Anathema "Hindsight" 2008****

The metalhead (I hope it's politically correct to use this term, for me at least it doesn't have negative connotations) friend who introduced me to Anathema told me I'd love their new record and that they had taken a turn towards a Pink Floyd-ish sound. That album was Alternative 4 and the year was 1998. I liked it enough, copied it from him on a CD-R and listened to it from time to time for a couple of years. Then I kinda forgot about them for more than a decade. I read on magazines that they had completed their move away from metal towards prog or alternative rock. I meant to check them out but kept postponing it, so my acquaintance with the new, improved (?) Anathema was made in a live setting, in an Athens club on August 30, 2014 (see: clip below). I didn't recognize any songs until the encore but I had a great time, as did everyone present. Most of them knew all the songs by heart, though. I was very surprised to discover they had two singers, as Vincent Cavanagh shared vocal duties with Lee Douglas. She sounded like a cross between Portishead's Beth Gibbons and The Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen (with whom Cavanagh has cooperated in the past) and bonded well with the rest of the band. Their music had also changed quite a lot; far from their metal roots, one could describe it as darkly atmospheric alternative rock.

After the show, I decided to cover lost ground by buying this album that compiles re-recordings of tracks taken (mostly) from their previous 3 albums, performed in an acoustic setting. Unlike other "unplugged" albums, these are not stark acoustic renditions of the familiar songs. Rather the songs have been re-written to fit the new instrumentation: keyboards, cello, acoustic (and the occasional electric) guitar, bass and drums. Cavanagh's wounded vocals are the main focus, conveying emotion perfectly. Lee Douglas' contribution is more subdued but when she takes lead (as in "A Natural Disaster") she steals the show. 

Dave Wesling (of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic) on cello adds a lush layer on the music, but he's even better when he plays the main riff as he does on my all-time favorite Anathema song "Fragile Dreams" from Alternative 4. He's just as good on the other track from that album "Inner Silence". From 1999's "Judgement" we get the dramatic "One Last Goodbye" with its melancholic piano on the forefront. From 2001's A Fine Day to Exit there's "Leave No Trace" and "Temporary Peace" with the two singers trading vocals. From 2003's A Natural Disaster we get the gorgeous same-named track, folky "Are You There?" and "Flying" with its ringing Irish mandolin. "Angelica" is the oldest song here (from 1996's 'Eternity'), and the most changed. The original was quite gothic while this one is much lighter. Lastly this compilation contains a completely new song. "Unchained (Tales of the Unexpected)", a ballad featuring gentle acoustic guitar and haunted cello. In general, "Hindsight" works well both as an introduction to Anathema's gentler side and as a standalone album. It's a very atmospheric and consistently good record - in fact, if one wants to find a downside, it'd be its uniform tranquility and lack of the intensity we've come to expect from hard rockers like Anathema. But that's what their other albums are for...

***** for Fragile Dreams, A Natural Disaster

**** for Leave No Trace, Inner Silence, One Last Goodbye, Are You There?, Angelica, Temporary Peace

*** for Flying, Unchained (Tales of the Unexpected)