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It is not exactly a new album by Anathema, but rather a collection of old doom/death tracks from their repertoire, revisited with a symphonic twist. And no, rest assured, if by any chance you're already thinking about the frustrating and disappointing experience of "Evinta," the overly ambitious and self-indulgent work by fellow doomsters My Dying Bride, I can assure you that "Falling Deeper" has nothing to do with that spectacular flop, except of course the basic idea.
Perhaps in the following lines, I will insist too much on comparing the two works, but let me at least explain the reasons: Anathema and My Dying Bride have both been two fundamental groups for that kind of gothic doom born in the early '90s; however, the parallels end there, as the paths taken in the subsequent years are almost opposite. On one hand, we have an example of change, maturation (musical and otherwise), and inner exploration; on the other, inspiration has slowly given way first to craft, then to mannerism, and finally to the basest clichés. And never before has this difference been so evident: reaching a certain point in their career, after twenty years of activity, here comes the common decision to review their past from another perspective, with results that perfectly reflect the current state of the two bands.
"Evinta": a gargantuan project whose overly long and pretentious tracks often turn out to be merely inconclusive collages of melodies that are certainly familiar to Bride fans, while the arrangements, although elegant and refined, verge on kitsch, and the atmospheres betray an underlying artificiality. Now imagine the complete opposite of everything said so far, and you'll already have an idea of how "Falling Deeper" will sound. Anathema worked on a fairly reduced duration, and this is because most of the revisited tracks (such as "Kingdom," "We The Gods," "They Die," and "Sleep In Sanity"), initially powerful and massive, have been stripped down, reduced to their essence and finally intelligently connected to the band's new course, in a distinctly romantic and introspective dimension.
In short, no unnecessary prolongations: the aim of "Falling Deeper" is to capture the spirit of each track and encapsulate it in impressions and moments, focusing on substance at the expense of form. We're always there: "Falling Deeper," in just under/scattered 38 minutes, channels a lyrical intensity that My Dying Bride didn't manage to reproduce in more than twice the time and with twice the resources. And even at the level of arrangements, the discourse doesn't change: this, like "Evinta," will also be a "symphonic" album, but in fact, Anathema have only relied on the delicate touch of strings and the depth of the piano, along with inserts of acoustic or electric guitar here and there when needed. The risk of falling into void baroque excesses is therefore minimal: here, there is only room for sincerity.
The music in "Falling Deeper" develops vertically, increasing in intensity second by second, only to suddenly disappear, leaving us among the waves of our emotions which, if at first glance might seem ephemeral, gain value with subsequent listens, becoming more unique and unrepeatable. But what kind of emotions? Perhaps someone still has in mind the serene and landscape-like melodies of the last album "We're Here Because We're Here," and they wouldn't be entirely wrong: the arrangements are indeed very similar, but the tracks in question remain at their core doom, and their underlying heaviness sometimes makes itself felt.
"Kingdom" only softens on the surface, but its gloom remains unchanged, especially in the dragged, solemn, beaten momentum. "Sleep In Sanity" retains its gothic and sinuous melodies, this time, however, conveyed by the transparency of the strings and the ethereal and subdued vocals of the Cavanagh siblings, and the contrasts with the old doom/death version are somewhat amusing. "We The Gods", on the other hand, stripped of its doom features, is almost unrecognizable: so intimate and deep that at times I had the impression of listening to the continuation of the saddened "Violence" (from "A Natural Disaster"), which doesn't seem like a flaw at all!
But it is in the simplest and most elusive episodes that Anathema truly leave one speechless: the acoustic "Everwake" shines with its own light thanks to the golden voice of the beautiful Anneke, while "They Die," in my opinion, the true jewel of the album, picks up and refines the last two orchestral minutes of the metal version, offering us the most sublime and precious moments of this inner journey. "Sunset Of Age" and "Alone," on the other hand, fail to astonish like the others, perhaps because they are longer or perhaps because they are too faithful to their original versions, but anyway, in their most celestial guise, they remain a pleasant listen and do not detract from the qualitative level of the album, especially the former (one of my favorites from the group), which with its apocalyptic atmospheres and that piercing closing solo, always makes an impressive figure.
At this point in the review, I usually try to sum things up; instead, this time, I think I'll just throw tomatoes at My Dying Bride...
(Needless to say: a mandatory listen for those who follow and love Anathema.)
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