Anathema - A Fine Day To Exit

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Koch Entertainment
Catalog Number: 8245
Format: CD
Total Time: 62:27:00

These guys are legendary in the U.K. and it's no wonder, as they sound an awful lot like Pink Floyd on this album, and that's a bloody good thing, if I say so myself. Does Doom Metal, Goth Metal, Heavy Metal, Death Metal/Black Metal ring a bell? That is what this group used to sound like; if that's what you think you are going to get, forget it, it's not going to happen. The reason I had never heard of this group before is because I have never been into the doom and gloom death metal scene, heavy metal yes, but that's about as far as it has gone for me. Black Sabbath was probably the heaviest group I listened to growing up.

The guitar-playing brothers Vincent and Danny Cavanaugh form a fearsome team. They formed in 1990, and originally they were called Pagan Angel. Vocalist Darren White, bassist Duncan Patterson, and drummer John Douglas joined the brothers to become Anathema. The current lineup is Danny Cavanagh (guitars), Vincent Cavanagh (vocals, guitars), John Douglas (drums), Les Smith (keyboards), and George Roberts - session (live) bassist.

I wasn't at all disappointed with this effort, but I know their longtime fans just might be, and then again maybe not, it depends if you have sundry musical taste buds or not. I particularly enjoyed the quiet interludes followed by the trademark prog-rock crashing down with a wall of sound made up of thundering drums, thumping bass lines, and rockin' and rippin' guitar. The vocals really did remind me of Roger Waters during some of his finest moments with Pink Floyd. After taking you through the many textures and colors of their musical passages, the last song "Temporary Peace" is a real mind bender. After around nine minutes of varying degrees of artful rock, highlighted by swells of progressive rock lying underneath the sound of a gentle surf, tidal waves come rushing through. And after several more minutes of quiet, there is some mumbling and talk of chickens and dogs ... interesting, did somebody smoke some weed before they went in the studio? (just kidding) After another five minutes clicks by, and you are going crazy wondering when the music is going to start again, at just about the fifteen-minute mark, the songs picks up again and it finally finishes. Make sure you are at home when listening to this because if you're in the car you have to find the right spot to finish the ninth track at home, I did!

A Fine Day To Exit strikes me as being something more than referring to spacing out; it makes me think of what the great Indian Chief Crazy Horse said, "Hoka Hey! (It's a fine day to die)." Now that has meaning.

This is a very consistent and entertaining release that will garner a lot of attention from the critics and gain many new fans along the way. I look forward to seeing the development and changes that this group is going to go through. It will be quite a ride to be on, so stay tuned in and turned on to their music.

Also released by Music For Nations

Tracklisting:
Pressure (6:44) / Release (5:47) / Looking Outside Inside (6:23) / Leave No Trace (4:46) / Underworld (4:09) / Barriers (5:53) / Panic (3:30) / A Fine Day To Exit (6:49) / Temporary Peace (18:26)

Musicians:
Vincent Cavanaugh - guitars, vocals
Danny Cavanaugh - guitars
Les Smith - keyboards
George Roberts - bass
John Douglas - drums

Discography:
The Crestfallen (1992)
Serenades (1993/2003)
Pentecost III (ep) (1995)
The Silent Engima (1995/2003)
Eternity (1996/2003)
Alternative 4 (1998)
Judgement (1999)
A Fine Day To Exit (2001)
Resonance: Best Of Anathema (2001)
Resonance, Vol 2 (2002)
A Natural Disaster (2004)
Hindsight (2008)
We're Here Because We're Here (2010)
Falling Deeper (2011)
Weather Systems (2012)
Distant Satellites (2014)

Were You There (DVD) (2004)
Univseral (DVD/BR) (2013)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin UK

Added: October 26th 2001
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck

Artist website: www.anathema.ws
Hits: 2599
Language: english