Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here (2010)

We have been waiting for seven long years to get a new release from one of our favorite bands: Anathema. “We’re Here Because We’re Here” is the band’s latest album that will surely gain them a ton of mainstream fans, but will loose of the fans that have been expecting something completely different (and more inspired) from them.

The band’s atmospheric rock has suffered a very drastic transformation since “A Natural Disaster” shifting into a more commercial-friendly sound. Even Vincet’s vocals sound different than in the previously mentioned release. With only three tracks that appealed to us, we must say that this album is a big disappointment (at least for us).

The band gains momentum with the well crafted “Thin Air”, then loses it quickly with the Post-Rock influenced “Summer Night Horizon”. We can’t really complain about the musicianship since the Cavanagh brothers excel at making music, but we can talk about the lack of depth this release has. Most songs feel very similar in nature and do nothing for us, since they are pretty dull after a few listens.

The highlights of this album are “Everything” where the talented Lee provides her vocal talents. We also have “Angels Walk among Us” featuring Ville Valo doing some backing vocals, a song that captures melancholic side of Anathema, and sounds like what we expected the full album to be. Finally “Prescence” is the last song we liked since it features an “Eternity”-era sound that no band can mimic.

The rest of the songs have tons of rock influences that just don’t feel like Anathema tracks. We get that the band wants to gain mainstream recognition but they had a very unique sound that has been quite blurred in this release. Mixed by Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree fame, we get a crystal clear sound, and mastered by Jon Astley, the album just sounds magical, if we were talking about a different band. For Anathema, this waters down their sound into a uninspired atmospheric/prog rock album.

We are still huge fans of the band, but we have to say that the wait for this release was in vain. With all the timeless classics this band has written, we can just shrug off this release into oblivion, and keep on waiting for the back to get back on their path.

Release: May 31th, 2010

Country: UK