A PROFUSION OF THOUGHT

ANTIMATTER offers a sound on the line of ANATHEMA, PINEAPPLE THIEF and KATATONIA, experimental in fact. It's their 8th album based on a work started in 2003, be careful it's going to seep because ANTIMATTER is not a group like the others.

"No Contact" first title clean, dark on a minimalist guitar arpeggio allowing a slow rise and giving breadth, a saxophone in the line SUPERTRAMP comes to break a time then return to Mick with his spleen, hypnotic voice associated with saturated electric guitars ANATHEMA for an adrenaline-filled finale. "Paranoid Carbon" cold synth intro chilling the air, when the voice combines perfectly with the tonality of the dark instruments on an ambient MASSIVE ATTACK, latent alternative rock movement with its progressive sounding at the end and the addition of Irish which improves. "Heathen" leaves on a dark wave tune of the 80's, BUSH in his progressive alternative rock universe, tune of 'Just an illusion' too; Mick raises his voice and gives a strong range; the sax joins it before the heady and hypnotic final crescendo. "Templates" continues on these electro sounds with a slide guitar in the background; monolithic rhythm carried by the basic synth for a melancholic, simple, unpretentious melody; yes it was without thinking of this debauchery of sounds in the end with a sound scratched by the distortions; pleasant arabic end. Acoustic "Fold" to magnify Mick's voice; good in lack of ANATHEMA I find a little semblance for the depressive side; piece where beauty joins melancholic darkness, to be listened to in form so as not to waste away, the CAVANAGH-like solo can make you cry, Mick has a plaintive touch in fact.

"Redshift" arpeggio with flute to amplify stereophonic minimalist sound; slow atmospheric melody with Mick and Irish subtly complementing each other; the hypnotic chorus is reminiscent of ANATHEMA, AMAROK and X-Files. The sax slightly disturbs the air which was well calibrated, singular. "Fools Gold" pours on another style, more rock like THE GATHERING of the beginning; the flute comes to help the plaintive guitar and the vocals, there is also DIRE STRAITS with this crystalline slide guitar; the most progressive track here with a guffawing voice-over break, shrapnel sound, drum rolls THE CURE could play, hold a fly now; the more consensual ending. "Entheogen" with the sound of waves in the distance and a return to electronic sounds now drawing on SIMPLE MINDS, a delicate, lively and hovering title; repetitive title also with Mick using his voice as an instrument; Vardan takes us on a journey with an innovative oriental sound thanks to the qamancha for a daring, languorous musical trip. "Breaking the Machine" for the interlude where spleen competes with atmospheric sluggishness, a real progressive gem in itself that took 20 years to craft, my favorite. "Kick the Dog" faster and jerky rhythm for a radio edit car more rock track featuring Mick's tormented guitar one last time.

ANTIMATTER is full of haunting thoughts and shows a musical showcase reminiscent of 2007's magnificent 'Leaving Eden' with moody atmospheric sound alternating electro, post, acoustic; more alternative sound from different archives of the last 5 albums, finally revealed to the public. Glaucous, suave, cottony atmospheres, a voice apart, emotion in bar, a bewitching sound, ANTIMATTER hits hard.

When dark rock band Antimatter's mainman Mick Moss announced that the UK act's 8th full-length album would be entirely comprised of tracks from his "archive of unreleased songs", I did not quite know what to think. Many artists regularly leave songs on the cutting room floor when they finalize an album. Sometimes this is has nothing to do with a tune's quality, but rather with whether or not it fits within a record's tracklist. Often, however, there's a reason why those specific songs - and not others - are left on the cutting room floor: they just do not match the level of artistry of the tracks that eventually make it onto the album. That left me wondering: which one would it be in the case of A Profusion of Thought - stellar material that has not yet found the right home, or a quick roundup of second-rate leftovers from previous albums?

It turns out I shouldn't have worried at all: at least three-quarters of A Profusion of Thought are made up of stuff from the stars - easily some of the best material that Mick Moss has ever penned in his whole career. Moss is a very special songwriter, who mixes acoustic and electric elements in a unique sound. Fingerpicked or gently strummed acoustic guitars naturally coexist next to distorted riffs and chords - almost as if a doom band had decided to re-arrange music written by an offbeat and melancholic singer-songwriter. Moss is also a very eclectic musician, embedding in his songs elements from traditional metal styles (mainly doom and gothic), progressive rock, alternative rock as well as electronica. The weights of these different influences has shifted over the years, from the glorious dark electronica experiments of Antimatter's earlier albums (Saviour, Lights Out), to the more alt rock-oriented sound of Fear of a Unique Identity and The Judas Table, to the stunning progressive undercurrents of the band's latest LP Black Market Enlightenment.

The great thing about A Profusion of Thought is that, because its songs have been originally composed over the years and for different albums, we get to experience the full gamut of Antimatter's diverse influences and styles in the short space of a single LP. Slow-burning dark rock pieces like "No Contact" are juxtaposed to bluesy acoustic ballads ("Fold") and Floydian-tinged dystopian laments ("Paranoid Carbon"). Elsewhere, Antimatter stun us with a foray in Depeche Mode electro-gloom ("Templates"), while "Heathen" is the closer they ever got to write a bona-fide goth anthem. It's absolutely exhilarating to navigate the manifold twists and turns offered by the LP, which is undoubtedly the most varied and polymorphous collections of songs the UK band has released so far.

Moss' intelligent arrangements and strong sense of melody ensure that, despite its variety, A Profusion of Thought remains cohesive and coherent from start to finish. His voice and guitars are the red thread that runs through the whole record and give it its own unique identity. Daniel Cardoso's (Anathema) warm and natural production also contributes to this effect. He puts a lot of emphasis on bass sounds in the mix, which exalts Moss' riffy approach to the bass instrument and gives the music a groovy and intimate feel overall.

A few paragraphs above, I said that three-quarters of this LP are stellar. "What about the remaining quarter?" you may wonder. Well, that is a bit more hit and miss, if you ask me. The last three songs of the album in particular feel like filler material. The melodies are slightly duller and the arrangements less exciting. They overall sound like lesser versions of some of the preceding tracks, which gives the record a slightly sketchy ending.

Despite the unspectacular finale, A Profusion of Thought is a mighty strong record that provides a beautiful bird's eye perspective on the different shades of dark rock/metal Antimatter have been dispensing for more than two decades now. The diversity of the material included here, together with its consistently high quality, give the LP a feel of a "Best Of?" collection, which is however made up of previously unreleased songs. As such, A Profusion of Thought will appeal to both old fans and newcomers to the band. The former will revel in the trip down memory lane the album provides as it pokes at styles and influences that have not been so prominent in Antimatter's music since the early 2000s. Newcomers will instead find that A Profusion of Thought is a great place to start exploring the catalogue of one of the most consistent dealers of darkness out there in the musicsphere.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]