Band:	Anathema
Album:	The Crestfallen EP
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	1992
Guest review by:	Gothic Metalhead

01. ...And I Lust
02. The Sweet Suffering
03. Everwake
04. Crestfallen
05. They Die

By the time Anathema released their EP The Crestfallen, they were already beat compared to the other Peaceville trio bands that defined death-doom. Paradise Lost had already released their third album Shades of God by July 1992, and My Dying Bride released their debut album As The Flower Withers earlier in May 1992. That leaves us with Anathema's introduction in The Crestfallen on November 1992. How did Anathema's first EP go?

To my eyes, The Crestfallen was a great introduction to Anathema's career. The music itself was different at the time, where there are Gothic elements such as in the title song "Crestfallen" where it begins with a melodic piano part until unleashing a slow and heavy doom song. Some of those Gothic elements are rare on this album, especially with the lead guitar creating atmospheric on "...And I Lust" and the interlude "Everwake." I do feel that the EP sounds similar to Paradise Lost, especially when listening to Gothic, so it's not as original as I thought it would be. Nevertheless, the music sounds terrific, sounding heavy and having that tinge of atmosphere from the Gothic influence.

Darren White who performs as vocalist on The Crestfallen actually does a solid job. He has that familiar death metal sound similar to other bands that had come out, but slightly less guttural. His approach is not unique, but I still enjoyed his performance, especially with "Crestfallen." Vincent Cavanagh did do some backup singing on this EP; he does mid-range and some spoken word stuff. His mid-range vocals sounded great, but his spoken word sounds like moaning. Besides that, the vocals were solid.

The lyrics are also well-crafted and consistent throughout this EP. Usually, Anathema write lyrics like it's coming from a Gothic horror novel. The themes that are read on The Crestfallen really work with the direction that the music is going. The lyrics are mournful and sensitive, but also have that influence from the early death-doom bands at the time. This was long before bassist Duncan Patterson would take over most of the lyricism of Anathema's career, and yet, the lyrics are still well-written.

So looking back at The Crestfallen, this was a great introduction to what would become a fantastic career. This would establish Anathema's career for the next three years, and has that raw sound that I always liked about death-doom. Slightly unique, a couple of flaws, but still a great introduction.