Antigen Shift - The Way Of The North 2006 WITH REVIEWS torrent

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I've been getting over my surprise this last week about Antigen Shift's newest record, The Way of The North. Familiar with the noisy history of his discography, I'm still adjusting to just how not noisy this record is. Which isn't to say -- in any way -- that Nick Theriault has lost his edge, verve or focus; he's just gone and taken Antigen Shift in a new direction. Funnily enough, just like his name implies: the antigens have shifted. The Way of The North is a passionate concept record -- an arctic homage of melodic ambience, fractured motifs and symphonic syncopations.

On the underside of the CD tray is this quote: "The way of the north must not be threatened by the spectre of arctic drilling." Theriault's efforts with the record are to capture the natural character of the north and the opening track, "The Way of The North," is a wealth of glittering percussion laid across rarified melodies while swells of ice-laden wind storm across the pristine landscape. "As Flies To Careless Boys We Are To Gods," while not quite the most over-the-top title on the record, finds a syncopated groove and dives deep into it, tugging synths and digitized harmonica into dark caverns filled with echoes. Theriault's programming is spot-on (the whole record is impeccably recorded); his application of sonic details and emotive melodic elements create miniaturized soundtracks, tiny epics that evoke a strong sense of place. "Verglas" shivers and bleats with discordant beats and gusts of noise while thin melodies -- think streams of atmospheric lights high above a cracked tundra -- glide through rarified atmosphere. The intent is to instill in the listener a sense of the unspoiled and isolated beauty of the frigid north -- the pure landscapes, the cutting wind, the crackling ice and the empty skies. "L'Horizon" begins as a winter drone, filled with whispering atmospheres and guttering notes, before transforming into sizzling trip-hop (complete with the moaning voice of an arctic queen).


Along with "Toppling Drunk Into The River While Trying To Embrace The Moon," "Peacekeeper" veers towards old-school rhythmic noise territory, though the beats are less caustic, less crushing in their application. Theriault, like a lot of his contemporary noiseniks, has moved beyond a need to make the listener bleed and is more fascinated with complexity than sheer volume and density. If some of the other tracks are synonymous with being caught in a brisk wind on the open glacier, then "Peacekeeper" is being swept off your feet and rolled down a mountainside by an avalanche of snow. You just keep moving faster and faster. "Toppling Drunk Into The River While Trying To Embrace The Moon," one of my recent favorite beat-driven tracks, weaves in a bit of didgeridoo as the piece grows into its calamitous climax.


Okay, so there are noisy bits, but they are accents to the thematic thrust of the music. Well, "Tundra" is pretty hard, but the growling of shale and the grinding of granite is played against the ambient drift of a simple piano melody and a hovering sonata of strings. Its an intense struggle back and forth between the two extremes. "Fimbul Winter," opening with a crystalline smear of analog tones and tinkling bells, transforms into a muscular track with heavy bass, syncopated heartbeats and damaged percussion.


Nothing is relentless in Antigen Shift's The Way of The North. I guess that is the crux of my temperamental adjustment to change. Theriault is becoming a chameleon, able to disguise himself within a number of different styles and textures. It's not a disjointed or chaotic record -- the thematic homage to snow and ice keeps the mood in line -- it's a record of some depth, filled with the sort of fascinating layers that keep revealing themselves the more you pore over it. It's like taking a ice core and discovering an amazing wealth of interesting strata beneath the crystallized surface.

- igloomag.com



Artist: Antigen Shift
Album: The Way of The North
Date Of Release: 2006
Genre: Industrial, ProgRock, Electronic, Experimental Rock
Bitrate: VBR --alt-preset standard

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