Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

Genre: Prog, New Prog
Name: Anathema
Album: We're Here Because We're Here, 2010
No more are they subject to the Anathema...

Anathema, one of the original Peaceville three, never really seemed to hold a place in my heart as a really good band. This was for a number of reasons, partly my annoyance that they gave up being a doom metal band, as did Paradise Lost, with only My Dying Bride retaining, in my eyes, some form of integrity; I perceived that the others had sold out. As a result, I didn't follow either career with a great deal of interest, which is why it's taken close to a year for me to actually listen to this release.

Certainly, it is nothing like the original Anathema. It bears little or no resemblance to An Iliad of Woes or Serenades, with their low-tuned guitars and heavy atmosphere. But that is because it is now a completely different genre. Anathema, once the pioneers of doom metal, are now not even part of that scene.

I'll admit that this is old news for many of you; they've been drifting this way since Eternity. However, for those readers who were not aware of the band's history, I felt it important to make this clear. This album, I think, is somewhat of the antithesis of doom metal, and therefore, once you know the background, the inception of Anathema's career, it bears witness to their excellent talent as musicians, that they are capable of composing music in such a wide variety of styles.

This album, I feel, is the epitome of New Prog, a combination of progressive metal and rock with alternative music, and showcased in bands like Coheed And Cambria and The Mars Volta. The album showcases this excellently, combining heavy sections that are indubitably metal with light, atmospheric sections that would be hard pushed to be called rock. As a result, you have an album which fills the roles both of background and foreground music, something you put on and also something you listen to.

It comes, of course, with an extensive credentials. My first thoughts of this album were that it sounded like a heavier version of Porcupine Tree, and I was not mistaken in my sensing of Steven Wilson's hand in this work (He, and Jordan Rudess, seem to be appearing on everything I listen to at the moment) - he produced and mixed the album. On the exceptionally well-written keyboards, you find Les "Lecter" Smith, of Cradle Of Filth (Specifically, he was on, amongst others, the album Cruelty And The Beast, one of their best). Beyond this, you have the Finnish singer Ville Valo making a guest appearence on Angels Walk Among Us. And, of course, you have the Cavanagh trio and the Douglases making up Anathema. In short, it has got an excellent cast.

Musically, it's very well good. There are a range of vocal styles and vocalists, combined with the occasional use of samples, all of which combine to carry the album. The guitar work is excellent, as is the bass. The drumming is very well done, at times the background and at times leading the piece. But the keyboards are by far the best instrument in this album, creating excellent atmospheres and stunning music. To point any track out as the best would be to undermine any others, and it is their role as an album that makes We're Here Because We're Here so great. Each song is brought in by the one before it and carries into the one after it so gracefully and elegantly to say that any individual piece is better than any other is to say that you like that corner of the painting more than anything else within it. It is the painting as a whole, the album as a whole, that is so excellent, and why this one is worth a listen.

Summary: A must for Porcupine Tree fans; brilliant new prog.
Lyrical Themes: the philosophical and actual roles of love and the fragility of human life.
Rating: 8/10

Track listing:
1. Thin Air
2. Summernight Horizon
3. Dreaming Light
4. Everything
5. Angels Walk Among Us
6. Presence
7. A Simple Mistake
8. Get Off, Get Out
9. Universal
10. Hindsight

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Ava Inferi - The Silhouette

Genre: Doom, Funeral
Name: Ava Inferi
Album: The Silhouette, 2007
The Hell of Birds

Once again, I didn't post something at the weekend. This was a combination of concerts, paintballing and sheer laziness. Still, I got round to it eventually

Whilst searching for tickets to see My Dying Bride this summer in London, I came across the opening act, Ava Inferi. A little research later, and I thought they'd be worth a listen, especially since they described themselves as "soul" on their myspace page. However, whilst that aspect was clear to see on the one song provided, I did not find it so with this album - certainly they were doom, but no other label can be moulded to their shape, I feel.

The Silhouette was certainly worth a listen, however. For a start, somewhat unusually for doom metal bands, there are only clean, female vocals throughout this album, which adds for a bit of variety amongst other such bands - indeed, there is even a purely vocal song, Oathbound, which features a slightly odd choir. In addition, the piano, so often overused by doom bands, makes only a brief appearance here, but is used very well in The Dual Keys. The guitars consistently play decent riffs, and the drums avoid standard and dull rhythms, notably on Viola. All in all, it seems very good.

