A FINE DAY TO EXIT

Anathema finally settled in and defined their sound after changing from the doom metal of the early years. This was quite a stretch from their original sound and of course it alienated many old fans. But their sound was now established to a mostly somber and atmospheric sound. The topics of their lyrics were still bleak, but the lyrics were also more realistic and personal than before. Their sound took on the best sounds of Progressive greats like Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and Opeth (at their most mellow) and even took on sounds of Archive (trip hop-py sound except with less electronics...."Barriers" sounds so much like Archive that you would think it was if you didn't know any better) and there was no more growling vocals. The Cavanaughs were still at the helm as they would almost always be, but other members kind of came and went. But the music was beautiful but still quite dark.

This album was the first of their best work. There were still some weak tracks in the middle as the band explored a few different sounds to keep some variety in the music, but the album definitely begins and ends strong. More keyboards and acoustics are added to the mix and sometimes even drive the sound. The guitar here in this album is more atmospheric and instrumental as the band explores the sounds that they can get out of the instruments.

The best tracks are the ones that have the most feeling and emotion. These are "Pressure", "Release", "Looking Outside Inside", "Leave No Trace", the title track and the hidden acoustic track "In the Dog's House". The rest of the songs are good, but lack some development and are a little hard to remember. But you can hear the effort the band is making in exploring this new sound and it is a very worthy effort. Things would continue to get better with subsequent albums.

This album isn't quite up to masterpiece status yet, but it is close. The album's first 4 songs are worth the price of the album and the weaker tracks really aren't that weak, they just don't have as much of a personality, but they are still good. The improvement in the sound is obvious, it is well polished and the vocals are much much better. 4 strong stars signifies that this is still an excellent addition to your collection. Definitely a band with positive movement.