A Natural Disaster Reviews

seniordude said:
found on www.shedrock.com
Anathema - A Natural Disaster (2003)


A Natural Disaster is such a fitting title for this newest release from Anathema, because quite frankly it is a disaster from start to finish. ANATHEMA is just another band in a long line of Euro metallers that have gone so soft that to call them Heavy Metal would be stretching the definition so thin as to be almost transparent. This was a pretty cool band back in the mid 90’s, but now they come across as some kind of PINK FLOYD wannabes almost. Every song so slow and moody and that none of them manage to grab your interest and hold it. I found I spent most of my time waiting for them to break loose, but it just never happens.

Guitarist Vincent Cavanaugh has now assumed the role of lead vocals, taking over for the departed Danny White. He has a decent voice, but not one that lends any power to the songs, it just sort of floats through each with a kind of detachment that I find annoying. He never attempts to use his voice to take a song to another level, instead just letting the song dictate his performance. Plus they use voice effects on “Closer” which is really annoying. Elsewhere a song like “Are You There” seems to contain no guitar work at all, just layers of bass, drums and keyboards. That is followed by o totally unnecessary instrumental called “Childhood Dream” which sounds like something off a movie soundtrack. The hardest song on the album is “Pulled Under” and it again spends more time exploring the astral side of the band, and again some voice effects, but at least it occasionally lets the guitars show up. The title track is a six and a half minute tear jerker with a female vocalist, another trend that is getting old and needs to be laid to rest. Really folks there isn’t a song on here that interests me more than marginally.

When I think about how good albums like Eternity and Silent Enigma were when I first heard them it makes me sad. I am sure this will sell like hot cakes overseas where this kind of pomp metal still seems relevant, but it is completely lost on me. I could buy CD’s of whale songs and be just as happy. In retrospect this makes the KATATONIA album I trashed earlier this year look like a lot better now. I may have to give that album another spin.

Added: October 23rd 2003
Reviewer: Shawn Gould
Score: 1/10
Related Link: Band Homepage
Hits: 35
Language: english

beuh..blibliblib..."Danny White" eh??? pff..errrff
 
seniordude said:
found on www.shedrock.com
Anathema - A Natural Disaster (2003)


A Natural Disaster is such a fitting title for this newest release from Anathema, because quite frankly it is a disaster from start to finish. ANATHEMA is just another band in a long line of Euro metallers that have gone so soft that to call them Heavy Metal would be stretching the definition so thin as to be almost transparent. This was a pretty cool band back in the mid 90’s, but now they come across as some kind of PINK FLOYD wannabes almost. Every song so slow and moody and that none of them manage to grab your interest and hold it. I found I spent most of my time waiting for them to break loose, but it just never happens.

Guitarist Vincent Cavanaugh has now assumed the role of lead vocals, taking over for the departed Danny White. He has a decent voice, but not one that lends any power to the songs, it just sort of floats through each with a kind of detachment that I find annoying. He never attempts to use his voice to take a song to another level, instead just letting the song dictate his performance. Plus they use voice effects on “Closer” which is really annoying. Elsewhere a song like “Are You There” seems to contain no guitar work at all, just layers of bass, drums and keyboards. That is followed by o totally unnecessary instrumental called “Childhood Dream” which sounds like something off a movie soundtrack. The hardest song on the album is “Pulled Under” and it again spends more time exploring the astral side of the band, and again some voice effects, but at least it occasionally lets the guitars show up. The title track is a six and a half minute tear jerker with a female vocalist, another trend that is getting old and needs to be laid to rest. Really folks there isn’t a song on here that interests me more than marginally.

When I think about how good albums like Eternity and Silent Enigma were when I first heard them it makes me sad. I am sure this will sell like hot cakes overseas where this kind of pomp metal still seems relevant, but it is completely lost on me. I could buy CD’s of whale songs and be just as happy. In retrospect this makes the KATATONIA album I trashed earlier this year look like a lot better now. I may have to give that album another spin.

Added: October 23rd 2003
Reviewer: Shawn Gould
Score: 1/10
Related Link: Band Homepage
Hits: 35
Language: english
this reviewer totally missed the point. can't believe there are still people like that. he probably sports a mullet and has gamma ray patches on his denim jacket hahaha.
 
yeah it had to happen :lol: using the albumname to describe 'the quality' of the album. in fact everyone who will use it is stupid anyway. he could have done some research as a starter
 
by the way, the greek metal hammer (nothing like the english one, it's metal alright and most people writing there are fairly open minded) gave in a 8,5/10. i hoped for a 9 (they rarely give above that) but anyways.

next week i'll learn about the sales (they do a metal chart in a tv show every week). hopefuly disaster will be in the top 3.
 
seniordude said:
found on www.shedrock.com
Anathema - A Natural Disaster (2003)


A Natural Disaster is such a fitting title for this newest release from Anathema, because quite frankly it is a disaster from start to finish. ANATHEMA is just another band in a long line of Euro metallers that have gone so soft that to call them Heavy Metal would be stretching the definition so thin as to be almost transparent. This was a pretty cool band back in the mid 90’s, but now they come across as some kind of PINK FLOYD wannabes almost. Every song so slow and moody and that none of them manage to grab your interest and hold it. I found I spent most of my time waiting for them to break loose, but it just never happens.

