Anathema "Serenades (USA, Futurist, 9086-11037-2)"

Serenades is the full-length debut album by British doom metal band Anathema. It was released on February 28, 1993 through Peaceville Records.

It is the only album of theirs to feature singer Darren White. The band's rhythm guitarist, Vincent Cavanagh, sang on Anathema's subsequent albums.

Serenades expands on material from The Crestfallen EP, but features more experimentation and variation throughout. It was recorded between June and September of 1992 at Yorkshire-based Academy Studios, the same place where The Crestfallen had been recorded one year prior.

Serenades is mainly a death-doom album. Lyrical themes include being lovelorn ("Lovelorn Rhapsody"), trauma and war ("Sleepless") and lust ("Under a Veil [Of Black Lace]"). The album closes with a 23-minute ambient track.

Tracklist:

1. Lovelorn Rhapsody 06:25
2. Sweet Tears 04:14  
3. J'ai fait une promesse 02:40  
4. They (Will Always) Die 07:16
5. Sleepless 04:12   
6. Sleep in Sanity 06:53  
7. Scars of the Old Stream 01:10  
8. Under a Veil (of Black Lace) 07:34   
9. Where Shadows Dance 01:58   
10. All Faith Is Lost 08:02
11. ...And I Lust 05:46
12. The Sweet Suffering 06:41
13. Everwake 02:41   
14. Crestfallen 10:14

Time: 01:15:46  

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 The Crestfallen 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.

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 The Crestfallen.

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.

Recording information:

Recorded at Academy Studios, West Yorkshire, in June, July & September 1992.

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)