Anathema

A Fine Day To Exit & A Natural Disaster

07/03/2005

I was recently handed two albums to review by rock band Anathema, who I must admit I?ve never heard of before now. I think the band are from the West Yorkshire area but I?m not entirely sure. The albums are both released on Music For Nations which is the label that Metallica started out on.

 First album is ?A Fine Day To Exit? from 2001 when it starts off it reminds me of Radiohead from The Bends period with the opening piano chords and reverse reverb vocals of ?Pressure?. Production is excellent a real pro job. As the album continues all kinds of instrumentation is utilised from synths and bleeps as well as acoustic guitars and pianos etc. vocal harmonies are also included a lot.

I can keep hearing Radiohead but a tad more middle of the road and when the electric guitars come in it veers towards american rock like that Nickelback kind of stuff without the angry rough vocals, in fact probably more Jeff Buckley than that. It has a commercial sound even though it probably hasn?t got the mass appeal to become a huge success. Next album is 2003?s ?A Natural Disaster? and it doesn?t change an awful lot from the previous. It still maintains the quality of ?A Fine Day?? and is an interesting listen. From quite heavy rock anthems like opener ?Harmonium? to the beautifully sad sounding ballad ?Are You There?? which has an Elbow/Doves vibe to it. The chilled atmospherics of ?Childhood Dream? drift into ?Pulled Under At 2000 Metres A Second? which starts off reminding me of New Model Army with the underlying synths and quickly recited vocals then bursts into a quite fast thrashy metal riff with a Roger Waters skank on the singing melody. ?A Natural Disatser? features some lovely female vocals, which was quite a surprise.

The album fades out with last track ?Violence?, five minutes or so of moody classical piano over a warm synth pad with some little guitar touches. A really professional couple of records from a band that surprisingly is not well known to me. To round it up I would say this band could appeal to many different people but if you?re into Radiohead, Floyd, Elbow etc. with plenty other stuff on either side Anathema will be right up your street. If I ever hear of them playing round here I would definitely have to go and watch them live.