November 11, 1996 - Eternity

A month after my last release and just 15 months since "The Silent Enigma", Anathema released their third album "Eternity" on November 11, 1996. Anathema have completely moved away from the doom metal style of their first two albums to more of an alternative rock style and Danny Cavanagh does keyboards for the first time (as well as his usual guitars). This is a big shift away from the heavier style I like, let's see how their new style sounds!

The album opens with "Sentient" with an instrumental track with some droning guitars and Danny leading the way on piano. He plays some solid piano in this little intro and while it's definitely a lot lighter than we're used to, it was a cool and ambient little intro to the album. Up next is "Angelica" and it has a slow main riff that is a little reminiscent of their heavier stuff with some low bass, but it's ultimately a pretty tame main riff. Vincent abandons the low, loud yells from last album and sings in a decent but not amazing voice. This is certainly not a bad song, but it's not one of their better ones either. Track 3 is "The Beloved" and it's got a nice faster main riff with some cool heavy guitars and it's actually got the head banging a little! I think Vincent's voice sounds better in this setting as well as they nicely rock out a few verses and choruses. Things quiet down in the middle to make the return to the loud sound pretty good and we even get a short guitar solo from one of the Cavanagh brothers that sounds pretty awesome! They fade out the end of the song just as another solo is starting up! What the fuck guys! Still a pretty good song. The next track is "Eternity Part I" and Danny plays some synths to add to the pop-y ambience of this one while Vincent leads the way with some cool guitar. Duncan Patterson plays some some solid bass as well and in the chorus Vincent even gives us a taste of the yelling that definitely makes things sound heavier! This is back-to-back solid headbangers which is definitely more my style, and the ending is pretty trippy as it moves right into the next part, "Eternity Part II". Vincent plays some slow but epic guitar while Danny adds some nice piano in this space-y, largely instrumental song. The final minute or so is pretty trippy and we hear some voices speaking softly in the background while Danny plays some droning synths. This was certainly a different song for Anathema but it was still interesting. Up next is "Hope", a Roy Harper cover that actually has Harper himself featuring! He opens the song with a speech that sounds very passionate and well-pronounced. After this long opening Vincent plays a pretty catchy lead guitar riff and he sings pretty nicely in his unique voice. They jam out a few of these solid verses and that takes us to the end of the song. Track 7 is "Suicide Veil" and it's a slow and dark song with some nice bass by Patterson and Danny playing more synths. The louder part in the middle sounds pretty sweet with Vincent yelling nicely, then they quiet things down again with an acoustic ending. The next track is "Radiance" and it starts off slow and space-y but they build into a pretty cool main riff that is nice and heavy and we hear some female vocals that add a bit of epicness to the chorus. There's even a little guitar solo that sounds pretty epic and Vincent sounds pretty good singing overtop as well. Track 9 is "Far Away" and it's a slower song for sure with Patterson playing some nice slow bass and the female vocals showing up again to add more emphasis in the chorus. After a couple slow but solid verses they speed things up for the end of the song and we hear some pretty cool guitar from one of the Cavanaghs. Up next is the final section of the title track "Eternity Part III" and it's another slow song, but this one is done very beautifully. The bass, guitar and Danny's piano all combine for a cool main riff and even though it's much lighter than the Anathema of old I think they do a really nice job in this one. The piano sounds great throughout and I think it's a welcome addition to most songs actually. Track 11 is "Cries On The Wind" and it has a quiet but epic verse that makes the chorus sound pretty awesome when it crashes in with some heavy guitars. After another nice go round we hear a pretty cool guitar solo and then they take off on another new and heavy riff that also sounds pretty good! Vincent finishes the song singing by himself and it's a pretty epoc way to finish off one of my favourites on the album. The final song is an instrumental called "Ascension" and it's got a nice upbeat main riff with some cool guitars leading the way and a nice catchy rhythm section. After two minutes of jamming, things shift dramatically as Danny takes over with some epic piano and synths. It's a pretty cool ending, I think he does a nice job with the piano and it's an epic way to finish things off.

That is the end of "Eternity" and I thought it was a pretty solid album. It's definitely not the same doom metal style they used to play, but I think Anathema are better at this kind of space-y but also hard rock. There were still several nice headbangers and the softer parts, including Danny Cavanagh playing lots of piano, are actually solid as well. I think despite this style usually being less favored by me, I think this is their beat album yet! It was a complete effort and I think all the members are just getting better. Hopefully that means good things on their next album!