JUDGEMENT

Back when the Cavanagh and Douglas families were a little heavier; perhaps they had a little more angst to expel in their youth. (Don't we all?) Rather than call this Experimental/Post Metal, I'd categorize it as Heavy Prog or perhaps Atmospheric Prog Metal.

1. "Deep" (4:53) heavier than I expected, more in the style that Steven Wilson was taking his PORCUPINE TREE project toward. Nice guitar solo. (8.5/10)

2. "Pitiless" (3:10) ("Post" Metal is not how I'd classify this.) (8.5/10)

3. "Forgotten Hopes" (3:50) softly picked acoustic guitar is soon joined by gentle support from the rest of the band--though a single power chord at 0:50 betrays future heaviness. Is this a follow up on Pink Floyd's "Hey You"? I like the feel, music, vocal, and lyrics of this song very much--though I'd classify this music more in the same ball park as RIVERSIDE and other heavy prog atmospherics. A top three song for me. (9.25/10)

4. "Destiny Is Dead" (1:46) heavier, more ominous guitar, bass, and bass drum notes with swirling synth in the background gives this an interesting post rock feel--shades of musics to come for these guys. (4.5/5)

5. "Make It Right" (F.F.S.) (4:19) "Second Life Syndrome" anyone? Mariuz & Co. must have heard this album before making the leap to their 2005 masterpiece. Even the vocal sounds exactly like Mariuz's styling on that album. I like the Cure-like keys in the post-chorus bridges. (9/10)

6. "One Last Goodbye" (5:23) a little bit of The Cure's floating guitar sound beneath this sedate first half. Now we're hearing the structure and form, in both construct and vocal style, that we've come to associate with Anathema. Nice vocal, Vince. (As it was probably created in eulogy to the Cavanagh brothers' recently deceased mother, that makes sense.) (9/10)

7. "Parisienne Moonlight" (2:09) poorly miced (or sampled) piano and Lee Douglas & Daniel Cavanagh singing in tandem. (4.25/5)

8. "Judgement" (4:20) oddly poorly engineered/mixed song--so not what we've come to expect from the standards of amazing production the band has come to be known for. (7.75/10)

9. "Don't Look Too Far" (4:56) what a gorgeous song to inspire an equally gorgeous vocal. Could be a PT or No-Man song. Not a big fan of the choice of sound for the lead guitar. (9.25/10)

10. "Emotional Winter" (5:54) starts out sounding very PINK FLOYD "Wish You Were Here"-like. After 90 seconds, the rhtyhm section kicks and it becomes another atmospheric masterpiece sounding as if it was usurped for a RIVERSIDE or PINEAPPLE THIEF album. My favorite song on the album. (10/10)

11. "Wings of God" (6:29) kicking and screaming right out of the gates, there's a bit of a blues-rocker in this one. (8.825/10)

12. "Anyone, Anywhere" (4:50) a maturely constructed emotional rollercoaster that is cursed, unfortunately, by that cheap piano sound. (8.75/10)

13. "2000 and Gone" (4:50) an instrumental sounding so much like something from the Cure's Bloodflowers--which makes sense if you've seen the band's video to this, you know it's a heart-wrenching tribute to their deceased mother. Stunning and gorgeous (both song and video). (10/10)

Total Time: 56:56

Several of these songs bleed, one into the next, eliciting the question of whether we have a concept album here. I know the Cavanagh boys' mother had only recently died (at the young age of 49) when they set to creating this music, so, I suppose there couldn't help but be a cathartic aspect linking all of the songs--if only in spirit.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music and definitely Anthema's best album to date.