G&P Review: Antigama

Antigama
Stop the Chaos
Selfmadegod
Stop the Chaos is a pretty astute title for Antigama's latest EP because the Polish band, while not completely abandoning the trigonometry-core that has been their calling card for the last decade, is probably the most focused and restrained I've heard from them. On a couple of these tracks you could be forgiven for mistaking them for old Rotten Sound outtakes.
The latest incarnation of Antigama (check out VII's kickass interview with guitarist Sebastian Rokicki for all the personell ins and outs) still indulge in all their wonted right brain experimentation and off kilter riffing, but on the whole the five songs (and electronic outro) are firmly chained to a foundation of traditional grindcore that's as familiar as FETO. The result is Antigama have actually plotted a course this time out rather than blasting off into the cosmos to careen recklessly between quasars and black holes. Even "The End," the kind of ambient kiss off track I normally despise, works in context of the EP. It's a claustrophobic sci fi soundtrack that winds up a creeping sense of tension to the point of excruciation before collapsing into the airless vacuum of space.
Over all, Stop the Chaos may be Antigama's most mature effort to date. In 15 minutes the EP is a more provocative and satisfying science fiction experience than the whole two muddled hours of the flatulent Prometheus. Ridley Scott, take notes.

[Full disclosure: Selfmadegod sent me a download.]