This band looks like they went through some changes in style and musical direction, starting off as death-doom, then changing to gothic metal, then prog rock, then alt-rock and god knows what they are now. They sound American to me but they're not, as they hail from Liverpool, and I know pretty much sod-all about them, other than seeing their albums crop up from time to time, often in of all places PROG Magazine! So it should be an interesting journey at least. Got a tank full of petrol? Munchies for the road? Then turn that key and let's head off.
Album title: Serenades
Artiste: Anathema
Genre: Death-Doom
Year: 1993
Label: Peaceville
Producer: Anathema
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes: The only album to feature Darren White on vocals. Apparently.
Album chart position: Unknown
Singles: None
Lineup:
Darren White: Vocals
Vincent Cavanagh: Guitars
Danny Cavanagh: Guitars
Duncan Patterson: Bass
John Douglas: Drums
Review begins
Given that this is a death-doom album, I'm going to assume the title is ironic, as indeed must be the label they recorded on. I realise now that the names Vincent and Danny Cavanagh are familiar to me, but that might be because they worked on someone else's album/project: I'm still certain I've never heard an Anathema record. Of course, they do tie in to one of my favourite bands, Antimatter, but I don't think the Cavanagh brothers had anything to do with that. Anyway, the album opens on “Lovelord rhapsody”, which punches it pretty much from the off with snarling, grinding guitars that want to eat you and a low, growled vocal. I can see the amalgamation of doom metal and death metal here, as it is slow and sludgy but with hard, sharp riffing guitars and kind of death vocals, but I'd put it more on a doom metal footing, at least for this track, than death metal.
I can't say I'm impressed with the vocals, but then as I said in the notes, this was the only album on which this particular singer, er, sang, so maybe vocally it gets better from the second album. The two Cavanaghs can certainly play well though; there's an almost progressive or neo-classical feel to their music at times, which perhaps points the way they would go on later albums, ditching the doom and death influences as they went in a more gothic and even progressive direction. Ignoring the vocals, this is a pretty lovely track really; I can dig the melody. Speeding up a little now as it heads into the last two minutes, percussion banging away and the more reflective nature of the guitars fading as they get a bit more raw and brutal.
“Sweet tears” is definitely harder and more direct, though then again there's a really nice gentle part in the last minute, with some clean vocals, almost like a chant, then we go all French for “J'ai fait une promesse”, bringing in an
acapella vocal from someone only identified as “Ruth”. Acoustic guitar joins her for the second verse, and backing vocals (female; could be her own, multitracked, I don't know) come in too. It's nice, but seems out of place on such a basically hard and heavy album. But then, I don't know jack about Anathema; maybe they do this all the time. It's certainly an interesting change, and shows they have other strings to their bow. All Sabbathy then for “They (will always) die” which grinds, grunts and growls along, showing really very little of the more expressive side of the two guitarists. Which is not to say it's bad, just a little formulaic compared to the other tracks. There is some nice gentle guitar work at the end, actually sounds like synth but I don't think Anathema use them, at least this early in their career.
“Sleepless” then sounds like an indie rock or alt-rock song, almost like something The Police might play, though it does then pick up on harder guitar and a bit of growling. It's an odd one for sure. Not quite certain what to think about it. Back to the slow, doomy, grindy music for “Sleep in sanity” with the return of White's dour growl, though the music is actually quite uplifting in an odd way. These Cavanagh brothers certainly complement each other. There's a kind of eastern feel to the melody, reminds me a little of Maiden and Dio. A short little track then in “Scars of the old stream” (sounds like they're using backwards masking here) with a spoken vocal, weird little tune and it leads into the longer, and more doomy “Under a veil (of black lace)”. It's nothing special .... and then, just as I write that, it changes into a quite introspective guitar piece - though White keeps roaring like a wounded animal - and a really nice melody takes the tune. I guess you can see how they were, even then, capable of stretching beyond the perhaps limited strictures of death-doom.
A much shorter track again, “Where shadows dance” is a good bit more on the death side of things, kind of hard to get much of a handle on it as it's so short, less than two minutes, but this is made up for by the closer, which runs for a staggering twenty-three minutes! It's the “Supper's ready” of death-doom! “Dreaming: the romance” opens very ambient; I would definitely say synth but again I see no credit. Given the length of the song, I expect a pretty long instrumental intro - okay, I see Discogs has a credit for “Orchestral arrangements”, so I guess there's an orchestra involved. That would explain it, as there is no way in Hell this introductory section could be only on guitars, unless these two Cavanaghs are gods or something. It's actually beautiful and epic, almost heartbreaking in its slow buildup, which so far has run for almost four minutes. No, seven minutes now. It's sort of like listening to a symphony, no, more like one of YorkeDaddy's Daydream Society albums. Really relaxing and not at all what I had expected, though I'm already learning to expect the unexpected with Anathema.
Nine minutes now, and it's still that lovely, laidback, ambient instrumental with a sort of dark hum underpinning it. Might be about to change: there's something in the air, I feel. Something wicked this way comes? Or something wonderful? Well, despite that subtle feeling nothing different has happened and we're now halfway through and it's still the orchestral symphony, for want of another word. Absolutely gorgeous. Seventeen minutes in now and I really doubt it's suddenly going to explode on a doom or death riff and growl. This has to go Blue, even if that ends up happening, but I'd be surprised. No, it didn't change. That was unbelievable lovely.
TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS
Lovelorn rhapsody
Sweet tears
J'ai fait une promesse
They (will always) die
Sleepless
Sleep in sanity
Scars of the old stream
Under a veil (of black lace)
Where shadows dance
Dreaming: the romance
Afterword: So much more than I expected originally. Yes, there are the raw death/doom songs, but inbetween them are some really different ideas and the closer just took my breath away. I'm suddenly excited to see how these guys developed over the coming years, if they could be this versatile on their debut album. Also will help if their new singer doesn't sound like White. Overall, mightily impressed.
Rating:
