Anathema

Anathema are a British rock band from Liverpool.[10] The line-up consists of singers and
guitarists Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, their brother Jamie Cavanagh on bass, drummer John
Douglas, singer Lee Douglas, and keyboardist/drummer Daniel Cardoso since November
2012.
The band was founded as Pagan Angel in 1990 by the three Cavanagh brothers, drummer
John Douglas, and singer Darren White, as a death/doom band. At the time White was the only
singer of the band. The following year, Jamie left and was replaced by Duncan Patterson.
Under this line-up, Anathema released their first EP, The Crestfallen (1992), and their first
album, Serenades (1993). However, White left in 1995; Vincent decided to act as Anathema's
vocalist in addition to his guitarist function in the albums The Silent Enigma (1995)
and Eternity (1996), which were going into a more gothic metal direction.
In 1997, John left the band, and was replaced by Shaun Steels for the album Alternative
4 (1998). Both Patterson and Steels left the same year, replaced by Dave Pybus and a
returning John Douglas, while former My Dying Bride keyboardist and violinist Martin
Powell also joined the band (Daniel Cavanagh was also acting as the band's only keyboardist,
and shared this position since). The only album released with this line-up
was Judgement (1999): the same year Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's
keyboardist Les Smith who joined Anathema, and Lee Douglas, John's sister, was added to
the line-up as a backing and occasional lead vocalist.
The band released their sixth album A Fine Day to Exit in 2001, turning to an alternative sound.
Shortly after the release, Pybus announced his departure and was replaced by the band's
original bassist, Jamie Cavanagh, reuniting the three brothers in the band for the first time
since 1991. There were no new members for the next ten years, with the albums A Natural
Disaster (2003) and We're Here Because We're Here (2010) all being recorded and released
by the same line-up, with the sound turning even more towards progressive rock; however,
Daniel Cavanagh left Anathema in 2002 to join Antimatter, returning in 2003. Smith left
Anathema in 2011, and Vincent and Daniel both assumed the function of keyboardist for the
band's ninth album, Weather Systems, in 2012. The same year, Cardoso, the band's live
keyboardist since 2011, joined as a full-time member.
The band's tenth studio album, Distant Satellites, was released on 9 June 2014 via Kscope.
Their eleventh album, The Optimist, won "Album of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music
Awards.[11]

History
Early years:"Serenades" and "The Silent Enigma"[edit]
Anathema formed in 1990 as a doom metal band, initially going by the name Pagan Angel.[12] In
November of that year, the band recorded their first demo, entitled An Iliad of Woes.[12] This
demo caught the attention of several bands and labels from the English metal scene.
Brothers Daniel Cavanagh (above) and Vincent Cavanagh (below), both of them vocalists, guitarists and
composers for the band.

At the beginning of 1991, the band gained a lot of attention with the release of their second
demo entitled All Faith Is Lost, resulting in a four-album deal with Peaceville Records.[12] Their
first release under the label was The Crestfallen EP in November 1992. They took the material
from that album on the road, touring with Cannibal Corpse.
Serenades, Anathema's debut LP, attracted a lot of mainstream attention, propelling their
"Sweet Tears" music video onto the MTV playlist. Anathema's first European tour was in 1994,
and was closely followed by gigs at the Independent Rock Festival in Brazil.
In May 1995, vocalist Darren White parted with the band, eventually forming The Blood
Divine.[12] Rather than recruiting a new vocalist, the band decided that guitarist Vincent
Cavanagh should assume White's role.[13] This new formation debuted by touring
with Cathedral in the United Kingdom, and released The Silent Enigma soon after to rave
reviews. It also showed the band starting to take a direction akin to Gothic metal.

Mid 1990s:"Eternity", "Alternative 4" and "Judgement"[edit]

The next member to leave the band was drummer John Douglas, who departed in the summer
of 1997. He was replaced by Shaun Steels, formerly of Solstice, who would also later play
drums for My Dying Bride.[13] The release of Eternity came in 1996, relying more on
atmospheric sounds, and starting the transition to clean vocals;[13] the album Judgement would
later consolidate this style. A European tour followed the album's release.
Alternative 4 was released in 1998. During this time the band underwent many line-up
changes. Bassist/songwriter Duncan Patterson quit due to musical differences and was
replaced by Dave Pybus of Dreambreed, a band which Duncan had played bass for during a
short period,[13] and not long after this Martin Powell (who had played keyboards and violin for
My Dying Bride previously) joined the band for live performances. Finally, founding drummer
John Douglas returned to the drums in place of Steels.[13]
In June 1999, the album Judgement was released, marking Anathema's complete shift from
the doom metal genre, focusing instead on slower and more experimental songs. This new
sound has been likened to artists such as Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley, and to a lesser
extent, Radiohead. Their songs continued to express a feeling of depression and, more often
than not, desperation.

