NH7

Liverpool doom metal pioneers Anathema are scheduled to play a headlining performance tonight at Saarang, the annual festival of IIT-Madras (details here). The band addressed the media in a press conference yesterday, answering questions about their shift from death metal to a more prog sound, their 2012 album Weather Systems, and their plans for the near future. We were listening in.

• When asked about Anathema’s recent shift in genre, vocalist Vincent Cavanagh explained that they don’t really listen to criticism. “Our genre has been evolving and it’s been evolving for a while now,” he said. He added that one has to be a fierce critic of what one does. “We are a band that moves forward always.”
• Cavanagh added that neither he nor the other band members have listened to much metal recently. “It was an adolescence thing,” he said, explaining that he soon gravitated towards progressive music. “The only metal bands I have listened to lately are Voivod and Tool.”
• Anathema’s setlist at their Saarang 2013 performance will include a mix of old and new tracks. “We will go back to Alternative 4,” they said.
• The band explained that their 2012 release Weather Systems started out as an EP with just 4 songs. Improvisation on one track led to its expansion into a full-length album.
• Post-Saarang, Anathema will head to a studio in Portugal to demo new material for an upcoming release.
• The band was bombarded with the usual questions about their experiences in the country (“I was really happy to see a cow on the road” – Lee Douglas) and whether they’d tasted Indian curry.

Anathema will headline the Rock Show at Saarang 2013, IIT-Madras, tonight. The event begins at 6pm, with Kerala metalcore act Heretic, Chennai jam band The Family Cheese (who love breakfast, by the way), and Bangalore doom metal act Bevar Sea. Tickets for the show are priced at Rs 400, Rs 600 and Rs 1000, you can buy them here.

Check out some photos from the press gathering below:

Vincent Cavanagh of Anathema

#Facepalm

Vocalist Lee Douglas signs flyers for fans

Photos by Shwetha Joyson