Anathema (band)

Anathema were an English rock band from Liverpool. The group was formed in 1990 by Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, bassist Jamie Cavanagh, drummer/keyboardist John Douglas, and vocalist Darren White.

Anathema
Live at Festimad 2007, 8 June 2007
Background information
Also known as	Pagan Angel (1990)
Origin	Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Genres	Progressive rock^[1] post-progressive^[2] progressive pop^[3] alternative rock^[4]^[5] gothic metal^[6] (early) death-doom^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] (early)
Years active	1990–2020
Labels	Peaceville, Music for Nations, Kscope
Spinoffs	Antimatter, Alternative 4
Members	Vincent Cavanagh Daniel Cavanagh John Douglas Lee Douglas Daniel Cardoso Darren White Jamie Cavanagh Duncan Patterson Shaun Steels Martin Powell Dave Pybus Les Smith
Website	www.anathemamusic.com

The band maintained an active concert schedule throughout their career. They first toured in 1992 with the American death metal band Cannibal Corpse; they since performed throughout Europe, the United States, Central America, Australia,^[10] New Zealand, India,^[11] and Turkey. In the latter stages of their career, the band performed at notable venues such as London's O2 Arena,^[12] Wembley Arena,^[13] and the London Palladium,^[14] as well as appearing on stage with Stephen Hawking at Starmus Festival 3.^[15]

Anathema released 11 studio albums, including Distant Satellites (2014), which included the song "Anathema", named the Anthem of the Year at the third annual Progressive Music Awards.^[16] Three years later The Optimist was named Album of the Year at the Progressive Music Awards.^[17]

History

1990–1995: Serenades and The Silent Enigma

Anathema formed in 1990 as a doom metal band, initially going by the name Pagan Angel.^[18] In November of that year, the band recorded their first demo, entitled An Iliad of Woes.^[18] This demo caught the attention of several bands and labels from the English metal scene.

 

 

Brothers Daniel Cavanagh (above) and Vincent Cavanagh (below), both of them vocalists, guitarists and composers for the band

At the beginning of 1991, the band gained a lot of attention with the release of their second demo entitled All Faith Is Lost, resulting in a four-album deal with Peaceville Records.^[18] Their first release under the label was The Crestfallen EP in November 1992. They took the material from that album on the road, touring with Cannibal Corpse.

Serenades, Anathema's debut LP, attracted a lot of mainstream attention, propelling their "Sweet Tears" music video onto the MTV playlist. Anathema's first European tour was in 1994, and was closely followed by gigs at the Independent Rock Festival in Brazil.

In May 1995, vocalist Darren White parted with the band, eventually forming The Blood Divine.^[18] Rather than recruiting a new vocalist, the band decided that guitarist Vincent Cavanagh should assume White's role.^[19] This new formation debuted by touring with Cathedral in the United Kingdom, and released The Silent Enigma soon after.^[20] It also showed the band starting to take a direction akin to gothic metal.

1996–1999: Eternity, Alternative 4, and Judgement

The release of Eternity came in 1996, relying more on atmospheric sounds, and starting the transition to clean vocals;^[19] the album Judgement would later consolidate this style. A European tour followed the album's release.

The next member to leave the band was drummer John Douglas, who departed in the summer of 1997. He was replaced by Shaun Steels, formerly of Solstice, who would also later play drums for My Dying Bride.^[19]

Alternative 4 was released in 1998. During this time the band underwent many line-up changes. Bassist/keyboardist/songwriter Duncan Patterson quit due to musical differences and was replaced by Dave Pybus of Dreambreed, a band which Duncan had played bass for during a short period,^[19] and not long after this Martin Powell (who had played keyboards and violin for My Dying Bride previously) joined the band for live performances. Finally, founding drummer John Douglas returned to the drums in place of Steels.^[19]

In June 1999, the album Judgement was released, marking Anathema's complete shift from the doom metal genre, focusing instead on slower and more experimental songs. This new sound has been likened to artists such as Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley, and to a lesser extent, Radiohead. Their songs continued to express a feeling of depression and, more often than not, desperation.

2000–2009: A Fine Day to Exit and A Natural Disaster

 

Anathema in concert at Istanbul Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Amphitheatre in 2005

In 2000, Martin Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith, who came to be an integral member of Anathema.

Shortly before the release of A Fine Day to Exit, Dave Pybus announced his departure from the band and later joined Cradle of Filth. He was replaced by touring bassist George Roberts, and later by Jamie Cavanagh.

