Antimatter
Saviour
The End, 2002

From 1992-'98, Duncan Patterson played bass guitar for Anathema. He was also responsible for a great deal of the songwriting and helped shape the sound of Anathema before departing following the release of Alternative 4, a recording that Patterson was responsible for 60% of the songwriting for. Antimatter was created by Patterson along with guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Michael Moss (whose past pursuits I admit to being ignorant of) and Saviour, their debut album, is a deeply introspective journey through bleak landscapes of the soul, expressing morose themes through sounds that are at once haunting and beautiful.

Parallels can clearly be drawn between Duncan's final recording with Anathema and his first with Antimatter, such as the stark imagery of the packaging behind which lies a plain white background, as well as similar typed (lower case) font. The music on Saviour  possesses a similar spirit as "Lost Control", "Destiny" and the title track from Alternative 4, all Patterson-penned tracks. It seems that Duncan Patterson has discovered his true musical vision through sonic minimalism and has taken what he explored with Anathema and laid it out as the foundation for his new project. The back-and-forth shifts from serene soundscapes to jarring bleakness as heard in the final moments of highlight track "Flowers" also indicate further developments from themes explored on past Anathema works. However, Saviour is not the vision of Patterson alone, as Mick Moss gets credit for nearly half of the material, including the engaging title track. The music is reliant on haunting ambience, restrained electronic percussion, pulsating bass and subdued guitars. It brings together the organic and electronic, forming an atmosphere of static coldness and stressed melancholia. Voices are provided by Moss (deep, dry tone), Michelle Richfield (who has leant her angelic vocals to Anathema and Dominion) and the rich somber waves of Hayley Windsor.

Saviour is designed for intense solitary listening. It is claustrophobic in its introspection yet it's beauty is inviting. It can be disturbing in its unsettling atmospheres ("God Is Coming"), embracing in its frailty ("Angelic") and deadly in its dejection ("Going Nowhere"). Fans of Patterson's contributions to Anathema should certainly seek this out. There are two bonus acoustic versions of "Over Your Shoulder" and "Flowers", the latter featuring Anathema guitarist Daniel Cavanagh on guitar and vocals.
 

2003

Tracklisting

1. Saviour
2. Holocaust
3. Over Your Shoulder
4. Psalms
5. God Is Coming
6. Angelic
7. Flowers
8. The Last Laugh
9. Going Nowhere
10. Over Your Shoulder (Acoustic)
11. Flowers (Acoustic)

Purchase Antimatter's Saviour.

Antimatter
Lights Out
The End, 2003

The duo of Duncan Patterson and Mick Moss quickly follow up their debut with Lights Out, an album that is essentially a continuation of the themes, both musical and lyrical, that was the embodiment of Saviour. Though Lights Out comes across more dejected and at times even bitter in its dark introspection, the biggest difference between the two releases is in the contrasting color foundation in the packaging.

All instrumentation is again handled by Moss and Patterson (additional percussion by Jamie Cavanagh), with voices provided by the returning Hayley Windsor and Michelle Richfield, as well as Moss and a brief performance by Patterson in the title track. By claiming no particular "frontman", Antimatter employ the appropriate voice required by each track, providing for more extensive avenues of expression. The lyrics are again introspective takes on betrayal ("Lights Out"), despair (The Art Of A Safe Landing", "Expire") and the bitterness that often follows...witness the Moss-penned and Floyd-ian "In Stone":

"what a big man you are
could fight a war with just your face
take it on the chin and leave me open-jawed

what big words you've got
reciting lines you've heard on film
could write a script with just your lust for respect"

Like Saviour, I find Lights Out most effective when listened to in its entirety. Antimatter are expert crafters of flowing soundscapes that, while deeply moving and at times a bit unsettling, encourage complete submission of the mind and soul. A surrender on part of the listener that, if taken in under the appropriate conditions ( alone and uninterrupted), makes for a stirring and rewarding experience. Standout moments do arrive, as in the engaging chorus of "Everything You Know Is Wrong", courtesy of Moss's earthy, honest singing. "The Art Of A Soft Landing" recalls the emotive, soaring atmosphere of Anathema before a distressed scream brings things to a disturbing halt. The aforementioned "In Stone" is haunted by the spirit of Pink Floyd's "Keep Talking", though perhaps more contemplative and disconsolate than that comparison may express. Instrumental closer "Terminal" is beauteous through serene acoustics and tranquil keys, before falling in and out of disrupting clashes of impending doom during the tracks closing moments, reminiscent of Anathema's "Pentecost lll" in its drifting from serenity to condemnation.

