Hmm.. I like Serenades. lol "Lovelorn Rhapsody" has to be one of the best doom songs of all time. IMO anyways. xD

Serenades is brilliant. I juat love Darren White's vocals as well. I think Serenades is better than The Silent Enigma especially sue to White's vocals.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.09.2010 at 23:23

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 01.09.2010 at 23:09

Nope their best albums without a doubt are the first two.

You forgot an "imo" on that sentence because Serenades is godamn BORING at times for me, only A Silent Enigma was very good from that period.

You're right. It's absolutely boring & dull. I know you didn't said absolutely boring, but it's boring anyway. I've never been able to find out why there's a group of people that like that album so much. A Silent Enigma is way better.

Written by BloodTears on 01.09.2010 at 22:22


Just found out Anathema will return to Lisbon in November. Maybe you can go to that one. I surely will

Sweet! Maybe I'll be able to go in November!

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 02.09.2010 at 02:54

Serenades is brilliant. I juat love Darren White's vocals as well. I think Serenades is better than The Silent Enigma especially sue to White's vocals.

Wow. I actually agree with you on this one. Who knew? Serenades is one of my favourite Anathema albums

It is brilliant indeed.

Written by Dark Blood on 02.09.2010 at 11:41

Written by BloodTears on 01.09.2010 at 22:22


Just found out Anathema will return to Lisbon in November. Maybe you can go to that one. I surely will

Sweet! Maybe I'll be able to go in November!

Maybe we can meet there then!

Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.09.2010 at 23:23

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 01.09.2010 at 23:09

Nope their best albums without a doubt are the first two.

You forgot an "imo" on that sentence because Serenades is godamn BORING at times for me, only A Silent Enigma was very good from that period.

Lost Paradise and As The Flower Withers were way better debuts imo.

I kiind of second the opinion about Serenades, the album tends to suck a bit at times. The Silent Enigma is much much better.
Lost Paradise and As the Flower Withers are... weak. It was Gothic and Turn Loose the Swans that made PL and MDB great bands.
Generally, down with first albums of these three bands, their sophomore efforts are much better

Written by Daniell on 02.09.2010 at 15:23

Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.09.2010 at 23:23

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 01.09.2010 at 23:09

Nope their best albums without a doubt are the first two.

You forgot an "imo" on that sentence because Serenades is godamn BORING at times for me, only A Silent Enigma was very good from that period.

Lost Paradise and As The Flower Withers were way better debuts imo.

I kiind of second the opinion about Serenades, the album tends to suck a bit at times. The Silent Enigma is much much better.
Lost Paradise and As the Flower Withers are... weak. It was Gothic and Turn Loose the Swans that made PL and MDB great bands.
Generally, down with first albums of these three bands, their sophomore efforts are much better

I disagree with LP and As The Flower being weak albums. As The Flower still beats Turn Loose in all fields imo. Gothic broke MDB ot the masses but was in fact less original than ATFW. LP is a great album but not as good as Serenades and is totally underrated. And I actually prefer LP to Gothic due to Gothic's weak sound

Written by BloodTears on 02.09.2010 at 14:34


Maybe we can meet there then!

Yeah! I'll let you know if I'll be able to go

Found this. Vincent broke down in tears at the fans emotional singing

Always found that song a little awkward live.

New song is awesome, by the way. Gonna be a great record, hopefully a little less noodling than on WHBWH. That album was great (Thin Air is one of their best songs ever), but it got a little slow towards the end.

Yeah I love the new song too, they seem to have found a comfort zone and I'm really happy with this new sound.
About WHBWH maybe it got slow towards the end but instead we got some nice variation especially the last 3 songs

Written by IronAngel on 24.02.2012 at 13:58

Always found that song a little awkward live.

New song is awesome, by the way. Gonna be a great record, hopefully a little less noodling than on WHBWH. That album was great (Thin Air is one of their best songs ever), but it got a little slow towards the end.

Steve Wilson helped them so much with the last record (the sound is sooo noticable) I wonder what direction the band will take...

It's funny, because I generally hate Steven Wilson, his own (recent) music and his production style. Yet WHBWH is one of Anathema's best records, I think.

Written by IronAngel on 24.02.2012 at 13:58
Always found that song a little awkward live.

Why?
I always found it amazing how much the audience connects with that song.

Also... WHBWH is still to me one of their weakest, then again it has been such a looong time since I've heard it so I'm not even sure if I feel the same way about it. Don't remember the songs, just the dissapointment.
Alternative 4, Judgement and A Natural Disaster are still their best albums to me. The Silent Enigma too but I'm not counting it right now since I'm just talking about the less metal Anathema.

