BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTENMENT

The Liverpool, UK based ANTIMATTER has been the long time project of Mick Moss who took the reins after fellow founder Duncan Patterson parted ways in 2005 leaving Moss as the sole director of the project's destiny. While the earlier albums were a quirky mix of dark electronica with Goth rock-tinged trip hop graced with feminine goddess vocals, the newer releases since 2012's "Fear Of A Unique Identity," has found Moss going more into the alternative rock arena with the complexities getting more sophisticated leading him into the progressive rock world. It's been three years since "The Judas Table" and ANTIMATTER is back with BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTENMENT which continues the trend of mixing borderline heavy alternative rock / Goth metal with progressive almost neo-prog symphonic splendor.

While the previous album had a more stripped down effect, BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTENMENT expands the dimensions of the elements set forth once Moss essentially went solo. This album's theme is that of drug addiction and tackles the extremely heavy subject matter in the lyrical department while creating a dark and lugubrious musical backdrop to push it forward. The material is some of the most complex that ANTIMATTER has done with a sense of melancholy that hangs over the album like a lingering black cloud but very effective indeed as the impeccably produced mix and excellent compositions create one of the rare instances where Gothic rock and progressive rock work so well together. This is surely one of the most tense listens of the year as it walks a tightrope between complete emotional breakdown and a sense of suppressed rage waiting to explode but somehow keeps its cool throughout its run.

While Mick Moss is the sole member who plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, bass and provides vocals, BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTENMENT also adds four extra musicians providing flute, saxophone, drums and a traditional Iranian bowed string instrument called the kamancheh (also kamanche, kamancha or qamancha.) There are also two female vocalists that provide a feminine touch on backing vocals. While the creepy mid-tempo music adds an almost shoegazy sort of guitar distortion with Moss' Gothic vocal style leading the way, the Middle Eastern percussive drives and the kamancheh take the music to an eerie new world where various strains of reality intersect in an unfamiliar way. The synthesizer rich darkwave atmospheric overcast keeps this one in the clouds like a perpetual brain fog that is tuned into some foreign radio station that is set to sadness.

Like most Gothic related music whether it exist in the extremities of metal or the more sensual touches of the Nick Cave camp, this music is eerily romantic and fragile. While the music generally creeps along, the Middle Eastern drumming can become energetic especially on tracks like "Essential," and while the guitar heft is mostly reserved as an atmospheric generator with echoey distortion, it is also implemented to create some metal riffs that chug along to add a sense of crescendo to the mostly stoic and detached emotional tug of war. Moss' vocal style is very limited as he sings in a low register but has mastered the art of eking out emotional responses with subtle vocal vibrato and tantalizing trills. While BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTMENT has been accused of moving more to the world that Anathema (which ironically ex-founder Duncan Patterson played in) has carved out and there is some truth to that, the mood remains more reserved and much more dependent on the darkwave synthesizer dominated atmospheric touches to convey its overall plan.

With utterly addictive composiitons that are instantly catchy and a nice interplay between the sensual acoustic, heavy electric and atmospheric elements, BLACK MARKET ENLIGHTENMENT qualitatively connects the listener to the subject matter and draws you into the bleakness of the grimy world of substance abuse. The instantly catch tracks will hook you immediately but the sophisticated and subtle mix of the swirling storm of sonic interplay will keep you coming back for more. This album is considered heavier than previous ones and offers just enough bombast to create the perfect corrivalry of musical elements. ANTIMATTER is not only back but seems to be getting better with each new album. Favorite track: "Between The Atoms" which also happens to be the longest.

Antimatter, the personal project of the talented musician Mick Moss, was back in 2018 with Black Market Enlightenment!

It's the first album I hear from this band, and I must say that despite the style that they practice is my favorite kind of prog (dark, atmospheric and dense) this collection of songs lack some kind of hook.

The production is fine, and the vocals clear and deep, but apart from a pair of tracks the album is rather dull and insubstantial.

Best Tracks: This is Not Utopia (the catchiest track of the album), Sanctification (complex and powerful) and Between the Atoms (good instrumental development)

Conclusion: if you are into bands like Riverside and Anathema, you'll probably find Black Market Enlightenment interesting. But in my opinion, this is an irregular album with a songwriting that is not enough interesting or imaginative to be considered a worthy addition to any prog music collection.

My Rating: **

Antimatter is one of the uncanny and unusual art rock projects that crosses the progressive territory, and the band's seventh studio album explores a lot of the progressive tendencies that have come to define their latter day works. Originally a two-piece, Antimatter has been the creative outlet of main songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Mick Moss since 2006, and 'Black Market Enlightenment' from 2018 is the fourth album overall to be written and recorded solely by Moss. The band's music is defined by a brooding, melancholic feel and a staggering darkness that comes through the idiosyncratic voice of Mick Moss, whose lyrics also reflect upon a somewhat gothic aesthetic. Heavy, hefty, but often atmospheric guitars as well as washes of gloomy synths and multiple effects dominate the sonic ground of Antimatter's albums, and 'Black Market Enlightenment' is no exception; it is an ominous and creative work that deals with Moss' substance abuse, making the album very personal and intimate, all while the music remains obliquely progressive.

Among the nine tracks on the album there are some exceptional and exciting moments as well as a few more forgettable ones - the opening track 'The Third Arm', for example, impresses with its fiery grief, gloomy atmosphere and almost post-rock aesthetic, making it one of the more accessible songs on the album, while a track like 'Sanctification' can get lost amongst the layers of moody ambience, meaning that some of the songs on the album lack the memorable, addictive hook. 'Wish I Was Here' has heavy atmospheric undertones and a feel of existential desperation in the lyrics that suits the music quite well. 'This Is Not Utopia' and 'Partners in Crime' are dark, perverse, and utilizing a lot of electronica, definitely two of the more compelling song off the album. The oblique heaviness and the cathartic build-ups are very finely done, and 'Existential' is another good example, also introducing a touch of world music to the mix. 'Liquid Light' closes off the album in an effective way, especially because of the glorious vocal performance of Moss. The entirety of 'Black Market Enlightenment' follows a similar mood as well as similar rhythmic patterns, which takes away someof the variety of the music - however, the album does have several really interesting moments that are worth listening to. The instrumental build-ups and the vocal work are the main strengths of this particular record.