A Natural Disaster

To write the follow-up to a career-defining masterpiece like A Fine Day to Exit must have been a daunting task for Anathema. Yet, 2003’s A Natural Disaster does not disappoint: although it does not reach the same heights of its predecessor, the album manages to further hone and consolidate the formula of previous releases, while at the same time pushing boundaries in unexplored directions. The quality of A Natural Disaster is even more remarkable considering that it was written during rather difficult times for the band, with mainman Danny Cavanagh even briefly quitting Anathema to join former bandmate Duncan Patterson in Antimatter, before quickly returning to the mothership. Bassist Dave Pybus also left the band during the years between A Fine Day to Exit and A Natural Disaster, and was replaced by yet another Cavanagh brother, Vincent’s twin Jamie (who was actually the original bass player of the band back in the 1990s). Meanwhile, John Douglas’ sister, Lee, earns a lead spot behind the mic on the iconic title-track of the album, foreshadowing her inclusion in the band’s line-up on subsequent releases.

Besides the partially revamped line-up, the other big difference relative to previous albums is that A Natural Disaster was written nearly single-handedly by Danny, with only one song (“Balance”) co-written with other band members. This change in songwriting approach is reflected in subtle but significant differences in style and sound. At times, A Natural Disaster feels like a singer-songwriter album of sorts, with intimate tracks like “Are You There?” and “Electricity” built almost exclusively on piano arpeggios, clean guitars and Danny’s tentative but emotional vocals. Elsewhere, intriguing electronica and trip-hop influences surface on pieces like the title-track (impossible not to be reminded of Portishead) and “Closer”, where an obsessive electric piano motif and menacing vocoder lines give the track a dark futuristic vibe. Post-rock is another detectable influence, with several tracks (“Closer”, “Electricity”, “Violence”) exploiting the crescendo of simple repeated patterns to deliver their emotional payload – a songwriting trick that will become a trademark of future Anathema’s releases. The rest of the album follows more in the footsteps of its predecessor, albeit with a heavier dose of keyboards and programming layers thrown in the mix. “Balance” and “Flying”, in particular, are beautiful emotive tracks, perfectly balanced between acoustic and electric instruments and with powerful crescendos in the finale. “Pulled Under at 2000 Metres a Second” is a nervous track, starting slow before exploding in unexpected sonic violence - which is not too dissimilar from what the band had already attempted on “Panic” from A Fine Day to Exit or on the title-track of Judgment.

The result is an album that feels familiar and experimental at the same time. This is great, as the biggest mistake Anathema could have done in following up on a monster-album like A Fine Day to Exit would have been to repeat its songwriting formula. Instead, the injections of new influences and sounds ensure that the album feels sufficiently fresh and varied to escape the perils of being directly compared to the beloved predecessor. The mood and atmosphere of the two albums are also quite different. If A Fine Day to Exit ended with Anathema reaching a temporary peace, a sort of calm after the storm, A Natural Disaster, with its spectral and downcast atmosphere, finds the band plunging straight back into the dark clouds.

The album contains some the absolutely most brilliant songs that Anathema have ever written. “Balance”, “Closer”, “A Natural Disaster” and “Flying” in particular all feature in my top 10 of Anathema’s songs from their 30 years of career and in my top 50 of all-time metal/rock songs. And I am most likely not alone, seeing how these songs have been a regular staple of the band’s concert setlist since their release.

Nevertheless, A Natural Disaster is not a faultless album. For one thing, the album lacks that perfect flow between tracks that had made A Fine Day to Exit a record to listen as a whole piece of work. Instead, A Natural Disaster feels slightly disjointed at times, which in part may be due to the fact that the different influences mostly surface in isolation across different groups of songs on the album, rather than smoothly amalgamated throughout. Moreover, some of the songs on A Natural Disaster are somewhat weaker compared to others on this and previous albums. “Harmonium” is a bit of a shallow opener, not really memorable nor spectacular. “Pulled Under at 2000 Metres a Second” feels somewhat derivative and does not have the punch of the tracks it takes inspiration from (“Panic”, “Judgment”). The album also closes fairly weakly, with the lengthy and directionless instrumental “Violence” (if there is one thing that Anathema never quite managed to get right, it is instrumental tracks).

Overall, A Natural Disaster is a classy release that consolidates the status of Anathema as one of the leading purveyors of dark atmospheric rock, tastefully combining interesting musical ideas with melodic accessibility and immediacy. While not reaching the level of perfection of a masterpiece like A Fine Day to Exit, it is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, and remains one of the best albums released by the band in their 30-year long career.

This is a revision of an old review written circa 2008.

”A Natural Disaster” is Anathema's fifth full-length album since the band's transition from doom metal to rock, though regarding to this record, rock seems a very insufficient label to describe the music, which ranges from very high intensity to complete mellowness, all of which is blanketed by a very strong emotive load and ample experimentation. Followed by the already quite spectacular ”A Fine Day to Exit”, Anathema's 2003 full-length album is the band's most focused and developed effort yet: the emotional elements in Anathema's music have never been this tangible and well-executed. There's a new, pronounced emphasis on atmosphere in their music that lends immense gravity to the artistic expression. Following the lines of its predecessor, ”A Natural Disaster” is considerably more artistic in nature than the bands' earlier works, at least since their transition from metal. While ”A Fine Day to Exit” blundered somewhat with excessively far-ranging and clumsily implemented influences, its follower elaborates on what was succesful before, and brings new elements that work fantastically as parts of Anathema's sound. ”A Natural Disaster” is, in both style and quality, several notches away from the band's previous and later works.