However, there are a couple of minor flaws. Firstly, there is an over-reliance on samples - the album opens with the recording of a beach, which is fine in itself; the very next track, rain begins to patter on something like corrugated iron (or maybe they've just spilt some frozen peas); later on you find clips of fire, by which point it is getting a bit wearing, and then, towards the end, you can hear sounds of either digging or footsteps or some general sounds from the leaf-litter, which is not only unclear but now nearly downright annoying.

This is really just part of a grander point - although the tracks were individually good, as an album, The Silhouette was not particularly coherent. Take, for example, tracks 7 and 8. La Stanza Nera ends rather abruptly, which isn't a problem, but then Grin Of Winter comes in, with a grating and generally irritating beginning, which would have been far better out of context. This album has the flow of a river, on level ground, in the middle of the desert, during the dry season, and which isn't actually a river, but rather just a large, unmoving rock.


Summary: Good songs, poorly ordered. Listen to it on shuffle.

Lyrical Themes: Nature, Despair, Love, Death

Rating: 6.5/10

Track listing:
1. A Dança das Ondas
2. Viola
3. The Abandoned
4. Oathbound
5. The Dual Keys
6. Wonders of Dusk
7. La Stanza Nera
8. Grin of Winter
9. Pulse of the Earth

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Evoken | Beneath The Frozen Soil - Split

Genre: Doom Metal, Drone Metal
Name: Evoken and Beneath The Frozen Soil
Album: Split EP, 2010
Droning on and on and on

Unfortunately, there isn't really enough to say about this for a full review. I had expected very good things from Evoken, and thought that if I reviewed this split, I could talk about Beneath The Frozen Soil too. However, there was actually very little to say.

In this release, at least, Evoken did little to back up their apparant notability and success in the doom metal scene. Although the riffs on the guitar were vaguely interesting, the only change in dynamics or tempo were brought by the drums, which created only a weak illusion of speed - the riff would remain constant, but suddenly the drums would speed up significantly, without any change in melody whatsoever. This, it seemed was their only contribution to the "death" in their supposed "death/doom" tag. I found their music, at least in parts, closer to drone metal than traditional doom - it sounded more like Wreck Of The Hesperus or perhaps some less distorted Moss. This release is possibly not their best, but I cannot say that enjoyed their part in it particularly, as proven by the fact that I began to fall asleep. I will, however, investigate some other works of theirs, to see if they can redeem themselves.

On the other hand, Beneath The Frozen Soil seemed to be the better band, fitting more in the death/doom niche that Evoken had so skillfully avoided. The gutteral vocals were quite good, the guitar not atrocious, but nothing was particularly notable. They are worth a listen, but there is nothing that makes them stand out.

Summary: Fairly dull and unoriginal for the most part, but good "filler" music, if you want
Lyrical Themes: Suffering and Dissillusion
Rating: 5.5/10
Track listing:
Evoken
1. Omniscient
2. The Pleistocene Epoch
3. Vestigial Fears
4. Into the Primal Shrine
Beneath The Frozen Soil
5. Ironlung
6. Monotone Black I
7. Monotone Black II

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Myspace Beneath The Frozen Soil

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My Dying Bride - The Lies I Sire

Genre: Death-Doom Metal
Name: My Dying Bride
Album: For Lies I Sire, 2009
Like Gods of the Sunset sounds...

Ironically, for a band I haven't reviewed, I think My Dying Bride are the most mentioned band on here - they feature at least once on 5 different pages, and on all but one of those they are referred to multiple times. Therefore, I thought it only sensible that I should at least give those who have not heard them a chance to have a listen to at least some of their music, and see why I go on about them so much.

Picking which album to review was always going to be a tough decision - their body of work is so expansive, to pick any one limb of it would be to leave the bulk of the corpus untouched and unexplained - should I go for the arm that is Like Gods Of The Sun, with the excellent violin and traditional doom sound? But what about 34.788%... Complete, the experimental brain of their work? And how could I ignore the shining, glorious face that is A Line Of Deathless Kings? There was so much from which to choose, but only one that I could pick. I briefly contemplated a Meisterwerk, but they precede some of my favourites - The Dreadful Hours and Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light would be ignored, to say the least. Eventually, however, I made my choice.

