PLANETARY CONFINEMENT

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This would be former ANATHEMA member Duncan Patterson's final album with ANTIMATTER. He would leave after this one while Mick Moss would keep the band going and release another album. This album is a strange one in that Mick and Duncan refused to work with each other at this point, so we get two different lineups each headed by these two men. So these songs were recorded in different places at different times. Weird. All the odd numbered tracks are Duncan's and have mainly female vocals, while the even numbered are Mick's and feature mainly his vocals plus violin. It is very surprising how these songs mesh so well together.They're on the same page whan it comes to this melancholic, acoustic style of music that's for sure.

I much prefer the previous album "Lights Out" because that one is all about the atmosphere and mood, while this one comes off too acoustic and samey. It's also very melancholic as I mentioned.The highlight is without a doubt the final track "Eternity Part 24" which is completely different from the rest. It starts out similar with the acoustic guitar but then a minute in we get drowned in atmosphere. Kind of like a spacey Klaus Schulze track. Very cool.

Worth 3 stars but nothing more in my opinion.

Antimatter is running out of fuel on their third album. In terms of sound and style, the band still shows a will to redefine themselves, but when it comes to songwriting and creative energy, this album leaves much to be desired.

After short intro, we are introduced to the new Antimatter sound, which is very bare and acoustic. There's still a strong Anathema feel to it. Especially the violins bring Alternative 4 to mind, but in a more subdued and reflective mood. It's a beautiful gloomy song. Also Line Of Fire shows the band in fine shape. The female vocals offer some variety in sound. The arrangement is very desolate, only slow acoustic guitars, echoing effects and piano are used. Halfway in, I kind of got the idea, so the instrumental second half with percussion that follows is hardly necessary.

With Epitaph starts a string of average material where each individual song still has enjoyable elements but where the whole lot of them is really off-putting. A feature that particularly annoys me on this album is the numbing sameness of it. If you play the first 15 seconds of The Weight,Epitaph,A Portait,Legions and Eternity you get 5 times the exact same acoustic picking on the exact same chord. Worst of all, that picking has a too familiar ring to it. I'm quite sure I've heard this somewhere before.

Not bad as a collection of campfire songs to impress girlfriends. Just don't play all of them consecutively or you risk dozing off and setting your date on fire. Literally, which doesn't come recommended. 2.5 stars