The background of ”A Natural Disaster” is somewhat different from most of the band's work. To date, it's arguably the most personal album to Daniel Cavanagh by Anathema. All of the songs, with the exception of ”Balance”, were written by him between 2000 and 2002, during a time which Daniel describes as particularly tough. In an interview, Daniel also mentions that most of the inspiration came to him late in the night, which I like to think shows in the music as an all-encompassing shroud of nocturnal atmosphere. All the songs revolve around personal matters, with the exception of ”Violence”, which is intended to express the unstable political climate of the early 00s.

Though Daniel Cavanagh's composition skills have been noteworthy since the early works of Anathema, his aptitude for writing intense build-ups and emotional climaxes here is particularly noteworthy. Bolstered by the excellent arrangements and dynamics, his skills have turned essentially simple songs into captivating compositions. Ranging from melancholic acoustic chords and arpeggios to intense distorted guitar riffs, the guitars are a driving element of the music together with tasteful keyboard themes. A third driving element is certainly the vocals. The majority of tracks are sung by Vincent, as usual, but Daniel performs lead vocals on two songs, ”Are You There” and ”Electricity”, which in comparison to the Vincent-led songs are softer and calmer. Vincent's singing has softened somewhat as well. His voice struggles to have enough authority to represent the intensity of Daniel's songwriting at times, but the emotivity of his delivery makes up for lack of power and range.

Like its predecessor, the album is full of experimentation, but it seems noticeably more focused and pointful than previously. On ”A Natural Disaster”, the musical elements seem to be far more intuitive and natural, whereas ”A Fine Day to Exit” seemed to delve in experimentation for its own sake – or to supplement for lack of inspiration – making it seem pretentious and thematially overcomplicated. While Anathema's songwriting has always been cutting-edge, this album improves it even further, and arguably unlike anything since ”The Silent Enigma”, ”A Natural Disaster” is not a mere collection of songs, but a focused and well-designed whole. This helps to create a distinctive atmosphere for the entire album, improving the listening experience. The way ”Balance” builds up into a relentlessly powerful climax that bursts at the end, then abruptly transitions into the hypnotic ”Closer”, showcases an unprecedented ability to arrange songs into a fantastically well-flowing whole by Anathema, where each song contributes to the entirety of the album. The cliché of an album being more than a sum of its parts is certainly applicable.

The album starts in a relatively slow and relaxed manner, with the opener ”Harmonium”. Rather than laying all their cards on the table like openers often do, it creates atmosphere as it subtly rises towards its climax. Despite the tranquil melodies and harmonies, there is a feeling of mystery, contrast and unpredictability in the song, like a storm warning. It concludes in the same tranquil manner as it starts, only to be followed by the passionate and emotionally affecting song ”Balance”, which is one of the most intense songs Anathema has written. Its subtle beauty, emotional expression and breathtaking build-up are certainly a high point of the album, as the song is driven by a beautiful theme, first delicately played on a rich-sounding keyboard, then gradually built up into a crushingly heavy climax. Followed by ”Closer”, a song with one of the most breathtaking build-ups on the album, these two songs showcase fantastic songwriting ability and emotional expression. With the keyboard arpeggio accompanied by a vocoder, trance-like drum beats and heavy atmospherics, ”Closer” concludes in the most satisfactory manner possible as it burns out reaching an atmospheric and emotional climax. Similarly, ”Pulled Under At 2000 Meters A Second” introduces bleak and hopeless themes, builds up into a frenzy of misery-ridden despair and aggression, and then burns out. To balance the depressive and heavy emotions on the album, there are light – yet wistful – songs like ”Are You There” and ”Electricity”. Still, even the production of this album seems to be dedicated to sorrowful, desolate sounds. The keyboards tones are deep and rich, and the distorted guitar tones are full of fire and passion when Daniel Cavanagh unleashes his heaviest playing since ”Eternity”.

Arguably, the intensity of the band's earlier years has been brought back. Anathema has simply channeled it to the emotional aspects of their music, and though metal riffs are absent, the music may just be all the more powerful for it. Some influence from post-rock genre can be heard, particularly in the closing track ”Violence”, and clearly, considering the build-ups and epic climaxes, the songwriting on this album is perhaps not unlike how many post-rock bands compose their songs. However, unlike most post-rock, Anathema's music is on another level of intensity altogether, both in terms of heaviness and passionate emotional expression. There are positive and hopeful sounding moments, like small glimmers of hope, that are, still, ultimately swallowed by the dark, merciless reality of sorrow, longing and loss that Anathema masterfully expresses.

