Anathema... Underrated?

I've obnly heard JUDGEMENT, which I own, and i have to say that they are actually slightly OVERrated in my view.... It starts fine enough but then all the final songs sound the same....

Everything up to Judgment was brilliant. After that, they kinda tailed off. I just find the newer stuff to sappy and reeking of 5th rate Radiohead worship. They're not terrible now, but I can't bear to listen to them anymore. 

THE_POLE wrote: The closest thing i can think of is Riverside or maybe Radiohead or Pink Floyd. Or a horde of decent doom metal bands if you're into that side of their music (in which case i'd recommend My Dying Bride, probably the best doom metal band i know, nowhere near as good as Anathema mind you) They're not completely original, having influences from all over the place, but at the same time no-one manages to reach the emotional intensity of their music.

any other similar bands by the way?

Anathema are one of my favourites. In my opinion they are better than anything on the top 20 prog-metal charts (excluding opeth of course).
They write truly beautiful music. It has an incredible amount of emotion in it. My girlfriend doesn't like it when i listen to Judgement because afterwards i get really emotional and occasionally even cry. I also love Alternative 4.
Has anyone else heard their new track 'Everything'? it's a bit poppier than anything they've done before and it's quite uplifting() but it's really good. If the rest of the album will be like that then, while not very progressive, it will be wonderful.

I think everyone should give Anathema a go. Anyone who can appreciate good rock music with a huge amount of emotion in it will like them. And don't be put off by their doom metal roots. They've gradually progressed into atmospheric rock/electronica territory. Nothing doom metallish in them anymore.

I can easily say that Anathema are one of the few bands that have really changed my life and touched my heart in a way that very few bands have.(ok so that was cheesy, but it's true)


Edited by THE_POLE - June 25 2007 at 09:50

dungeon wrote: I don't know if they are underrated, but Anathema to me is a huge band. They're songwriting is unbelievable but I recently bought a live dvd and I have to say that they are not that good live. The voice is bad live, it's nothing like the studio, also the guitars are not that good too. Anyway I don't really care about their lives, that's why I love them. Judgement is their best album so far, but I love their most recent works too.

Their last five studio albums are all very good in my opinion.They sure know how to create dark,sad and atmospheric songs, with excellent lyrics."Judgment" is my favourite as well.

I don't think they are underrated per se, since the have appeared in quite a few theads over the past few weeks, but I do think they are possibly misunderstood with people juding them by their earlier doom albums - their last two albums were not what I would classify as metal. They are just a very good rock band with progressive influences and a deep love of Pink Floyd IMHO.

Edited by darqdean - June 25 2007 at 07:18

yea they do lots of acoustic shows

Judgment is amazing