Antigama "Discomfort" CD
[Selfmadegod]
Hell yeah.  This is a re-release (with bonus material) of the second full-length from this devastating Polish grindcore act that has a really original style.  In addition to some intense speeds and a classic grindcore aesthetic, there's also a lot of sludgy midpaced dissonance and frantic noise that lends more of a modern edge to the material, not to mention plenty of ominous characteristics.  So when you combine that with viciously textured vocal shouts/screams and a really polished recording that's heavy as fuck, you're in for one whopper of a release.  The songs are all around one or two minutes each and definitely tend to test the limits of endurance for the listener just as much as the band, as not only is there a lot of precisely tight breakneck speed and quick shifting between riffs, but there's a whole hell of a lot of cacophonous disharmony compliments of clashing note patterns and chord phrasings.  Imagine Gorguts as a grindcore band with bits of Napalm Death and Meathook Seed thrown in... the result might be something close to this.  "Flies" opens the disc like math rock/metal on crack, "Bloodmaker" is classic grindcore fury, and "Stupid Fuck" is the first of the tracks that offers some slower tempos and more of the quirky discordant guitar textures and maniacal vocal work that becomes increasingly prominent later on.  Taking things to that next level, "Try" is just complete chaotic noise, but it's totally twisted and fucked up, so rather than coming off as senseless and obnoxious it's simply menacing and totally relentless; to the point where there's a weird stuttered glitch in the opening blast of the subsequent "This Structure is Tight" and I'm not sure if it's a manufacturing error or something intentional!?  The tail end of the disc definitely picks up the creativity to end things out on a solid note.  "Shit From Arse" is among the only tracks that has a breakdown kind of thing going on - for about five seconds anyway, "Bolo" is more rhythmic and uses a lot of fucked up spoken vocals, "Save Copy As..." offers a great blend of repetitious speeds and oddball time signatures with stuttered discordant chords, and the title track is a two-minute foray into glitchy experimental noise and subdued ambient lulls.  Seven minutes of blank space later comes the bonus track, "Fala", which is a similar noise remix by The Seed, adding in lots of percussive beats and more of an overblown distorted vibe.  It's not really my kind of remix, but it has its moments.  As mentioned the recording is fucking great.  I'm not making out that much bass, but the guitars are heavy as a motherfucker and totally in your face, driving the material alongside the vocals.  The drums also sound pretty damn good and do a lot of the legwork in spicing up the blasts.  I'd like to hear a little more of the basslines, but the mix is clear and everything sounds so much stronger than most grindcore, so I don't even care in the long run!  No lyrics are included, but the layout looks pretty interesting.  The imagery is all rather bleak, and the only thing I don't like is the cheesy font used for the band logo on the cover.  That whole digital look just doesn't make sense, especially against the strange imagery.  The inner spread is very effective though, using just bold colored space and small black and white photographs with simple phrases: "Empty, no love.  Broken, no hope.  Lost, no one."  It really has sort of a sinister industrial kind of look to it or something.  Very cool - and a nice match for the music.  There's also a video for "Flies" on the CD-Rom portion of the disc, but I couldn't get it to play.  I'm not really clear on what spawned this reissue, but hell if I care, because this is good stuff!  Poland definitely seems to have a pretty damn solid grind scene and Antigama ranks among the finest I've heard from said locale, so this comes very much recommended from this end.  With a little more work these guys could definitely strongarm the grindcore genre into a new era.  Get ready for a good ol' fashioned mindfuck, ladies and gentlemen. (7/10)
Running time - 30:12, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Flies, Bloodmaker, Sick I Am, Shit From Arse, Save Copy As...]
Selfmadegod Records - http://www.selfmadegod.com

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