PLANETARY CONFINEMENT

The third LP by UK dark rock band Antimatter Planetary Confinement is an album that almost never was. After releasing two well-received records (Saviour in 2001 and Lights Out in 2003), the partnership between Mick Moss and former Anathema bass player Duncan Patterson was slowly coming to an end. And, in fact, Patterson had initially quit the band before this album's release, leaving Moss alone to decide Antimatter's artistic future. Eventually Patterson decided to record one last album with Moss - Planetary Confinement, but after this 2005 release the duo parted ways definitively and Moss continued on his own to carry the Antimatter banner.

The difficult genesis of the album is reflected in its somewhat split identity - with half of the songs penned and recorded by Moss and the other half by Patterson. The dual contribution to songwriting had actually been a hallmark of Antimatter's previous releases too, but here things are taken to a further extreme. Each musician recorded his own tracks with a different line-up and in separate locations. Moss recorded his tunes in the UK with his voice and acoustic guitar taking centre stage, complemented by Rachel Brewster's violin, Stephen Hughes' bass and Chris Phillips' drums. Patterson instead recorded his songs between Ireland and France, assisted by a handful of local musicians including vocalist Amelie Festa.

Both Moss and Patterson kept things acoustic and stripped-down for this record. While Moss' songs are all based on moody guitar arpeggios and mournful violin melodies, Patterson's instruments of choice are the piano and keyboards. Drums and percussion are used sparsely, the arrangements are minimalistic, and there is almost no trace of the dark electronica and trip-hop rhythms that had featured copiously on Antimatter's previous two LPs. Planetary Confinement instead strikes a balance between dark ambient music and melancholic singer-songwriter sensibilities. The barren quality of the music makes this a very dark and depressive album, perhaps reflecting the band's downcast state of affairs at that time.

The diverse nature of the material and recording sessions do not do the album a favour, however. The differences in style and even atmosphere are palpable, and the LP feels more like a split album rather than a cohesive full-length. Moss' songs come out on top, particularly those strong, emotional pieces like "Legions" and "The Weight of the World" that will stay on Antimatter's live track list for decades to come. Patterson's tunes, driven by Festa's haunting voice, are instead less compelling, as they are penalized by their excessive duration and repetitiveness that, together with the lack of strong melodies, make them feel slightly drawn-out.

Overall, of the three albums that Moss and Patterson recorded together, Planetary Confinement is probably the weakest. Despite its shortcomings (lack of cohesion, uneven quality of the material), the LP contains a handful of really strong tunes ("The Weight of the World", "Legions", the haunting cover of "Mr. White" by 1980s US doom metal band Trouble), which ultimately redeem it and guarantee it a regular place in my album rotations, still today, nearly 20 years after its release.