Respect For Early Anathema......

[D Mullholand]

Originally posted by Wolff
I don't know what your definition of sing is, but if it is somehow related to producing musical tones by voice, or perhaps to the uttering of words in musical tones inflections and modulations... then Darren does sing. Feel free to diagree, but to me Darren's vocals convey far more emotion than the commercially viable Vinnie stuff. Also, Anathema's post-Darren lyrics are nothing special (bar a couple of songs maybe). Darren wrote incredible lyrics, both at Serenades and TBD, and is my favourite poet (allright Aaron Stainthrpe is there too).

As far as dijointedness/directionlessness you're kidding right? Stuff like "Serenades" is extremly coherent and DEEP. Sure it requires a few listens, but most good music almost always does. I do miss the epic approach they had in PIII such as carefully and slowly building up. I love that sort of thing.

In detail, I think Darren began as a decent growler on Crestfallen, which is a pleasant listen. On Serenades (and I kept on going back to that album many times, partly because of the buzz - I was thinking I had been missing something) he was juxtaposing the growls with a method of expression that to me sounds like "moaning". It ruined all the atmosphere for me, this unintentional ugliness. Also the second half of the album is quite irksome, and I won't even mention "Dreaming - the Romance" which is utterly worthless and fails to turn attention to itself as music. Silence is much better and encapsulates more true beauty. On Pentecost III the music is more interesting, but the vocals have gone out of control. Thankfully, there's not that much of Darren on Pentecost.

It's interesting how you constantly elect to use "commercially viable" when talking about V's clear singing. I'm sure you don't equate "clear singing" as a whole, with "commercial". Are you then simply in love with these words - "commercially viable Vinnie stuff" ? Have you invented this phrase yourself ?

Lyrics. I admit, Anathema are far from the best lyricists in rock, the percentage of artistic success in this field is about 40% for their 2nd era albums (Silent Enigma and onwards). There's too much useless phrases intentionally simplified to be "rock", but not evocative enough to justify their simplicity (Danny and John are no Jim Morrison). Duncan was a relatively good lyric writer, but too monotonous and inflexible, he could do only "downer" lyrics well. Darren's lyrics on "Crestfallen" and "Serenades" work too hard to overwhelm the listener with loads of "sad" words, and unlike Aaron Stainthorpe's poems, Darren's attempts don't affect me at all. He was getting into some interesting territory on Pentecost though.

Well, *after many repeated listens*, I finally dismissed Serenades. Music can be "inaccessible" because it's deep, or simply because it's awkward and clumsy.

D Mullholand

PS. What is a false doomster ? Like, it's a boxing weight category ?

 

[Anthony]

I think Darren is great on Pentecost, but I don't like some lyrics. His vocal on "Kingdom" begins as moaning and ends something like on The Blood Divine. "Mine is Yours To Drown In (Ours Is the New Tribe)" is like a declaration of something, in the center of a song(fast) he sings and this singing fits the music. "We, the gods" - is shit for me, I skip it everytime, and on "Memento Mori" you have rude evil grouls, that you like so much.

P.S. False doomsters are like inflatable girls

 

[LuminousAether]

We, the Gods is almost my favorite Anathema song right behind A Dying Wish and Crestfallen. The slow build to a raging climax is executed perfectly. I personally love both Darren's and Vinnie's vocals. They have both done excellent performances, and the vocals in no way ruin Serenades. His "moaning" voice expertly fits and even defines the atmosphere.

 

[LoboUivante]

what's a true doomster?

Is anyone able to label persons and feelings?

 

[LuminousAether]

I guess a true doomster would be someone who likes doom metal? That's a silly label. Doomster... how lame.