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Anathema, Weather Systems: The Change that’s Always in the Air

More than 20 years into their career since starting in 1990, Anathema are nothing if they’re not divisive. Even among the most dedicated, loyal members of their fanbase (more of a cult, really) one will often hear arguments in favor of or decrying this or that era of the band – their death/doom beginnings as one of the Peaceville three alongside My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the semi-gothic dramatic melody of what’s now their mid-period work, or the melo-prog elements that have surfaced in their sound since 2008’s Hindsight found them revisiting and rearranging older material with a decidedly new look. Their new studio album, Weather Systems, follows another such revisiting, last year’s Falling Deeper (review here), which in a fascinating process took musical and lyrical pieces of their death/doom songs and breathed new life into them – somewhat more complex than the rearrangements of Hindsight, but also further from what the songs originally were as a result. Before Falling Deeper, Anathema had what was then their first studio outing of new material in seven years. That was the long-awaited We’re Here Because We’re Here, released through Kscope Music in 2010 with eventual North American issue by The End Records last year. Kscope and The End align again with the band to release Weather Systems, as Anathema dives deeper into the rich melodic and progressive course that We’re Here Because We’re Here seemed to be steering toward.

And as ever, it’s an album that no doubt will spark and continue many a debate about which Anathema era is the strongest. Tracks based on the weather thematic like “Lightning Song,” “The Gathering of the Clouds,” “Sunlight” and the nine-plus-minute exercise in contrast, “The Storm Before the Calm” speak to some thread running throughout, but as much as guitarist Vincent Cavanagh’s vocals shine here as they always do and Lee Douglas has stepped up her presence in the band’s songwriting, there are parts of Weather Systems that simply sound over-produced and that ultimately take away from the emotion Anathema is trying to convey, which has always been at the center of what they do no matter what the material might actually sound like or which genre it might be aligned or not aligned with. On “The Storm Before the Calm,” for example, the first half – presumably “the storm” – features dated-sounding electronic drums that gradually build amid a cloud-swirl of vocals repeating the line “It’s getting colder,” reminding of something A Perfect Circle might have been able to convince themselves was groundbreaking more than a decade ago, building gradually to a mash of abrasive noise that eventually gives way to silence – i.e., “the calm.” That back half of the track is one of Weather Systems’ finest moments, with Danny Cavanagh’s piano backing his brother’s and Douglas’ gorgeous, lush and fully-engaged vocals amid strings, drum punctuation from John Douglas, a triumph of guitars and melodic delivery taking hold and swaying the song to its finish. It’s a beautiful, stunning stretch, and I’d gladly point to it as an example of the kind of dramatic potency this era of Anathema can produce at its best – one can’t help in listening but be affected by it – but the more I listen, the more I wish “The Calm” and “The Storm” had been two separate tracks so I could skip the one to get to the other.

That specific kind of unevenness persists, and Weather Systems seems to be executed in movements of it. Opening duo “Untouchable Part 1” and “Untouchable Part 2” offset overdone vocal arrangements in their first part (the “prog” influence comes out as well in fast-picked guitars and double-time drumming) with a simple, piano-driven hook in the second, Vincent and Lee turning in one of the album’s most impassioned vocal performances complemented by characteristically swirling guitar melodies and the effective underlying bass of Jamie Cavanagh. Right away, Weather Systems, like life, like the meteorology for which it’s named, has its ups and downs. “The Gathering of the Clouds” takes the frenetic picking of “Untouchable Part 1” and partners it with a more effective vocal build, layers piling on so that by the time John’s bass drum comes in to provide extra push, the song almost doesn’t need it for the energy it conveys, cutting with strings to the more subdued but still in-motion “Lightning Song.” Lee takes the fore on vocals here and proves able to carry the track on her own without any trouble, but when a distorted guitar introduces itself at 3:16 with two quick chugs before taking full hold of the song, the tone sounds thin and doesn’t produce the same kind of chill up the spine as it otherwise might, or as the subsequent “Sunlight” does almost with John’s drums alone as its build pays off toward the end. Nonetheless, that’s one of Weather Systems’ heaviest movements and something fans clamoring for that side of their sound – which so effectively propelled standout tracks like “Panic” from 2001’s A Fine Day to Exit and “Pulled Under at 2,000 Metres a Second” from 2003’s A Natural Disaster – will cling onto in listening.

Perhaps to further the clearly prevalent notion of contrast that shows up throughout Weather Systems – because after nine full-length albums and numerous other studio offerings and collections like Hindsight and Falling Deeper, one has to believe Anathema have a clear idea of what they want their records to be and aren’t just making these songs by happenstance or without some level of self-awareness working behind them; they’ve more than earned the benefit of the doubt on that level – some of the album’s strongest material shows up closer to its finish. Tracks like the Vincent-fronted “The Beginning and the End” (more contrast) and “The Lost Child” work with simpler arrangements and wind up better for it, the latter especially as it comes to its peak and resets itself to its quiet beginnings over the course of its last two minutes or so. Again with “The Beginning and the End,” I want more depth in the guitar tone, but Jamie’s bass works well to round out the low end, and the piano bolsters the melody, the song functioning as an effective complement for the earlier “Lightning Song” but handling its balance better and more evenly. Closer “Internal Landscapes” recalls “Angels Walk Among Us” from We’re Here Because We’re Here, starting with a sample of a man talking about an out of body experience over a wash of synth melody before acoustic guitar is introduced behind, with drums gradually kicking in and Lee’s vocals taking over after two minutes in. Notions of fleeting time, mortality or the impermanence of life have always been present in Anathema’s music, but much as it’s not really new ground for the band to cover, “Internal Landscapes” is a more relaxed, patient, build.

It’s also harder to place stylistically. The acoustic and electric guitar interplay is enhanced by a solid drum groove as both Vincent and Lee come on to cap the progression before – as they’ve done several times throughout Weather Systems already – they return the song to its peace. More sampled speech rounds out the structure, and it’s the background ringing tones, which would be eerie if they weren’t so pretty, that do the honor of ending this latest step in Anathema’s seemingly endless development. As much as their fans can pick and choose which era most speaks to or for them, one has to objectively admire a band that, 22 years on, you still have no idea going into an album what you’re going to get. For better or worse and sometimes for both, Anathema are relentlessly, ceaselessly creative, and as Weather Systems puts them closer to mastering the form they’ve adopted this time out, one gets the sense also that this record is just a step on the way to the next. There will be those who listen who are unable to reconcile themselves to the band’s current modus, and those who listen to Weather Systems feeling that it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever done and that its brilliance is unmatched by any work in their rather considerable catalog. I’m between the two extremes. As a longtime fan, I delight in Weather Systems’ familiar elements and am intrigued as ever by the changes these new songs bring, but some of the unevenness is off-putting, and there are a few experiments here that just fall flat – the first half of “The Storm Before the Calm” being the most prevalent example that comes to mind – so ultimately it’s a tradeoff of what works for what doesn’t. One knows, however, that Anathema will persist regardless of opinion or outcome in their perpetual search for whatever it might be they haven’t found yet, and again, as a fan, it’s easy to take comfort in that.

Anathema’s website

Kscope Music

The End Records

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One Response to “Anathema, Weather Systems: The Change that’s Always in the Air”

  1. Steve says:

    Yeah, good review. The only mistake is that Jamie doesn’t play on this album (barring the uneven ‘The Storm Before The Calm”).

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