Anathema – Weather Systems

Anathema's early contributions to doom metal are easy to disregard when they've been riding on the soft rock train with such grace for so long. If 2010's We're Here Because We're Here captured the band at their ambrosial peak, then Weather Systems continues to soar from the outset with its two-part opener Untouchable, the light acoustic patterns of which naturally evolve into lush, harmonious highs. 

 

The instrumentation throughout is equally as gorgeous – a mix of airy guitars, sparse drums, keys and strings – but it's Vincent Cavanagh's emotive voice which remains the Liverpudlian quintet's most appealing asset. The album is not without its missteps: the nine minute Storm Before the Calm spends its running time in stylistic freefall, and the ever-present threat of overblown cheese is lamentably realised on The Lost Child. But fundamentally, Anathema project honesty and passion over theatrical gaudiness.