ANATHEMA

Here comes the sun

While Anathema did release an album of re-recordings in 2011, 'Weather systems' contains their first collection of new material since 'We're here because we're here' in 2010. The core line up has been pared back a bit since that album, but the personnel remain effectively unchanged, with Jamie Cavanagh having a cameo role and Les Smith's keyboard duties being absorbed by Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh.

Produced by Vincent and Daniel along with Christer-Andr' Cederberg, the emphasis here is on emotion, melody and musicianship. On all three counts, it delivers in the proverbial bucket-loads.

The opening 'Untouchable' is nominally in two parts, but in reality it is an 11+ minute song which opens with acoustic guitar and builds to two wonderful crescendos. If we wish to be picky here, we can get tied up in the 'is it prog?' debate, a discussion which could be had about the album as a whole. The fact is though that regardless of genre, this is a truly magnificent opening piece, charged to the brim with emotion and supreme melody. There is hypnotic repetition at times which swings towards post rock, but the infectious hooks make the track an instant winner aimed at a much wider audience. What is noticeable, especially in part 2, is the more prominent role afforded to (female singer) Lee Douglas that pulls the band even further from the acquired taste nature of their earliest days.

The first of the 'Weather systems' is the distant thunder which introduces 'The Gathering of the Clouds', a semi-acoustic harmony piece which features Spanish style guitar (a bit like that on 'Question' by the Moody Blues). The song merges into the following 'Lightning Song', for me the only weaker section of the entire album. It is not a bad song, just a bit uninspired. Things quickly get back on track though with the fine 'Sunlight', which blends post rock with Coldplay to create a captivating piece which builds throughout.

The nine minute 'The Storm Before the Calm' written by John Douglas is the only song on the album not written by the Cavenagh brothers. Here, the influence of the band's touring partners Porcupine Tree can be detected in the use of guitar driven theatrics and distorted vocals. This is certainly the most obscure and experimental of the tracks on the album, but even here the band retain their discipline throughout the apparent chaos.

'The Beginning Of The End' returns us to the soft melodics that distinguish the album. Once again, the track builds from a quiet beginning through emotion charged vocals to a climactic conclusion. 'The Lost Child' is something of a mini-epic, the underlying piano base supporting a pained vocal and sympathetic arrangement. The album closes with the 9 minute 'Internal Landscapes', a beautiful quasi-classical number which returns us to earth with true grace. The spoken word section is slightly reminiscent of 'Voyage 34' while the vocal section takes us back to the second part of 'Untouchable'.

Overall, another superb album from this great band. While in musical terms Anathema are probably moving into more mainstream territories with each album, there is no denying the strength of the melodies, the musicianship and indeed the the songwriting.

Anathema kick off "Alternative 4" with a haunting piano melody and the suitably pensive lyric, "We are just a moment in time, the blink of an eye." The song, "Shroud of False" serves as an intro to track 2, "Fragile Dreams".

Here we're greeted with a gorgeous violin sound, and as the percussion builds up, the same melody undergoes a metamorphosis into a thumping rock riff. This track combines the melodic and rock aspects brilliantly, and is one of the feature songs on the album.

Things get even better with "Lost Control". That haunting piano is back, along with a brooding bassline with a very effective syncopated meter. Once again the lyrics only add to the tone. "Yes, I am falling... how much longer 'till I hit the ground?" The coup de gras is the gorgeous acoustic guitar lead break. The violin also adds stunning texture over the top of power chords in the songs outtro. Without doubt my favourite track on the album.

The title track "Alternative 4" features another great build-up, leading to some of the heavier moments on the album. Much of the song is measured, brooding, with a great sense of tension. It feels as though it's about to explode at any moment. It never does quite pay off the way one might hope, but is still a very good track. Then at about the 6 minute mark there is what I would call a curious production moment. The power chords kick in again after more brooding, and it sounds as though the song is about to take us somewhere else. And then? A rather sharp fade to silence. It's almost as if someone in the control room made the snap decision to pull the master fader down while the song was still unresolved. Obviously it's an intentional decision, but to me it's a strange one.

"Regret" is a lovely acoustic number. The haunting, sorrowful theme of the album is sustained with lyrics such as "Sometimes I remember all the pain that I have seen." After a few minutes the tempo picks up and distorted guitar joins the fray, but that sense of sorrow and loss remains.

"Feel" features the solemn sounds of an organ with a nice acoustic riff over the top. The power chords return for the chorus, as with many of the tracks before. These dominate the final half of the track as it fades to silence. This segues nicely into the album closer, "Destiny", a short but gorgeous track that induces a feel of weightlessness and release.

This is a beautifully melancholic album full of great moments from Anathema and certainly one of their best.

Anathema tackle the theme of spirituality in their appropriately titled 2010 release "We're Here Because We're Here". It's a subject I love to hear bands work on. We all have our own take on spirituality and it's fascinating to hear how it inspires artists both musically and lyrically.

"Thin Air" is a great way to start the album. Its floating intro starts us on our journey and as it ramps up beautifully it sets the stage for the rest of the album.

Unfortunately, the album does have some issues with consistency. Songs like "Everything" are just a bit too sugar sweet and lacking in substance for my liking.

"Angels Walk Among Us" and "Presence" are really two halves of the same song. I'm not sure why they were split, unless it was an attempt to generate more radio-friendly length songs. In any case these two songs work beautifully together. In particular, "Presence" is a high point of the album. Here the spirituality of the music is almost palpable, at times spine-tingling. A spoken word sample is used to great effect as well, with the message "Death is the opposite of birth; Life is eternal".

I must take a moment to dissect this statement because it's integral to the song. "Death is the opposite of birth; Life is eternal". The first part of this refrain is logical enough. I'm not sure how we make the leap to "Life is eternal" from there however. The second point can't be logically derived from the first, contrary to what the narrator seems to think. It is a pleasant, but utlimately whimsical fantasy. I make a point of it because it is the only part of the song "Presence" that pulls me out of the moment. In any case it is still a wonderful piece of music.

"A Simple Mistake" flows on from "Presence" perfectly and is almost like a continuation of the previous two tracks. It is the lyrical pinnacle of the album with lines such as "Think for yourself, you know what you need in this life" offering some poignant insights into our interactions with our own inner beliefs, the people and the world around us.

Overall a good, albeit inconsistent album with some lovely moments.

Every so often I decide to give late-period Anathema another chance, reasoning that the high regard they are held in by so many prog fans must have some justification. Every time I come away mystified. To give them credit on We're Here Because We're Here, they at least ease off a little on the "echoing telephone" vocal effect so beloved by Pink Floyd imitators everywhere; it's still here and still overused, but it's somewhat quieter and less blatant this time. However, the musical package as a whole consists of slick, smooth and absolutely unthreatening melodic rock. If you like your prog to lack bite or an edge, if you prefer your rock music completely emasculated and unchallenging, if you really don't want your Floyd-influenced ex-metal prog albums to surprise you in any way, I guess We're Here Because We Here more than merits the good reviews it's received. For my part, though, this just doesn't measure up.

If you visit the Top 2012 albums in www.progarchives.com you will find that currently this album sits inside the Top 20 and if you visit the Top 2012 albums in www.mlwz.pl you will find that this is number one! So, a very highly rated album by lots of people, and one that I enjoyed playing a great deal. But, and you of course realized that there was going to be a "but", this isn't prog music people?There is some wonderfully delicate piano and gorgeous acoustic guitar, with outstanding vocals, but this has more in common with Coldplay than anything else. True, there is the odd hint of Muse, but is this really a progressive album at all? Well that's an easy one to answer, as this is more pop and cheese than prog but in many ways it is a very special album indeed.

Play a song, virtually any song on the whole album, and you will be taken aback by the sheer majesty of what is happening in front of your ears. But, it is like a rather rich cheesecake, the odd slice can be savoured and thoroughly enjoyed but if you eat the whole thing then you will be rather unwell. If I dip in and out of the album then I get a great deal out of it, but when I play it from start to finish I find that I am always fed up by the end and am looking for something a great deal heavier to reset my ears. But, love it or hate it, this is definitely worth investigating.

So yeah, I spent four hours on a plane the other day, most of the time writing reviews of albums that I bought in 2012 as I wrestled with my top ten.

Untouchable, Part 1 is one of my favorite songs of the year and the reason that I bought the release from iTunes (that and I won an iTunes gift card at work). It's a fantastic mix of acoustic over heavy guitar with a driving energetic feel, featuring a nice turn around in the chorus. Guest vocalist Lee Douglas adds a special element to the song with her plaintive warbling. Part two is a nice enough ballad, not my typical cup of tea but it is well done.

'Gathering of the Clouds' features some wonderful Spanish guitar for the first two minutes only to kill the anticipation of a driving groove by dropping back into the mellow 'Lightning Song'. The album spends the next few songs in a state of perpetual build up without ever making it anywhere. By the time the energy finally kicks back up in 'The Storm Before the Calm', I'm already aggravated. Luckily, the electronica influenced groove, brought me down off the ledge . . . for a minute or two before it descended into a few minutes of irritation over drums. Oh, and then we get back into the melancholy of the previous three songs which pretty much dominates the remainder of the album.

There are a lot of good things on this album; unfortunately many of them go on for way too long. I got real tired of the lull from Untouchable, Part 2 through the first minutes of 'The Storm Before the Calm' then when we finally got there, it never ended, it just decayed. After 'Untouchable, Part 1' I kept waiting for it to recapture the magic and sadly, it never did for me. I'd give it a two and a half star rating with the opening track being good enough to bump the whole package up to a three star rating.

I'm not quite sure when I first listened to Anathema. But for sure, I like their music especially when they already made the music like this 'Falling Deeper' album. For me personally, it's quite a break to enjoy this kind of non-complex arrangements kind of music even though the nuance is quite dark. Look at the opening instrumental "Crestfallen" which flows nicely in slow tempo using piano fills as its main melody, followed seamlessly with "Sleep In Sanity" (6:43) that features vocal. The string orchestration at the background is also nice. The melody line is handled by vocal followed with long sustain synthesizer - it's a very cool opening track.

The next track 'Kingdom' (3:59) is still in dark mood with an ambient intro combining string arrangements followed with piano touch and vocal - everything is performed in relatively slow tempo. Even though different in music style, when I am listening to this track I associate the nuance created is somewhat similar with the music of Tangerine Dream. This composition relies heavily on orchestration at the background. 'Sunset Of Age' (7:32) starts slowly with piano touch followed with background music that moves slowly in crescendo. It then moves smoothly to "Everwake" (3:09) with acoustic guitar fills followed with female vocal line. It's a peaceful music offering, really.

Overall, I really enjoy this kind of music offering by Anathema in "Falling Deeper". The music moves nicely from one segment to another in relatively slow moving fashion predominantly demonstrated by nice background music with synthesizer and orchestration. It requires patient to enjoy it as you won't get any uptempo style here with this album. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I bought this before I went to Budapest in October 2012 and seeing Anathema live on the A38 ship, moored on the Danube (prog concert on a boat, hmmmm!), knowing that the shipment (pun!) would arrive in my hands only upon my return. The concert was a serious mind blast, even my 72 year old mom attended and she loved it (bad seating though!), the band was spot on and the Hungarian crowd loved them!

"Weather Systems" shows the ongoing evolution of a once pessimistic band of doom metallists who slowly open up to the sunlight and the power of hope, above all. They are influenced now by the colossal power of nature, the enduring strength of the universe where beauty and compromise rule supreme, among the raindrops, the gales, the warm rays and thunderbolts married to lightning.

The epic "The Untouchable "Part1 and 2" are some of the most achingly gorgeous songs that one is likely to hear in a lifetime. Pleasantly accessible yet absolutely not at all pop, the whopping beauty of the symphonic delivery, the exalted and inspired vocals both male (Vince Cavanagh) and female (Lee Douglas) and the breathlessness of the dense arrangement are beyond any attempt at description, a transcendent piece of music, period, combining to extirpate a perverse plethora of emotions. One could listen to THIS all day!

"The Gathering of Clouds" is another typical arrangement of the new style Anathema, dense atmospherics of a mostly choir and vocal definition, hypnotic and pervasive. The orchestral strings add an immeasurable depth to the arrangement, intensely emotional and yet utterly brittle and divine.

"The Lightning Song" sets the spotlight on Lee's soaring voice, transcending all the usual progressive parameters and entering a new zone of influence, combining classical, folk, hard, alternative and progressive into a blissful exaltation of life's unending compromises! Imagine Joni Mitchell with a barrage of synths, a full orchestra and heavy rhythm section, guitar up front and center and sudden gentle expanses! Bloody wow!

"Sunlight" offers a reflection on the other side of the night, the unending glow of renewal and refreshment, the blood that pervades our daily routine. Bulldozing vocals and guitars combine to hammer through the pale.

"The Storm Before The Calm" is progressively experimental, far-reaching, a smidgen grimy (in a good sense) and an extraordinarily impenetrable barrage of sound effects with the clear intent to disturb. Its starts off rampant as the title would want it and after the initial paroxysm, the tranquil enters the fray, showing off a pastoral/ambient that rivals any Floydian opus out there, an immense vocal rainbow draws you into the quasi-operatic scenery, blindingly solid and yet emotionally supercharged. John Douglas does damage to his drum kit as if inspired by the ghost of the late (and great) John Bonham! A tremendous success and a total keeper.

"The Beginning and the End" keeps the accent on the sublime, a desperate piano-fueled melody anchored in obvious reality ("Inside this cold heart is a dream"), clanging guitars infusing profundity and elevation, Vince Cavanagh showing why he may be the top vocalist in prog today, emotionally charged and technically glorious.

"The Lost Child" has a gentle fragility that transcends any kind of obviousness, deeply honest and pure, no tedious bull[&*!#] formula on display. Only an artistic vision that complements their musical craft, offering to submission to expected norms or pre- conceived notions. The music is grandiose, celestial and impressionable.

