Anathema Album: “Judgement”

There is so much sadness that resonates from this album, from the melancholy lyrics to the piercing and emotive guitars, that it echoes in my mind for days afterward. I keep returning for more with the knowledge that something special is about to unfold. While there is an obvious Pink Floyd influence here, it only adds to sustain the mood, to lift the songs high into the cold sky. "Emotional Winter" is both beautiful and saddening, while "Judgement" builds to a grand crescendo and ends abruptly, magnificently. While there are no songs here to invoke happiness, the bliss one feels from merely encountering such emotional music is fulfilling. I highly recommend this album for those who enjoy melancholy mixed with fluid songcraft.

This is the album that got me into melodic doom metal - but this is NOT a metal album. This is 60 minutes of the most emotionally powerful music ever made - is there any band that can claim to ooze so much beauty or sadness in every note? Vincent Cavanagh possesses arguably the best voice in rock/metal. Songwriting duties are shared by the whole band making for a diverse album yet each track contains a similar distinctive sense of melody.

There's dark, haunting tracks like 'Deep' and 'Forgotten Hopes', gentle piano ballads 'Parissienne Moonlight' and '2000 and Gone' and the awesome cathartic epics 'One Last Goodbye' and 'Emotional Winter'. The female vocals on several tracks are a great complement to Vincent's voice. The lyrics are, as noted by several other reviewers, woeful but they sound a lot more respectable coming from Vincent.

It still amazes me how underrated Anathema are - whilst retaining the musical complexity and emotion to appeal to metal fans, I've gotten many friends into this album who don't listen to anything but chart music. It's very accessible to listen to, provided you're not expecting simple, happy songs.

Along with Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, Anathema were England's pioneers of doom-death, releasing a string of amazing albums before they realized it was time to expand and experiment. While My Dying Bride is still carrying the doom-death torch, pretty much any band from the early 90's, from Katatonia to Ulver to Tiamat to Moonspell, has changed, updating their sounds and dropping the growls in favour of crystal clean vocals.

Anathema's transition began with Eternity, the album after the amazing The Silent Enigma, and blossomed with Alternative 4, perhaps their finest work from their post-doom period. With Judgement, however, the band became a completely different act, with polished production and tight arrangements defining their compositions. The songs focus heavier on Vincent Cavanagh's vocals and melancholic lyrics, and while there is plenty of guitar work, the melodies are mostly guided by Cavanagh's harmonies along with John Doughlas' straightforward yet very fitting drumming. Danny Cavanagh, on the other hand, provides the album's intense instrumentation. This is some of his finest playing, not only acoustic guitars but also fierce electric leads and stunning synth textures that lend the pieces a more Floydian touch overall.

Judgement isn't as radical a change from Alternative 4 as Eternity was from The Silent Enigma. It is important, however, that a key member, bassist Duncan Patterson, parted ways with the band before they started writing this album. Patterson was an integral part of the Anathema sound, supplying the band's rock-solid rhythms along with long-time drummer John Douglas, who, ironically, would also leave after this disc. Patterson is replaced by Dave Pybus, another competent bass player. And while there isn't much room to showcase his talents, songs like "Pitiless" and "Wings of God" both feature his signature style. "Pitiless" is already a welcome change after the extremely dark and moving opener "Deep". It weaves heavier guitar work by the Cavanagh brothers, some spoken poetry and hummed harmonies, and a great lead solo drenched in sound effects. The band was still trying to inject new elements into their sound, as they had never released the same album twice. Whether you are a fan of the band or not, you have to give it to them that they always tried to break new ground without being afraid of putting their influences on display. Speaking of influences, traces of Radiohead can be heard in the intro and effect-laden guitars on "Don't Look Too Far", something which they would expand on in the future; and on the Floydian album finale "2000 & Gone", a strong piece to close the record on a somewhat psychedelic note. It is a beautiful instrumental that proudly boasts lush keyboard textures, spatial ambiances, and guitar feedback.

The best songs are scattered around on the disc. From the mood-setter "Deep" to the desperate "One Last Goodbye", with great soloing and powerful vocals, Judgement still manages to be as varied as its predecessors. On an emotional level, the way the beautiful female vocals (by drummer John Douglas' sister) over delicate piano on "Parisienne Moonlight" bleed into the moving title track, which boasts plaintive synths blanketing textured acoustic guitars is simply intense. This is one of their most well-crafted songs, especially the way the guitar riffs build to that killer crescendo amidst rapid-fire drumming. "Emotional Winter" also deserves a mention. Very melancholic in its essence, the keyboards and guitar effects establish a thick soundscape through its course, with mirage-like guitar lines heard ringing distantly, thus providing added atmosphere.

This album was dedicated to Helen Cavanagh, the Cavanagh brothers' mother, who passed away during the writing stages of these songs. I feel it's a very fitting release dedicated to her memory.

This was my introduction to Anathema, relying only on the reviews i read here on amazon, i had no idea what i was in for

"Judgment" has 14 of the most beautifully saddening tracks i've ever lent my ears to, the CD sails on a rhythmic sea of smooth vibes while still delving you deep into a black undercurrent of depression; everything great about this album blends together to make a sonic masterpiece as fresh as an autumn breeze, until the climax of the title track where the listener is lunged into a tornado of clanging electric guitars, screaming vocals and drums banging away at breakneck speeds, until its fadeout and recesses to return the listener to its previous melancholic atmosphere

however, i'll be fair. Quite possibly the one thing that, despite its overall brilliance, still bugs me about this cd everytime i listen to it: the lyrics. Though they fit the mood of the CD very well, they simply lack eloquence and originality; however, the profound emotion in the lyrics more than makes up for it, it's just a slight smudge on the beautiful picture Anathema painted with this CD

this is also another one of those cd's that has to grow on you, i didnt think much of it my first couple listens, but spin it often it and the brilliance will begin to manifest itself

This was the third Anathema Album I bought (the other two being The Crestfalled EP and Alternative 4). I found myself lost in what can only be described as aural emotion. It is the most sincere, honest and muscially profound album I had heard at the time, and I can't really think of any other album that is as emotionally charged as Judgement. The songs are phenomonal. Pittiless, Forgotten Hopes and Destiny Is Dead seguay into each other beautifully (i later discovered that they were originally one track but broken into three for listening ease). Make It Right (F.F.S) is in a differant mood to the songs before it, and it's bleak nature is a perfect setting for One Last Goodbye, an Eulogy of sorts to Daniel and Vincent's mother, who had recently passed away. Don't Look Too Far is my personal fave, and Emotional Winter is a really great piece, very Dave Gilmour...

I have the Japanese Edition cd, with the Bonus instrumental track Transacoustic, and the album doesn't sound complete without this track.

This is in my opinion (I have all of Anathema's releases) their best album. It is superior to Alternative 4 in almost all ways.

Think The Silent Enigma/Eternity with beautiful vocals and layers of electric/acoustic guitars and you are on the right track....

11/10