Anathema – Distant Satellites

It is a true rarity to actually experience an album shaped and moulded with enormous amounts of care, consideration and love. Likewise, it is uncommon for an album to be so atmospheric that it leaves you breaking out in goose pimples for the most part. However, Distant Satellites by Anathema manages to attain both of these standards and still leaves you ravenous for more.

An ethereal poignancy is in strong supply throughout the album: tracks such as The Lost Song Part 2, Ariel and Firelight will hypnotise you with their haunting clarity and ghostly beauty. Ariel in particular is undeniably one of the strongest tracks featured on the album, and deserves to be the song that finally drives the band into the mainstream – and with this being their tenth studio album they’ve warranted that much, surely?

Naturally, though, there is only so much slow-moving music that one can listen to, and Anathema have planned for this reality by including a number of heavier, rock-inspired tracks on the album. Dusk (Dark is Descending) is a classic example of this, and although it may not be the finest track on the album its raw lyrical brilliance must be given the recognition that it’s worthy of. The same can be said of You’re Not Alone, which in its structure contains more twists and turns than a hangman’s noose, and sounds somewhat influenced by the not-so-dissimilar band, Radiohead. 

As a group who have never been afraid to let themselves grow and evolve, Anathema have once again demonstrated their capability to produce otherworldly compositions and leave their audience mesmerised. The combination of Vinnie Cavanagh and Lee Douglas’ vocals creates an album that is impressive in its release and unique in its sound. Distant Satellites may be fairly dissimilar from their previous work, but it is a change that bodes extremely well for the band and suits their musical finesse.

Keira Trethowan

Distant Satellites was released on 9^th June 2014. For further information or to order the album visit Anathema’s website here.

Listen to The Lost Song Part 3 here: