ANATHEMA
Judgement

VG++

2017's The Optimist is Anathema's first album since 2014's spellbinding Distant Satellites and contains the band's darkest, most challenging and unexpected material.

Recorded in Winter 2016 at Attica Studio in Donegal and Castle of Doom Studios in Glasgow with producer Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Super Furry Animals) at the helm. Doogan's influence is instantly tangible as for the first time in years Anathema recorded as a live band for an album, capturing an energy normally only present on stage. A technique that should be welcomed by fans aware of the band's supreme live power - previously captured on the celebrated concert film, Universal.

CD in digipak with 16 page booklet.
 

A Vision of A Dying Embrace captures a night of spellbinding Doom Metal magic from an Anathema live show in Krakow, Poland, in 1996. 

Presented on the vinyl for the first time (with a printed inner sleeve).

Whilst still reasonably early in the career of the band, and with rhythm guitarist Vincent Cavanagh taking on vocal duties only relatively recently for the sublime ‘The Silent Enigma’ opus, the set contained a whole selection of now-established classics from Anathema’s first two studio albums and ‘Pentecost III’ EP, with epics like ‘A Dying Wish’, ‘Sleepless’, and ‘Mine is Yours’ captured in their purest and rawest form in the live setting. 

Anathema has spent the vast majority of their career making music that defies description. As part of the “Peaceville three”, along with Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride, Anathema have carved a strong legacy since their inception at the turn of the 1990s, to become a widely revered & respected band within both the metal world & beyond, as their sound & compositions progressed from doom/death metal into more rock & progressive territory with each subsequent release, becoming one of the UK’s most cherished and critically acclaimed rock bands.