Immortal Music - Anathema History

	Immortal Music
	...Let The Music Heal Your Soul

Anathema History

Once upon a time (1990-1992)
The band was formed in summer 1990 in Liverpool by Daniel Cavanagh. They started as Pagan Angel in line-up: Darren White - vocals, Daniel Cavanagh - guitar, Vincent Cavanagh - guitar, Jamie Cavanagh - bass, John Douglas - drums (they just were sitting at the same room when Danny made a proposition to found the band, and then everything has started...). November 1990, a first demo "An Illiad Of Woes" was recorded in a local MA Studios. It was recorded at their friend's insistence and just for themselves. The name of the band was changed to the more gothic - Anathema, which means curse, damnation by church and God. They gained more and more publicity... The concerts with the bands like Bolt Thrower or Paradise Lost brought them new fans. At the same time they started intensive work on new songs for a second demo "All Faith Is Lost" which was recorded in July 1991, also at MA Studios, where Duncan and Vincent worked. This four-tracks demo immediately achieved flattering reviews and opinions in press and zines. It aroused interest the Swiss record company Witchhunt Records, which released a single "They Die" consisting of two prior known songs: "Crestfallen" and "They die". But there were only 1000 copies produced, and they sold very quickly. Before it was released, Jamie left Anathema. He decided to devote himself to study. And then Daniel offered the role of bass player to Duncan Patterson (it happened in a musical instrument shop where Danny worked - Duncan just came to buy a bass and amplifier). Dunc arrived for a rehearsal, and then stayed. The rising popularity of Anathema interested Peaceville Records. Hammy, who came to one of their concerts, offered them a record deal. At first, Hammy wanted to check the reaction of people from the music trade, and wanted Anathema to record a song for the Peaceville's compilation. That song was "Lovelorn Rhapsody", recorded at Academy Studios (produced by Hammy in person), which was put on the Peaceville's compilation "Volume 4" published in October 1992. Everything went fine and Anathema signed a deal with Peaceville for four more albums.
Rising to prominence (1992-1995)
In the summer of 1992 the band entered the Academy Studios to record stuff for their debut album. Part of the material recorded at these sessions ended up on their first release in November 1992, the EP titled "The Crestfallen". The rest became "Serenades". Almost all the production was done by the band. Then Anathema started a tour of the UK supporting Cannibal Corpse. In February 1993 they launched their debut album "Serenades" which was received with great enthusiasm. On Kerrang's metal chart it jumped straight to position 2 and Metal Hammer declared it the Album Of The Month. "Serenades" earned the same honour on the MTV chart (influenced by the video of "Sweet Tears"). After publishing "Serenades", the band played lots of concerts, starting in spring '93 in the UK. Later Anathema gave their first concerts outside their homeland: in Holland (twice) and in Belgium (once). In autumn the same year, they came back to Holland to play more concerts, and then they went to Ireland. In January 1994 they visited Germany together with Cradle Of Filth and At The Gates. COF was especially helpful because they generated an incredible atmosphere before their shows. The next concerts, with Pyogenesis and God Forsalun (a young band from Finland), took place in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Afterwards were shows in Romania, in Brazil in August (3 concerts, the first of which was at the INDEPENDENT ROCK FESTIVAL) and again in Holland and Belgium. In the meantime, in May 1994, the EP "Pentecost III" was recorded at Academy Studios. It was often described as mini-LP or maxi-single. Also during this session the band recorded 2 songs which were on the record "We Are The Bible" (a 'purple vinyl' which was released for the Peaceville Collectors Club). Unfortunately, problems with the record company (which had just been taken over by MUSIC FOR NATIONS) caused "Pentecost III" not to see the light of day until May of the following year. Just before publishing this EP, during a session in 1995, Darren left the band. This was due to some internal disagreements, mainly concerning the music (most of the band thought that Darren's vocals didn't suit the new music). Soon after that, Darren founded his own band - The Blood Divine.
Silent enigma (1995-1996)
Since the title of the second full album (Rise Pantheon Dreams) was Darren's idea, the band decided to change it. The lyrics also underwent changes for the same reason. Vincent - one of the Cavanagh brothers - took over the vocals, and all the lyrics were written by the band and their friends Deryk Fullwood and Vincent O'Connel. The second album "The Silent Enigma" was completed in May 1995 - with the new four-person lineup. The recordings were made at Lynx Studios in Newcastle (except "...Alone" which was recorded locally at M.A. Studios for the sake of the female vocals - Rebecca Wilson, who performs the part, couldn't leave Liverpool). The band did the production. Abaddon, Venom's drummer, who became Anathema's manager, accompanied the band during the session. The premiere of this album was scheduled for the autumn, when the band set off on a UK tour with Cathedral, showing off the new lineup. "The Silent Enigma" was published on the 23rd of October 1995, although it was originally planned for August; the record company insisted that there must be a longer break between releases. The album was a great success. After its release, Anathema played a British tour with Paradise Lost, and then set out on the road in Europe, stopping off at the Dynamo festival in Holland. After their return, the band started work on material for a new album. Meanwhile Abaddon (their manager) was thrown out for stealing from the band. At that time Anathema didn't have much luck when it came to managers - Abaddon was the second one expelled. But their new management did well.
Eternity and 4th alternative (1996-1998)
