Impressive! Simple, clean, atmospheric, at the same time moving! Many doom albums are noisy to appreciate base guitar riffs, or to enjoy a good guitar solo where the guitar speaks for itself, instead of the guitarist showing off how technical his music is. Also, there is always an overload of sounds accompanying the music. Why should it always be raining and stormy weather that accompanies doom music? Or something creepy like the sound of opening doors from a horror house?

IMO Anathema delivered a good atmospheric doom metal album with style, without using fancy stuff. Minimalistic use of keyboards and sound effects, the introduction of the violin (Martin Powell ex My Dying Bride), simple catchy guitar riffs, depressing piano and at times fast pace music makes this album unique with very sharp sound.

Clean vocals and lyrics like “Life has betrayed me once again”, “I feel all alone in a crowded room” make this album a complete doom album with absolutely no place for improvements. The lyrics speak about trust and there is no Shakespearean English or hidden meanings, very direct and straight to the point. I would personally rate this album as a 10/10!