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lensag 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 03 2010
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 Topic: Anathema - Who knows them here?
Posted: August 05 2010 at 09:56 |
I love Anathema. They started as a doom metal band (along with my dying bride and paradise lost) but their sound as evolved through a more melodic, atmospherical, emotional sonority. They are not metal nowadays but they sure know how to please an audience even in metal festivals!
If you know them tell what is your favorite song and what do you think about their musical evolution
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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 27 2006
Location: The Beach
Status: Offline
Points: 12938
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 11:57 |
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I have heard of the band. "Angels Walk Among us" is as someone once said "beyond beautiful".
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"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN
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Morningrise
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 18 2009
Location: Buenos Aires
Status: Offline
Points: 2766
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 12:04 |
I own Eternity and Alternative 4. My favorite tracks from those are probably Angelica and Fragile Dreams.
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WalterDigsTunes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 11 2007
Location: SanDiegoTijuana
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Points: 4373
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 12:10 |
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Never heard of them; don't ever want to.
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BaldFriede
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 02 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10261
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 12:39 |
They are anathema here.  Sorry, I couldn't resist that feeble attempt at a joke.
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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Doomcifer
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 22 2008
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 177
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 12:54 |
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ONE LAST GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Greater is the man who conquers himself, than he who conquers a hundred times a hundred on the battlefield.
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 14:19 |
My favourite band besides PT  . Have followed them since 1997, been to numerous concerts of theirs (at least three a year since I discovered them), I have all their albums, most of them signed by the band members who are really nice fellows. They actually know me by my first name... 
My favourite songs of theirs? Regret, Universal (from their latest CD), Forgotten Hopes, Closer, and of course, One Last Goodbye.
How I think about their musical evolution? FANTASTIC!!!
One of the reasons I listen to death/doom/black metal as well as to prog, is that many of these bands become more and more proggier with age. When I first heard Anathema, I immediately thought, "this is a band to keep an eye (and ear) on!" for that reason, and it turned out that I was very, very right about that. :)
Edited by Antennas - August 05 2010 at 14:24
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 Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 27 2006
Location: The Beach
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Points: 12938
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 15:13 |
 Antennas wrote:
My favourite band besides PT . Have followed them since 1997, been to numerous concerts of theirs (at least three a year since I discovered them), I have all their albums, most of them signed by the band members who are really nice fellows. They actually know me by my first name...
My favourite songs of theirs? Regret, Universal (from their latest CD), Forgotten Hopes, Closer, and of course, One Last Goodbye.
How I think about their musical evolution? FANTASTIC!!!
One of the reasons I listen to death/doom/black metal as well as to prog, is that many of these bands become more and more proggier with age. When I first heard Anathema, I immediately thought, "this is a band to keep an eye (and ear) on!" for that reason, and it turned out that I was very, very right about that. :) |
Your a lucky guy/girl to have seen them so many times live.How do rate their new one in comparison to their others? I think it might be their best followed by "Judgement".
Edited by sinkadotentree - August 05 2010 at 15:14
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"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 16:11 |
sinkadotentree wrote:
Your a lucky guy/girl to have seen them so many times live.How do rate their new one in comparison to their others? I think it might be their best followed by "Judgement". |
Girl. Yep, I realize that I am VERY lucky indeed! Well I live in The Netherlands, and as you might know, the band regards my country as 'Official Anathema Territory' LOL. The Dutchies were one of the first to acknowledge the immense talent of the band, and they have always returned the compliment, by coming over here at least once-a-year since their early days. They did their try-out gigs for WHBWH over here as well for that reason. 
I fully agree with you, WHBWH and Judgement are their best albums imho. But that doesn't mean the rest is far below those - I think all of their albums, from 'The Silent Enigma' onwards, are of great quality.
I personally still rate Judgement just a little bit higher than WHBWH, but fully admit that that has to do with my personal experiences in life around that time. I was having a hard time then, and that album just gave me so much comfort that I will always cherish it as a genuine 'masterpiece'.
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Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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topsense
Forum Newbie
Joined: July 26 2009
Location: malta
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Points: 1
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 16:38 |
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so many great ones to choose from... though i went for Angelica... beautiful song off the first anathema album I bought, back when you actually had to wait for a cd to be delivered from abroad before listening to anything (there wasn't a big doom metal scene here in Malta back then, not that there is now heh) ...
now i have them all and really like the direction they've taken recently, hopefully they'll take less time to follow it up eh ;)
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Any Colour You Like
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 15 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 12294
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 16:44 |
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Alternative 4 (the track) and Wings of God.
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 16:55 |
Any Colour You Like wrote:
Alternative 4 (the track) and Wings of God. |
I don't see folks mention that particular track all too often (read: near to not-at-all), but it's indeed awesome. I love it as well, too bad I never got to hear it live...
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Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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lensag
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 03 2010
Location: Above Sea Level
Status: Offline
Points: 194
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 17:09 |
Glad to see people knowing and liking anathema! I saw them twice and i´m hoping they come to portugal this tour! They are indeed a wonderful band, and the members of the band are very accessible to the audience. Both times i saw them live (the first time was in a metal festival) there they were walking trough the audience just like normal people, very receptive to fans! I have a natural disaster and judgement both signed by danny=)
I love their evolution, that seems to reflect somehow my own evolution, because i know them since their debut with serenades!
And yes, WHBWH is a masterpiece absolutely! thin air and dreaaming light are near perfection!
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 17:47 |
lensag wrote:
Glad to see people knowing and liking anathema! I saw them twice and i´m hoping they come to portugal this tour! They are indeed a wonderful band, and the members of the band are very accessible to the audience. Both times i saw them live (the first time was in a metal festival) there they were walking trough the audience just like normal people, very receptive to fans! I |
Yep, they always do that.
