Anathema - Weather Systems Album Review
This is an album that shows how powerful, unsettling and momentous music can be when done right.
rating: 4.5
Website: www.anathema.ws Facebook: www.facebook.com/weareanathema Release date: 30th April One of the best albums to be released in 2010 was Anathemas Were Here Because Were Here. Fact. Whats that? No, it wasnt? Youve obviously never listened to it then. Here we go. The album was on a many album of the year list and it was no surprise, really. The textured layers of musical arrangements; delicately glorious and invoking vocals which twisted, turned, touched and soared; the impending doom-esque, apocalyptic yet undeniably beautiful connotations of each tracks layout and content; and the complete musicianship of the album, which left it feeling as a gigantic, empowering, towering body of work resulted in the album hitting hard with anybody who took a listen; be it fellow musicians, critics, or even just music fans who took the time to appreciate what all the fuss was being made about. It could have even made an impression on the milkman he does look a bit happier these past few years, Ive got to admit. The producer of that album, Steven Wilson, whos worked with a number of bands including the great Porcupine Tree, even went so far as to say that it was definitely among the best albums Ive ever had the pleasure to work on. So there, you cant argue against a producer. Youre still arguing? Look go and pick up the record and listen to it. Lets see if youre still arguing after that. Come back to me in a few hours. Its sort of weird how things have panned out for Anathema. Starting off life in the early 90s as a doom metal band pioneers of the genre -, they managed to develop a pretty big following and played with bands such as Cannibal Corpse and Cathedral. However, slowly, during the 90s, their sound started to sway towards a less visceral sound relying more on the atmospheric elements of their music and a transition to a clean vocal style ensued. With their 1999 album, aptly named Judgment, Anathema made a complete shift from the doom metal genre and to a more experimental sound which was likened to, amongst others: Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley and even Radiohead. However, the bands lyrical concepts of loss, suffering, desperation and depression remained. Into the 00s the band continued the progression of their sound, resulting in the finely-tuned atmospheric, ambient, yet crushing sound they possess today. Although members have come and gone over the years, which has left affiliations and links with bands such as Antimatter, Cradle of Filth, My Dying Bride, Porcupine Tree etc, Anathema has a vast, unparalleled sound that can, then, only be the nurturing and work of various musicians who have thrown their lives into the project. Anathema is more than a band its a spiritual, creative monument that truly does epitomise why the band has been around for so long.
Founding member, Daniel Cavanagh, has said that this new album is not background music for parties. The music is written to deeply move the listener, to uplift or take the listener to the coldest depths of the soul. And, after listening to this album, youll soon realise hes right. This album is possibly the darkest place Anathema has set out to explore since their moulding and progression of their sound, and in this dark place, the ice makes you slip and fall, sliding into a crystal clear, frozen lake which smashes with your impact. Your body is entwined in coldness, shocking you like jolts on the electric chair. The opener, Untouchable Part 1, starts things off in a lucid, drawn-out, multifarious way. The jangled, staccato guitar rides along while the heartfelt, tender vocals of Vincent Cavanagh, soon joined by Lee Douglas soothing harmonies add a well-crafted sense of musicianship and also thrust the listener into the deepest recess of the multifaceted sound Anathema hold. And that is the ability to delve into the listeners heart the track may be simple but its intensely powerful; the guitar hold emotions within its chords as if its got a soul of its own; the drums are methodical and precise, not only adding rhythm but a defined sense of clear know-how; and the vocals soar and float on the waves of noise, bringing the listener into a world only the most evocative music can create. http://youtu.be/e-JlhNRcbXU Lightning Song infuses a truly beautiful violin with a winding, rolling guitar that revolves and punctures into Lee Douglas elegant vocals while the violin laments in the background like a sorrowful widow. Finally, the guitar breaks its reserved silence and blasts into the track with a fuzzy, complete riff that tears away the poignant aspect of the track and instead throws a feeling of enjoyment and bustle to the track. In turn, this shakes the track up and it leaves you feeling with a positive outlook rather than a feeling of reminiscing and loss. A snowglobe of a track: shakes the connotations of the album up and leaves them scattered, letting the listener pick them up whenever their mood fits. The Beginning And The End has a warm, encompassing piano that joins with rhythmical, gluey drumming for a feeling as if the band are live in session. Cavanaghs vocals are, once again, heartfelt and poignant. The line of inside this cold heart is a dream, that introduces him into the track, is a true metaphor of what the track makes you feel. The piano; slowly and delicately strummed guitar which climbs and falls, eventually into a solo which cries and screams its emotions; and the vocals may leave you feeling cold inside, cold with emotional instinct and lament, but it also leaves you with a feeling of warmth that everyone suffers at some point and therell always be someone, somewhere you can go to to relieve whatevers on your heart and mind. http://youtu.be/BVZBVhjWmbI The final track, Internal Landscapes, ends the album fittingly. It starts with spoken word who it is, Im not sure which, the words alone, is enough to leave you with a lump in your throat and a sinking feeling in your belly but when the measured, drawn-out, ambient music comes into play it furthers that feeling and then, when the vocals are eked in, the dual vocals of female and male intertwine and burst over each other. This leaves the track spattered with emotion and also racks the listeners heart and mind. The spoken word ends the track and more than anything it ends not just the track, but the album and the bands effort throughout on a feeling of closure. http://youtu.be/EokdGEfQb0k Anathemas sound here will leave you feeling as if your soul has been pulled out and pushed back in again, as if each single memory of your life has come rushing back but youre too slow to grab one and keep it. Itll change your perspective, encroach upon your most precious and hidden memories and gorge itself on your inner-being. This is an album that shows how powerful, unsettling and momentous music can be when done right.