Antigama - "Stop The Chaos" EP Review

The sign of a truly great band is when they can go through severe line-up changes, stay relatively inactive for a few years, and then come back sounding like nothing ever happened. 2012 marks the triumphant return of Polish grind weirdos, Antigama. With four releases planned for this year, two of which are out already, Antigama seem to be back stronger than ever! "Stop The Chaos" is their 2nd release this year, a 6 track EP that should please any long time fans of the band. Admittedly, when I heard of the line-up changes, I was a bit worried that their sound would have drastically changed, even with the return of Lucas on vocals(I'll get to him later). But upon hearing this new EP, all of my doubts and worries were immediately put to rest. "Stop The Chaos" is an excellent Antigama release, sounding like a healthy mix of the "Zeroland" and "Resonance" albums. Sebastian's riffs are devastatingly good, keeping the weird chords and sounds that Antigama are known for, while still keeping everything rooted in familiar grind/metal territory. Creating songs that you can bang your head too, but also keep you interested and with their twists and turns. Little touches of strange really make their songs colorful, like the muted-snare rolls in the song "Intricate Trap" by new drummer Pawel Jaroszewicz(who does a fantastic job and really suits the band well) and the occasional cleans vocals by Lucas. I am so so so happy that Lucas is back in the band. He truly is the voice of Antigama, and hearing his one of a kind vocals again makes me a happy man. My only real gripe about "Stop The Chaos" is the closing instrumental, "The End". It's a spacey, sci-fi, cyberspace traveling piece that's a bit anticlimactic. I would have preferred the EP ended with a bang, but all complaints aside, we still get 5 solid tracks that leave me totally satisfied. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8.5/10

~VII