Remember Lovelorn Rhapsody? Remember how intense that song was and how Serenades was the only good debut of the Unholy Trinity and a vital influence on the torrent of doom music? Yeah that band just does Pink Floyd covers now.
Anathema, possibly the most emotional band from the UK, is a band that starved for change. After Silent Enigma, they abandoned the colorless ambiance of their oppressive mentality only to switch the oppressiveness into colorful, but terribly tragic statements, the birth of Eternity. It was literally as if the band switched their influences from heaviness in tone to heaviness in emotion within one record. Alternative 4 is another, albeit less drastic, one of those transitions in sound, but more importantly a big step into stronger compositions.
Eternity sounded like the woman you loved just died and you wrote about it, thinking it was the perfect relationship. Alternative 4 sounds like you found out she screwed with you behind your back, but there will never be reconciliation because of her passing, and yet you still love her, hence the more abrasive lyrics and metal-like passages. Empty is one of those more powerful tracks, with strong hateful/painful lyrics, and a charging rhythm. However, the band still enjoys the prettier side of things, with songs like Inner Silence, a coveted fan favorite piano driven ballad about a dying loved one. This song is a perfect example of their new material that retains the mantra of heaviness in emotion.
When I mentioned Anathema was an emotional band, I’d bet my life against anyone who disagreed. Even when the lyrics are at their weakest, the music is as powerful as ever, composed in their own unique fashions. Regarding the lyrics, there is a certain problem that people will pick up on. The lyrics are either quality, or rather cliché and poor. Take this passage from Inner Silence:
When the silence beckons, and the day draws to a close
when the light of your life sighs, and love dies in your eyes
only then will I realize
what you mean to me...
Heartbreaking and beautiful...Now compare that to this excerpt from Lost Control:
Yes I am falling, how much longer til I hit the ground
I can’t tell you why I’m breaking down
do you wonder why I prefer to be alone
have I really lost control
It’s a good thing the boys picked up on that for the next album. The only other issue this album has is its almost back-to-beginning songwriting, in that it sounds like their second album instead of their 4th. The compositions aren’t bad by any standards, in fact half of these songs are some of their best, but as a whole the album doesn’t measure up to the standards it creates for itself. It also ends rather weak, the ultimate cliffhanger.
Aside from that, Anathema has successfully transitioned themselves to the top of the atmospheric rock scene in a heartbeat. Their future albums will solidify this with further growth as composers and lyricists. Alternative 4, while muddled with small mistakes, still remains a landmark record for the band, and contains some passages many bands can only dream of writing. Included in the re-release of this album are four covers; three Pink Floyd and one Bad Religion. All are solid tributes and decent enough songs in their own right and act merely as what they are, bonuses. This isn’t an album to pass up if you’re at all interested in the band’s new material, so take some time to allow your emotions to be paralyzed, and see what it feels like to be better off dead.
