With each breath we take we die, as the grinding wheels of time roll forth mercilessly, rendering every experience, each perception of joy and beauty nothing more than a transition between two states, a fragment, a memory... distant. This is beautiful, and this is beyond any sorrow a mind possibly can conceive. Anathema understood this and with this realization Pentecost III starts with the song "Kingdom", setting the stage for the rest of this record. This is not just "doom metal", this is the essence of sorrow directly poured into music, wrapped in a metallic aesthetic. "Kingdom" starts with a slow fade-in of a high guitar, a sudden stop of that guitar, and an acoustic guitar playing a simple melody of six notes. Slowly this small riff is accentuated here and there, assured by other instruments slowly beginning to play along, as if it is trying to become alive. In the final part, suddenly, a heavy guitar riff comes by and in a slow, pounding fashion this band is so good at the song ends. After that track two continues in the same vein (slow, pounding) to accelerate in the middle and, as if this was too much, gently slides towards its end, with only somewhat of an 80s heavy metal riffage to it. "We, The Gods" has somewhat of the same heavy metal reminiscences to it, not in structure, vocals or speed of the song, but in the melodic guitar lines. The very atmospheric intermezzo "Pentecost III" ends and after that the best album track begins: "Memento Mori". Slowly, threatening, darkly foreboding, still with the cleanly spoken/sung vocals of the excelling Darren White... until suddenly the band fluidly transform into a doom/death outfit and *finally* one of the most brutal death grunts I've ever heard tells me about death... The music fades out and in the end, very soft, very far away, a high-pitched guitar lead (for lack of a better word) can be heard... and the album, which was born at the beginning of "Kingdom" has died again.... has it? Quite unfortunately, it has not. The sixth "secret" track called 666 comes; a simple riff, someone shouting "six six six" a couple of times, and a "fuck off" at the very end of the song. This is more something of a punk song and not doomy at all in my opinion. It is a cold shower after an otherwise flawless album. So remember to push that "stop" button of your CD player in time!

© 1999 dwaallicht