A new album - "Eternity" - emerged on the 19th of November 1996. This time the production was handled by Tony Platt, who was offered to Anathema by the record company MUSIC FOR NATIONS. Recordings took place at The Windings studio in Wales. Initially the album was to have been recorded at Academy Studios, but musicians from My Dying Bride were working there at the time, so Anathema came to a studio in Sheffield. But the sound engineer didn't know what to do with the drums' tone, so finally they went to the studio in Wales. The recordings took them only 3 weeks (including 2 weeks for mixing). Michelle Richfield, then from Dominion (now with Sear) and Roy "Hope" Harper were special guest vocalists. The band were particularly pleased with Harper's presence. Also Les Smith, who was busy doing keyboards and arranging "Sentient", had an input in the album. In May '97 Anathema's first official video cassette "A Vision Of A Dying Embrace" was released, containing all 4 music videos available at the time and a concert recorded in Cracow in March '96 (when they supported MDB on the tour in Poland). In June '97, John Douglas left the group. He couldn't cope with his drug addiction. After this fact, Anathema was asked to record covers for the Peaceville 10th anniversary album, X. As they didn't have a drummer, they opted for songs where drums are rather redundant. The choice fell to "One Of The Few" and "Goodbye Cruel World" (both Pink Floyd songs) and "Better Off Dead" (originally recorded by Bad Religion), on which Michelle Richfield sang. However, in September '97, Shaun Steels (ex-Solstice) became John's successor. Recordings for a next album "Alternative 4" were made in January and February 1998. The new material was recorded at the same studio as the previous one, with Kit Woolven handling production. The new album was released in the middle of 1998. After this album their deal with Peaceville expired and the band signed a new contract with Music For Nations.
A little earthquake (1998)
Growing conflict between Danny and Duncan, who weren't on the same wavelength, caused Duncan to leave the band in September 1998 (soon after leaving, he founded his own band - Antimatter). It was a very big loss for Anathema, because he'd played a dominant role in the band. When he left, a great deal changed; for Anathema it was the end of an era. Dave Pybus, who had his own band, Dreambreed (of which Duncan was also a member in 1996-1998), became the new bass player. Martin Powell, formerly of MDB, also became a new but not full-time member, taking care of keyboard duties at concerts. In November 1998, John Douglas rejoined the band. Shaun Steels had to give up a seat to a privileged friend, but he quickly found a place in MDB.
A new face of the band (1999-2002)
A new release was recorded between February and April 1999 at Damage Inc. Studios in Ventimiglia, Italy (under Kit Woolven's supervision). It was entitled "Judgement" and released on the 21st of June in the same year (although in the US it didn't appear until the 23rd of January 2001). After its release, Anathema returned to the Dynamo festival and came to Poland on the JUDGEMENT TOUR 2000 (in February). In May 2000, Les Smith, who had helped with "Eternity", took over Martin Powell's duties handling the keyboards live. In July they played in the USA (for the first time) at the Milwaukee Metal Fest. After that, the band started work on some new material. Just before the session, Les became a full-time member. Initial work on the new album "A Fine Day To Exit" started about August 2000 at Crash Studios in Liverpool (with Nick Griffiths as producer). Then the guys moved into The Windings in Wales and finally they landed in Chapel Studio in Lincolnshire. In the meantime they also did a few special visits to Crash Studios. The session was finished in June 2001. Then Dave Pybus decided to quit the band. The reason of his decision was he didn't like the new direction of the music. At the beginning of August, Anathema played 3 concerts at the festivals. George Roberts, a friend of the band, was bassist at these concerts (he played a bass borrowed from Duncan Patterson). "A Fine Day To Exit" saw daylight at the beginning of October (Europe - 1.10, USA & Canada - 6.10). After its release, the band gave a few concerts in Holland and Portugal. Between November and December, they set out on a tour of Europe, comprising 23 concerts. In January 2002, Anathema made 3 live performances in Greece. Also, in January a single "Pressure" was to have been released. In connection with it, they made a music video, but the media didn't like the pace of the song and MUSIC FOR NATIONS finally decided not to release it.
Re-birth (2002-)
Unexpectedly, in February 2002, Danny left Anathema. Fortunately he changed his mind and decided to come back. But it wasn't only return in this time, after 11 years Jamie Cavanagh - first Anathema bass player - has rejoined Anathema. After that the lads has started to write songs for another album. New material, entitled "A Natural Disaster" has been released at the end of 2003 and was mainly independent work from Danny. The album met with diversed feedback, some fans were disappointed that Anathema settled down in emotional art rock music with no chances for metal stuff, others were delighted that the band has prooved they are still able to compose beautiful music, no matter what style it is. Album release entailed a few tours, including some very atmospheric semiacoustic live shows. In the meantime, Music For Nations has been devoured by Sony, which resulted in huge problems with releasing 2nd official Anathema video "Were You There?". Finally it saw the light of day at the end of 2004. Unfortunatelly first pressing didn't contain booklet by mistake - it was fixed up later (if you don't have it contact your local distributor or seller). Obviously Anathema music is not what Sony would like to release, so further co-operation was out of the question and... pointless. Currently the band is both working on material for 8th studio album and looking for new label which would be suitable for new stuff.