Great CD - This album is extremely well-written. I ve very doomy, and contains appealing lead riffs in every song. This band has some sections which sound like extremely heavy metal, and some that sound melodic. The lyrics are very dark but meaningful. Darren White does a good job in that department. Some parts have gothic influences as well. This is just generally well-written and should appeal to most metal fans.
Flawed But Ultimately Very Good - Anathema are among the most influencial doom / death metal bands, and though in age they changed their stylings (though still retaining their fantasticly gloomy mindset and becoming more talented, more intelligent, and - dare I say it - an all around better band), their earlier work still holds up today. This reissue is one of the ones that actually is worthwhile, melding the hard-to-find The Crestfallen E.P. with the great, but flawed, Pentacost III E.P. with rather sleek packaging and all lyrics included. Though the package itself is very well put together, most of the problems lie within Pentacost III . While The Crestfallen contains some of the best material that this band has recorded, Pentacost III seems to be somewhat of a forced effort. Again, the songs of the album are absolutely fantastic - Mine is Your to Drown in (Ours is the New Tribe) and the title track (which is one of the most haunting istrumentals to ever be pressed to plastic) being the standout tracks - the majority of it seems to darg on and on and on. I am a huge fan of slow and brooding minimalism, but the songs - specifically the introduction - seem to be more boring than anything else. Once songs like Kingdom get going, however, get ready for one he ll of a weepy ride. Moving on to The Crestfallen , there is not much to say, the E.P. is probably the best thing Anathema did while in their more death metal phase. Absolutely intriquing, a without the problems that I had with Pentacost III . Both of these albums are worth your time if you are a fan of the genre, but if you like the genre, I sure you already on these brilliant pieces of art.