2000s:"A Fine Day to Exit" and "A Natural Disaster"[edit]

Anathema in concert at Istanbul Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Amphitheatre in 2005.

In 2000 Martin Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith, who
came to be an integral member of Anathema.
Shortly before the release of A Fine Day to Exit, Dave Pybus announced his departure from the
band and later joined Cradle of Filth. He was replaced by touring bassist George Roberts, and
later by Jamie Cavanagh.
In March 2002, Daniel Cavanagh announced his departure from the band, joining Duncan
Patterson's band Antimatter. However, he later rejoined Anathema in 2003 for the release of A
Natural Disaster, and started their European tour. This accelerated the changes in Anathema's
tone, towards the atmospheric and progressive, as exhibited in album tracks "Flying" and
"Violence".
Upon the closing of their label Music for Nations after its purchase by Sony BMG, Anathema
found itself without a record label, despite having completed an extensive tour of the UK with
popular Finnish rock band HIM in April 2006. During their search for a new label, the band
have adopted a more 'DIY' approach to music release, embracing the internet and releasing
songs via their own website, for which fans may donate a monetary sum of their own choice.
Despite the obvious lack of label-based tour support, the band continues to play dates across
Europe, guitarist Danny Cavanagh also playing the odd low-key acoustic concert.

2010s:"We're Here Because We're Here" and "Weather

Systems"[edit]

Lee Douglas, John Douglas' sister, formally joined the band as a singer after some guest appearances.
On 20 March 2010, Anathema announced on their website[14] and Facebook page[15] the release
date of their next album. We're Here Because We're Here was released on 31 May 2010 on
the Kscope label. John Douglas' sister Lee Douglas joined the band in the capacity of a
vocalist during the recording of this album. She had previously performed on the two previous
albums as a guest vocalist.
On 6 July 2011, it was announced on the band's official page that their album of re-
interpretations, Falling Deeper, would be released on 5 September 2011. The album was a
follow-up to Hindsight and contained new orchestral versions of songs from the past, as well as
a version of "Everwake" featuring the vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen.[16] On 12 September
2011, Les Smith's departure due to "creative and musical differences" was announced on the
band's website.
On 16 April 2012, the band's ninth studio album, Weather Systems, was released via Kscope.
The album entered the UK album charts at No. 50 and the German album charts at No. 19.
On 8 November 2012, Daniel Cavanagh announced on Anathema's official website that Daniel
Cardoso was joining in a full-time permanent basis, as a key element of the band.[17]
On 2 December 2012, Anathema announced their first concert in India. Anathema has
performed at IIT Madras as part of the Saarang Rock Show on 12 January 2013.
The band's live album, named Universal, was released as a double vinyl album on 24 June
2013. The album is a recording of a special one-off gig at the ancient Roman
theatre of Philippopolis in 2012, where the band were joined by the Plovdiv Philharmonic
Orchestra. The set was released on Blu-ray, DVD and CD under the name Universal, with an
alternate track order, on 17 September 2013.

The band performing at the 2016 Starmus Festival alongside theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

The band performed on drummer Mike Portnoy's Progression Nation at Sea tour aboard the
Norwegian Cruise Line ship Pearl that sailed from the Port of Miami on 18 February 2014.
Daniel Cardoso, initially keyboardist, has assumed the role of drummer taking over from John
Douglas who now plays percussion and keyboards.[18]

"Distant Satellites" and "The Optimist"[edit]

On 28 March 2014, the band announced their upcoming studio album would be called Distant
Satellites. The album came out on 9 June 2014 on the Kscope label, and was produced by
Christer-André Cederberg in Oslo, Norway. Several tracks were mixed by Steven Wilson
(of Porcupine Tree). Different from previous albums is the use of more electronica on this
album. The album was released in four different versions: CD, vinyl, Media Book, and a Deluxe
version.[19] The band toured the album starting 22 May in Istanbul, Turkey, continuing
throughout Europe and travelling to Australia for the first time to perform three dates during
August 2014.
Following the success of their short Australian tour, an acoustic tour was announced for New
Zealand and Australia in 2015. Daniel, Vincent and Lee performed these show without the
other band members. Later that year, the band released an acoustic live album and video
entitled A Sort of Homecoming, consisting in the record of a concert at the band's
hometown Liverpool Cathedral.