My experience with Anathema was perhaps a bit unusual in that it properly began when I saw them live in Germany a year and a half back- no real knowledge of their sound, just a vague idea that they were death/doom turned sadguy rock and that they were apparently quite good at both of those things. The gig was perhaps the most germanic thing I've ever encountered- pretzels sold by the bucketload, a bunch of very earnest, serious and friendly germans watching the support band and Anathema and clapping politely between each song. Anathema's stuff was rather enigmatic- plenty of good snippets amindst the godawful male/female piano led duets (which the locals adored), but shit rarely carried through a whole song. So many rad little moments but nothing that really got me pumped. This is basically a very good description of this album.

Simple way of describing the problem here: shit is never dynamic enough. A pretty big comparison with a lot of this stuff could even be later era Mogwai (Harmonium basically being a dad rock version of something like Sine Wave), and it's easy to see why Mogwai are so much better. Shit never achieves catharsis. It builds- and it's certainly a nice journey through some pretty cool synths, cool snatches of vocoder (again, hello Mogwai), but when it gets loud it just plods man, it plods and it's dull and you're just sitting there quite disappointed. Balance is a good enough example, some super tasty tones and a very cool general build, but a weak as piss "loud" moment, where some distorted guitars come in and basically reprise the entire first half, just with less subtlety and nothing much to say.

Who to blame for this, then? The answer: basically everything about Anathema. The drums and guitar tones aren't big enough to get to the fortissimo stuff that's required. The guitar and drum lines aren't interesting- or forceful, or energetic, whatever adjective you want to apply here- to cover up for the production. In certain parts it's all ruined by the mixed-way-too-loud vocals which more often than not didn't need to be there.

Overall, you get the opinion that Anathema weren't entirely sure what they wanted to do with this album. A band that's conventional to the bone trying to break out from that, but not succeeding, perhaps? Stuff like "Are you there" is a sublime bit of work- this super mellow, rather shoegazey jam- which could've been mixed 100 times better, Violence almost becomes that hugely epic space-rock closer but ends far too quickly for it to really settle in, Closer finishes in a way designed for maximum "the song's not finished yet!!" frustration, so on and so forth. There's all these fantastic wide open soundscapes in this album but they never go anywhere- or they don't hang around for long enough- for satisfaction to be had. This album is so tantalizingly almost there, through and through, one endless trek of blue balls.

The song that really works on here is "Pulled under at 2000 metres a second", where everything clicks. Unsurprisingly, it's also the song that rocks out the hardest, that has the best fitting vocals (certainly, the vocalist is best when he's getting really into it, as opposed to attempting a croon), that ends after the load has been shot, not 10 seconds before.

It makes the rest of the album even more frustrating, really- because if every song was like that- was as satisfying, was as huge, then this album would be known as a bit of a masterpiece. As it stands, it's more akin playing through the mass effect trilogy every five minutes.

Anathema, a word that most fans associate with beautiful, dark, romantic, and sad. I have been a fan of them for years and years, I loved their old dealings in doom death metal and I also love their own take on depressive, atmospheric rock. Every lyric that both Vincent and Danny say and sing in a "A Natural Disaster" are easily and painfully reminiscent of the torrents of emotion that surfaces when it comes to being in a complex, turbulent relationship that is doomed to die and wither. I can speak first hand to every song in this album because I have felt all the same feelings before.

Listening to "A Natural Disaster" is a very cathartic experience. There are moments that echo longing and guilt, dreams, imagination, as well as a faint glimmer of hope and contentment. I never in my life have ever listened to an album that could make me feel that way. Whenever I listen to music some songs reel me in while others I just feel kinda blah about it. But in this album everything just seems to fit and flow so well. To be consistently moved with every song is a great feat that Anathema has accomplished so well. I love every single track on the album but I really wanted to get into three songs that seem to not be mentioned too much.

The first song that I wanted to talk about is "Childhood Dream" a lot of the reviews I have read people mention this song is just a bridge into "Pulled Under 2000 Meters a Second" but to me it is much more then that. This quick little ditty of a song is actually one of the most powerful songs on the album, depending on what you have experienced in life. When I listen to it I think of the memories I had when I was a child, and I had dealt with a death in the family and it becomes all the more powerful to me when I hear it. Just the idea of recollecting the happy times when you were young with your parents or brothers and sisters and knowing that one of them has passed on at the age you are now, makes it one of the saddest songs on the album.

The second song is "Electricity" this song really shows Danny's vocal talents, I never heard a voice so empty, and desolate yet warm and resonate. I could feel the anguish in his voice and I found the song itself to be so relatable. Anyone who has ever experienced that feeling when you have a strong connection with someone and they do not echo the same feelings back can be so powerful and heart wrenching. I find it strange how this song doesn't really grab the attention of a lot of people.

The last song that I really, really adore and find so awesome is "Violence" I love Anathema's take on the post rock genre with this song. I think it would be interesting if they chose to focus on more post rock songs for their new album. But what makes this song so special to me is how when you hear the guitars that it kind of reminds me of the voice of a woman especially in the beginning of the track when it sounds very quiet and ethereal, and then like an argument it starts out quiet and then blows up to heavy guitar riffs and double bass drumming, it is so unusual that instruments can convey those feelings a lot more then lyrics ever could. And then when the crescendo slows and grows quieter it reminds me of being sad or guilty of what just transpired and then falling into a dreamless dark sleep.

