''Distant Satellites'' (stylised as ''distant satellites'') is the tenth studio album by the British rock band

Anathema The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...

. 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, with some songs also mixed by

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

due to an operation on Cederberg's back. 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

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, 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 ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' best albums list, as well at the 2nd position from Metal Hammer writer Adam Rees. 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."

Track listing

Singles

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

Personnel

* Vincent Cavanagh –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

s, keyboards, programming,

backing vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

s * John Douglas – electronic percussion, keyboards, programming * Daniel Cavanagh – co-lead vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass guitars, keyboards,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Lee Douglas – lead and backing vocals * Jamie Cavanagh – bass guitar * Daniel Cardoso –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s ;Guest musicians * Christer-André Cederberg – bass guitar ;Production * Christer-André Cederberg – production, mixing * Sigbjørn Grimsæth – assistant engineer * Sang Jun Yoo – photography * Chris Sansom – mastering * Dave Stewart – string arrangements *

Background and recording

Critical reception

Track listing

Singles

Personnel

Charts

Release history

References