Prior to my note-taking for this review, it would be a lie to have said that I had listened to For Lies I Sire, My Dying Bride's latest release. I had heard all of the songs, many, many times in most cases, but I had never sat down, put on the CD, turned off the lights, lain down on the floor and just absorbed the music (according to Tom Delonge of Angels and Airwaves, you should listen to albums with just the light of a single candle to see by). So, with notepad in hand, that is just what I did - turned on the album, and closed my eyes. And it was brilliant.

It is not my favourite album of theirs, but then that is like saying that of all the Fender Stratocasters in the world, you dislike that one the most. Aside from their early and more Deathening works, which I enjoy, but not as much as everything from Turn Loose The Swans onwards, I think that every album My Dying Bride have made is a masterpiece in its own right, and this was no exception. Right from the very first track, My Body, a Funeral, which opens with a lone slow guitar riff, and Stainthorpe's plaintive voice in exquisite harmony, you can tell that this album will be exceptional. However, they do not stick to purely slow and doom-laden riffs - the other side of the coin is showcased in the vary next track, Fall With Me, which is faster and heavier, the Death of Death-Doom metal, but without it jarring in the ear. The title track is similarly awe-inspiring, with the same atmosphere of dread and fear, and the album goes on to end, somewhat aptly, with Death Triumphant. Throughout the album, you find tracks of exquisite beauty and pathos interwoven with those of anger and rage, you find smooth curves juxtaposed with jagged edges, and you see harmony and dissonance each play their part in a mystifying but fascinating dance.

Through this dance, however, you can hear other albums, reflections beneath the surface, just occasionally managing to sneak a sound or a face above the water, to let you know that they're still there, that they haven't gone away. This is most noticeable in A Chapter In Loathing, the penultimate track, which begins with the same riff which closed A Line Of Deathless Kings. It's also apparent in other tracks - Bring Me Victory has drums with just smack of those of Apocalypse Woman from 34.788%... Complete, for example. All of those other albums which are the columns of My Dying Bride's temple are still there, if you only listen.

But it's not all the same old stuff, regurgitated just like a puppy that's eaten chocolate - My Dying Bride are not a puppy but a full grown hound, and it turns out that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Santario Di Sangue is a prime example of this - here, for what I believe to be the first time (other than a sample of some rain on The Dreadful Hours), they have used sound effects - specifically, that of a whinnying horse and a spade shovelling the earth, which, for me, at least, brings to mind grave robbery. These are, to some degree, awkwardly positioned - the sudden stop did make me think that they were the start of a new song, rather than the third minute of the current one - but they work well with the shrieking violin, if you can call it that, which isn't instantly identified as an instrument, since it blends so perfectly with the sample.

The lyrics, of course are as excellent as always: Stainthorpe (who is incidentally also an artist, and a rather good one at that - click the link for 12 pages of artistic and gothic nightmares. And a picture of a friend at an exhibition they were at) keeps some of his trademarks - for example, in Echoes From A Hollow Soul, he uses his traditional biblical imagery, talking of "sons of Adam" and "daughters of Eve" (Narnia, anyone?), and in ShadowHaunt there are lines which seem inspired by Wordsworth (specifically, the line "Through forests she walks every day" seems to me to be similar to She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways, and Stainthorpe has admitted being inspired by Romantic poetry before). However, he has also kept from his usual erotic verse, not writing (as far as my mind can tell) any of his usual poetic, imaginative, metaphorical and yet sordid but still dignified songs, songs like The Whore, The Cook And The Mother and Le Figilie Della Tempesta.
Besides from lyrics, he also employs a range of vocal styles - in this album, there are clean vocals, two different kinds of death metal grunts, whispers and a choir (whilst technically not him, this does still come under vocals).

So, in conclusion, I feel this was the best album to have chosen not only because I could come to it afresh, not jaded by any previous emotions of the songs, not only because it is an excellent album, with no single moment that seems a mistake, but because it is an excellent introduction to My Dying Bride's magna opera, being a combination of old and new techniques, and thus a good album to post for any newcomer to the Doom metal scene.