In essence "A Natural Disaster" should be in everyone's collection, there has never been an album this powerful and evocative in a long, long time. I think anyone even if they aren't fans of Anathema will find something to relate to and rock out to in "A Natural Disaster". I can't wait to hear their new album, the songs they have given us on the website to listen to are absolutely gorgeous, I cannot wait to see what roads they will take us in their next sonic journey.

British Heritage: Part IV.

My in-depth look into the British scene has taken me across many different genres. I’ve covered the blissful nature of drone-infused Jesu. The instrumental sludge session that Capricorns had us enthralled with and then on to perhaps the most experimental inclusion into the British heritage saga in Caïna. This time we’re taking a rather different route than we previously had. Back to Anathema I go. The Liverpudlian outfit that has spread itself across a fair amount of the metal scene and is now touching on the rock scene.


The beauty of Anathema doesn’t lie within their music as such. It’s the very simplistic idea that their music, throughout their career, is extremely accessible. Even when Anathema heralded the old doom style that enthralled not only a nation, but a sea of fans worldwide, it was accessible. One could quite easily tap into the idea of Anathema’s music because it is just so inviting. Whether Anathema were playing doom in it‘s coldest most distant form, or this brand of mellow, but sorrowful atmospheric rock as it is tagged, was rather irrelevant. No matter what the genre, Anathema, especially in relation to their lyrical themes, were easy to grasp even on first listen. Though there may be a simplistic side to this British band, the emotion behind it is indeed very complex.


Their music, especially again in terms of lyrics, is universal. The pain and suffering that flows from the minds down to the hands and further more on to the instruments is universal. I’ve never actually met anyone who couldn’t relate to what the band sing about. The lyrics, although never usually of great importance to me, are significant when it comes to Anathema. Although I’m certain the idea behind their lyrical themes could be expressed entirely through the instrumental side of their game, the lyrics still hold an important role, especially in terms of the audience and establishing a connection with them, which is again, what makes this brand of music so accessible. If we take a look at the lyrics, in their entirety of the title track ‘A Natural Disaster’, we can clearly see the universal message behind their music. Most of us have experienced losing someone, whether it’s due to death or otherwise. The universal nature of their lyrics is smart. It’s a very powerful tool in terms of marketing your music if you can successfully manage to draw an audience in and relate to them understand with what you’re singing about:


“It's been a long, cold winter without you
I've been crying on the inside
Over you
You've just slipped through my fingers
So life turned away
It's been a long, cold winter
Since that day..
And it's hard to find, hard to find, hard to find the strength now
but I try
And I don't wanna, don't wanna, don't wanna, don't wanna to speak now
of what's gone by

Cause no matter what I say, no matter what I do
I can't change what happened, can't change what happened
No matter what I say, no matter what I do
Can't change what happened, can't change what happened
no matter what I say, no matter what I do
Can't change what happened, can't change what happened
No, no, can't change
You've just slipped through my fingers
And now I feel so ashamed
You've just slipped through my fingers
and I've paid.”


Surprisingly, my understanding of the lyrics spans over the entire album, not just one or two songs. Fortunately, Anathema have incorporated new methods into their music which makes it appeal to a larger fan base, and the existing fan base even more. The use of female vocals, for example, is a brilliant marketing tool. Anathema’s song writing is regarded as some of the best for this type of music and one can certainly see why. With the inclusion of elements like female vocals, the mellow aspect of the music is significantly enhanced as the softer female voice adds a new dimension to the atmospheric qualities of this record. Subtle and sultry is what they are. It’s aspects like this that make Anathema a winner. Melancholic pianos, marvellous female vocals and masterful acoustics. Anathema are brilliant at what they do and they do it with such ease.

For those of you who didn’t like the direction of what Anathema is taking so far need not bother reading this review. Not much has changed and still disappointingly no metal regressions from its doom days. I have read some reviews saying that A Natural Disaster is a complete bore; Radio head/ Pink Floyd wannabe kind of stuff that after I read them want to abhor this as well. Good thing I decided to try it. On a straight line it’s significantly true especially when you’re looking for something energetic and reviving or something original but artist wise or songwriting wise this is a very enticing album to listen to. Delicately layered, emotionally personal and dramatically somber; like this guys are playing under a trance like catatonic state in a motionless white room, the music here is atmospheric with spacey instrumentals, some CYNIC alien like vocals and some lilting female vocals. The albums quite heavy too in an ethereal kind of way reminiscent of ALTERNATIVE 4 where the heaviness is done by depth. Whether it’s just the timing of the mood or just tired from work I know I am hearing quality music, metal or not. It’s actually hard to recommend this album due to its blank, depressive nature without begging someone to give this album another shot of listen to its credit, but I hate to see this album go to waste without some sort of recognition. It’s just like “stop and smell the flowers” kind of music, so I gave it the benefit of a doubt, I advise you do the same.