I got a hug from Vinnie last year, in the audience, when they were the opening band to Porcupine Tree. He was there, enjoying PT's concert a lot, dancing, until he recognized the Anathema fans around - and came over to hug us all!
They are indeed Normal People!
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Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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enemyofthesundevils
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 20 2009
Location: San Antonio
Status: Offline
Points: 157
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 18:07 |
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I have been an avid follower of Anathema since my sophomore year of high school(16 years ago)and if not for them I'd probably still be listening to nothing but thrash and brutal,straightforward death metal. Serenades,and Tales From a Thousand Lakes by Amorphis,were instrumental in my musical upbringing by introducing a type of atmosphere which i never knew existed in metal. Anathema paved the way for me to start exploring different genres of mellow/goth/doom/atmospheric music which eventually led to my introduction to Porcupine Tree 6 years later who went on to become my favorite band. They truly have gotten better with age. The new album is quite possibly their finest hour but i still listen to Serenaes and especially The Silent Enigma daily. They are the last band on my list of bands to see before i die since i recently got the pleasure of seeing Faith No More. Hopefully the new albums success brings them to the states. Anyways i digress. Favorite track i guess would be Lost Control but there are so many good ones.
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 19:00 |
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^^ Very, very happy to read so many progrock fans' very positive comments on this fantastic band, WOW!
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Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 27 2006
Location: The Beach
Status: Offline
Points: 12938
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 21:33 |
Antennas wrote:
lensag wrote:
Glad to see people knowing and liking anathema! I saw them twice and i´m hoping they come to portugal this tour! They are indeed a wonderful band, and the members of the band are very accessible to the audience. Both times i saw them live (the first time was in a metal festival) there they were walking trough the audience just like normal people, very receptive to fans! I |
Yep, they always do that.
I got a hug from Vinnie last year, in the audience, when they were the opening band to Porcupine Tree. He was there, enjoying PT's concert a lot, dancing, until he recognized the Anathema fans around - and came over to hug us all!
They are indeed Normal People! |
Man you people from the Netherlands are so spoiled.  Riverside,Porcupine Tree,Anathema and on and on come and visit you all the time.I'm so jealous. What a double bill though Anathema and Porcupine Tree. Just too cool.
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"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN
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Falx
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 05 2010
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Points: 859
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Posted: August 06 2010 at 05:52 |
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One Last Goodbye always makes me cry when I listen to it.
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"You must go beyond the limit of the limit of your limits!" - Mr. Doctor
"It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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Antennas
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 01 2006
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 331
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Posted: August 06 2010 at 09:02 |
sinkadotentree wrote:
Man you people from the Netherlands are so spoiled. Riverside,Porcupine Tree,Anathema and on and on come and visit you all the time.I'm so jealous. What a double bill though Anathema and Porcupine Tree. Just too cool. |
I know, we are a very lucky - and spoilt! - bunch...
Steven Wilson already took along Anathema as his opening act before - I think it was in 2005 (correct me if I'm wrong about the exact year, 'Time Flies', lately), I saw them play together at Amsterdam's Paradiso. At that time, Anathema still often got dubbed as a 'doom metal band'  , so for a lot of unknowing folks, the combination was a rather surprising one on paper, but it turned out being a charm in reality. Call it The Start of Something Beautiful. 
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Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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akajazzman
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 13 2009
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Status: Offline
Points: 124
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Posted: August 06 2010 at 10:07 |
I only discovered Anathema last year. I still remember hearing a few songs and thinking, no way these guys are that good. I literally thought that I was somehow "mis-hearing" the music somehow. I actually feel a bit lucky that I only recently discovered them because I didn't have to wait 7 year for their best album ever with "We're Here Because We're Here". I thought their last album, "A Natural Disaster" was good, but not as great as some of the other ones, so didn't have high super hopes for the new one to be great (but of course I did have secret high hopes), and was so thrilled to have the album be what I think is their best yet, and will easily be my top pick for 2010.
I think all the albums from "Alternative Four" our excellent. Here's my list in order of preference:
"We're Here Because We're Here" 5*
"A Fine Day to Exit" 5*
"Judgement" 5*
"A Natural Disaster" 4*
"Alternative Four" 4*
I think the Resonance I and II compilations of their early stuff are good too, but they've progressed so far beyond all that growling stuff. Actually its one of the most amazing and vast developments ever in Rock n Roll for a band. To go from a doom/death metal band, to this band with beautiful songs and vocals, with a sound that I can play around my 70 year old mom and she'll go "Oh thats nice". Whats interesting however, is that they've kept a certain sinister metal underbelly in their tool kit, where you don't always hear it overtly, but it still somehow informs a lot of their music and gives it a real edge.
Last point. I feel that "A Fine Day to Exit" somehow gets lost in shuffle. People always rave about "Judgement"
and "Alternative Four" (which I love too) but I find "A Fine Day to Exit" doesn't get mentioned as often.
Man, for me, "A Fine Day to Exit" was the album that sealed the deal. I had already purchased Judgement, and Natural Disaster and really liked those albums, but two excellent albums aren't going to push a band into my top 20 all time favorite band list. But I felt like I was on a roll and picked up "A Fine Day to Exit". WOW, that thing is perfection from front to back. And a real alter-ego to "We're Here Because We're Here". For me, "A Fine Day to Exit" was their crowning masterpiece (until they released "We're Here Because We're Here".)
What a great band, I'm so glad they're still going better than ever. |
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Anathema - Who knows them here?