Summary: Kings of the doom metal genre once again prove to the baying crowds why they are the rulers of their kingdom
Lyrical Themes: Despair, pain, romance, losing faith
Rating: 10/10 - recommended
Track listing:
1. My Body, A Funeral
2. Fall With Me
3. The Lies I Sire
4. Bring Me Victory
5. Echoes from a Hollow Soul
6. ShadowHaunt
7. Santuario di Sangue
8. A Chapter in Loathing
9. Death Triumphant

Myspace - Although one can easily bring the officialness of this page into question, it has music to listen to.

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Lack of regular post.

No post this weekend; I was out at several gourmet evenings, an art exhibition, a couple of wine tastings, a tour round NASA and a playground with a slide.

Also, the Draconian discography is not up yet because I am still tracking down a couple of LPs. I think I've located them, and they will be up shortly (i.e. hopefully by wednesday).

Anyway, quit whining, I gave you bonus posts last week.

Draconian - Where Lovers Mourn

Genre: Doom Metal
Name: Draconian
Album: Where Lovers Mourn, 2003
It is said that Draco himself, when asked why he had fixed the punishment of death for most offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes to deserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones - Plutarch, The Life Of Solon

Of late, I have been trawling the internet looking for a good doom metal band whom I have not yet heard; it had occured to me that, whilst My Dying Bride, Swallow The Sun and Triptykon were all very good, even when I had every last song, it still wasn't enough. So, I have been for a stroll through the tubes, and come across a variety of bands - some atrociously bad, some hilariously awful, and some so unoriginal as to be the greatest acts of plagiarism since Nosferatu, but none that I genuiniely enjoyed for the music. None, that was, until Draconian came up on my radar.

They passed the initial checks - I hadn't heard of them before, and they didn't seem the usual satanist, bland, raging rubbish that passes for metal these days. I gave them a listen, and I was not disappointed - far from the expected atrocities, I was treated to a rather excellent and exceptionally enjoyable album - Where Lovers Mourn.

Draconian have several things that make it a cut above the rest - the exceptional vocals, the wide use of instruments and the ability to be cheesy without being cheesy. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that it is the band's first full-length album.

The primary reason for the vocals being so impressive - and of course bear in mind that vocals are more important in Doom Metal than many other forms of music (choirs, of course, excluded) - is because they come in so many varieties. For starters, they have two members of the band who are purely vocals - not singing and guitar, not singing and keys, not singing and violin - just purely their because of their voices. There are three different vocal styles in fewer than the first three minutes of the album - by 2:16 of The Cry Of Silence you have had clean vocals, female singing and then death growls. In addition, none of these are weak, or tacked on - each plays its own part, and sounds damned good whilst doing so. The singing harmonies on A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal (note the Wordsworth reference - Romantic era poetry and doom metal go hand in hand, it seems) are exquisite, and there is more excellent vocal work on The Solitude.

Aside from vocals, the instrumentation is very good as well - the two guitars work well together, and the bass is certainly interesting. But besides this they have a variety of other instruments employed to create a multitude of textures. For example, the piano on the end of track one is mournful indeed (my one problem is that it seems tacked on the end - the song fades away, then the piano fades in; the one thing which I dislike about this album is that they didn't integrate that piano more); the piano then appears quietly in the background in The Solitude. Besides this, there is an acoustic introduction to Akherousia and rather delightful strings to be found in tracks two and three.
The range of instruments, however, is not confined to riff-based melodies or chord sequences, as doom metal often can be - there are themes and even a solo or two to be found amongst the songs. All in all, it is musically very good.

As for the "cheese factor", all indicators would suggest that it would be there in abundance. The final line of The Cry Of Silence begins with "Oh my God", which has a faint air of a teenage girl complaining about her curfew to her mother, and throughout the lyrics there are spatterings of "thee" and "thou" and "art", and many more "olde worlde" words. In addition, they are no strangers to standard sound effects - their next album, Arcane Rain Fell would begin with the sound of rainfall, with a thunderclap just as the words begin (that said, Dream Theater got away with that). However, despite all this, somehow you don't cringe; somehow, it all actually works together and sounds rather good. It's not self-concious, and it's not overdone. The words and phrases all fit, thread and flow together well, creating a brilliant album which is definately worth a listen.


