Picture Black Sabbath gradually morphing into a New Age band. Resplendent with sweeping chamber orchestration and dominated by piano, WHBWH yielded a disarmingly elegant clutch of hymns that signaled a creative end point of sorts and that suggested that Anathema had reached its pinnacle. Anathema had not simply exceeded expectations; they had eviscerated them.
An arresting meditation on loss and death, Weather Systems relies on repeating acoustic patterns and atmospheric interludes to create a rhythmic ebb and flow that carries momentum from one track to the next. These recurring elements unify the album in such a way that in order to absorb the its full intensity, one must listen to Weather Systems in a singular, uninterrupted session. But man, what a payoff. The song refers to making a final statement of that love and blessing the beauty of the other person before letting go, and the lyrics are equally applicable to death as to any form of break-up or separation.
Sadness, despair and defiance erupt and as his emotions take flight; the song gathers into a climax so powerful that its abrupt finish is startling.
Perhaps from the eternal perspective, not even real at all. Along the way, we learn all over again. Birth into this world became death. And now death in this world will become birth. For in time, his life has spanned over 70 years. But from the perspective of eternity, our earthly lives are a drop in the ocean. It will be as if we never left. The transition out of the piece into Alone is completely transparent except for the melody transposing into a higher octave, growing quieter and more distant as the narrator becomes aware of his gradual disappearance from reality.
The voice of the female narrator, Maryland yoga teacher and spiritual writer Heather Leah Huddleston, takes over halfway through to complete the transition towards the state of non-being. Although he is aware that he is disappearing, no one can think about or conceive of non-being. We could not be aware of our own non-existence. And so his awareness slips away as he crosses that rubicon and he ceases to be who he once was.
Hearing is necessary here. Speech is necessary here. The Orbit gradually changes from peaceful quiet to dissonant and eerie, signaling a transition from life on earth into an alternate dimension between life and death. Comparisons to Lunatic Soul begin to emerge with the development of this theme along with the drastic stylistic departure, and yet The Passage is a completely different perspective on life and death, maintaining their exploration of the meaning of life through a fantastic journey to the in between, and some of the trepidation of the unknown, but taking a hopeful and life-affirming stance from then on.
The music completely disappears, a moment of silence in memory of the moments that never were and that were treasured. Shimmering synthesizers begin to surface, their droning Siren calls beginning to form voicelike phrases and timbres, the voices of those gone before.
Life is compared to an orbit around the truth. Even those who resolutely persist circling around it can never flee it, and will eventually be drawn in. Those who embrace the truth will find healing, and find their way through the afterlife as well as this present life.
Time passes without notice as Within stands perfectly still. As the narrator is trapped in this moment, he undergoes a life review, during which the melody evolves into a more bittersweet tone. For as he enters eternity, he sees all that has been, his past.
But he has lost all awareness of the present. The purpose of this journey is first revealed: for him to look back upon where he has been with the wisdom he will be granted, to realize the incompleteness of his life before, and to change what is Yet to Be, his future.
With an ascent into another plane of existence comes Freedom. The ties that bound him to his family, friends, and memories are stripped away. In the beyond, as in life, he feels the burning desire to find his way through the vastness and to reclaim his identity, all that has been lost. On The Return, the music disappears completely, imprisoning Cavanagh in what appears to be nothingness.
All his words fall on deaf ears in this vacuum of space. Unable to breathe. To see. To hear. To smell. To touch. To taste. To find his way. To feel anything. Have I been thrown from orbit and out of control? He was a huge help.
For several years after it happened, though, his acceptance of what happened and his eventual willingness to address and discuss it in public forum was an ongoing emotional struggle. For one thing, at the time, Geraci had never heard of the "near-death experience" phenomenon. For months, as he tried to process what had happened, Geraci became withdrawn and started behaving differently.
He hadn't told anyone what had happened - even his then-wife, Joan, whom he'd started dating when they were both 15 years old. But Joan, a registered nurse, knew something was wrong. Geraci couldn't, for example, abide any signs of violence on television.
In a more general sense, he showed little or no interest in many things that had previously seemed important. After six months, feeling, he said, "like I was going to explode if he didn't tell someone," he described his experience with his wife. But Joan was very supportive and made it a point to research and understand what I'd been through.
We learned that, even though millions of people had been through something like this, there was a real stigma to admitting to it. Family members have been disowned over this. With regard to his own conviction, he smiles and offers a shrug. I'm completely comfortable with my certainty of what happened and that life existence is a continuum rather than a circle," he says.
Equally important, he learned to relish the true joy of daily life, of humor, love, and friends and family. During that time, Geraci reached out to the IAFNDS and, eventually, began to share his experiences with support groups and in public forum.
Helpless in her fight, Geraci says of the lessons he learned, "I don't fear death, but I fear the process of dying. The offer was made, and Joe was happy to go along and I think he felt gratified and proud and even vindicated that, in the later years of his life, he and I and Heather could do this project. NOTE: you can also read my annotated Anathema discography.
I am trying to find the lyrics. Do you have? Could You send it to me, please? By the way, your blog is excellent. I really enjoyed it. Like Like. Thanks for your comment. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Eclectic reviews of ambient, psychedelic, post-rock, folk and progressive rock Features and reviews focusing on the known and unknown legends of Rock 'n' Roll; the private press heroes, doomed power poppers, psychedelic guitar warlords, avant garde outsiders, and lo-fidelity all stars.
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