Tracks
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The debut album of the darkwave/trip-hop/gothic/ambient project, "Antimatter."
Beginning what would become one of my most-loved traditions of this project, track one (the title track, "Saviour") poses a lot of mind-expanding, preconception-shattering questions, perhaps the most notable among which is "who chooses whose redemption?"
Challenging religion would seem to be a favorite pass-time of founding member Mick Moss, as tracks like "Psalms" explore the mental struggle between one's comfortable adherance to old doctrines and values, and the increasingly-pressing need to acknowledge and embrace new (though thoroughly game-changing) data in the modern age. "Psalms" is a story about a young man's resistence to an inevitable spiritual awakening. Its sound is characterized by synthesized strings, programmed drum-beats and haunting, ambient, tremoloed clean-electric-guitar. It was one of the first tracks I ever heard by Antimatter, and has always been a favorite.
"Saviour" also features a lot of good instrumental and mostly-instrumental work. "Going Nowhere" is one such example. Its central message or story is the mental-space of someone telling others that the way we live our lives in this society is causing us all to waste-away. This may be a silent, mental telling (hence the statements all beginning with "somebody, somewhere..." as if addressed to no one specific person, but maybe more to the average person. Behind the charmingly-dark synth-keyboards, reverberated electric guitars and echoing drums is the sound of a ticking clock. This is what I love about Antimatter - they manage to say so much without saying anything at all. The ticking clock is like a constant reminder, subliminally-screaming "Hey! Your life is passing you by! What are you going to do about it!? You only have so long to choose..."
Songs like "Holocaust" deal with the feelings of resentment and even vengeance experienced by those just-awakening from the sleepy grind of the masses, and the social implications of that awakening.
"Over Your Shoulder" is a song about what it means to live in fear, and what one experiences being governed by fear (as has been our social-default-impetus since the religions of compulsion seeded themselves in the collective consciousness.)
Generally speaking, "Saviour" is full of dreamy, ambient, anxious-sounding melodies, from guitar to synth-keyboard to vocals. The snare-drum sounds are also a thing of interest, especially in moments where the other instruments are quiet and the snare can be heard clearly. The snare is often given a touch of reverb, while the bass drums are not. This is one of the reasons to hear this sort of music in high-quality audio. Many of its tracks consist of expansive soundscapes that ripple out into one's peripheral consciousness. It's almost as if the recordings of the sounds themselves were designed to stimulate a greater mental awareness. The last moments of "Over Your Shoulder" is a perfect example of this. It sounds like the audio goes on for *miles* of empty space.
My one criticism of this album is that at times, it uses overdriven electric guitars. In this style of song, I feel that detracts from the expansiveness and creates a much more single-pointed focus. But maybe that was their intention, almost as if grabbing you by the head and wresting your attention to the central point of their message. Still, I prefer the grander sounds. Overall I give this album four out of five stars. A *very* strong start for an epic but almost-unheard-of music project.
Beginning what would become one of my most-loved traditions of this project, track one (the title track, "Saviour") poses a lot of mind-expanding, preconception-shattering questions, perhaps the most notable among which is "who chooses whose redemption?"
Challenging religion would seem to be a favorite pass-time of founding member Mick Moss, as tracks like "Psalms" explore the mental struggle between one's comfortable adherance to old doctrines and values, and the increasingly-pressing need to acknowledge and embrace new (though thoroughly game-changing) data in the modern age. "Psalms" is a story about a young man's resistence to an inevitable spiritual awakening. Its sound is characterized by synthesized strings, programmed drum-beats and haunting, ambient, tremoloed clean-electric-guitar. It was one of the first tracks I ever heard by Antimatter, and has always been a favorite.
"Saviour" also features a lot of good instrumental and mostly-instrumental work. "Going Nowhere" is one such example. Its central message or story is the mental-space of someone telling others that the way we live our lives in this society is causing us all to waste-away. This may be a silent, mental telling (hence the statements all beginning with "somebody, somewhere..." as if addressed to no one specific person, but maybe more to the average person. Behind the charmingly-dark synth-keyboards, reverberated electric guitars and echoing drums is the sound of a ticking clock. This is what I love about Antimatter - they manage to say so much without saying anything at all. The ticking clock is like a constant reminder, subliminally-screaming "Hey! Your life is passing you by! What are you going to do about it!? You only have so long to choose..."
Songs like "Holocaust" deal with the feelings of resentment and even vengeance experienced by those just-awakening from the sleepy grind of the masses, and the social implications of that awakening.
"Over Your Shoulder" is a song about what it means to live in fear, and what one experiences being governed by fear (as has been our social-default-impetus since the religions of compulsion seeded themselves in the collective consciousness.)
Generally speaking, "Saviour" is full of dreamy, ambient, anxious-sounding melodies, from guitar to synth-keyboard to vocals. The snare-drum sounds are also a thing of interest, especially in moments where the other instruments are quiet and the snare can be heard clearly. The snare is often given a touch of reverb, while the bass drums are not. This is one of the reasons to hear this sort of music in high-quality audio. Many of its tracks consist of expansive soundscapes that ripple out into one's peripheral consciousness. It's almost as if the recordings of the sounds themselves were designed to stimulate a greater mental awareness. The last moments of "Over Your Shoulder" is a perfect example of this. It sounds like the audio goes on for *miles* of empty space.
My one criticism of this album is that at times, it uses overdriven electric guitars. In this style of song, I feel that detracts from the expansiveness and creates a much more single-pointed focus. But maybe that was their intention, almost as if grabbing you by the head and wresting your attention to the central point of their message. Still, I prefer the grander sounds. Overall I give this album four out of five stars. A *very* strong start for an epic but almost-unheard-of music project.