SERENADES

Not "Prog", but I've been a huge ANATHEMA fan for almost 6 years now, so I still like this album.

Impressive debut from the Liverpool lad's. Darren White's tortured and moody vocals gave Anathema a completely original vocalist. I might add that White's vocals are an aquired taste. The guitars really are what captures the listener, presenting an ear for melody and a beaufiul type of sorrow. The lyrics are good, but not up to par as later albums would evidence. "J'ai Fait Une Promesse" is a romantic folk song with french lyrics and the beautiful voice of Ruth. The artwork sets a fitting ambiance to the proceedings. Recommended for those looking to expand their musical boundaries.

Highlights are: :"Lovelorn Rhapsody," "Sweet Tears," "They (Will Always) Die," and "Sleepless."

Not prog, but still great, if you like early Anathema.

An overt deception

When I first heard this album, I was convinced something was wrong. My initial reaction was that I was playing a 45rpm record at 33rpm, but ruled that out as I was listening to a CD!

It's the vocals, and I use the term loosely, which are the source of the problem, they are just awful. "Darren" doesn't sing as such, he just growls very slowly, on virtually every track. For me it's as bad as rap, there's no melody to the singing just a very annoying monotone. This is pure death metal, without any suggestion of prog.

Now I have got that out of system, there are some positives. Instrumentally, the band are melodic, with powerful driving guitar riffs, and delicate acoustic sections. The brief "J'ai fait une romesse" is sung delightfully by "Ruth".

The final track, "Dreaming: the romance" is a 20+ minute instrumental, along the lines of Tangerine Dreams more abstract pieces. It's not so much a composition, more just waves of ambient sound which doesn't really go anywhere, but is certainly more rewarding than the other tracks.

Lyrically the album is well written, and the packaging is attractive to the point of being an overt deception but, woe is me, those vocals!

Doom beginnings.

Serenades is a modest start for Anathema, while not being particularly great, it is also greatly different from their later material. This is slow, prodding, and methodical doom metal. The vocals are greatly different from the later vocals of Cavanagh, and the instrumental style is also much different, although the overall attitude and emotional connections are very similar.

Sleepless is my personal favorite, which opens in a dark, clean, muddy manner, but has an outstanding guitar tone and solo. The final track Dreaming is quite different, but essentially not captivating. The band would improve after this.

Unfortunately, this album really gives little insight into the band's future sound, which would lose most all of the death-like vocals in favor of a more somber, melodic vocals of the Cavanagh brothers. For those with a taste for any kind of extremes in metal, this can be quite enjoyable, but not exactly "prog".

"Serenades" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, Liverpool based doom/death metal act Anathema. The album was released through Peaceville Records in February 1993. Anathema formed in 1990 under the Pagan Angel monicker, but soon changed their name to the current one. The band released the "An Iliad of Woes" demo in 1990 and the "All Faith Is Lost" demo in 1991. In 1992 Anathema released the "They Die/Crestfallen" single and "The Crestfallen" EP. The time was ripe for releasing melancholic doom/death and artists like Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Cathedral, Enchantment, and Katatonia had simultaniously layed the groundwork for an album like "Serenades" to succeed. And "Serenades" did end up a successful release for Anathema, helped along by the airing of the promotional video of "Sweet Tears" on MTV´s Headbangers Ball.

"Serenades" predominantly features freshly written material, but the band have opted to re-record and re-title "They Die" from "The Crestfallen (1992)" EP. It´s titled "They (Will Always) Die" on "Serenades". Considering the amount of minor releases from the band´s early days Anathema had plenty of (or at least some) writing and recording experience before entering the studio to record their debut album, and that´s audible. The band are well playing and although not all material on the album are equally intereresting, there are some high quality songwriting ideas here and there. "Serenades" opens on a particularly strong note with the trio of tracks, "Lovelorn Rhapsody", "Sweet Tears", and "J'ai fait une promesse". Three very different sounding tracks. The former is a slow doom/death track with heavy riffs and a dark atmosphere. It´s quite epic and atmospheric and towards the end of the track Anathema play a little faster and enter death metal territory. "Sweet Tears" is a heavy, mid-paced (...well slow mid-paced), and groove laden 70s influenced doom metal track (the main slide guitar riff is killer), featuring a catchy and melancholic lead guitar melody and loads of heaviness, and "J'ai fait une promesse" is a beautiful atmospheric track with female lead vocals (and gorgeuos harmonies) by Ruth Wilson. Darren White has a raw throaty semi-growling delivery, which isn´t always pretty to listen to, but mostly suits the music well anyway. He also occasionally speaks and sings some clean type vocals.

