Antigama – Meteor (Selfmadegod)
Friday, 28th June 2013
Returning to Selfmadegod after a two album run on Relapse, Polish grinders Antigama are back with Meteor, a visceral 30-minute grind showcase. The fact the album takes 30-minutes should be one of those grindcore mandatory items – the music is often too rushed, hurried, and frenetic to be anything longer, so it’s no surprise a veteran band like Antigama (who have five albums to their credit prior to Meteor) took this under advisement. (Or so we think.)
Per most – no – all grind, subtlety is not in the house, as opener “Collapse” gets going with some lavish riff weirdness, like Napalm Death when they were drifting across the warped terrain of Fear, Emptiness, Despair. Even with that, it’s most all guns ‘a blazing here, with “The Key” and the title track emerging as serious, crazed slabs of grind that are as sweaty as they are vitriolic. It sounds like “Fed By the Feeling” is intended to show the band isn’t all piss and vinegar, for it’s the type of silly, novelty-based song that neither Napalm or Nasum would try, but has its value in an otherwise brute and blunt-force offering.
Antigama is able to distribute its ferocity evenly across Meteor, and the voluminous production gives the album a much thicker feel than your standard toke, then record it grind offering. In fact, the album is probably more weird than we’ve alluded to, although it’s sheer brutality and rage make it relatively grind-tastic.
