Album Review: Weather Systems by Anathema

After Falling Deeper, Anathema's orchestral detour into greatest hitsville, the Liverpool band return with a true follow-up to We're Here Because We're Here. What Falling Deeper accomplished was to make the band comfortable with the string arrangements of Dave Stewart; they're used abundantly -- and to great benefit -- on Weather Systems (produced by Christer-Andre Cederberg with Daniel and Vincent Cavanagh). Guitarist Daniel has written a set of songs that are more daring, harmonically ambitious, and poetically sophisticated than anything he's previously attempted.

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Though it may be surprising, the band responsible for Weather Systems began their career in doom-metal. The dramatic piano chords and orchestral backings that make up many of the album’s tracks would suggest a genesis in Coldplay-esque balladry—not in grim, atmospheric metal. Nevertheless, that evolution is the one Anathema has taken, and that growth has proven to be excellent.

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If you didn't know that Anathema started out a couple of decades ago as a UK doom metal band, Weather Systems wouldn't tell you. And yet, underneath the album's fluid, mostly mellow surfaces and throughout the sonic evolutions, the Liverpool, UK-based act have remained unmistakeable. For the most part, the band's latest album (their ninth) falls somewhere within the post-rock spectrum, with a palette ranging from the stripped back, earthy elements of folk to the more sensuous and even symphonic sounds of experimental pop.

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