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Antigama > Warning > Reviews
Antigama - Warning

Antigama - Warning - 50%

ThrashManiacAYD, August 27th, 2009

Visiting my ears with all the subtlety of a Soviet train crashing into a military tank under a low bridge (I may or may not have just been watching Goldeneye), Antigama are here to rip you, ahem, a new bottom-hole as some like to say, with a thoroughly grind-influenced attack on our glorious death metal. Not to me sounding 'Polish' in the vein of Vader and Behemoth, they are however very much a Relapse Records band - all well executed, well produced and well played but in the process sounding a little like too many other Relapse bands to hit me where it counts. Why?

"Warning", the bands' 4th full-length in a discography littered with split releases, serves as an admirable notice to anyone not adjusted to blastbeats and hoarse growling, because baby, this a journey through the wastelands of Brutal Truth's tendency for the blast, the chaos of Pig Destroyer and the insane rhythms and speed of Origin and Cephalic Carnage. Melody, you ask? Next aisle. Sweet happy chorus? Next floor up. Fringes? Get out my shop.

Telling the end of one song from the start of the next is a challenge sometimes as difficult as working out the discordant riffing that's found a home in songs like "Heartbeat" and the hyper technicality of "City". I'm sure the guys in Antigama love the hyper-speed-total-mindfuck of Cephalic Carnage as strong elements can be found in "Preachers Pray" as well as the bemusing humour of their fellow Relapsians in "Paganini Meets Barbaplex" - probably the first song ever to combine trip-hop, jazz polyrhythms and what appears to be, bongos. And yes, overall the abilities of the band are very admirable, but think about this: you will often hear technical bands claim they write complex yet listenable songs, always suggesting many others don't without ever actually naming them. Well I'm going to: Antigama's "Warning" is very fast and very heavy but when listening to "Jealously" or "Nightmare" I wonder, is this a well constructed song, or just an excuse to display some serious musical chops? And just like some of the other artists on Relapse's largely impressive roster, I find the answer is more leaning towards the latter, preventing the album from being one to provide much lasting enjoyment.

Originally written for Rockfreaks.net

Expressive savagery for a post-modern environment - 70%

autothrall, May 9th, 2009

It's not often I can find an engaging grindcore album, so much of it seems like an exercise in the spastic excess of youth. We're heavy and fast because we can be, know what I mean?

While Poland's Antigama does encapsulate the aggressive and spastic tendencies of modern grind and metalcore, they do so with a contemporary depth and a hint of futurism. Jarring jazzy chord structures flow alongside the more traditional bludgeoning and brutal barks and grunts. Their previous album 'Resonance' was decent, and this, their 5th full-length is its equal, if a little more abstract in its chaotic blitzkrieg. Warning is a balance of their grinding slaughterhouse serenades ("Another", "City"), slightly more mathematical blasting ("You Have the Right to Remain Violent", "Lost Skull") and some experimentation, such as the glitch/ambiance of "Sequenzia Dellamorte", the swirling piano jazz/noise hybrid of "Paganini Meets Barbarapex", or the haunting resonance of album closer "Black Planet". The lyrics are minimal in nature, which suits the brief grinding flurries, but unfortunately they're a little more blunt than insightful or poetic (the latter of which would fit in better with this band's aesthetic).

The result here is an album of foresight and some fascination. Note that there are few riffs or singled out tracks on the album which I'd consider 'catchy', it's more of something I'd listen to on the whole as a ceremony of opposites; styles clashed into cohesion. There is a nihilistic and mute warmth to the production which seem to delegate the expressive savagery to a post-modern urban environment. Antigama are on the cutting edge of grind experimentation, and even if they can't hit the ball out of the park, this is an exposive effort you'll want to hang with for a few innings.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Warning: Headbanging may occur - 84%

MikeyC, March 26th, 2009

Antigama is mostly a band that releases split albums, as they have more of those than full-lengths. I have no idea why that is, but it seems to be a by-product of the grind scene, with every band seemingly doing splits with every other grind band in existence. Still, between all that splitting, Antigama have release their fifth album, titled Warning. It was always going to be a big ask to overcome the brilliance that was Resonance, so how exactly did they do?

Well, let’s see here. From the get-go, the first thing you’ll hear is the production. The second thing you’ll hear is the sound of the drums, particularly the snare drum. Sounds different, doesn’t it? Well, different is right, but a positive or negative difference is a judgement call. Personally, I don’t think it sounds as good as it did on Resonance, but at the same time, it sounds more real, so I guess the two eventually cancel each other out. Almost. Anyway, as “Disconnected” blasts from your speakers/headphones, you’ll notice that it’s already sounding a lot more chaotic than most of the material on their previous album, and that trend persists throughout. It’s almost like they took most of their inspiration from Resonance, yet took slices from Discomfort, as well. For those that have not heard Discomfort, it was a chaotic blend of grind that was always teetering on the verge of a complete mess, but never actually fell. Here, they seem to have honed in on the skill of not turning the music into a frenzied pandemonium, so they’ve found a good balance between the two. I actually enjoy this. If Warning was created eight years ago, it would not have sounded the way it does.

The stop/start riffing is still present, but it’s not as obvious as it was before. It appears at 0:27 on “Jealousy,” and it sounds really good. The main riff in “War” is a little like that, as well, and it is one of my favourite tracks from this album. In fact, most of the riffs in that song are catchy as hell. The shuffle rhythm in “Lost Skull” has more of a poppy feel, but it works well.

The drumming is top-notch, much like it was before, but one thing I noticed was that the smaller toms are not used as clearly as they were on Resonance. I can still hear them pop up from time to time, but there’s no rolling fills any more. This is a bit of a shame, really, because I enjoyed him exploiting the shit out of them. Bring back the smaller toms! I guess the reason for their omission is that Warning isn’t as central on the drumming as Resonance was, but dammit, bring them back, I say!

What was slightly disappointing for me was the final track “Black Planet,” because, much like on the album Zeroland, it’s an ambient track that goes on for a long time. I was hoping for a long grind song, but was sorely disappointed when I realised that was not going to occur. I will admit that “Black Planet” is quite bleak, and does make you feel alone, if that was its intentions, of course, and is a better close than “Zeroland” could ever hope for. The same can’t be said for the filler track “Paganini Meets Barbapapex.” That is really choppy, and I wouldn’t blame you if you pressed the skip button there.

The vocalist is a new guy, yet he sounds just like the old guy! He has slightly more range, and employs more of a harsher yell, but other than that, he’s basically the same vocalist in a different skin. No complaints there.

So, there’s some really cool songs on here, such as “War,” and “You Have The Right To Remain Violent,” but overall, I think it’s ever-so-slightly weaker than Resonance is. I would call it a sideways step for Antigama – not exactly better than before, but I can’t fault their performance. If their next album is like Warning, well, I definitely won’t be protesting. Chalk another winner up for this great, and still improving, band.