Straight and to the point: I own close to 300 cds, and this, my friends, is the best of all of them. By a long shot. From the intro track "sentient" to the outro track "acension" (both godly instrumentals) this CD is pure perfection.

It is like a book that you open.. it catches your interest right away... it brings you to emotional highs and lows... and finally comes to a glorious conclusion.

Duncan Patterson, bassist of the band at that time, a musical genious, and an important influence in me, has written much of the material in this album.

This is where Vincent Cavanagh finds himself trapped between the passionate growls from The Silent Enigma (previous album) and the soft, harmonious vocals seen in Alternative 4 (latter album). This experimental mixture of singing and growling is, in my view, what makes this album so unique.

The Cavanagh brothers are in an all-time emotional downhill caused by the death of their ill mother. The consecuence: the most depressive lyrics you will ever read. If you understand this album, you will definately cry more than once listening to it.

Halfway though the album appears a cover of Roy Harper's "hope". Almost identical to the original in structure, Anathema's version differs only in one thing: it's got 100% Anathema's sound. But the loyalty to the original version is such that you can picture Roy Harper as the puppet master, pulling the strings and playing his own song through the band.

When "Eternity pt3" arrives, you can feel that the end of the album is coming. It's impossible to explain why, but this song's overwhelmingly powerful chords spell climax like you have never heard before. Then, "cies on the wind" sets the tone for the perfect ending for this album: "acension". When the music fades out.. you are not left wanting more.. everything has been said.

This is the concept album by definition. I don't even see the CD as a collection of songs. It is one entity... this is not one of those CDs from which you take a few songs to make your "best of". This CD itself is a "best of".. actually it is simply "best". It has been made to be played from start to finish, uninterrupted. You will never use the "random" option in your stereo.

This is Anathema at their best. But be warned: its not an easy album to get into. There are those who say that it's the band's worse album to prove it.

First off, this should not really be classified as a metal album. Anathema are for all intents and purposes, an art-rock band, sort of a modern-day Pink Floyd. What sets this band above mere art rock and makes this quiet, dreamy music more than new age background music is sheer emotion. This is one of the most persuasive musical evocations of melancholy I've heard. Cascading keyboards, guitar acoustics and fragile crooning wash over the listener like waves, threatening to drown. The vague lyrics seem to romanticize death and suicide. Listening to this album makes me want to swallow a bottle of sleeping pills, and I mean that as a complement.

This was the first Anathema album I ever heard. The moment the first track 'Sentient' majestically drifted from the speakers I knew this was going to be a great album. I wasn't wrong. Powerful and emotional, the kind of album I would like to play just before I die.

I remember picking this album up after seeing what was a mediocre review saying there were a few standout songs. I bought it the same day as Cradle of Filth's Dusk... And Her Embrace. You could not get two more different albums, nor are there two more listened to albums in my collection (of well over 1000 cds).

Eternity by Anathema is their best album, and I have listened to them all dozens if not hundreds of times over. Start to finish it is a hypnotic and moving experience, best done by headphones in the dark. This album got me through the good and the bad times in university, marriage, kids, work you name it. I never get tired of hearing it, and it has inspired my listening choices ever since.

Ther are some some which makes you cry but anathema will take away the will to live.This is the album which made me love Anathema.First of all it is all melancholic and it will make you cry."The beloved" is typical anathema song."Sentient" is sentimental.Angelica is my favorite song and it will make you die.I don't know how it was written but there is no word to describe that song."Far away" is also typical melancholic Anathema song."Eternity" changes your mood makes you energic. "Hope" is a cover i guess and they even mde it better."Suicide veil" is fast and also slow and makes you eel like you want to scream."Radiance" is hard but melancholic."Cries on the wind" has a nice solo and pretty fast."Ascension" has a nice piano solo ending. The cd also contains some acoustic version of some songs.Ý saw Anathema live and their performance is awesome.I wonder what planet they are coming from.If you don't owe that album you should get it immedietly.