Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Anathema'

I have been posting most weekends using @detlev’s #metalweekend tag, but my main love of music is progressive and alternative music. Some of my posts have included these songs, but I feel they are not keeping with the spirit of metal.

I will continue to post article’s using #metalweekend occasionally but feel I have more to offer regarding these other genres that I am more familiar with.

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Introducing #alternativeweekend. Post an article that highlights THREE great songs that are either progressive or alternative and use the tag #alternativeweekend or use the ‘Focus on’ series if you like. There are no rules, just make your own!

If you have a short story or something to offer regarding an opinion on your songs, then share it with us!

Anathema is a band that I have mentioned in previous articles in the past but have yet to feature in the ‘Focus on' series.

They have gone through several different stages commencing with the early ‘Darren White’ days who was the original vocalist. Growling was the focus of the first two albums, the latter one with replacement and current singer Vincent Cavanagh after White left with just one album finished.

Fortunately, some common sense prevailed and from the third album, ‘Eternity’, ‘clean vocals’ were used by Cavanagh revealing a great baritone voice that suited the forthcoming Post Doom metal albums perfectly.

I must confess I have not really tried to listen to ‘Eternity’ and I’m probably missing some good material, but the focus of this article starts with the fourth album, ‘Alternative 4’.

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In 2016 I should have seen this band in concert, but on the day my car headlights failed so we couldn't go. I was a little-pissed off to say the least.

The band often support Death Metal monsters, ‘Opeth’ in large venue concerts. The only connection I can make between them is the first two albums with the growling vocal, but their more recent productions seem to mellow a little with every new release. I suppose you could say the same thing about Opeth too.

One thing that struck me about the ‘Alternative 4’ and ‘Judgement’ albums was the amount of guitar feedback they use in songs such as ‘Fragile Dreams’ and ‘Pitiless’ to great effect. I find myself driving with no hands and playing a little air guitar during some of these moments.

Anathema – Fragile Dreams (Alternative 4 – 1998)

‘Alternative 4’ is a moody depressing affair and the extended version contains some Pink Floyd covers; you can see where the inspiration comes from (The Wall).

‘Regret’ is a great song with a lot of feeling and sums up this album perfectly, but I can’t really omit ‘Fragile Dreams‘, the first song I ever heard from this band and the one that drew me in.

They nearly always finish with this song in their concerts, it is what you would call accessible and a crowd puller.

Anathema – Emotional Winter (Judgement – 1999)

Is this another homage to Pink Floyd? If you’re a fan you shouldn’t miss this atmospheric, ambient power ballad that gets more balls the more it progresses.

That feedback again is used to wonderful effect. I could have picked several songs from ‘Judgement’ as it is one of their less patchy albums.

Anathema – A Simple Mistake (We're Here Because We're Here – 2010)

Fast forward more than ten years and we have a much different sound. I have highlighted this song in a previous article as to me it’s the highlight of their career.

‘A Simple Mistake’ is a song of two parts, the first is an ambient, ethereal affair with light vocals which mutates into something that resembles almost a heavy metal anthem.

This is another song that is a stalwart of their live performances and for good reason. I'm sure the Opeth fans approve.

Anathema – Internal Landscapes (Weather Systems – 2012)

‘Weather Systems’ appears to be Anathema’s most popular album if you check the polls. I personally found it very patchy and inaccessible besides this song and the ‘Untouchables’ (Untouchable, Part 1) and (Untouchable, Part 2).

Life after death has always fascinated me and the first two minutes of this rambling, ambient track contains a voiceover of a man detailing his near-death experience.

I was drawn in by his story, but this almost 8-minute composition is a great song and contains some excellent vocal contributions by the talented ‘Lee Douglas’.

Anathema – A Natural Disaster (A Natural Disaster – 2003)

I try to limit my ‘Focus On’ articles to FOUR songs, but writing about the previous song reminded me that Lee Douglas, the part-time female vocalist of Anathema needs a mention.

I say part-time as Vincent Cavanagh is no doubt the primary. The title track to ‘A Natural Disaster' features Lee on main vocals and what a good job she's done.

Like all the best vocalists she has a unique sound and style. You won’t find any X-Factor plagiarised voices here!

I came off the back of the Porcupine Tree discography looking for a band that could let me down easily and found Anathema. They are patchy, there’s no doubt about and I have yet to explore their entire discography as it is vast.

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I did like their earlier edgy work contained in the first two albums mentioned but they seem to have developed a decent following with their later material. Not bad for a band from Liverpool?

Other articles in the ‘Focus on’ series:

Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part One // Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part Two
Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Gabriel Years // Focus on ‘The Pixies’
Focus on ‘Sonic Youth’ // Focus on ‘Talking Heads’
Focus on ‘Blackfield’ // Focus on ‘Karnivool’
Focus on 'Tears for Fears' // Focus on 'The Cranberries'
Focus on 'Kate Bush' // Focus on 'The Smiths'
Focus on 'Radiohead' // Focus on 'Rush'

If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.