Anathema: Британдық рок тобының тарихы

British rock band

Anathema were an English rock band from Liverpool. The group was formed in 1990 by Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, bassist Jamie Cavanagh, drummer/keyboardist John Douglas, and vocalist Darren White. The band maintained an active concert schedule throughout their career. They first toured in 1992 with the American death metal band Cannibal Corpse; they since performed throughout Europe, the United States, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Turkey. In the latter stages of their career, the band performed at notable venues such as London's O2 Arena, Wembley Arena, and the London Palladium, as well as appearing on stage with Stephen Hawking at Starmus Festival 3. Anathema released 11 studio albums, including Distant Satellites (2014), which included the song "Anathema", named the Anthem of the Year at the third annual Progressive Music Awards. Three years later The Optimist was named Album of the Year at the Progressive Music Awards.

Anathema formed in 1990 as a doom metal band, initially going by the name Pagan Angel. In November of that year, the band recorded their first demo, entitled An Iliad of Woes. This new formation debuted by touring with Cathedral in the United Kingdom, and released The Silent Enigma soon after. It also showed the band starting to take a direction akin to gothic metal.

The release of Eternity came in 1996, relying more on atmospheric sounds, and starting the transition to clean vocals; and Facebook page 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. 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. Cardoso and John Douglas both switch positions of keyboardist and drummer respectively. 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.

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. 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. Anathema went on their Resonance Tour through Europe in April 2015. These concerts served as live retrospective efforts, featuring songs throughout their catalog, including from their debut album Serenades. Former vocalist Darren "Daz" White and former bassist/keyboardist Duncan Patterson joined the band on stage for these concerts. In 2017, the band released The Optimist, which won Album of the Year at the Progressive Music Awards. However, Anathema announced an indefinite hiatus on 22 September 2020.

Daniel Cavanagh has announced he is working on a solo album named Cellar Door, and has started a new musical project named Weather Systems. The project takes the name of Anathema's 2012 album, and, according to a post on the Anathema Facebook page, "the music will be a continuation of the previous band's legacy". In December 2021, it was posted on Anathema's Facebook page that John Douglas had joined the Weather Systems project.