ANATHEMA — A Fine Day to Exit (review)

ANATHEMA — A Fine Day to Exit album cover Album · 2001 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
The Crow
Another step further in the surprising evolution of this wonderful british band!

"A Fine Day to Exit", of course has nothing to do with the first doom metal Anathema albums... And It's also far away from the gothic and enchanting "Alternative 4". Maybe it's a bit similar to the previous "Judgement", but less acoustic and with a more alternative feeling, taking elements of bands like Radiohead... Maybe it can be difficult to accept this change, but after a few listenings, it's ovious that the band did not lost any quality in this transformation progress.

The album opens wonderfully with Pressure, where we can notice that this is obviously still Anathema, but with a different orientation... Nevetheless, through the album we can find some tracks in a similar style of previous works, like Leave no Trace, in the best "Judgement" vein, and Underworld, wich reminds me to the hardest parts of the same album. Songs like Looking outside Inside and Panic are more experimental, and others like A Fine day to Exit, Barriers, along with the named Pressure, help to configure this renewed Anathema orientation.

Maybe I miss some of the old Duncan Patterson's bass lines, and the genuine melancholy of "Alternative 4" and "Judgement", but "A Fine Day to Exit" shows that the last thing that the brothers Cavanagh want, is to repeat themselves. And they achieved their intention, because "A Fine Day to Exit" is different of the rest of their albums, but it sitll has the typical elements that make this band so special, and recognisable.

Best tracks: Pressure (I really love the chorus...), Release (great acoustic intro, and marvellous electric guitar melodies... One of the album's little classics), Leave no Trace (maybe the best track here), A Fine day to Exit (the most melancholic song, and it's a perfect example of the departure with the previous Anathema albums...) and Temporary Peace (great ending... And another marvellous chorus)

Conclusion: If you are waiting of another "Alternative 4", or a new "Judgement", then you'll be dissapointed with "A Fine day to Exit"... Because it's a definitive departure from the more gothic style, a departure that we could anticipate in "Judgement", and he is fully stablished. It has a more alternative rock orientation, and more variated, and it opens a new and proggier way for the band that was continued in "A Natural Disaster". Luckily, this album is only a little step under the quality of the previous two albums, and if you did not like this gothic and depresive style, then maybe you'll find a satisfying experience in "A Fine Day to Exit". Excellent!

My rating: ****

This review was originally written for ProgArchives.com
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