Anathema
Judgement

THE REVIEW

The English Doom Metal scene formed by Paradise Lost, Anathema, and My Dying Bride after '95 (the peak year of the movement just cite titles like Draconian Times, The Silent Enigma, and The Angel And The Dark River) begins to change profoundly. Within two years, only My Dying Bride decided to continue down that path.
Anathema, on the other hand, after a transitional album like Alternative 4 (still a masterpiece), reached Judgement in '99.

An album that is worth a hundred times most of the records that are spewed into today's music market.
An emotional, intense, and profound work immersed in a dark and disarming atmosphere.
Tracks like FORGOTTEN HOPES, DESTINY IS DEAD, EMOTIONAL WINTER are something that cannot be described but must simply be listened to, experienced.

The only tracks that, although I cannot convey the idea in words, I allow myself to overlap with the others are the heartbreaking ONE LAST GOODBYE, a song on which it's hard to hold back tears, marked by Vincent Cavanagh's wonderful and moving performance and one of the most beautiful lyrics ever written by the English group, and the title-track JUDGEMENT, a continuous rhythmic progression that explodes in authentic sonic chaos with a power that has nothing to envy compared to the times when Anathema could be defined as a Heavy Metal band.
Ultimately, an album that borders on absolute perfection and bears witness to the stylistic evolution of a band that, beyond the means used, remains anchored to that imagery of melancholy and despair that has always characterized its production and presumably always will.