In March 2002, Daniel Cavanagh announced his departure from the band, joining Duncan Patterson's band Antimatter. However, later in April 2002 he changed his mind and rejoined Anathema for the release of A Natural Disaster, and started their European tour. This accelerated the changes in Anathema's tone, towards the atmospheric and progressive, as exhibited in album tracks "Flying" and "Violence".

Upon the closing of their label Music for Nations after its purchase by Sony BMG, Anathema found itself without a record label, despite having completed an extensive tour of the UK with popular Finnish rock band HIM in April 2006. During their search for a new label, the band adopted a more 'DIY' approach to music release, embracing the internet and releasing songs via their own website, for which fans may donate a monetary sum of their own choice. Despite the obvious lack of label-based tour support, the band continued to play dates across Europe, and guitarist Danny Cavanagh also playing the odd low-key acoustic concert.

2010–2013: We're Here Because We're Here and Weather Systems

 

Lee Douglas, John Douglas' sister, formally joined the band as a singer after some guest appearances.

On 20 March 2010, Anathema announced on their website^[21] and Facebook page^[22] the release date of their next album. We're Here Because We're Here was released on 31 May 2010 on the Kscope label. John Douglas' sister Lee Douglas joined the band in the capacity of a vocalist during the recording of this album. She had previously performed on the two previous albums as a guest vocalist.

On 6 July 2011, it was announced on the band's official page that their album of re-interpretations, Falling Deeper, would be released on 5 September 2011. The album was a follow-up to Hindsight and contained new orchestral versions of songs from the past, as well as a version of "Everwake" featuring the vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen.^[23] On 12 September 2011, Les Smith's departure due to "creative and musical differences" was announced on the band's website.

On 16 April 2012, the band's ninth studio album, Weather Systems, was released via Kscope. The album entered the UK album charts at No. 50 and the German album charts at No. 19.

On 8 November 2012, Daniel Cavanagh announced on Anathema's official website that Daniel Cardoso was joining in a full-time permanent basis, as a key element of the band. Cardoso and John Douglas both switch positions of keyboardist and drummer respectively.^[24]

On 2 December 2012, Anathema announced their first concert in India. Anathema has performed at IIT Madras as part of the Saarang Rock Show on 12 January 2013.^[11]

The band's live album, named Universal, was released as a double vinyl album on 24 June 2013. The album is a recording of a special one-off gig at the ancient Roman theatre of Philippopolis in 2012, where the band were joined by the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. The set was released on Blu-ray, DVD and CD under the name Universal, with an alternate track order, on 17 September 2013.

 

The band performing at the 2016 Starmus Festival alongside theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking

The band performed on drummer Mike Portnoy's Progressive Nation at Sea tour aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Pearl that sailed from the Port of Miami on 18 February 2014.^[25]

2014–2020: Distant Satellites, The Optimist, and indefinite hiatus

On 28 March 2014, the band announced their upcoming studio album would be called Distant Satellites. The album came out on 9 June 2014 on the Kscope label, and was produced by Christer-André Cederberg in Oslo, Norway. Several tracks were mixed by Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree). Different from previous albums is the use of more electronica on this album. The album was released in four different versions: CD, vinyl, media book, and a deluxe version.^[26] The band toured the album starting 22 May in Istanbul, Turkey, continuing throughout Europe and travelling to Australia for the first time to perform three dates during August 2014.

Following the success of their short Australian tour, an acoustic tour was announced for New Zealand and Australia in 2015. Daniel, Vincent and Lee performed these show without the other band members. Later that year, the band released an acoustic live album and video entitled A Sort of Homecoming, consisting in the record of a concert at the band's hometown Liverpool Cathedral.

Anathema went on their Resonance Tour through Europe in April 2015. These concerts served as live retrospective efforts, featuring songs throughout their catalog, including from their debut album Serenades. Former vocalist Darren "Daz" White and former bassist/keyboardist Duncan Patterson joined the band on stage for these concerts.^[27]

In 2017, the band released The Optimist, which won Album of the Year at the Progressive Music Awards.^[17]

At the end of August 2019, it was announced that Anathema would be leaving the Kscope record label and had signed a new deal with Mascot Label Group. Anathema planned to release their 12th studio album in 2020.^[28] However, Anathema announced an indefinite hiatus on 22 September 2020.^[29]

Daniel's solo album Cellar Door and post-Anathema side-project Weather Systems

Daniel Cavanagh has announced he is working on a solo album named Cellar Door, and has started a new musical project named Weather Systems. The project takes the name of Anathema's 2012 album, and, according to a post on the Anathema Facebook page, "the music will be a continuation of the previous band's legacy".^[30] In December 2021, it was posted on Anathema's Facebook page that John Douglas had joined the Weather Systems project.