This is one of those few albums that really stir your emotions. It's greatest strength lies in how real it feels. Many bands, try to create their own world and suck the listener into it. Though sometimes their creations are beautiful, the atmospere great and it truly is incredible art, it is nothing compared to the sheer emotion displayed on "A natural disaster". It's very sincere. the music is atmopheric but not in a mystic, enchanting kind of way. At it's core, this album runs purely on hope, frustration, sadness, and other feelings and thoughts a person might encounter during his search for happiness. Every time I feel I need to cry, I just listen to Flying and let it all out. Every time I feel frustrated and want to shout to the heavens, I listen to Pulled Under at 2000 Merers a Second, the heaviest track here and possibly the best, along with Flying. It starts with just bass and synth, and then the singer comes in. It build terrific suspense, before Vincent Cavanagh screams the title and the song bursts into a fast-paced constant creschendo. With each line you feel the distress growing, overwhelming and bursting. Great vocals, superb emotion with excellent lyrics; "Freedom is only a hallucination that waits at the edge of the places you go when you dream".

The title track isn't as emotion packed as the two songs before and after it, which is why I don't like it as much as those two. The female vocals here are really good, and it does carry the album nicely through another stage. And that's something to be said for this album. None of it's tracks actually feels out of place and they all ontribute something to it's flow, so while it may not be as consistant as, say, Alternative 4, I actually prefer it because the weaker tracks aren't really a chore to listen to, and it has two songs that, out of Anathema's entire discography only A Dying Wish can rival.

As you are probably aware of, this album isn't metal. True, Anathema abandoned their metal roots and have chosen a path that has alienated them from many fans, but the core of the music remains the same. Their sound may not be like it used to, but the concept and emotion of the music remain very close to those of early Anathema's glorious Doom days. I'd recomend this to anyone seeking emotion in music, and also to fans of atmospheric stuff.

I'd like to finish with a few words abouts the songs I've left out. Every song fits in it's place perfectly.

Harmonium is an excellent opener, it's a powerful mid-paced mood-setter.

Balance was writen by almost all the band. It's softer and it's greatness if in it's crechendo-ish build. God I love crechendos. Both this and previous track are extremely good and by the end of them you are already neck deep into the album.

Balance continues right into Closer. This is one of the most atmospheric songs I've ever heard. It doesn't really evolve much, but due to it's strong rythme and minor changes it has never managed to get me bored. The haunting atmosphere and mutilated vocals that sound as though coming from a distance are very fitting for the lyrics: "your dreamworld is a very scary place to be trapped inside all your life".

Are You There seems to get quite some hype from people I know, but I've always considered it as one the lesser tracks here. It features Danny on vocals instead of Vincent. Though his voice isn't bad, it seems to lack the emotion, intensity and strength of Vincent's voice. Not a bad song, merely unremarkable.

Next is a short synth leaden instrumental. The only real passable song here. it doesn't do much except create a certain seperation between Are You There and Pulled Under.

I'll just say that Flying has possibly the greatest amount of emotion on the entire album (the chorus (if you can call it that) is garanteed to send shivers down your spine) and skip to Electricity since I already talked about tracks 6 and 7.

Electricity is more of an anticlimax than anything else, featuring Danny Cavanagh on vocals again. It's soft and doesn't quite go antwhere, but again, I don't think they intended this to be more than a calm after the storm of the unbelievable Flying.

The album has one more climax at the middle of Violence, a ten minute long instrumental that begins with just keyboards and keeps getting heavier and heavier until fading back into the keyboard, this time playing major chords. The album ends with hope, a very soft, peaceful ending.
WARNING! Not for those with short atention spans.

The Cavanagh brothers’ former doom metal band continues their quest to sound different by the record, that may now be defined as some melancholic atmospheric rock, emulating Pink Floyd in their ambience a few times.

The songs have few signs of metal, except Pulled Under At 2000 Metres A Second and Violence (this one until 4:30 or so), being generally characterized by the use of lots of atmospheric sounds and a crescendo in their delivery of sound and instrumental usage throughout their lengths. There are also some progressive rock moments here and then.

The lyrics are melancholic and depressing, and the choruses are repeated a lot. Danny’s vocals usually transmit us pure sadness, making us feel somewhat depressed in most of the tracks, but there’s also some anger, like in Pulled Under.
Despite they aren’t playing metal anymore; we are facing an actually very good album, like there aren’t many around.

Harmonium: This markedly atmospheric track is the one that sounds the most like Pink Floyd. The sound grows on all along the track, with the progressive increase on the drums and on Danny’s voice, showing more and more emotion. Rounding 2:50 minutes, the track reaches its climax, with the powerful entry of the rather distorted sounding guitars. 9/10

Balance: As almost all other tracks, this is another very atmospheric track, with a crescendo of sound. The piano melody in the beginning is somewhat repetitive, being the highlight of the track the guitars reaching the end. 7/10

Closer: A kind of peaceful, ethereal track, featuring very distorted vocals by Danny. The track seems to be pulled out of a dream, and is also quite hypnotic, due to the use of a repetitive drumbeat, that fastens along the track, and to the distortion of the vocals, that make them sound from afar. Once again, the final segment of the track is the finest, mixing the guitars and the drumming that gain power with time and are met by some background shouting, concluding again with the keyboards and Danny’s strange sounding voice. 8/10

