''Serenades'' is the full-length debut album by British rock band

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

. It was released on 28 February 1993 through

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throat ...

. It is their only album to feature Darren White on lead vocals. Rhythm guitarist

Vincent Cavanagh Vincent Cavanagh (born 29 August 1973 in Liverpool) is an English singer and guitarist best known as a co-founder (and the sole constant member) of British rock band Anathema. Vincent took over as Anathema's vocalist following the departure of ...

sang lead on all subsequent albums.

Background

''Serenades'' expands on material from ''

The Crestfallen ''The Crestfallen'' is a demo EP by the British doom metal band Anathema. Release It was the first official release in Anathema's discography. "They Die" was not included on the vinyl version. In 1994, The Futurist Label included all of t ...

'' EP, but features more experimentation and variation throughout. It was recorded between June and September 1992 at

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

-based Academy Studios, the same place where ''The Crestfallen'' had been recorded one year prior.

Composition

''Serenades'' is mainly a

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

album. Lyrical themes include being lovelorn ("Lovelorn Rhapsody"), trauma and war ("Sleepless") and lust ("Under a Veil

f Black Lace F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

). The album closes with a 23-minute ambient track.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Darren J. White, all music written by Danny Cavanagh.

Personnel

* Darren J. White – vocals * John Douglas – drums *

Duncan Patterson Duncan Patterson (born 5 June 1975) is an English musician, best known for his work as a member of Anathema (1991–1998) and Antimatter (1998–2005). Career Patterson was a driving force behind Anathema's success during their earlier years, be ...

– bass *

– guitars * Danny Cavanagh – guitars ;Guest musicians * Ruth Wilson – vocals on "J'ai fait une promesse" ;Production * Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw – producer * David Penprase – photography (cover) * Darren J. White – photography * Keith Appleton – mixing * Mags – producer * Dave Pybus – design, layout * Porl Medlock – photography (black & white)

Notes

*An alternate version of the song "Lovelorn Rhapsody" had been featured on the Peaceville Volume 4 compilation. *The 1994 US version of the album is called ''Serenades + Extra Tracks''. It omits "Dreaming: The Romance", and in its place, adds a studio version of the demo song "All Faith is Lost" as well as the entirety of ''

'' EP. It also has a red-orange front cover instead of the original's yellow-orange front cover. This version was released by the Futurist subsidiary of

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. *The Japanese Import version of the album features the song "Nailed to the Cross/666" as a bonus track. * The album has also been released as a double CD with ''

''. * A remastered version of the album was released on CD in 2003, and is the current and most widely pressed CD release. It restores "Dreaming: The Romance" and also adds all tracks from the single release ''We Are The Bible''. * ''Serenades'' was finally released on vinyl in 2012. It is based on the 2003 audio remaster. However, it has neither "Dreaming: The Romance" nor any bonus tracks, making it the shortest commercially available version of the album to date. * Orchestral versions of "J'ai fait une promesse" and "Sleep in Sanity" were recorded for the 2011 compilation '' Falling Deeper''.

References

{{Authority control 1993 debut albums Anathema (band) albums Peaceville Records albums Death-doom albums