"Internal Landscapes" stretches out even fuller the new musical direction, merging folk ? rock with symphonic power, all within an original veneer of tempestuous experimentation, vocally they are extremely confident in their more measured approach, creating intensely profound music that stirs the soul .

Anathema is perhaps just a few steps away from claiming the Prog mantle, especially as Steve Wilson has the Porcupine away from the Tree on some vocational sabbatical. The concert was a complete surprise and their recent albums (the sublime "We Are Here Because we Are Here" remains a true classic) ) prove beyond any doubt, the true merits of this remarkable clan.

5 climate schemes

"The Thin Air" weaves a forever spiraling vortex of uncensored emotion, with a devastatingly accurate vision of symphonic expression, fueled by majestic vocals and pulsating instrumentation that does not fear ambiance or atmosphere. The vocal choir effects are masterfully omnipresent, swirling with complete abandon and lusty enterprise. Huge squalls of sound slam mercilessly onto the hull of a gorgeous melody in total paroxysm. A tremendous opener, a song for eternity.

"Summernight Horizon" shoves the mood into overdrive, caressing dissonant and oblique rhythms to hypnotic effect ("the space between us") and carving an anthem-like crescendo of bliss. "In blood red skies" indeed! Lyrically the band has never fared better. The music is rich, cleverly blended to form a colossal whole and orchestrated to please.

"Dreaming Light" is mournfully redolent with deep melancholia (a trait this band owns in luminous spades), Vincent Cavanagh singing like a master, a prog ballad to cherish for evermore and a whopping chorus to expunge for! Incredibly overpowering, this is Anathema's crowning achievement! The lullaby outro is outright daring and mesmerizing.

"Everything" is all about the vocals, en masse or individually as Lee Douglas takes the duet role seriously, echoing the most celestial of tones from the instrumentalists and elevating another haunting melody. "Angels Walk Among Us" serves as a quasi-continuation of the same exalted delirium.

"Presence" is short , sweet and misty, an overture for the next piece. Another massive highlight is the epic "A Simple Mistake" as well as the demo version later in the bonus tracks) are both spectacular accounts of the maturity of the musicianship and the seductive quality of the haunting melodies that grab you by the jugular. Once again, the vocal work is untainted supernatural, deeply resonant and utterly resolute. The rash guitar phrasings ratchet up the adrenalin, the drums bashing along as the string synths weave their magic. A career track, this one.

Drummer John Douglas pens the next 2 tracks, a shift in energy is most noticeable, more angular and more rock, his manic drumming leading the charge, evident on the rather nasty "Get Off Get Out" and even more so on the brooding "Universal", a more sprawling piece, almost ambient-like in a cinematic way perhaps but proposing a colossal vocal performance that transcends the usual superlatives.

"Hindsight" finds Daniel Cavanagh intent on reminding everyone that he is a hot guitarist besides a brilliant composer and arranger. The impenetrable atmospherics are quite experimental, clearly flung into deeper realms of progressive creativity, seeking to maintain the tension instead of slicing it and dicing it into mini-suites.

Three bonus tracks adorn the finale, reworking "A Simple Mistake", "Angels Walk Among Us" and "Presence" into more demo-like atmosphere. The mix master is prog alchemist Steve Wilson and he applies a massive amount of sheen and veneer to the proceedings, creating a luminous sound, purposefully trebled to the nth degree.

A brilliant album for the ages.

5 Sigmund Freuds

"Weather Systems" is the 11th full-length studio album by UK progressive/alternative rock/metal act Anathema. The album was released through Kscope Music in April 2012.

The music on the album is atmospheric and semi-progressive rock with very few nods toward metal. The tracks are generally slow building, going from mellow beautiful sections into grand climaxes. A release effect that the band master to perfection. The atmosphere is melancholic but not in a dark depressive fashion. There is a rare uplifting spirit in the music despite it´s generally melancholic nature. Male and female vocals compliment each other throughout the album and as a consequence the music vocal part of the is varied.

Add to that a warm and organic sound production and tracks that have emotional impact and "Weather Systems" comes off as a consistent and entertaining release. Tracks like the opening duo of "Untouchable Part 1" and "Untouchable Part 2", the darker edged "The Storm Before The Calm" and "The Lost Child" are simply breath takingly beautiful.

To be honest I wasn´t too impressed by "Weather Systems" upon my initial listen. I felt the music was a bit too sugar coated and lacked bite. After a couple of spins I´ve changed my view on the music though. I´ve been captivated by the emotional depth of the delivery, the simple yet intriguing compositions and the beautiful melodies. This is a matter of getting much out of little. You don´t always need to compose music with a million riffs and sections to entertain, and "Weather Systems" is a perfect example of that. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.