Anathema
"Resonance 2 "
(Peaceville Records) 

For anyone that missed the mellowing phase that was "Resonance 1," here's the second installment, featuring the darker side of Anathema-their evil twin, bore of blood, fire, and dark desire. For anyone new to the scene that began with "Resonance 1," and who based their judgment of Anathema solely from there, unfortunately death arrives in a crude, slow torture. Anathema's made an almost unsuspecting impact of the dark market. As evidenced here, their earliest material, as with many of their Gothically-inspired tradition, was rooted in darkness, dread and death, and their evolvement into a more complete musical commodity occurred neither simply, swiftly, nor completely in their near ten year existence. In spite of the otherwise misleading titles of storybook romance, "Lovelorn Rhapsody," and "Sweet Tears," begin the collection barbarically and brutal, singer Daniel Cavanagh's voice barely decipherable in his deathly drone. This is not long to last however, soon giving way to a majestic, simply low-key vocal quality, welcoming the impending melodies, however still prone to the occasionally disruptive bark. While their first installment showed the band's penchant for spiritualism and transcendence, this one does so in a more grim and grandiose way, embracing darkness for its own sake rather than guising it wholly in mysticism and mystery behind an acoustic guitar and blurry blue eyes. Overwrought with personal conflict and musical differences, here's where the listener gets the full range of Anathema's career as an ascending band, from start to finish, beneath and beyond the grave, through the fog and into starry night minor key dream sequences and interstellar ambience-"Sleepless '96," "Nocturnal Emission," "A Dying Wish," and "Cries In The Wind." Angelic folklore fuses gothic beauty and sharp samples with underground pleas, through the Cemetary gates, a dark wandering through the "Fields," Paradise Lost and regained, Anathema, stellar in their unassuming manner to be more than what they are without sacrificing their soul. An essential addition to your collection and great introduction to an underrated and still blooming black rose of a band, 'Resonance 2" is the perfect compliment, the alter-ego to last year's quieter collection, but be forewarned, the epilepsy inducing video track is best left for viewing upon completion of the album play through!

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