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| Antimatter | |
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"Former
Anathema bass player Duncan Patterson is back!
After his split with Anathema in the Summer of 1998
after the recordings of the 'Alternative 4' album he chose his own path. (...)
He found Michael Moss as his new compagnion and got vocal assistance from
Michelle Richfeld (who we know as the female vocalist on the first album of
Dominion) and Hayley Windsor as well as former Cradle of Filth and nowadays
(again) Anathema keyboard player Les Smith who
helped with the sampling. So what can we expect from this gathering of
musicians who have paid their debts to the melodic metal scene in Great
Brittain? Music like the earlier mentioned bands probably? Wrong!! According to
Duncan Patterson, the music can be best described as "experimental dark
orchestral ambient electronic dub with female vocals". "
-- vampire-magazine.com
 ¼ 2000:
Saviour
 "The new project of ex-Anathema bassist / songwriter Duncan Patterson is announced on a sticker on this CD. The music is a bit different though. Antimatter has still got the emotional melancholic mood, but adds a more ambient feel to it. It's like a dark, less dance orientated version of Delerium (a product sprung from the mind of Bill Leeb and, before the last CD, of Rhys Fulber as well - both known from Frontline Assembly). This album got a doom and gloomy atmosphere to it. Beautiful, mostly female voices, some drum 'n bass influences and emotional laid back guitar. This record could bridge the gap between gothic and rock. Float away on songs like Over Your Shoulder and Psalms (a bit in the vain of Hooverphonic) and realize that 'floating away' is exactly what this album is about. Antimatter breathes a relaxed state of mind and some religious background as well. Absolute highlight is God Is Coming. It starts as a ballad but ends in some great dark - difficult to follow - drum 'n bass part. For Anathema fans however Going Nowhere, the last song of this record, would be the greatest stunner, because the band refers in this song to the past of that band. Going Nowhere also marks the end of a trip into a dream world of beautiful moody moments."
-- Ron Schoonwater, Rock-E-Zine
2003:
Lights Out
"It would appear that there are still a few jolly good moods out there for Antimatter to sully, as this duo has wasted no time in producing a follow-up to last year's morose 'Saviour'. Although 'Lights Out' features an inverted color scheme to its predecessor, Antimatter simply resumes right where they left off with their sparse emptycore. If anything, 'Lights Out' is even less cuddly than Saviour, which may leave a few more listeners even less happy with the state of the universe today. Stylistically, very few things have changed for Antimatter since their debut. Mick Moss and Duncan Patterson continue to weave threadbare songs that rely on empty spaces and the echoes to create the isolated, aching feeling of their music. Again, guest female vocalists provide much of the singing, with the occasional input from the two actual members. Antimatter's sound is still quite their own, although on Everything You Know is Wrong, the band actually briefly resembles Anathema, Patterson's former outfit. Throughout 'Lights Out', the music seems to veer safely away from any easily consumable approaches and sticks to the dejection as a modus operendi. The flipside to this approach is that I've found over the course of quite a few listens that it's never very easy to immerse one's self into the album. Expire has me wishing the song would actually shove off after guest singer Michelle Richfield sings "...Final solution" an infinite number of times."
-- John Chedsey, SSMT-reviews.com, 6/03
½ 2004:
Unreleased 1998 -2003
TrackListing: 1.. Angelic (demo) 2.. The Art Of A Soft Landing (demo) 3.. In Stone (acoustic) 4.. Far Away (live) 5.. Over Your Shoulder (demo) 6.. Flowers (live) 7.. Saviour (demo) 8.. Holocaust (version) 9.. Everything You Know Is Wrong (live) 10.. Hope (live) 11.. Dream (demo) 12.. Feel (live) 13.. Th Art Of A Soft Landing (acoustic) 14.. Black Sun (live) 15.. Nobody Home (live) 16.. Lost Control (version) This is a free virtual album offered for download by the band in March 2004. All 16 songs along with cover art (front and back) as well as song info are available on Antimatter's website: antimatter.tk. It offers unreleased demo versions, acoustic versions, and live versions of songs taken from their first two albums, and their Live @K13 album. In addition to Antimatter's own songs, several covers are thrown in, including Anathema's Lost Control, Pink Floyd's Nobody Home, Roy Harper's Hope, and Dead Can Dance's Black Sun.
-- musicfolio.com
2005: Planetary Confinement (...)At the time of recording, Antimatter was a duo comprised of Duncan Patterson and Mick Moss. For 'Planetary Confinement', they each composed and recorded songs separately, and the resulting tracks were placed together as one album. While it may have made more sense to separate each man’s contributions into two distinct parts, Patterson and Moss opted to alternate their songs back and forth. Although it isn’t clear how much collaboration the duo actually had, their approaches are quite distinct while maintaining cohesion through largely acoustic performances and pace. Duncan Patterson recorded his tracks in Ireland and France, and he plays piano, acoustic guitar, bass, and keyboards. All of his tracks are sung by Amelie Festa, who has a waiflike, melancholy soprano. Patterson was also joined by Barry Whyte (lead guitar), Alex Mazarguil (djembe), Micheal O Cronin (drums), and Mehdi Messouci (keyboards). Patterson’s songs definitely are the more subdued of the two songwriters, and he begins the album with the title track. His other tracks, like Line of Fire and Relapse, have a quiet breathlessness to them that is punctuated with soft percussion and strumming. One of Duncan Patterson’s finer moments is a gloomy interpretation of Trouble’s Mr. White. While Patterson’s songs provide lovely atmospherics, his choice of vocalist leaves a bit to be desired. Festa’s voice is adequate but fairly monotone, and something about the match of her vocals with the music is a bit off kilter. Mick Moss recorded his selections in England with the aid of Rachel Brewster (violin), Stephen Hughes (bass), and Chris Phillips (drums). He plays acoustic guitar and takes lead vocals on each track, with the exception of Legions where he is joined by Sue Marshall. Without doubt, Mick Moss’ songs have a more organic, fleshed-out feel, as the guitar and violin offer a complex texture that stands out compared to Patterson’s tracks. The Weight of the World and A Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist show off how beautifully emotive Moss’ voice is, while Epitaph lets the spotlight rest on the lush violin and guitar combination a bit more. Legions is effortlessly Mick Moss’ best piece on 'Planetary Confinement', and the female background vocals offer a nice complement to his strong voice. Regardless of how sullen Moss’ songs are, they still prove quite soothing, and these are the tracks that will keep you coming back to this album repeatedly."
-- Jennifer Patton, adequacy.net, 01/06
2007: Leaving Eden TrackListing: 1.Redemption 2.Another Face In A Window 3.Ghosts 4.The Freak Show 5.Landlocked 6.Conspire 7.Leaving Eden 8.The Immaculate Misconception 9.Fighting For A Lost Cause Release date: April 13, 2007 |
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