ALTERNATIVE 4

From the first melancholic piano notes and these words spoken by the warm and soft voice of Vincent Cavanagh, I started to think that it could be a great album... and song by song I became more and more sure of this... This album is pure anguish... yearning, emptiness and suicidal will perfectly combined to perform an album of rare beauty (I don't know another that gives the same emotions with so high levels).

Songs like "Lost control", "Inner silence" and the title-track are something I never heard before from any "depressive" group, the atmosphere of the whole album is resigned, defeated, dream-shattered and regretful. All is underlined by the blaring sound of the snaredrum (sometimes it seems a rifle-shot) and the gloomy beat of the bass drum (on "Inner Silence" it seems as a beating heart consuming itself), with bare but very effective patterns. The vocals are sometimes drowned cries of desperation, the melodies are sweet but at the same time involving.

On "Alternative 4" Anathema started to sound like a serious atmospheric, melancholic progressive rock/metal band, they threw all their doom/death metal roots overboard and became British's best and most intense "depressive" group. Fans of Pain Of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd or even such EMO-pop giants like Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead or Coldplay could have a soft spot for this great band I am shure. But remember, that Anathema still belong to the metal genre, even they reduced the metal elements up from this album more and more with any later release.

Anathema still try but fail to top "Alternative 4", their masterpiece in my book. There is not one weak song on this album, the whole record flues very well and wants some repeated listenings. Make your own mind and get this wonderful album, you won't regret it if you like beautiful, intense, melancholic and deep music.

Album rating: 9.5/10 points = 94 % on MPV scale = 5/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

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