Guitarist Vincent Cavanaugh has now assumed the role of lead vocals, taking over for the departed Danny White. He has a decent voice, but not one that lends any power to the songs, it just sort of floats through each with a kind of detachment that I find annoying. He never attempts to use his voice to take a song to another level, instead just letting the song dictate his performance. Plus they use voice effects on “Closer” which is really annoying. Elsewhere a song like “Are You There” seems to contain no guitar work at all, just layers of bass, drums and keyboards. That is followed by o totally unnecessary instrumental called “Childhood Dream” which sounds like something off a movie soundtrack. The hardest song on the album is “Pulled Under” and it again spends more time exploring the astral side of the band, and again some voice effects, but at least it occasionally lets the guitars show up. The title track is a six and a half minute tear jerker with a female vocalist, another trend that is getting old and needs to be laid to rest. Really folks there isn’t a song on here that interests me more than marginally.

When I think about how good albums like Eternity and Silent Enigma were when I first heard them it makes me sad. I am sure this will sell like hot cakes overseas where this kind of pomp metal still seems relevant, but it is completely lost on me. I could buy CD’s of whale songs and be just as happy. In retrospect this makes the KATATONIA album I trashed earlier this year look like a lot better now. I may have to give that album another spin.

Added: October 23rd 2003
Reviewer: Shawn Gould
Score: 1/10
Related Link: Band Homepage
Hits: 35
Language: english
Though I too would give "A Natural Disaster" a 1, I find this review to be hideously bad... and the reasons stated for not liking the album are stupid... there are much better reasons not to like this album.
 
Cenk said:
this reviewer totally missed the point. can't believe there are still people like that...
:lol:
heh, there are many pseudo journalists like that, man...
as for the review - typical - the cd got into wrong hands...sounds too familiar to me :)
 
here's another review:
http://www.silentscreamzine.com/ReviewShow.asp?ReviewsID=2155

Here we go again. It's clear that Anathema are not, and never will be again, the ones of the past. They're not the band that contributed (together with Paradise Lost, Cathedral and My Dying Bride) in shaping doom metal in its most perfect form: they renounced to the identity that characterized them to become something different and quite more catchy. And also more derivative, since their offer is clearly inspired to illustrious examples: Pink Floyd have been for long time the main of their inspirations, and to this traditional influence we must add a good quantity of the most introvert and experimental Radiohead, the heavy breath of the british trip-hop, the style burden of the whole alternative post-rock scene, the omnipresent english shades of new wave matrix. The guitar heaviness and the most tense atmospheres pop up only in the chasing "Pulled Under At 2000 Metres At Second", but the prevalent character in "A NAtural Disaster" is a soft and introspective context, monothematical for tendency and almost intentionally repetitive. Almost as if they wanted to dare the patience of the listener and courageously sailing along the borders of boredom, following a dangerous route that few have been able to go after without drowning: Massive Attack with their celebrated "Mezzanine", The Cure with their dark "Disintegration", Depeche Mode with the titanic "Music For The Masses". So much we could object, and in big part also fairly: it's not certain their new course must be so convincing and it's probable their most mature ideas have already been expressed in their past; it's possible their inconsolable sadness can cause a rejection crisis and that the songwriting effort snitches on, for some part, a certain self-sufficiency. Though, listening carefully, something can be always found. And even we risk to remain entangled within the coils of the hypnotical "Harmonium" or of the alien "Closer"; to be enraptured by the elegance of the title-track, sweetened by a soft female voice; even to remain touched by the melancholy tunes of "Are You There?". I don't think "A Natural Disaster" will ever open the gates of history but, someway, it's an album that can leave some trace.
[size=-1]Genre Gothic Rock

[/size]
 
Gothic Rock :lol: ah, well it's funny how they all see Anathema's main influences in Pink Floyd, Radiohead, even Massive Attack, and still label them as GOTHIC....
 
http://vsolutions.nexenservices.com...php&id_news=2821&actdroite=kmenunew-first.php

From violent solutions webzine, in French :