The goth (The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission come to mind) influenced "Sleepless" should be mentioned as a highlight too while the short "Scars of the Old Stream" and "Where Shadows Dance" and the 23:22 minutes long instrumental closing track "Dreaming: The Romance" aren´t particularly interesting. The latter even crosses into tedious territory pretty quickly. "Serenades" features a heavy and detailed sound production, which suits the material well, but overall the album is a bit of a mixed bag. Some tracks are high quality doom/death compositions while others have a tendency to outstay their welcome or plod along with very few climaxes to speak of. Compared to some of their contemporaries (mentioned above), Anathema weren´t fully up to par on this release, but it´s still a quality release in the genre and a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

It's well knows that the musical beginnigs of this bands were very different of the music they make today... But it's still interesting to hear the evolution and discover that this first albums had some of the elements of the last!

"Serenades" is doom metal... A cascade of slow, distorted and heavy guitars with lyrics talking about desperation and love. This genre (and many others...) was primarily painted by Black Sabbath in the seminal "Black Sabbath", and at the end of the 80's / beginnigs of the 90's it was popularised by bands like Candlemass, Cathedral... And Anathema! Their albums "Serenades" and "The Silent Enigma" are still two highly apreciated albums between the doom metal lovers.

But in "Serenades" we can hear some of the elements that his band would use and increase in later releases... Some of the melodies are not really differnet of the ones included in albums like "Alternative 4" and "Judgement", like some Daniel's trademark guitar sounds, although the style is really far from the alternative prog they make since "Eternity". Also the lyrics, speaking about tortured love and obscure feelings are in a similar vein (but obviously not so good...) The end of the album is also special for a doom metal band... A 23 minutes new age song! It's something the band would use again in the future, at the end of "A Fine Day to Exit" and "A Natural Disaster".

So although this album is not for everyone's taste, if you like Anathema's last albums, then you should give "Serenades" a listening... Maybe you'll be surprised, because you'll discover that after all the years and all the changes, it's obvious that we are talking about the same band.

Best tracks: Sweet Tears (I love the groovy guitas...), J'ai Fait une Promesse (it remembers me to Parisienne Moonlight in "Judgement"...), Sleepless (a little gothic classic... Cradle of Filth made a cool version of this one!), Under a Veil (of Black Lace) (precious guitar melodies...) and Nailed to the Cross / 666 (Bonus track) (I love this great stoner feeling...)

Conclusion: if you like doom metal, you must hear this album... It's one of the genre's pillars, and it has great songs. If you don't like it, then avoid it, because it has anything interesting for you, and of course it's not progressive at all. Nevertheless, it can also be enjoyed by Anathema's fans, because it has a lot of links with later and more famous releases. But writing in a progressive rock web, I must consider "Serenades" an album for collectors/fans only.

My personal rating: ***1/2

ProgArchives rating: **1/2

Death metal grunts and slow oppressive doom riffs. There's little in this music betraying the masterpieces that were lurking in the minds of the Cavanagh brothers. Nevertheless, together with As The Flower Withers from My Dying Bride and Shades Of God from Paradise Lost, this was the very album that brought me to doom death and all great things that resulted out of it back in 1993.

Anathema's debut pales in comparison to the other pioneers. I had heard the excellent Sweet Tears and Sleepless on my favourite radio show but I was very disappointed with the rest of the album. Given that I could only afford 2 CD purchases in a month back then, I felt particularly cheated, the remainder of the album is very tough to sit through.

