Country of origin:Finland
Location:N/A
Status:Active
Formed in:2013
Genre:Atmospheric Black Metal
Lyrical themes:Cosmos
Current label:Purity Through Fire
Years active:2013-present

DISCOGRAPHY

Valo aikojen takaa Full-length 2016

current line up

Ahma All instruments, Vocals

REVIEWS

A strange alien folk / raw atmospheric BM fusion - 85%
NausikaDalazBlindaz, August 3rd, 2018

So far the only album issued by Finnish one-man BM project Antimateria, "Valo aikojen takaa / Light from beyond times" is a distinctive one from the viewpoint of whichever genre it draws on for influence: for a blackened folk album, its synthesiser tones make it sound even more folksy and mediaeval; and for a raw atmospheric BM work with a strong melodic bent, it is so sharp and steely that even without the quaint folk / pagan elements it would still stand out for its steel-teeth chops. The album is a meta-work in seven parts, the tracks detailing a steady journey from the physical plane of existence, where our universe dwells, to another dimension, and overall it's a straightforward recording where the drama is to be found in the ghost vocals and the stately, sometimes swanky riffing and archaic-sounding melodies. Not for Antimateria the peaks and troughs of intense emotional BM of screaming banshee voices and guitars being shredded into sawdust!

As all songs proceed at more or less the same pace and the music, individual as it is, does not vary much from the dominant trio of churning chainsaw-noise guitars, folk synthesiser wash and crabby vocal chant, the paradoxical result is that the songs have little individuality of their own. The album is perhaps best heard as one whole in which listeners can immerse themselves in a darkly magic world brought into being by the guitars, keyboards and voices all working together as a unit.

With the lyrics in Finnish, and all songs featuring such lyrics throughout with not very many long instrumental passages, native speakers will find this album more absorbing than everyone else will - but even non-native speakers can be left spell-bound by the recording's sound and style. The gabbling vocals can be treated as another layer of noise that adds nuance to the choirs of guitars and the steady and regular rhythms.

The album improves as it goes along with the best track "Kadoten merien hautaan / Disappearing to the grave of the seas" being an outstanding example of the album's style and its potential for birthing songs of epic if perhaps weird, even quaintly archaic alien majesty.

Wherever the Antimateria musician has gone with this music since recording it, we can only hope he (perhaps she) will return soon with more such wondrous inspiration.

Cosmic Glorification - 91%
CosmicCult, April 4th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2016, CD, Purity Through Fire

Antimateria is a relatively new one-man band emerging from the frozen Finland. It was formed in 2013 by a man under the pseudonym of Ahm; that means it took him three years to release "Valo Aikojen Takka", which is the debut full length and only studio work so far.

Right from the intro, you know that what is coming is far from being something on the average. The band displays an atypical atmospheric black metal, full of pagan/folk influences, epic and melancholic middle tempo riffs, keyboards, synths and a wide vocal range. That folk yet pagan influence is present in all the album, with sound effects replicating what I think is a pan flute and guitar riffs that not only act as an atmosphere provider, but also as the chorus.

Ahma describes his music as "Cosmos glorifying black metal". I can see that; but not in the most traditional conception of the subgenre, trying to emulate interstellar journeys or deep space sights; I perceive it as a much more ritualistic approach, as a worshiping to some cosmic deity; in other words, in the most ethereal and esoteric way.

The vocal work here is clever; the variety of registers is big, always in synchrony with the music and generating a sense of melancholy (perfectly accompanied by the guitar work) towards the listener. The production is maybe the weakest point of the album; I don’t usually care about it being unclean in black metal recordings, but this one in particular makes the album sound a bit flat (which is not the case whatsoever) and can create a sense of similarity between the songs (intros from songs 3, 4 and 5 aside; this also isn’t true).

The recording consists of an intro and six tracks, all of them mid-paced in general terms, but with some tempo changes so that not to sound monotonous. They also are quite different in terms of structure, but without losing the album’s essence. The main guitar acts like the chorus itself in most of them, which also have lots of pure atmospheric parts with the only use synths, keyboards and background effects.

In conclusion, "Valo Aikojen Takka" is a mesmerizing debut album (one of my favorites of 2016 to be honest). It brings some fresh air in an utterly exploited subgenre, and I can do nothing but give Ahma credit for that.

A brooding atmospheric black metal style - 89%
slayrrr666, November 22nd, 2016
Written based on this version: 2016, CD, Purity Through Fire (Limited edition, A5 digipak)

Emerging from the bowels of the genre, Finnish one-man atmospheric black metal project Antimateria has quickly gathered themselves into a force within the genre as main man Ahma has turned the project into a beast of celestial black metal magic. Quickly coming out with the projects’ first proper piece of recording, the debut full-length was originally released September 1, 2016 on Purity Through Fire Records.

From the start, it’s quite clear here that there’s a strong and profound sense of raw, celestial-worshipping black metal at hand. From the tight, churning riff-work that takes the simplistic tremolo-style series of patterns and merges them with a strong series of light keyboard work to really get this one going here. Even with the raw, gravelly production it’s still possible to discern the warm, lush atmospheric melodies swirling around throughout here which comes from the simplistic riff-work and rumbling rhythm section charging away in the background which manages to make for quite a stylistic contrast to the rest of the album here with this one really generating the kind of light, serene atmosphere that plainly keeps this in the genre for the majority of the running time. Given the fact that the extended, generous lengths of the tracks for the most part here, the ability to really let the melodies sink in and create the haunting atmosphere possible this really manages to make this hold up much more than expected with the melodies and rhythms coming together quite nicely, but the fact that the album’s thick, gravelly production style becomes the main problem here as this tends to reduce the type of variety and dexterity found within the riff-work and gives it a much too apparent sense of solidarity with the songs sounding much too similar and familiar to each other. The album comes off like a rather straightforward blur of simplistic riffing and driving-but-familiar drumming that manages to hold the atmospheric keyboards in check throughout here which doesn’t really detract it as much as expected.

Despite losing some of its power here with the thick, raw production featured here, the fact that there’s still a lot to enjoy here with the extended, atmospheric sections at play here really tends to give this one a big bump and makes this one work rather well for fans of this type of simplified atmospheric black metal.