Members

Final line-up Daniel Cavanagh – lead guitar (1990–2020, brief hiatus in 2002) Vincent Cavanagh – rhythm guitar (1990–2020), lead vocals (1995–2020) John Douglas – drums (1990–1997, 1998–2020), keyboards (2011–2020) Duncan Patterson – bass (1991–1998, 2018–2020) Lee Douglas – lead and backing vocals (2010–2020) Daniel Cardoso – drums, keyboards (2011–2020)

Former members Jamie Cavanagh – bass (1990–1991, 2002–2018) Darren White – lead vocals (1990–1995) Shaun Steels – drums (1997–1998) Dave Pybus – bass (1998–2001) Les Smith – keyboards (2000–2011)

Touring musicians Martin Powell – keyboards, violin (1998–2000) George Roberts – bass (2001) Charlie Cawood - bass (2020)

Timeline

Discography

Main article: Anathema discography

Studio albums

• Serenades (1993)
• The Silent Enigma (1995)
• Eternity (1996)
• Alternative 4 (1998)
• Judgement (1999)
• A Fine Day to Exit (2001)
• A Natural Disaster (2003)
• We're Here Because We're Here (2010)
• Weather Systems (2012)
• Distant Satellites (2014)
• The Optimist (2017)

References

1. Jurek, Thom. "Anathema - Falling Deeper". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
2. "Stargazing Post-Progressive Rockers Anathema Return". davidroywilliams.com. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
3. Bland, Benjamin (6 June 2014). . Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
4. Henderson, Alex. "Anathema - A Fine Day to Exit". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
5. Kahn-Harris, Keith (2007). Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Berg. p. 133. ISBN 978-1845203993.
6. Baddeley 2002, pp. 265–6
7. Rudolph, Mark (2 August 2000). . Central Michigan Life. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
8. Begrand, Adrien (26 February 2004). "A Natural Disaster". PopMatters. from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
9. Matthijssens, Vera. . Lordsofmetal.nl. Archived from the original on 1 October 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
10. Yeudall, Oliver (11 December 2017). "LIVE REVIEW: Anathema – Perth, December 10th 2017". The Rockpit. from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
11. Menon, Tushar (5 December 2012). "Backstage With Vincent Cavanagh". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
12. "Sunday Running Order". Stone Free Festival. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
13. Munro, Scott (18 October 2016). "Anathema to support Opeth at London's Wembley Arena". Louder Sound. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
14. Wilde, Martin (10 March 2020). "Concert Review: Anathema: London, England - March 7th, 2020". The Prog Report. Images by James, Naomi. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
15. "Holy Cow, Stephen Hawking Performed Live With the Rock Band 'Anathema'!". News18. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
16. Kilroy, HannahMay (11 September 2014). "Prog Awards 2014 Winners In Full". Prog Magazine. Louder. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
17. Munro, Scott (14 September 2017). "Marillion, Anathema, Steve Hackett among Progressive Music Award winners". Louder. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
18. Larkin, Colin (1999), The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock. p. 27. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
19. Strong, Martin C. (2001). The Great Metal Discography. pp. 25–6. MOJO Books. ISBN 1-84195-185-4.
20. "The Silent Enigma - Anathema: Releases". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
21. . Anathema.ws. Archived from the original on 19 June 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
22. "Anathema". Facebook. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
23. . Anathema. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
24. . Anathema. 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012.
25. . Noisefull.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
26. "Anathema - Shop". Omerch.eu. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
27. "ANATHEMA: Announce "Resonance" Tour". Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ). 14 March 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
28. Munro, Scott (28 August 2019). "Anathema sign with Mascot Label Group and plan 2020 album". Louder Sound. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
29. Anathema (22 September 2020). "Dear Anathema Family". Facebook. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
30. "Daniel Cavanagh announces new project 'Weather Systems'". Louder Sound. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anathema.

• Anathema official website
• Kscope music
• Reviews and interviews at Chronicles of Chaos
• Anathema discography at MusicBrainz