Polish mad-mathemagician death-grind band Antigama have returned with a post-2004 style Napalm Death grind/death on ‘Depressant’ and carefully dials back some of the math-metal inspired moments that characterized thier earlier days and instead builds on their 2015 album ‘The Insolent’. The slight change is in favor of a straight-forward grindcore riffing that has begun to remind me of classic berzerk-ass Nasum albums in some respects. There are plenty of similarly weird ass grindcorers out there but I think Antigama successfully flies thier freak flag high while never forgetting to bring heaviness and complexity to thier music.

The solid 20 minutes of grind found on ‘Depressant’ have more or less revived my faith in grindcore after a couple years of wank releases; I have to admit I’d sort of lost my way with grind since ‘Order of the Leech’ shook my brain and re-booted my interest over a decade ago. The urgency, the riffing, and the chaos of Antigama is undeniable and it never feels like they’re imitators though this EP doesn’t have a ton of room for innovation despite getting the avant-metal tag from many listeners. The hardcorish riffing and experimental moments always have me on the tip of mentioning Discordance Axis but really at the end of the day this is avant-‘The Code is Red… Long Live the Code’ and that might be a disappointment to some.

I’m definitely a freak for this type of more accessible grindcore in that it is polished up with 00’s death metal production and the mix is fantastic on the drums. It does feel like the band is building on the momentum of ‘The Insolent’ without out going too far outside of their wheelhouse; and what a fine wheelhouse it is even a few years later. I would recommend this EP if you’re already sold on the band or if you like the stuff I’ve mentioned so far. It has everything but the math-metal focus of ‘Zeroland’ and their earlier releases, so it might be time to get over it if you’re still miffed they changed style a bit a decade… I personally think it’s all totally worthwhile, this EP especially.

Restrictions start to crumble 3.75/5.0

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