A-Z: Anathema

I haven't done many music posts lately, so it's time to rectify that!

I'm going to go through my record collection alphabetically; when the band is a household name I'll try and give some personal recollections of what their music means to me; when it's someone obscure, I'll tell you something about the artists themselves. I plan to select the most significant band for each letter of the alphabet. At one a week, this should take six months or so, except I can't think of anyone for "X".

But I have 24 weeks before I have to worry about that. Let's start with "A"

A is for Anathema

I first encountered Anathema when I heard one song on a free sampler CD attached to the front of "Classic Rock" magazine. It interested me enough to make me go and buy their then current album, "Judgement". I was completely blown away by the mix of metal, goth and progressive rock sounds. They also sounded much like I had imagined the ficticious Ümläüt to sound.

Hailing from Cleckheaton in Yorkshire, Anathema have been around for more than ten years, with (I think) eight albums to their name. The early albums, "Serenades" and "Pentecost III" were straight Death Metal, slow grinding riffs with mostly grunted 'Death' vocals (I can't see the appeal of that vocal style myself). They did try some light and shade, for example the very gentle ballad "J'ai Fait une Promesse" with female vocals in total contrast to Darren White's death grunts. Early lyrics were almost a parody of Goth clichés. For example, from "Under a Veil (of Black Lace)"

With loving passion, oh your radiance / A serenade I cry / Your silk lined coffin the lachrymatory / To hold a mourner's tears.

Surely this is music to cry yourself to sleep lying on the fresh grave of your beloved (who'd died of consumption), and be found naked and half frozen to death by the park keeper the next morning.

Things began to change when Darren White left the band, and rather than recruiting a replacement vocalist, rhythm guitarist Vincent Cavanagh stepped up to the microphone. The album "The Silent Enigma" and took a slightly more 'progressive' approach to their sound, with greater atmospherics, use of keyboards and acoustic passages. Vincent's vocals were less of the growling death style that his predecessor, and by the time of the fourth album, "Eternity", he'd more or less abandoned death vocals altogether in favour of more conventional 'clean' singing.

"Alternative 4" marked a major step forward. Compared with the somewhat muddy sound of it's predecessors, this one had much sharper production, with Vincent's vocals, which had previously been low in the mix, now significantly more upfront. The song arrangements were also much tighter, producing an album more accessible to those outside than hardcore death fandom (predictably some of those death fans called it a sell out). Several songs betrayed a strong Pink Floyd influence; these guys are big fans of Roger Waters, it seems. This album also marks the point where Vincent Cavanagh came of age as a vocalist.

"Judgement", the album that introduced me to the band, continued further in this direction. They got the balance of metal, goth and progressive rock just about perfect on this; soaring vocals, emotional guitar playing, and absolutely no filler at all.

Although others disagree, I thought "A Fine Day to Exit" was somewhat of a misstep. I found the whole album a little too indie-flavoured to my taste; although there had been a noticeable Radiohead influence on "Judgement", it was just one influence of many. On "A Fine Day" I found the guitars too muted, and the whole thing sounded just a bit too "Radiohead Lite" for it's own good. Perhaps the band felt the same way; I saw them live at Manchester University on the tour when they were supposed to be promoting this album. They played very little of it, instead playing a set drawn mostly from "Alternative 4" and "Judgement", the latter of which they played almost in it's entirety.

Their most recent disc, "A Natural Disaster" takes one step back, or perhaps sideways. Although the Radiohead sound is still present, the metallic guitars missing from much of "A Fine Day" have returned. Although in my mind it doesn't match "Judgement" as the band's best work to date, it's still a good album.

Overall, a band that deserve to be much bigger and much better known than they are.