Before I listened to the album, I checked out some of the reviews already available on the internet.  As predicted I quickly got a clear image of what this album will sound like.  Like The Gathering, Anathema moved ahead and want to discover new genres, styles and experiment around.  The diehard metal head fans, who still listen to Judgement and The Silent Enigma and mosh around, will not appreciate this album.  On the other hand, those who are more open minded to music, and do not stick to a specific genre, will surely place this album on a pedestal and light a candle in front of it.  From an artist’s perspective, one can easily abstract the fact that between Serenades and We’re Here because We’re here Anathema improved in all aspects, musically, lyrics, production and even style.  They are excelling at what they can do.  They are no longer 20 year old angry and drunk head bangers, so don’t expect any growling and heavy riffs.  There is no comeback like Paradise Lost.  Also, with the permanent addition of a female vocalist, Anathema finally found that missing key note.

So what about the music itself?  One can feel the influence from 60′s and 70′s progressive rock, such as Pink Floyd and The Beatles.  Though the music is just influenced, and not alike.  Anathema seeded their signature ghostly and greatness touch in their songs, like that special touch of a brush on Caravaggio’s paintings.  “Thin Air” is the album’s first track, and although it is a good song, it is the one which I least liked from the whole album.  Therefore don’t scratch your head if the first track doesn’t fit your brainwaves.

It all changes with “Summer Night Horizon”, which is more of a moving song, with the fast piano taking priority over all other instruments.  Then as the third song name suggests, “Dreaming Light”, from here onwards the album has got all this dreamy effect.  Most of the remaining songs can easily fit the end of a poignant film, where a youngster is separated from his mother and taken for war, and while he looks at her fading away from the train’s window, his head leans on the window and tears flow.  If you’re inviting over your friends for an expensive glass of wine, and want them to close their eyes and concentrate on what they are drinking, Anathema’s “We’re here because We’re here” could be the perfect missing piece for creating the chilling effect you need, and impress like real wine vaults do.

With crystal clear production, good mixture of acoustics, deep bass riffs, female vocals, culminating choruses, piano and simplified yet crispy drum loops, finally Anathema reach the Icon status.  Obviously all this couldn’t happen without the excellent vocals.  I’ve listened to all of Anathema’s albums, and in this one, Vincent showed us how perfectly his voice blends with such progressive and atmospheric music.   Now they are a band which can reach new heights, maybe not commercially, unfortunately for them, but in the listeners hearts.

We’re Here because We’re Here track listing:

1. Thin Air
2. Summernight Horizon
3. Dreaming Light
4. Everything
5. Angels Walk Among Us
6. Presence
7. A Simple Mistake
8. Get Off, Get Out
9. Universal
10. Hindsight

‘‘We’re Here Because We’re Here’ is Anathema’s most expansive album to date and by the far best thing we’ve ever done. Not only have we improved as writers, but because we took our time, we had the opportunity to select the very best material and concentrate on it. We gave the songs the chance to breathe and come alive by themselves and it’s ended up being magical – every song is as good as the rest of them. This album features the best performances by the band ever; Vincent’s greatest vocals and John’s and my best writing” – Danny Cavanagh

Vincent goes further in explaining the origins of the album’s enigmatic title:

“The title ‘We’re Here Because We’re Here’ is inspired by a song that was first heard across the Allied trenches of World War One. Sung to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, the song served as a defiant rallying-call keeping up the morale of those who had to endure the incessant carnage and almost unimaginable horror. The spirit behind those words, and the deep questions they raised immediately struck all of us. Therefore we have appropriated these words to reflect the spirit and bond that all six members of the group have with each other. We have shared some incredible experiences, on all levels, and the fact that we have emerged stronger, more determined, and confident in our common vision is a testament to our resilience, both as individuals and collectively”

Danny continues:

“The bond is deeper than the music and you might say the direction of music is a product of our connection to each other; a real family in every sense of the word.”

With that in mind the band can announce that John Douglas’ sister Lee has joined the group on a full-time basis. She had this to say of her involvement:

“It’s great to be more involved musically, and I feel that my vocals are adding a new presence and depth to the dynamic of the group. I’m in it for the long haul, so bring it on!”

The self-produced album was mixed by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and features the exquisite string arrangements of Dave Stewart (Stewart/Gaskin, Porcupine Tree) and mastering skills of legendary Jon Astley (The Who, Led Zeppelin). The song ‘Angels Walk Among Us’ features subtle backing vocals by Ville Valo of H.I.M.

Full track listing is as follows:

Thin Air
Summernight Horizon
Dreaming Light
Everything
Angels Walk Among Us
Presence
A Simple Mistake
Get Off, Get Out
Universal
Hindsight

Pre-order details will soon be available on the Anathema official site.

Anathema’s Danny Cavanagh & The Gathering ex-singer Anneke Van Giesbergen will be teaming up again for a couple of special shows NEXT WEEK to celebrate the release of their new live album titled “in Parallel”. The dates are:

September 24 – ANTWERP, Belgium (Pandemonium)
September 25 – EINDHOVEN, Holland (Dynamo)

The album features live versions of classics from Anathema, Agua de Annique and the Gathering, along with cover versions such as ‘Teardrop’ (originally written from Massive Attack) and Damien Rice’s ‘The Blower’s Daughter’. The album has 15 tracks running over an hour in length.  The album was recorded at the Little Devil in Tilburg, March 2009.

Tracklist of in Parallel:

Teardrop
You Learn About It
Temporary Peace
Yalin
Songbird
Big Love
The Blower’s Daughter
One Last Goodbye
Are You There?
Day After Yesterday
A Natural Disaster
Lost and Found
Flying
Jolene

You can order the album from Agua de Annique webshop and you can listen to some tracks from the album from Anneke’s Myspace.

Thanks to their switch to atmospheric rock, in 2008, they signed themselves with K Scope music, the same label of Porcupine Tree.  Thanks to this deal, they released Hindsight, a semi-acoustic album featuring old and new favourites from the band repertoire.  The album also contained a new track called Unchained.  The record has been arranged, recorded, performed and produced solely by the band.  The album also features cello playing of Dave Wesling, from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.  As a concept I thought it would be something like Metallica’s S&M, but it’s more polished, atmospheric and quiet.  You can listen to some of the tracks from the here, but if you still buy original cd’s, I suggest this should be part of your collection.

What about now though?  Anathema should be working on the new album Horizons, which release date and other details still have to be released.  Though on their official site, they do not mention anything in particular regarding their new album.  In the news section they also state that “This new page is now well out of date”.   Although they have a good discography and a large army of fans, Anathema have always been a little bit too lazy with updating us what is happening, which is a pity as I am sure they have a lot of fans out there waiting to hear from them.  On their website, they have 3 tracks which you could listen to, Everything, A Simple Mistake and Angels walk among us.

Come on guys, give that extra push and put yourself together again, we are waiting for you.

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!