Written by InnerSelf on 24.02.2012 at 12:49

Found this. Vincent broke down in tears at the fans emotional singing

I was there and I was crying too

Probably one of the best shows I've ever went to and the band said the same. It's not everyday you have an audience of people who sing every single song at the top of their lungs, always louder than the band. That one was particularly emotion for Vincent.

It was a beautiful moment.

Written by BloodTears on 10.03.2012 at 13:15
It was a beautiful moment.

Jealous... Similar thing happened to my ex-stepbrother who saw Anathema twice in Chile and both times the audience sang the entire One Last Goodbye and made softy Vincent cry. It's seems like it's a real anthem in their discography.

Who can blame him, it's a powerful song dedicated to his mother.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 10.03.2012 at 13:21

Written by BloodTears on 10.03.2012 at 13:15
It was a beautiful moment.

Jealous... Similar thing happened to my ex-stepbrother who saw Anathema twice in Chile and both times the audience sang the entire One Last Goodbye and made softy Vincent cry. It's seems like it's a real anthem in their discography.

Who can blame him, it's a powerful song dedicated to his mother.

I know. It's always gonna be a powerful song personally for him. So, yeah. You never saw them live? But that show was something else, to tell the grandchildren for sure.

Written by BloodTears on 10.03.2012 at 13:15

I was there and I was crying too

Probably one of the best shows I've ever went to and the band said the same. It's not everyday you have an audience of people who sing every single song at the top of their lungs, always louder than the band. That one was particularly emotion for Vincent.

It was a beautiful moment.

Oh ! i'm all jelly now the audience sounded awesome and that moment when he just couldn't carry on singing was something else on video, I can't imagine how powerful it was live

Written by X-Ray Rod on 10.03.2012 at 12:56

Written by IronAngel on 24.02.2012 at 13:58
Always found that song a little awkward live.

Why?
I always found it amazing how much the audience connects with that song.

I think he meant emotionally overwhelming

Written by IronAngel on 10.03.2012 at 10:06

It's funny, because I generally hate Steven Wilson, his own (recent) music and his production style. Yet WHBWH is one of Anathema's best records, I think.

Again Iron, we have different opinions. First Isis now Steve Wilson Can't wait to see where Anathema goes from here!

Written by X-Ray Rod on 10.03.2012 at 12:56

Written by IronAngel on 24.02.2012 at 13:58
Always found that song a little awkward live.

Why?
I always found it amazing how much the audience connects with that song.

That's just it. How the hell can the audience connect with the Cavanaghs' father's death? It's not genuine. It's a very personal song. Perhaps I'm the emotional equivalent of a dead trout, but I find that kind of exhibitonism quite uncomfortable. I like my music to keep a certain distance that allows for identification and union but doesn't overwhelm you with a predetermined meaning.

Regarding that Steven Wilson comment, I adored up to and including In Absentia. Deadwing had good songs but I wasn't a huge fan of the production, and everything after that I can't stand. I also don't really like his producer work on other bands, but WHBWH is just exceptionally good. (And it's not like I hate the Opeth albums either, but that's more due to the songwriting than production.)

Written by IronAngel on 10.03.2012 at 23:03

That's just it. How the hell can the audience connect with the Cavanaghs' father's death? It's not genuine. It's a very personal song. Perhaps I'm the emotional equivalent of a dead trout, but I find that kind of exhibitonism quite uncomfortable. I like my music to keep a certain distance that allows for identification and union but doesn't overwhelm you with a predetermined meaning.

First of all: It was her mother.
Second: I fully disagree and to say it's exhibitionism is very rude which makes me wonder who are you (or anybody else for that matter) to judge if the feelings of any of those fans aren't genuine? The song is pretty general. It doesn't even have the word mother on it. Most people can easily connect to the overall feeling of abandonment and they don't need a dead mother for that.

Heh, it would have been more valid to say "I just don't like when people sing along too much" which is something I'm not really that much fan of btw. But in this case I don't see the big deal. All the fans know how much that song means to the Cavanagh's brothers and they clearly enjoy the fact that their song (along with most of their catalogue) moves so many people so I can see why the fans are singing along, like a big "thank you for your music"... Not an exhibition by any means.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 11.03.2012 at 01:56

First of all: It was her mother.
Second: I fully disagree and to say it's exhibitionism is very rude which makes me wonder who are you (or anybody else for that matter) to judge if the feelings of the fans aren't genuine? The song doesn't even have the word mother on it. Most people can easily connect to the overall feeling of abandonment and they don't need a dead mother for that.

