Anathema - alternative 4

Where Katatonia is pain that begs for redemption, Anathema is despair that asks only to be left alone. Forsaken. And forsaken is about as fitting a description for Alternative 4 as I could ever hope for. A forlorn, barren landscape of hopeless, desolate sounds, the album makes you feel like some accidental survivor of an apocalypse, just waiting out your remaining minutes for the inevitable existentialism to kick in.

Call it doom metal - it is rather slow - with a dose of Pink Floydisms (Vincent Cavanagh's decidedly Roger Waters-like delivery and the crystalline, mood-inducing piano work help flesh out that comparison), Anathema is definitely one of the darker, more emotive bands out there, both musically and vocally. And speaking of vocals, how could I not mention Cavanagh?! To put it simply, the man rules! A forceful, ultra-passionate voice, and aside from the marvelous improvements he has undergone since his monotone crooning on the band's previous output, Vince just makes his pain feel downright poetic. And oh, what poetry it is. Be it loss - "I should have run...but I stayed" - or hatred - "I abhor you, I condemn you...this pain will never end," acceptance - "Life has betrayed me once again" - or resignation - "I take a breath and hide behind my bravest mask," the lyrics are vivid, intimate, and at times overpoweringly beautiful, but in that painful, anguished sort of way. There is a concept at work too, telling the story of a man's downwards spiral into depression and suicide, juxtaposed against an impending (or perhaps already occurring) armageddon. The title track, complete with its first person, end of the world stream of consciousness text, is about as frightening...downright terrifying, in fact, as it gets.

For the most part, the music perfectly backs up the bravado. Rather simple and often minimalist arrangements, but ones that work absolute wonders when it comes to driving all those emotive points home, and doing so with excessive force. And what of the songs? Let's just say that when they're good, they're good. The transition from the curtain opener Shroud of False ("We are just a moment in time...") to the driving mid-tempo of Fragile Dreams is a great exercise in melancholy. Empty is not only an intense, awe inspiring tour de force of pure, unbridled anger crammed into under three minutes, but it's also an amazingly catchy, melodic rocker of a song. Lost Control is a beautiful mood piece, and the lengthy Regret houses a tremendous build-up as well as a very touching spoken section. And of course the title track - THE scariest thing at night.

On the flip side, it appears that with irrevocable sadness comes the knack for meandering, something for which the band demonstrates a rather unhealthy propensity. The jarringly out of place Re-Connect comes across as Tool on a really bad day, and does an absolutely splendid job of mucking up the album's previously terrific flow; an irredeemable waste of time, and I mean c'mon, could "I'd like to see you fucking try" be sung with any less conviction? Feel, the disc's not all that particularly grand finale is anticlimax at its very worst, even despite the very climactic lyrics - "I've been down for a while, and now I'm coming back..." With its unwavering, dirgey pace, it feels like a placeholder for a bigger and better song, but alas...we never get one of those. Tsk. While perhaps not as dodderingly prosaic as Re-Connect, Feel just, ahem, feels so utterly uneventful, and for an album that relies so much on powerful, sweeping emotions, it's a very strong blow. Oh, and come to think of it, I've also noticed some forced metal trappings at times (i.e. We are still a methuhl band, goshdarnit!! \m/\m/), although Anathema does its utmost best (and mostly succeeds) at carefully and subtly sweeping those under the rug. Being the kind, warmhearted reviewer that I am, methinks I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and pretend not to notice. Just this once.

All in all, Alternative 4 is certainly not without its ups and downs, and while the downs do rob it of any sort of all over consistency (which, as you can imagine, is rather detrimental for a concept work), the bulk of the individual songs is just too good to pass up. Underneath all the despondency and isolation, there lies true, heartfelt warmth, and for an album with such sprawling, devastating content, that is really the best compliment I can imagine. If plunging into the abyss of total, utter doom sounds like your kinda thing, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

7.9
"...Wipe the tears from yesterday,
A time for change..."

Review by Ilya Ulberg

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