A FINE DAY TO EXIT

4.5 stars ANATHEMA have the ability to bring the listener into whatever world they bring to life through their music. The subject at hand is a man who feels the only way out is through suicide.The band received a lot of criticism for the perceived notion they were promoting suicide. The cover of the record would suggest our subject drowned himself in the waters. And the title of this work is implying,"It's a great day to die", like there's nothing wrong with suicide. Of course the band is against suicide and were quite angry at the accusers who obviously didn't bother to listen to this record in the first place. At the end of the last song "Temporary Peace" you can here our subject walking away from the water talking to an imaginary person, saying we need to ask for directions to get home and telling his imaginary friend to quit looking at him with his or her face all screwed up. I'm guessing he's feeling guilty about trying to end his life. Then you hear one of the band members say in a crazy voice several times "What about cats, what about dogs, what about chickens !" Implying I believe, that our subject may not have lost his life but he did lose his mind. A fine day to exit indeed. All speculation of course. After a long silence this hidden track comes on at 15 1/2 minutes that has a 60's folk feel to it. I like it. Interesting that in order to read some of the lyrics in the liner notes you have to hold it up to a mirror.

"Pressure" opens with piano and a good beat with vocals follows in this excellent mid-paced tune. Guitar ends it. "Release" opens with gentle guitar as vocals come in. Great sound. A fuller sound arrives 2 1/2 minutes in. Nice. A tasteful guitar solo 4 1/2 minutes in. This is one of my favs. "Looking Outside Inside" again has a good beat with vocals. A change before 2 1/2 minutes as he sings "Let me go" then it gets powerful. Nice ! It settles back down 5 minutes in to end it.

"Leave No Trace" has a good atmosphere with strummed guitar and vocals. "Underworld" is a powerful song with a nice heavy sound. "Barriers" features male and female vocals in a light soundscape that does get fuller. It's still laid back until late. "Panic" is an uptempo rocker with fast paced vocals. "A Fine Day To Exit" is pretty amazing. Gentle guitar and fragile vocals with lots of atmosphere. It kicks into gear 3 minutes in. Great sound ! It settles again before 4 1/2 minutes before it starts to build again. Haunting synths 6 1/2 minutes in as it blends into the final track "Temporary Peace".This is another favourite. Love the lone guitar line as you can hear the waves. Vocals then drums come in as it builds. Female vocals join in. Gorgeous sound after 2 1/2 minutes. Vocals stop after 4 minutes as we can hear the waves only until those spoken words from our subject that I alluded to earlier come in around 8 minutes and end before 10 minutes. Silence until the PINK FLOYD-like song comes in around 15 1/2 minutes.

Just a fantastic album, and my third favourite from this great band.