Anathema’s career has always been in constant motion, forever taking risks and never sticking into one musical genre. This time they approached for a more pure form of doom metal, leaving behind the death metal influences of their previously releases. Sadly (or not) it was their sole attempt of doing so.
Throughout the six (+1) songs contained on this record, the band plays a kind of doom metal closer to what Tony Iommi idealized and bands like Candlemass and Cathedral mastered. Of course there’s also the usual Anathema’s melancholy trademark very present on the guitar leads and solos. The rhythm is usually mid paced or slow, however the band managed to add some groove to make things sound more interesting.
All these elements are perfectly blended on the album’s best track “We, the Gods”, an epic journey clocking at almost 10 mts. Some great heavy riffs could be found on “Mine is yours..”, and Kingdom takes the listener through a sorrowful landscape haunted by Darren White’s wails.
Speaking of Darren, Pentecost III also marks the final collaboration between Anathema and their original vocalist, who was fired due to his inability to sing. In fact if you listen to this record, you won’t find many singing, however Darren did have some interesting vocal lines. Here, he uses mourns and shouts, almost dropping the growls used on Serenades and The Crestfallen.
In short, 41 minutes that helps us to understand the evolution of one of the best bands ever to come out of Liverpool.