Are You There?: The first truly melancholic song. Starting with atmospheric sounds, which precede Danny’s vocals. Then he silences himself, allowing the entry of the drumming and the guitars. When he makes himself heard again, he shows more and more emotion, depicting melancholy, which is well showed when he repeats the track title. The ambience in the last minute or so is simply brilliant. 9/10

Childhood Dream: One short instrumental track, featuring acoustic guitar, keyboards, some child and other atmospheric sounds. It has a very strange ambience, but the track is just too short. 6/10

Pulled Under At 2000 Meters A Second: This is the most powerful track on this release, where Anathema make a short comeback to their metal roots. It starts out with a bass tune, which is the origin of the crescendo that has its peak when Danny shouts the track title, followed by an explosion of drums and guitars. After the first chorus, we are introduced to the most atmospheric segment of the track, which precedes a new apotheosis of power, before the chorus makes its comeback also. As the track nears its end, a highly distorted guitar cradles us. 10/10

A Natural Disaster: An exception throughout this album; this track is mainly interpreted by a female singer. The track starts out with a smooth guitar intro, joined shortly after by Lee’s smooth vocals. A peaceful sounding drumming and the keyboards also appear some time after, and accompany the vocals and guitar, as the track is growing. Danny’s vocals are only heard as we approach the end of the track, in an atmospheric choir, that backgrounds the female vocals. 9/10

Flying: This fairly melancholic track starts with some ambiental sounds, which precede Danny’s vocals and a sad, soft guitar melody. The chorus is simply beautiful and in it’s first apparition it precedes the entry of the drums. As we approach the end, the track really gets superb, with an awesome melody made of guitars, keyboards and drums, ending with some depressing atmospheric sounds. 10/10

Electricity: Another very melancholic song, that starts with a simple piano tune that Danny joins with his voice shortly after. Then the guitar and some depressing sounds make their appearance, creating a sad ambience. In the final part, the best of the track, the drums precede the last apparition of the chorus, which is again solely accompanied by the piano and the atmospheric sounds, ending out abruptly and leaving us filled with emptiness. 9/10

Violence: This instrumental track is completely astounding, a masterpiece that really grows on you as you listen to it more and more. The track starts with a beautiful and melancholic piano melody that grows until the music is an explosive mixture of rather distorted guitars, that almost sound like they are screaming, and drums, more and more powerful, until the climax is reached and silence overcomes shortly after. Then starts a long depressive melody of piano of about six minutes, and some sparse guitar sounds. Beyond beautiful. 10/10

All in all, I recommend this buy to everyone who enjoys really melodic and depressive music, even though it’s not metal. Just remember to keep an open mind.
And the cover art is also amazing. Travis Smith deserves some praise for it.

From their beginnings Anathema have gone through a lot of changes. They’ve lost a Hell lot of fans, and gained some new ones thanks to their later material. I heard Anathema first in this album, so I can that I went backwards through their discography. From their modern stuff to their death/doom days, I can say that I like their modern sound best, just because, for me, it has more feeling and I can relate to their lyrics a lot. And also the songs are so much more moving.

The album starts with “Balance”. This song begins slowly and then a short while after the vocals come into play. Danny’s vocals are very good, soft, just the right vocals for the job. I’d say that the music in the song is a little bit harder than the vocals but it doesn’t ruin the song, but it’s a good song at the end, a good way to open up the album.

Then comes “Balance”, my favorite song. This song begins with a keyboard intro, then drums slowly come from the abyss, then the vocals start very slowly. This song is just an amazing track!! If you ever break up with a girlfriend or whatever, listen to this and you’ll start letting a tear or two drop. F*cking beautiful, full of feeling, and just when you think the song is gonna end then the guitars hammers you and so does the vocals, screaming with pain and sorrow. Damn, who says that to be doomy and depressive you have to play doom metal?!

“Closer” comes next, it has sorta robot vocals. They sound good, but if you don’t like them, then you have to pay attention to the music instead which is just drums and a piano, and then at the end the guitars appear and help end the song.

“Are you there?” is next, but I don’t like this song that much, I just wanted a little more guitar playing in there. It’s more of a full-vocal song, doesn’t let a lot of room to the instruments, and there are strange sounds in the background, and during the whole song a keyboard is playing in the background as well giving it a sort of “heavenly” feel.

“Childhood Dream” is full of samples of kids playing, and acoustic guitars playing, which is the good thing ‘cause I love acoustic guitars, but nothing else here.

“Pulled Under 2000 Meters a Second” is a an amazing song, building suspense with bass from the beginning. It’s a pretty hard song, considering the stuff Anathema plays now, the bass in this songs takes over the guitar, but it fits in perfectly.

“A Natural Disaster”, now, by reading the title alone you might think that this song is just like the one before, but it isn’t. Annie Livingstone sings in this one, she has a very beautiful voice, and the music is pretty calm. Danny sings almost at the end of the song. Overall, a good song, romantic, tragic, just great, good lyrics.

“Flying” wao!! Awesome melodies here! Danny’s vocals are full of sadness and they just infect you with it. Well it IS a sad song so they fit so well! You can’t help it! If you sing along you’ll get sucked right in. In the chorus, especially, is when the vocals really shine their way through, if this doesn’t make you hairs stand up, I don’t know what will, seriously! Amazing song!

