Distant Satellites Explained

Distant Satellites
Type:studio
Artist:Anathema
Cover:Distan Satellites.jpg
Recorded:Cederberg Studios, Oslo
Genre:
Label:Kscope
Producer:Christer-André Cederberg
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Distant Satellites (stylised as distant satellites) is the tenth studio album by the British rock band Anathema. It was released in June 2014 via Kscope and reached #33 in the UK album charts.

Background and recording

The album was recorded at Cederberg Studios in Oslo, with producer Christer-André Cederberg,[2] with some songs also mixed by Steven Wilson due to an operation on Cederberg's back.[3]

The artwork was created by Korean new media artist Sang Jun Yoo, and based around his "Distant Light" installation.

The band released a statement on their new album prior to its release:

This is the first album to feature Daniel Cardoso as the band's primary drummer, replacing longtime member John Douglas. Douglas has since moved to electronic percussion and keyboards.

Critical reception

Distant Satellites received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80 based on ten reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The album ended the year at the 9th position of the 2014 Metal Hammer best albums list,[4] as well at the 2nd position from Metal Hammer writer Adam Rees.[5]

Despite a generally positive review, Sputnikmusic did lament the familiarity of it all stating, "Anathema stumbled onto musical gold when they crafted the formula used on We're Here Because We're Here. It's a formula they would be crazy to dismiss, and that's probably why they haven't... Overall, Anathema have struck gold for the third time in a row, but for the first time there are some prominent flaws as well."

Singles

The Lost Song Part 3 Digital Single/EP
  1. "The Lost Song Part 3" - 5:22
  2. "Coda" (Non-album track) - 1:12
  3. "The Lost Song Part 3 (Ambient Mix)" - 5:28

Personnel

Guest musicians
Production

Release history

RegionDateLabel
Japan4 June 2014Kscope
Germany6 June 2014
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom9 June 2014
Canada10 June 2014
France
United States

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anathema  - Distant Satellites review. Bland, Benjamin. Drowned in Sound. 6 June 2014. 4 March 2019. 28 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190328031458/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/18273/reviews/4147848. dead.
  2. Web site: limited . https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/125049763628/10152288187258629 . 2022-04-27. Anathema on Facebook . Facebook.
  3. Web site: ANATHEMA: Interview with Vincent Cavanagh. 31 May 2014. 19 September 2014. 3 June 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140603090235/http://www.prog-sphere.com/interviews/anathema-interview/. dead.
  4. Web site: Metal Hammer | Louder.
  5. Web site: Metal Hammer | Louder.
  6. Web site: Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 25 (dal 16-06-2014 al 22-06-2014). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Italian. 26 June 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714214719/http://www.fimi.it/main/chart_id/1833. 14 July 2014. dmy-all.