ANATHEMA Recording New Album

Guitarist/singer Vincent Cavanagh of the U.K. atmospheric rock band ANATHEMA has told Greece's Rock Overdoseweb site that the band is in the studio recording 14 songs for its next studio album, which is tentatively due in April 2012.

A six-and-a-half-minute excerpt from the chat can be streamed using the audio player below.

In other news, ANATHEMA has parted ways with keyboardist Les Smith due to "creative and musical differences. " The band states, "All of us, including Les, tried our best to make the partnership work for many years through hard work together, but it was felt there was always a difficulty and the creative process was just not working. Sadly the split was inevitable. Great respect and thanks is due to Les for all his tireless work behind the scenes for the band.

"It has been a very difficult few months for everyone concerned as Les is a unique character and is still much loved by all in the band.

"You will have noticed that Daniel Cardoso has been performing in concerts over the festival season as a live player, but the writing and recording lineup will remain the nucleus of the band as it always was."

ANATHEMA has just released "Falling Deeper", an album of re-interpretations of songs from the band's back catalog. The CD was produced by guitarist and main composer Daniel Cavanagh, who described the record as "a nod to our past and a look to our future all at the same time, with a sound that is designed to transport you to the heart of the present moment."

"Falling Deeper" was mixed by Andrea Wright at the legendary Parr Street Studios in Liverpool. The orchestral arrangements were overseen by Dave Stewart, who previously worked with ANATHEMA on the "We're Here Because We're Here" album.