The fans can feel however they want, but there's still an unbreachable gap between what the song is about and the swell of pathos the fans get swept away by in concert. As good as the song may be, and as much as people might be able to relate to it (though I'm rather skeptical about such claims; usually people just hear what they want in songs). I find singing about personal family tragedy to be tacky and awkward. Knowing that the song is so closely related to a real event and promoted as such is a big downer. Art should be independent of artist as much as possible, in my view.

Not sure what's so rude about calling it exhibitionism. In a broad, non-literal sense that encompasses publically displaying something very private and personal that's not considered normal to share. And you certainly don't go around telling people about your dead parents in public.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have written that song or that they shouldn't play it. I'm saying hearing it live, surrounded by over-emotional fans the most of whom probably have no experiental basis to really relate to the song's message, feels uncomfortable and awkward. People want music to evoke an emotional response, they want to get caught in the moment. Those that don't get caught probably feel like an atheist in a prayer meeting.

Written by IronAngel on 11.03.2012 at 02:29
post

Does someone need a family tragedy to relate to the song? No.

"usually people just hear what they want in songs"
Lols... isn't that what everybody does anyways?
You said it yourself, art should be independent of the artist therefore people can enjoy it, interpret it and relate to it however they feel like and it's still genuine. They don't need to see the song through the eyes of the artist if they don't want to.

I don't get your point. Just because people can do it doesn't make it any less uncomfortable. Do people need to have met Jesus to pray? No, but the outsider is still going to feel out of place in the prayer meeting.

And yes, oftentimes people find what they want in songs. That's why I don't buy into this "relating" BS anyway. If I happen to pay attention to the message of a song, I will look at it from a fair distance and try to judge what it's about. I don't project my own emotional baggage onto it as some form of therapy. Ok, in rare cases I may do that, but you're defending the practice as if distortion was the primary goal.

The Cavanaghs may be fine with it, but I get fucking embarassed when five hundred people sing along to a song when 450 of them don't have a clue. If I was dead and somebody wrote a song about me (looking at your, MetalStorm, to remember my achievements when I'm gone!) I'd facepalm at teenage metalheads crying over the song.

More than anything, it boils down to the fact that I find sentimentalism and all sort of mass hysteria to be tacky and uncomfortable. I've never felt more out of place than when Finland won the hockey world championship and I had to take a train full of celebrating Finns who didn't know shit about sports but suddenly felt united as one nation on that day of glory because "we" had won. I would imagine that's easy to understand. InnerSelf posted a clip, and I said it didn't do much for me.

Edit: You're right in your last paragraph. The song isn't necessarily connected to the artist. But in this case, everybody knows it and they keep promoting it in concerts (I'm pretty sure I've heard them mention it at least once; seem them three times, IIRC). That's why it's such a downer. I wish it was just another song, but I'm reminded that it isn't.

Written by IronAngel on 11.03.2012 at 02:46
post

I'm not defending any practice tbh. Just saying that I find nothing wrong since there are no wrongs or rights with this kind of stuff.

Fucking opinions, how do they work?


PS: Fuck sports.

Written by InnerSelf on 24.02.2012 at 12:49

Found this. Vincent broke down in tears at the fans emotional singing

got goosebumps watching this

Written by Guest on 11.03.2012 at 02:55

got goosebumps watching this

I've watched a 100 times maybe and it still makes my eyes water every single time

Feels better here.

Written by tea[m]ster on 30.03.2012 at 21:39
your Anathema collection...did you get the last two?

Nah, I heard WHBWH a long time ago and only remember the feeling of slightly dissapointment. A bit weak, their least interesting out of the less/non metal albums since Eternity.

Haven't heard nothing but one song of their latest. Then again, it has been a while since I heard but I rarely change my opinion with albums like that one, albums that don't need so many spins to get.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.03.2012 at 21:44

Feels better here.

Written by tea[m]ster on 30.03.2012 at 21:39
your Anathema collection...did you get the last two?

Nah, I heard WHBWH a long time ago and only remember the feeling of slightly dissapointment. A bit weak, their least interesting out of the less/non metal albums since Eternity.

Haven't heard nothing but one song of their latest. Then again, it has been a while since I heard but I rarely change my opinion with albums like that one, albums that don't need so many spins to get.

Aww man, I love the sound of WHBWH and you can tell Steve Wilson had a HUGE influence on the sound. I admit I haven't heard their latest yet but from reading the comments it should be good, at least to Anathema fans.