Summary: Excellent doom metal, in the vein of My Dying Bride; similar, but not derivative

Lyrical Themes: depression, lonliness, misanthropy

Rating: 9/10 - recommended

Track listing:
1.The Cry of Silence
2.Silent Winter
3.A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
4.The Solitude
5.Reversio ad Secessum
6.The Amaranth
7.Akherousia
8.It Grieves My Heart

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Discography - DELAYED DUE TO TECHNICAL HICCUP, expect it Thursday, or Friday at the very latest.
unfortunately, I am missing one demo (Shades Of A Lost Moon), their compilation (The Burning Halo) and one single (No Greater Sorrow). Links to these would be appreciated, and then this can and will be updated as soon as possible.

Angtoria - God Has A Plan For Us All

Genre: Gothic Metal
Name: Angtoria
Album: God Has A Plan For Us All, 2006
Music begets more music

I cam across this album while researching My Dying Bride, and discovering that Aaron Stainthorpe had done some of the vocals. So, after a brief excursion to Youtube, I decided that this band must be worth a listen, and I wasn't too disappointed.

This band has quite some musical heritage: The singer, Sarah Jezebel Deva, was a member of Cradle of Filth, the brothers Chris and Tommy Rehn have been in Abyssos and Moahni Moahna, respectively, and the bassist is Dave Pybus of Cradle of Filth (again) and Anathema and the drummer appears to have been from a certian My Own Grave (not the one that features on this album, however. Originally just Deva and Chris Rehn, who met while touring together, after a successful demo including the cover of a Kylie Minogue song, the band featured on a compilation and then recorded this in 2006.

As for the orchestration, you can clearly here the influence of Cradle of Filth in the extensive use of orchestras - this also is the result of C. Rehn's idea for a completely orchestral project. Throughout this album the orchestra, and especially the strings, provide a melodic background, to the extent that guitars are few and far between. However, the one purely orchestral piece does not live up to the rest of the album - the introductory track Awakening seems, whilst not quite atonal, to be lacking an actual melody, and is more a series of themes, placed one after the other, swiftly changing and never developed. Fortunately, in later songs Angtoria easily show that they are capable of much more.
Aside from the orchestra, there is also exceptional use of keyboards and synthesisers, especially in Suicide On My Mind, which add an interesting touch of variety from time to time. The percussion section is also very good - whilst the drums never seem divinely inspired, there is an interesting use of rhythm from time to time, and the more relaxed and mellow percussion on What The Wise Lady Said. Indeed, The Addiction sees the use of very good drums, reminiscent of E. S. Posthumus

However, I did have one or two problems. I won't mention about how dull it is that the entire album is in common time, but I will express a personal dislike for the singer's voice. Whilst in Cradle of Filth, she was very good; however, in this album, aside from the fairly predictable vocal melodies, there is just something, some sort of twang in Deva's voice that I can't get along with. However, that is just my opinion, and she is a very capble singer - in the intro to Confide in Me, there is an excellent moment when you start of listening to a violin, and then, slowly and subtley, it changes, until you have an epiphany when you realise that what was once a (very good) violin melody is now being sung, but you couldn't pinpoint the change at all. Besides this, there is a bit of variety created by the use of death growls in Original Sin, which create an interesting change whilst remaining comprehensible. Another variation is found in Original Sin, where Stainthorpe makes his token appearance with a spoken contribution.

In addition, the almost obligatory use of breaks does tend to wear a bit as the album progresses, since there is a moment in almost every song where everything just stops for a second or two, then carries on. As a musical device, it is somewhat overused, and rarely well executed - look at Suicide On My Mind. However, once again, there are moments where it is very, very good: for example the breaks in Deity of Disgust are excellent.

In conclusion, therefore, I would say this is a good album, but not a great one. It has its moments, but it also has its flaws. Overall, however, it is worth a listen, and I'd recommend it to any Gothic metal fan.

Summary: Interesting and well orchestrated Gothic metal, but with a few problems that need a bit of a patch

Lyrical Themes: "abuse in general"

Rating: 6/10

Track listing:
1.The Awakening
2.I'm Calling
3.God Has a Plan For Us All
4.Suicide On My Mind
5.Deity Of Disgust
6.The Addiction
7.Six Feet Under's Not Deep Enough
8.Do You See Me Now?
9. Original Sin
10. Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned
11. Confide In Me (as made famous by Kylie Minogue)
12. That's What The Wise Lady Said


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