Antimatter was once a collaboration with ex-Anathema man Duncan Patterson, but now it’s firmly the personal project of all-rounder Mick Moss.
Loaded with discontent, their sixth album lashes out at “betrayal, backstabbing and depression”. While this might in other hands lead to a flailing, unfocused revenge-rant, The Judas Table is a maturely poised piece of work. It carries its melancholy mood through carefully judged phases of calm and catharsis. There are surging, heavy, doom-chord landslides, but also reflective, restorative moments. It feels like music made by someone who’s found peace after the fire, but the embers are still hot to the touch. By turns inward-looking and operatic, Moss’ gruff but warmly textured, slightly goth vocal cuts through tracks dramatic (Killer) and melodic (Comrades). Stillborn Empires, false ending and all, doubles down on crescendo. By the time we reach the title track, breathlessly, we’re in a realm of shadowy gloom, but the spirit of hope proves staunchly resilient, as guitars and strings pierce and elevate. Clearly Antimatter matters a lot to this man. So committed is the atmosphere that it’ll matter to you too.