Antimatter have constructed another wonderful soundtrack to life's less comforting moments, offering a fitting sonic backdrop for one's own moments of reflection. This is deep music that serves a far-reaching purpose. Lights Out provides a refuge for those who seek a deeper connection through their listening experiences and is a pure example of how powerful an art form music can be.

2003

Tracklisting

1. Lights Out
2. Everything You Know Is Wrong
3. The Art Of A Soft Landing
4. Expire
5. In Stone
6. Reality Clash
7. Dream
8. Terminal

Purchase Antimatter's Lights Out.

Antimatter
Planetary Confinement
The End, 2005

The empty glare of indifferent faces of those who move through life with mechanical soullessness leaves the awakened spirit of the dreamers with a piercing desperation and longing for an escape from a cold world of spirit-raping apathy. This alienation manifests within the songs of Antimatter, through solemn compositions of stark design and tense emotions. Third effort Planetary Confinement is a soundtrack of existential detention, the burden of which strives to crush the will of all who suffer beneath it, yet evokes a determination to rise above that only falters within the hopeless souls who’ve surrendered to state of slavery.

"i’m drowning in a thousand faces
alien expressions over and over again...
...with no will to hold on
am I the only one crushed by the weight of the world?"

Despite a division of composition and performance between Mick Moss and Duncan Patterson, including recording in separate studios, the disc maintains a remarkable level of consistency. The material relies on a more organic approach as compared to past works, with real drums mostly replacing the electronic percussion that has served as primary rhythmic foundation previously. Piano and keyboards remain essential, but acoustic guitars have a larger role here as central point of a song, especially for tracks composed by Moss, which also contain excellent use of violin to accentuate the melancholic atmosphere, represented beautifully in "Epitaph". This less reliance on electronics does not subtract from the distant coldness of the band’s sound, however. Songs like "Legions" and "The Weight Of The World", Moss-penned tracks that rely on minimalist percussion and acoustic guitars, are emotionally penetrating due to Moss’s earthy and honest singing, yet remain enshrouded in bleak ambience that sets a stage for war between hopeful yearning and exhausted fatalism. Patterson tracks such as "Line Of Fire" and "Relapse" operate from more troubled mental faculties, as if watching the world fall to ruin in slow-motion collapse, idly observing a welcomed downfall in the realization that things can only get worse, yet having lost all will to run. New female singer Amelie Festa adorns Patterson’s songs with a haunting voice of dispirited angels, often injecting a strange chill as in the intriguing take on Trouble’s "Mr. White". Connecting the approaches of the stark emotional yearning of Moss and the disturbed minimalism of Patterson is a shared portrayal of emotional isolation as walking through crowds of expressionless beings detached from the flame of life. Empty parking lots in the dead of night. Walking through deserted subway stations on the way home where awaits a lonely room, where only shadows provide company while contemplating the emptiness. This is the music of Antimatter.

"rain washed the panic from today
decimation of anxiety
tribulations drift away
pray tomorrow offers clarity"

While not a departure in sound and approach in any significant manner, the stronger presence of organic instrumentation and more pronounced expression of emotional languishing (particularly in the Moss tracks) offer a slightly different shade of sound to Antimatter’s music. None of the three Antimatter discs stands out above the others in quality or approach, as the band have established a consistency of identity and character, and communicate their ideas through a sharply defined aesthetic. Yet Planetary Confinement does suggest something threatening to seep through the surface of their presentation, something perhaps in the form of a less self-conscious emotional revelation. This shines through most brightly during the songs by Mick Moss, whose work stands out on this album in its relation to a common and well identifiable connection and impact upon the core of human feeling and desperation. Yet it is Patterson’s "Eternity Part 24" that leaves the final impact upon the listener, closing the disc with a sea of ambient synths which at over eight minutes of abstraction presents the audio equivalent of an actual passage into infinity, of which we can only hope will be as tranquil as this piece suggests.

6/27/06

1. planetary confinement
2. the weight of the world
3. line of fire
4. epitaph
5. mr white
6. a portrait of the young man as an artist
7. relapse
8. legions
9. eternity part 24

Purchase Antimatter's Planetary Confinement.

Antimatter

The End

Antimatter Discography

Saviour (The End, 2002)
Lights Out (The End, 2003)
Planetary Confinement (The End, 2005)