“Electricity” this song reminds me of Pink Floyd, a lot! It’s a good song, but sometimes I just skip it, nothing against it, but anyway, it’s good.

“Violence” here we are, this baby right here does not have any vocals in it. The intro here is done on piano, amazingly beautiful, and then comes the guitar building up, then finally the drums come blasting in. This song really doesn’t need lyrics, it’s of those songs that lets the instruments speak for themselves. It gets violent (like the title says) after a while and then back again with the piano and ends perfectly, a great way to the end this album.

Well, as the old adage goes, ‘You’re Damned if you do and Damned if you don’t. Anathema is currently grinding their way through a period of polarization with their fan base. Lauded by some for having the balls to explore different musical directions, yet slated by others for abandoning their old-school ways. It’s the classic Catch-22 situation. They’re not the only band to have made such a bold move, but like one other major metal act who ran the same path, history will show that comparison to their past will continually haunt them no matter what they put out in the future. Having said that, it is probably best that you tackle the new Anathema disc without any preconceived expectations.

There is no doubt that many, many former (and maybe some current) Anathema fans are going to be disappointed in ‘A Natural Disaster’. That disappointment will arise because of the expectations that just maybe 2001’s ‘A Fine Day To Exit’ was an aberration, an experiment gone wrong and the band would again return to their metal roots that so enveloped their earlier material. If you didn’t like AFDTE, then A Natural Disaster won’t convince you any further. I’m not sure what people really expected anyway - Truth is, ever since Alternative 4, Anathema have been heading in this more experimental, moody alt-rock direction. 2000’s Judgment is one of their finest albums ever written, but its hardly metal. AFDTE was perhaps a leap too far in some instances, but considering the development the band took with A4 and Judgment, it is still most definitely an Anathema album.

‘A Natural Disaster’ is simply the next progression from AFDTE. Fans of that album will find plenty of joy within. Anathema were obviously pleased with the way AFDTE turned out and although it received its fair share of backlash, Danny Cavanagh & co have resisted the call for a return to their harsher style and opted to continued pursuing the more experimental and ambitious waters on AND. While it is clear that AND is based on the blueprint laid down on AFDTE, one thing always remains the same with this acts music – their emotional and often melancholic approach. Every Anathema album is a deep, thoughtful, yet thoroughly despondent listen. AND is no different in that respect, it’s just that everything is decidedly more mellower and laid back than ever before. From the strikingly desolate Travis Smith cover art work, the lush Dan Turner production, the use of gentle keyboard passages, Danny Cavanagh’s sophisticated lyrics and weeping guitar lines, AND is another superbly delivered Anathema album – deeply moving and demanding of your total concentration. This is one of those albums that you need to LISTEN to, to fully grasp the musical nuances and depth of composition conveyed. Aside from Sweden’s Katatonia, no other band seems to be able to capture such a ‘blue’ mood like Anathema.

A Natural Disaster, like its predecessor is a grower. I am still unconvinced about some of its content, in the fact that some of the musical ideas seem to get lost in the haze of melancholy and as a result end up being a little unfulfilled (Balance & Electricity) Having said that, there are some moments on this album where the band strips back its sound and incorporates some Judgment style heaviness that makes for excellent listening (Harmonium, Pulled Under…and the 11 minute Violence). I like this album, it is a real ‘ in the mood, late at night, candlelit’ type affair, but with some flawed moments within ultimately AND doesn’t quite hold up as a truly strong Anathema album.

The Anathema of 2003 is a very sophisticated act. Newfound fans (and they must have gained some in order to make this) of AFDTE will embrace the introspective and emotive laden segment of this album with passion. I applaud the bands conviction in resisting the temptation to retread old ground – it may not please the early fans too much, but hey, in the end a band writes for itself. Anathema is clearly not in this for a popularity contest. If anyone else likes it along the way, so be it.

ANATHEMA, an English band formed in 1990, released what is their seventh studio album, “A Natural Disaster”. Also, this is the follow up to the definite step in their career – 2001’s “A Fine Day to Exit”. This album is even more progressive-rock oriented, with some britrock details. It’s like Radiohead and Pink Floyd meeting up for a cup of tea. Yes, tea – for this CD is very gentle, at the very least. It’s not acoustic, though – one can still hear Anathema’s typically driven natural-harmonics, as well as other structures which lead us to wonder about this band’s past works.
Originally a doom metal quintet, it was their first album, “Serenades”, out in 1995, that they became known amongst radical die-hard “headbangers”. Alongside with also British My Dying Bride (still a doom metal band nowadays), Anathema is responsible for the “popularization” (to quote Aaron Stainthorpe, MDB’s vocalist, “you can’t expect to make money out of a band which is so depressive”) of the genre.
Maybe with that in mind, Anathema evolved from a dragged, sad, band, into a progressive rock / britrock band, a band you could actually listen to in a local station, such Coldplay. Their 1999 album, “Judgment”, is the last one in which you can identify some metal writing. The two following albums don’t deny their pop influences, perhaps with the goal to reach more people. However, it’s known that this objective was never reached. It’s also a fact that this band is seriously underrated.
“A Natural Disaster” has its peaks. One of them is the excellent “Pulled Under at 2000 Meters a Second”, undoubtedly this CD’s heaviest song. Also, “Harmonium” and the band’s first single, “Are You There”, deserve to be mentioned. Some interesting songs are the homonym “A Natural Disaster” (try not to think about Antimatter…) and “Electricity”. However, songs such as the ultra-long “Violence” and the utterly boring “Childhood Dream” sound like simple fillers. Which is sad, because that is the atmosphere which takes over the whole CD and makes it acceptable at its most. I’m sorry for those who think it’s beautiful – after flawless albums such as “Alternative 4”, I just can’t help it.