' ANATHEMA fait partie de ces groupes pour lesquels je me fait du souci à chaque sortie d'album. Je les trouve toujours excellents mais j'ai toujours l'impression que la suite sera moins bonne, que leur inspiration est en train de se tarir et qu'ils n'arrivent jamais à se dépêtrer de l'influence de PINK FLOYD ou de RADIOHEAD et que l'album suivant les enverra tout droit dans le mur et puis non, à chaque fois ils reviennent et arrivent toujours à m'enchanter avec leur mélodies envoûtantes. "A fine day to exit" était selon moi l'album le moins convaincant de la période post-Darren White et c'est donc avec une excitation mêlée à une certaine appréhension que j'attendais ce "A natural disaster". "Are you there ?", le titre diffusé par le groupe avant la sortie m'avait un peu rassuré et était, je peux maintenant le dire après coup, assez représentatif de la globalité de l'album. Pour une fois je ne me fais donc aucun souci pour ANATHEMA, je suis sûr qu'ils vont très bien et que le groupe après avoir traversé quelques crises est aujourd'hui dans une phase de stabilité et de grande créativité. "A natural disaster" est, et restera, un album particulier dans la discographie du groupe. Alors que leurs précédents opus étaient toujours le fruit d'un véritable travail de groupe où chacun apportait des morceaux, celui-ci n'est que le travail de Dany qui en a donc composé l'intégralité mais qui a également signé tous les textes (hormis un, écrit par son frère) et interprété la totalité des parties de chant. Il ne faut pas voir par là un manque d'inspiration de la part des autres membres du groupe mais plutôt la constatation que l'album serait plus cohérent en n'incluant que des titres de Dany. Les titres des autres membres du groupe, et notamment ceux de John Douglas, le batteur et de Jamie Cavanagh, troisième frangin à intégrer le groupe seront donc utilisés sur le prochain album du groupe, un album qui devrait arriver assez rapidement. Ne précipitons pas les choses et apprécions pour l'instant ce "A natural disorder" pour ce qu'il est: un grand album. Sans que l'on puisse parler de retour en arrière cet album est vraiment à rapprocher de "Alternative IV", on y retrouve le même sens du dépouillement et de la simplicité qu'apportaient les titre de Duncan Patterson, ancien bassiste du groupe parti fondé ANTIMATTER. Le fait que Dany est officiellement quitté ANATHEMA pendant quelques mois et rejoint ANTIMATTER n'est sûrement pas étranger à cet état de fait, l'influence de Duncan Patterson est ici flagrante. Tous les titres, ou presque, de l'album sont dépouillés à l'extrême, débarrassés de tout le superflu pour n'en garder que la beauté essentielle. Ceux qui aiment le ANATHEMA énergique de titres à la "Panic" ou encore " " en seront cette fois pour leurs frais. L'ambiance est ici éthérée voire même plombée mais la déchirante beauté qui se dégage des 10 titres qui composent cet album devraient combler la plupart des fans du groupe. Le style est toujours reconnaissable entre mille, les influences de PINK FLOYD et de RADIOHEAD bien que toujours présentes, se font ici plus discrètes. Un bon album avec peu de déchets, le moins bon titre serait peut être paradoxalement le titre éponyme...
Site officiel: http://listen.to/anathema

Rédigé par : Sheb | 17/20 | Nb de lectures : 94

The review is very good and the albums gets a 17/20, it's all that matters :D
 
From violent solutions webzine said:
Le fait que Dany est officiellement quitté ANATHEMA pendant quelques mois et rejoint ANTIMATTER n'est sûrement pas étranger à cet état de fait, l'influence de Duncan Patterson est ici flagrante
what now...Pagan is influenced by Strangelight? what's the deal with influences these days :confused:
 
Review in Kerrang 4 K's...in full (out of 5)

More miserable tuneage from the 2nd best band to come out of Liverpool.

Listening to Scouse doom lords Anathema's brutally heavy 1993 album"Seranades", you'd be incredibly hard pushed to make a connection between that band and this one. Through line-up changes and a constant expansion and exploration of their sound, the Anathema we have today is a much more mellow, sublime beast.
It would be fair to say that if you disliked the Radiohead influence on last album"A Fine day to Exit", you'll not like this one much better -though the fact that this time around the band sound a lot more focused, and include more nods to their"Eternity" days, could well make this grow on you. And if "A Fine Day..." rang your bell, then this will knock your socks clean off.
 
AND Review in Metal Hammer 7/10

Avant-garde prog rockers return to form.

Maintaining the incredible creative arc that gave us 01's "AFDTE" album, Anathema are back with another slice of experimental art-metal. They've had problems during the past 2 years- guitarist Danny Cavanagh first tendering his resignation then taking it back- but whoever said making music of this calibre came easy? Sometimes bewildering, though consistently entertaining, "A Natural Disaster" is virtually unrecognisable when placed alongside the gothic-cloaked doom of formative work like 93's Seranades" debut. The pacey power metal of "Pulled Under" provides a brief glance over the Liverpool band's collective shoulder, yet still hints at Pink Floyd's "Sheep". As well as handling the production themselves for the first time, Anathema had hinted at a simpler direction for their 7th full-length album, its paid off handsomely, and although "...Disaster" will still be too challenging for some, to all those that drool over Opeth, Porcupine Tree and(ulp) Radiohead it's darned near essential.