Anathema - Weather Systems

Weather Systems is an album that uses the term 'concept' quite loosely, with tracks not necessarily telling a story arc collectively. However, the album uses the concept or theme of 'weather' throughout. It is a beloved album of mine, and therefore it finds its way here! Anathema as a band are great storytellers and evokers of emotion. They started as a doom metal band but have slowly progressed towards a melodic alternative/prog rock style which I love and adore! Let's dive right in to this wonderful album.

Image credit: Make Your Own Taste

We're immersed right into the Untouchable duology, which talks about letting go of a loved one and finding yourself. Untouchable Pt.1 starts with acoustic guitar, which sounds too good to be played by human hands, until you see Daniel Cavanaugh play it live on stage, and you're mesmerized even more. I haven't attempted to play it yet and I think I have a long way to go before I do! The lyrics suggest strong feelings towards the loved one and how they were extremely special, with the light behind their eyes the brightest the protagonist had ever seen. But they had to let go, and find their way home, which I think alludes to how if you have been with someone for too long, you forget your original self. The act of letting go and finding oneself is then extremely challenging. Pt. 1 melts beautifully into Untouchable Pt. 2, which is much less aggressive, led by piano. It follows the same theme from Pt. 1, further talking about the feelings one might have towards their loved one. The protagonist questions themselves, of why they should feel so melancholy, and fall apart when trying to follow their heart. All they dream about is their loved one, which makes letting go all the more difficult. Everyone, eventually finds their way back home, back to themselves, however the memories always remain.

The gathering of clouds is used as a metaphor for gathering one's thoughts.

Image credit: Momentary Awe

It is with The Gathering of the Clouds that the title Weather Systems cements itself, starting with the clouds roaring in the background as the acoustic guitar kicks in with piano. The track talks much about self-introspection, or dealing with oneself after an event of grief. The clouds, the protagonist's thoughts, gather as their consciousness talks to him, telling him "we're here 'cause we're here", to fight for what they believe in, and to not be afraid. They searched the whole world and found they can't compare (their lost loved one to anyone in the world?). They found what was going wrong, which is a personal victory, of overcoming one's own thoughts, one's own inhibitions, almost as a warrior does before charging into battle.

Lightning is a metaphor for a sudden moment of finding peace and clarity.

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Lightning Song is a very laid back and mellow track, led by beautiful vocals by Lee Douglas, about a thing that is ever-aggressive and violent in nature, lightning. I think lightning here is a metaphor of a sudden moment of clarity, of appreciating the beauty of the nature and the world around oneself. Our protagonist has found a place of peace, and has achieved clarity, finding their place in time and space, in the faith and love they give. Their loved one, even though is still in their memory, is no longer something that causes them to shed tears. They find a greater understanding and admiration of the beauty of the world, and asks us to open our mind and see it with them.

Sunlight starts with the protagonist talking about how sunlight, which is an eternal element of our lives, faded for some while, and someone, presumably their loved one that they lost, were a part of their life. Their loss almost took them, but they made it, and now they are with sunlight, happiness again. It is only hinted at in the lyrics but I feel, that the protagonist finds someone that will love them until they leave this world. From there, the music of the track progresses like the passing of time. The protagonist is getting older.

Sunlight, or one's happiness is the one constant in life that the protagonist finds again.

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The album from here on out is quite vague, but I will share with you what I make of it. The Storm Before the Calm is a play on words from the usual 'the calm before the storm'. It is an ominous track that I feel talks about death. "It's getting colder" is probably the protagonist becoming more and more feeble, weaker, as his life drains from him until they "can't feel anything at all". However, it can also be them becoming cold emotionally, which is described in the next track. The 'calm' is death and the 'storm' is the protagonist fighting with something in his final days, an illness perhaps. This illness, is described as a feeling that flows through them, ripping them apart and eating them from the inside, something they fight from day till night. The protagonist questions his existence, whether they are still 'here one with fear', alive, I think, and showing disappointment when they learn that they still are.

The Beginning and the End talks about how the protagonist has a cold heart, in which they keep their dreams and the "dark summer dawns" of their memory which have been lost, surrounded by "eons of silence" and they ache to find a way back to them. They ask someone to help guide them back to those memories, but there is no one, as the "silence is raging" and they are unable to navigate their mind on their own. I think this is a hint to the kind of illness that they're fighting, perhaps something that takes away your memory.

The protagonist finds themselves somewhere between life and death. Image credit: Pinterest

The Lost Child is an ominous track that describes how the protagonist feels, adrift on a silent sea when ice forms beneath them as everything gets colder, perhaps somewhere between life and death itself, with a faint memory of their memories from childhood, while a voice calls them seemingly from paradise. They are caught between the beginning and the end, as he feels like his light is fading. The ice breaks and they are pulled underneath, their life failing and their mind drowning, until someone's hand reaches down and pulls them up to save them. It could be the same voice that called to them from paradise, pulling them up to the heavens above, and they die.

Internal Landscapes is a song about losing someone, a loved one who has passed, albeit in an uplifting way. It can be viewed as our goodbye to the protagonist who has passed from the troubles of this world into the calm that is afterlife. There is spoken word at the beginning of the track, from an interview where the subject talks about a near death experience they had, but describing it as a brilliant white light, and how he became peace, and love. It is too good not to be linked here:

The lyrics then come in, talking about saying goodbye to their passed friend, and how their love for them will never end, how love is the 'lifebreath', and the 'truelight' inside of them. Even though they might be gone, we always keep our loved ones, always hold them in our heart. The track, and the album, end on this beautiful excerpt about afterlife from the above interview:

"And it’s just so beautiful. It was eternity. It’s like I was always there and I will always be there, that my existence on earth was just a very brief instant. I could say that I was peace, I was love, I was the brightness and it was part of me."

What I understand of the album might be completely different from your view, and I am always fascinated by different perspectives on music. If you feel differently about anything, hit me up below!