Daniel Cavanagh has officially returned to the Anathema fold and proves the point by writing almost all the material (9 songs out 10) for this new album by himself. Chances might be that "A Natural Disaster" could have sounded more like a side-project, and I have to admit that at first listen I had some doubts leading my mind in this direction. But a first listening impression and "A Natural Disaster" aren't meant to go hand in hand; actually, they tend to annihilate each other, with no room for compromises. No, this is not an easy album, at all. Although it represents the logival expressive extension of the band's former works ("Judgement" and "A Fine Day To Exit"), "A Natural Disaster" will lure us into a completely unkown world... a world devoid of ear-friendly hooks, crushing dynamics and cracks of light to give us a hint of reference in the deep emotional darkness. Though far as anything can be from the band's heavy old days, "A Natural Disaster" could just be Anathema's most extreme work to date. Think of "Kid A"-era Radiohead mixed with Pink Floyd's most anguish-ridden moments ("Animals" to "The Final Cut"), all added to Anathema's trademark feel.

"Minimalistic" is the first word that comes to mind when trying to describe the music hereby presented. For sure, this adjective fits the album well, yet it's just a starting point for a more proper analysis, as the minimalism itself has probably been the starting point for the creation of "A Natural Disaster".
"Harmonium", the album opener, wraps the listener with delicate keyboards, joined by Vincent's warm, almost fragile voice. The mood is relaxed, almost trance-inducing, yet a cold shiver seems to filter from the depths of the sound, a sense of hopelessness and desolation we used to associate to the band's monicker but we've quite never heard since "Alternative 4". This impending sense of calm before the storm, the feeling of being trapped in a destructive cycle with no means to exit is the primary reflection of the music's structure: repetitive, laid back, subtle, almost aimed more to the subconscious than to the ear. And the point of no return, the blast of the storm which would wipe anything out of its way but also clear the way for some sunshine to follow, is never reached. Listening to "A Natural Disaster" is to be trapped in a climax that never reaches its peak, to be subjected to a tension that will never dissolve.
This is apparent at the end of "Balance", where the music starts to rise, tending almost desperately to a final explosion, but instead of that, "Closer" begins, and with it, another nightmarish climb towards a peak we can't see, across a spectral world of echoes and shadows, our only guide being Vincent's voice, turned into something totally inhuman, cold and devoid of feelings by a clever use of vocoder.

Speaking of sound, "A Natural Disaster" brings some fresh air under Anathema's banner. This time around, keyboards and electronics are definitely more prominent than before, yet manage to coexist with the rest of the elements and create the album's trademark mood. Haunting guitar feedbacks, delicate vocal harmonies an dsoothing acoustic meditations walk along this bleak path hand in hand with drum machines, synthetics and a considerable amount of studio effects and manipulations. "Flying", for example, shows all the emotional freshness of a post-"Eternity" Anathema ballad, but "reverse" effects on the guitar here and there remind us of where we are. "A Childhood's Dream", the instrumental truce that marks the end of the first half of the record, consists of a beautiful acoustic melody which sounds improvised on the spot, amplified by a weird reverb and paired with a long, deep synth note in the background and random child voices.
More diverse elements come in the form of Daniel taking over lead vocals in two different songs, the instrospectively melancholic "Are You There?" and the piano driven, hypnotic "Electricity"; female vocals also have a key role in the title track, where refined guitar lamentations are joined by Lee Douglas's wonderful interpretation (which we had already heard on "Judgement", albeit more sparsely).
But there's also a more aggressive side to "A Natural Disaster", where the violence of the feelings can no lnger be tamed. This is the case of "Pulled Under at 2000 Metres a Second", the fastest song of the lot where the Pink Floyd (of Roger Waters signature) influence is most apparent. Here, the climax reaches its liberatory solution when Vincent abruptly raises his voice to scream out the title, something which is bound to impress even more considering that not only this doesn't happen in the rest of the album, but we haven't heard anything like this since the band's Doom Metal days.
The second case is the long closing instrumental, "Violence": a deceptively quiet piano beginning soon turns into a fully instrumentated crescendo which reaches its peak in the middle of the song, where we can hear John's most fierce drumming in Anathema, or almost. The dynamics go down again towards the end, and the album finishes with a long major chord, which gives us a hint that maybe all is not lost yet.
On a final note, Travis Smith's artwork for the album deserves praise, too.

"A Natural Disaster" is a very unique album, which deserves to be heard by anyone who has an open mind. I don't think that, at this point, I still have to point out that anyone who subscribes the "if it's not Metal, it's not good" philosphy shouldn't even get too close to this.