years since the release of A Natural Disaster, and crowned it all with a magnificent and sensual solo.

After such a catharsis already in the middle of the album, the band begins to think about how to finally explore these attractive outer spaces with a mixture of "cold" and technological, but such attractive electronics. And if the very bold You're Not Alone (the most unusual song of the new Anathema) demonstrates rather a chaotic flight on a rocket and going into space, then the title track for the album already demonstrates these cosmic deposits in full. It is amazing how, even in the experimental and transitional field, Anathema shows his mastery in conveying the atmosphere and his notorious "philosophy". And Distant Satellites is a great example of this: Vinnie's sensual vocals, beautiful synth passages, juicy trip-hop beat-everything works at 100% and delivers exorbitant pleasure as much as the most beautiful hits of Anathema. Take Shelter is just a great finalizer of this album, even if it loses a little bit of the title track in the impact on the listener. Although many fans did not appreciate the band's electronic endeavors, I welcomed them with great and undisguised pleasure.

Distant Satellites is a transitional album in all respects, which is slightly inferior to its two predecessors, but it is still an excellent release with its own special atmosphere and a solid set of songs, among which "electronic" things stand out strongly. It's just a pity that they won't get a good development in future. Fortunately, this does not concern the Distant Satellites themselves in any way.

When you start talking about what is dear to you and loved to the depths of your heart and soul, it is always difficult to find the right words, epithets, metaphors to describe the feelings and emotions burning inside you. If We're Here Because We're Here stole my heart, used it a little and fed it, and then returned it to its rightful owner, then Weather Systems made this heart its own property.

All the best things start at the very end, and my introduction to Anathema began with the closing Internal Landscapes. I was blown away by how sensual it was, how genuinely sincere, and how the pathos was twisted to the maximum. I delayed my acquaintance with the album itself a little, coming to it gradually. I had already fallen in love with the Untouchable dilogy and the above-mentioned song, but I was afraid to be disappointed sometimes, even though I already knew that Anathema would be serious and lasting with me. And for the first time, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.

To be honest, the whole Weather Systems is built on the same patterns, both its own and the patterns of the last album. All the songs follow basically the same canons, the same pattern, but that doesn't mean, damn it, that the album is monotonous and bad. I think I was able to see such an elusive feature of this album, as a complete immersion inside myself and inside the band itself, to be precise, inside Danny himself, who again became the author of almost all the songs on the album, only The Storm Before The Calm was written by John Douglas. No wonder Danny himself says that it is difficult for him to listen to Weather Systems, since the lyrics on the album are very personal for the older of Cavanaghs.

The deep emotionality of the release at some point completely conquered me, and I could no longer resist the endless beauty of this almost masterpiece. Neither the extraterrestrial majesty of Untouchable, nor the perfect embodiment of femininity in the person of Lee Douglas and her solo part in Lightning Song, nor the duality of The Storm Before The Calm (for a reason it is so different from the other songs on the album, due to the direct involvement of the drummer already mentioned above), nor the softness and lightness of The Beginning and the End, nor the epic melancholy of Internal Landscapes. Truly, there are no passing compositions for me here, Weather Systems have long, deeply and reliably settled in my heart. This is the best album of Anathema of the new period, which is slightly inferior to Judgment, but by a large margin wins over all other albums. I just don't know what words to choose for this album, these songs, when there is only one endless delight burning in my mouth.