Antimatter
Leaving Eden

"...A faint rustle was heard

subtle, persistent, almost like cypresses;

almost like a river searching for a nonexistent sea, in an immense plain:

I followed its vain whisper,

always the same, always further away."

(from "Ultimo sogno", Giovanni Pascoli)

Finally, Antimatter reappears on the musical scene, creators of highly emotional music, melancholic, decadent, reflective, refined, autumnal, gray, at times psychedelic yet always wrapped in romantic introspections. A simply rare and ineffable art that sublimates into music the work begun by famous artists, writers, and poets of past centuries, by all those who could no longer glimpse even the slightest ray of light in life.

Following the recent and acrobatic departure of the founder Duncan Patterson (former bassist of the historic Anathema), nowadays fully interested in intercultural folklore and experimentation with the newborn Ion project (debuting only a few months ago with the album "Madre, protégénos"), the English band seems to have firmly settled around Mick Moss (vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano), presenting itself as a highly respectable one-man band surrounded by esteemed guests. Notably among these are Danny Cavanagh (acoustic guitar, piano, synth), courtesy of Anathema, and violinist Rachel Brewster, who already appeared with Antimatter two years ago. Others include Ste Hughes (bass), Chris Philips (drums), and Gavin Attard (synth). The contribution of female vocals is missing, which seem to have been definitively "stolen" by the good old Duncan for the new solo project. To be fair, already in the previous "Planetary confinement", one of the best works of 2005 and an absolute masterpiece of this entity, a tendency of the former mastermind to divide roles during the compositional phase was clear. The album indeed recognized two distinct souls: the English one by Mick Moss, mainly acoustic, and the Irish one by Patterson (vocally interpreted by the talented Amelie Festa), experimental and suggestive but lacking in pathos compared to that of his colleague. From the moment the Irishman decided to divide the roles within the group, the "challenge" seemed to have been won from the start by the good Moss, gifted with unparalleled communicative strength. Listening to "Leaving Eden" and allowing its branches to slowly grow on your skin, reaching ecstatic perceptions, letting its tendrils invade you until flying over cathartic extra-sensory areas, is simply a disarming confirmation of this aforementioned triumph.

Nearly fully abandoning the elitist experimental aspirations of the former master builder, Antimatter dives headfirst into more fitting material; their new jewel thus presents itself in the form of a fabulous semi-acoustic rock album, where the echo of Pink Floydian-like psychedelic melancholy ("The wall") becomes increasingly intense, as does the reverberation of the existential spleen of those who have become their natural heirs (as well as the seed from which Antimatter itself sprung): their compatriots Anathema, from works like "A fine day to exit" and "A natural disaster". Another indescribable yet fulfilling introspective journey (the fourth after "Saviour", "Lights out" and the aforementioned "Planetary confinement"), where Mick Moss's voice possessing a certain post-grunge scent and expressive like no other in the world, constantly supported by the guitar, accompanies us through the expanses of the soul’s most unfathomable oblivion.

Nine haunting funeral hymns, compositions inexorably slow, sophisticated, and heterogeneous, unfold with disarming grace. Among poetic guitar arpeggios and aromatic violin incursions, we realize how the contribution of acoustic instrumentation has become fundamental in the compositional economy, but also the increased value of the electric component, which helps launch various pieces into memorable solos and infuse bursts of pure adrenaline into compositions that would otherwise dress only in autumnal sound intimacy. Before embarking on this journey to the edge of the perceptible, know that getting lost in these territories, overshadowed by a gray veil of resignation, won’t be difficult, and that such an experience can harmonize any emotional state tending towards depression and dismay, alleviating its force, thanks to the gift of the awareness of being afflicted by universal feelings. Each song will imprint its memory in the mind as a small masterpiece: if "Redemption" intoxicates the limbs, "Ghosts" alienates clarity; if "Conspire" seduces with its November charm, "The immaculate misconception" mournfully scatters dry leaves and wilted rose petals on the bare avenues of our heart, and the final "Fighting for a lost cause", breaking down the last defenses, sheds warm tears on the cold marble surface of the tomb belonging to our perplexity, forever relegated among lost things. It was hard to believe, but at the end of the journey, music and soul have merged into a single dazzling essence.

I still remember that with the release of "Planetary confinement", someone had deemed them "the saddest band on the planet"; today, without fear of excessive enthusiasm and noting the impossibility of misunderstanding, I tell you that "Leaving Eden", along with its predecessor, can easily climb onto the podium of the most intense and exciting albums of the past three years. Regardless of the important change in lineup, Antimatter, fresh from releasing such masterpieces in just a few years, are worthy of being admired and revered for what they represent: the quintessence of the deepest emotion of the human species.