Tag: anathema

anathema - universal
CD

Anathema: Universal (2013)

Sometimes you pick up a live album because you want to hear a band stretch it wings on beloved songs, take them for a curved walk around the park, breathe and expand.  Or get that unrelenting push in your face, the sensation of air moving, of heat and sweat and the pummeling that only comes when a raucous roar of guitars hits your face, and this is the closest you can come to that experience.  Or, in this specific case, you see Anathema in their first NYC show in years and when you go to the merch table to you want to show your support, so you pick up a shirt and a copy of Universal, hoping it’ll be close to the experience you just had live. Continue reading “Anathema: Universal (2013)”

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anathema - a natural disaster
CD

Anathema: A Natural Disaster (2003)

In many ways A Natural Disaster feels like the tonal and musical success Anathema were shooting for with Alternative 4.  After moving into more alternative and post-rock with Judgement and A Fine Day To Exit (the sound of which I always thought was “what if Coldplay and Radiohead had a baby and it preferred metal?) the band shifts back to something darker and more reflective.  It’s a thick, lush record that stands as one of the strongest in their discography. Continue reading “Anathema: A Natural Disaster (2003)”

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anathema - alternative 4
CD

Anathema: Alternative 4 (1998)

With Cavanagh firmly working the clean vocals that would a signature of all their later albums, Anathema started working on the evolution of their music with Alternative 4, which languishes in morose moods, a bit to its detriment.  There are still whispers of the heaviness of previous albums, but when the band goes full-on forlorn, too often the songs get a little lost.  As such, it’s an interesting record of a band finding its footing in a new arena, with some really great tracks and some tracks that lack the bite or claws to dig in and be truly memorable.  Continue reading “Anathema: Alternative 4 (1998)”

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anathema - the silent enigma
CD

Anathema: The Silent Enigma (1995)

I don’t know that a “transitional” album ever felt so complete as The Silent Enigma from UK death/doom progenitors Anathema.  With feet still planted in the doom/death sound (at this point I’d firmly put the doom aspects over the death) the band helped popularize along with My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the move of Vincent Cavanagh over to vocals signaled the shift to something new, a faint glimpse of the experimental post-rock powerhouse they would become. Continue reading “Anathema: The Silent Enigma (1995)”

ChrisLeave a comment