Anathema
The Crestfallen EP

All of this happened before, long before Anathema became the wonderful colorful and Pink Floyd-esque swan they are now (for those who appreciate the new direction, of course).

All of this happened in the distant 1992 and it was a lightning strike, an illumination, a love at first sight.

"Crestfallen" is the first recorded testimony, the first imprint left by the Liverpool-based band, composed at the time of the brothers Vincent and Daniel Canavagh (guitar and guitar/vocals), bassist Duncan Patterson, drummer John Douglas, and singer Darren White, in the consciousness of all those who have loved and still love that musical ability our band has to be simply melodramatic and romantic, funereal and gothic to the right extent, regardless of the compositional period they find themselves in.

Well, with this EP published by the historic Peaceville Rec., Anathema emerge in the metal world proposing a doom/death somewhat reminiscent of the very first Cathedral, thus with very, very measured rhythms, a quite growling voice, but at the same time, expressing a touch all their own in composing and imagining the genre, a distinctly Victorian flavor, almost like a classical chamber quartet, with which they can do without the symphonic orchestrations typical, for instance, of contemporaries My Dying Bride or Paradise Lost (those of "Gothic," not the eponymous debut).

A peculiar characteristic of our band, noteworthy from the start, is delivering songs with considerable average duration; note that the aforementioned EP consists of 5 tracks for a total of 35 minutes of music, which, by comparison, is about the runtime of Slayer's "Reign in Blood". This prolixity never diminishes, in my opinion, into dullness, or worse boredom; it is simply the natural development/progression of a succession of broad and deep riffs, which slowly transform without breaking the compositions, thus keeping the listener's interest alive. The only thing that might long-term possibly tire is the barking of good Darren White, which is indeed monotonal when he relies solely on growl, while he expresses a good deal of passionate stride when he shifts to clean vocals.

Another peculiarity is the use, from debut, of incorporating a folk ballad, sung by a sweet and angelic female voice: the song in question is the brief(!!!!!), delicate "Everwake".

For the rest, we face a work to be gulped all at once, from the initial and spectacular "..And I Last" to the dramatic and concluding "They die", passing through the title track, a long 10-minute suite introduced by a piano that leaves a glimpse, in the way it's played, of what would later become the future developments of the compositions (let's say it somewhat preludes to "Eternity").

Concerning the purely technical side, the recording isn't bad; let's say everything is perfectly audible and balanced, while the timbre of the sounds is primordial, quite raw, but perhaps this can increase the charm of the work itself, as it suits well the decadent and unhealthy atmospheres created by our band.

Absolutely a must-have.