Well, some artist start with their best work, others need a few years to mature. Great artwork though!

In a way, this is a pretty good debut, unlike many people think. In fact, I tend to prefer this album to their following studio album, "The Silent Enigma".

"Serenades" sure has some tired and forced vocals and melodies, being just plain death doom metal with no other original elements, but the good moments aren't completely absent; "Je Fiat Une Promesse" is a beautiful, acoustic ballad, sung almost all in French by fragile, female vocals. "Sweet Tears" has a good melody, and creates a very effective and creepy atmosphere. "Sleepless" is a tense and neurotic song, but very impressive in many parts. Even in the last, final song, the ambient piece "The Dreaming", has some haunting and wonderful moments, even tough after 23 minutes it gets a little repetitive.

But the rest is easily forgettable, emotionless doom metal, that doesn't transmit any emotions whatsoever.

As a conclusion, I gave this 3.5 stars, only thanks to the few songs I mentioned. The rest, like I said, is avoidable.

One reviewer is rating this album with the masterpiece status... Well, I guess that I will balance this rating for sure.

It is especially true when you bear in mind that there isn't one single track to obey to any prog concept in here. It is not because "J'Ai Fait Une Promesse" is an all acoustic song that it should be considered as prog. It is just a boring lamentation; sung by a young lady. Period.

As Easy Livin has said in his accurate review (as usual); there are some interesting instrumental parts featured on this album. But I want to add that these aren't really innovative since the doom metal genre was invented a long, long time before this work. And everybody knows of whom we are talking about, right?

If you like growling vocals (which I hate personally), you might be interested by this "work". One of the extremely few decent moments is the closing and instrumental part of "They Will Always Die". The second one is probably the "Cure" oriented "Sleepless". It is seriously borrowing from the great "A Forest" ("Cure"). Vocals are almost decent as well (but only during the first half, unfortunately).

The long and instrumental closing number is a peaceful electronic (!) prog moment. I have no clue as of how this track was generated but it is a fine and pleasant piece of music, although very simple and truly repetitive.

One star for the whole.

'Serenades' - Anathema (4/10)

Although the band Anathema has since gone down a much more atmospheric and melodic route with their music, it's important to note that the group began as one of the pioneers of death doom metal, a style of music similar in its melancholic feeling to what Anathema has done more recently, but much heavier and darker in the one it is executed. With a few demos and this debut 'Serenades', Anathema would be setting the groundwork for a style that has since become much more popular by the likes of bands like Swallow the Sun. Although 'Serenades' is a classic work for its development in that doom metal sound, it is an incredibly hit-or-miss ordeal throughout, and may be better appreciated for its place in history than as a listening experience of its own.

Fronted by growler Darren White, the sound of Anathema at this time is generally very heavy, downtempo and foreboding, using equal mesaures of the doom metal style innovated by Black Sabbath, and the newer death metal sound to create something that is dark, solemn and full of sadness. The album unfortunately however falls into a weak standing for its lack of cohesion and flow as an album; although Anathema is making some great steps forward with music here, they fail to create a piece of work that is bound together tightly. Instead, what we have here is a collection of tracks that range from excellence to somewhat boring exercises in distorted heaviness. The album's opener 'Lovelorn Rhapsody' has since become a classic song for death doom; a piece of music that cycles through darkness and beauty very powerfully. The real hit here however is 'Sleepless', a much more melodic and concise track than most on 'Serenades', featuring a post-punk mentalitty that wouldn't feel out of place on a Cure album. Besides that, the songs here so consistent, although moments arise where the more melodic beauty overpowers the raw heaviness. 'They Die' features a symphonic end that is a really nice breath of fresh air for the sound, and 'Under A Veil' has some beautiful guitar harmonies to work with.

Another issue is the weak production of the album here, which at times works quite well, but the heavier sections generally suffer as a result . Darren White's vocals are also quite inconsistent as a vocalist; at times his voice can make some really great growls that only add to the vibe of the music, and at others sound like nothing more than an adolescent whisper.

A disappointing album considering its great importance to the development of doom metal as it is heard today, but it is not without a few gems.