Customer Reviews

Damage

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I LOVE this new disc (Damage) from Anti-M. I have about 10,000 CDs so
for a disc to make it into regular rotation in my playlist is rare. The album moves me on a visceral level. Anti-M has a style that defies any one musical classification. A lot to appeal to a lot of people but they first have to find it. A lot of the music makes me think of a fusion of
Ronnie Montrose and Evanescence. On my Ipod Anti-M is listed as
industrial. Maybe the music is a little techno but for the most part
I'd call it hard rock. Even the cover is cool and predicts the emotion in the disc, spacy, dark, dreamy and of course damaged.

Since the music is hard to classify I thought I would break it down
song by song. Here we go.

1 .Dreaming in Metaphor- Love the bass. A lot of tension builds
here. Nice guitar work.

2. Let U In- Great vocals. Great riffs. A lot of radio potential.

3. Damage- A great rock song again with a lot of radio potential. Nice effects. Finish is excellent. Harmony vocals outstanding.

4. Deep- A fabulous ballad and perhaps the most amazing vocals on the
album by singer Barbara Moseley.

5. Rage- This song is an epic! Gives me the same feeling as "Kashmir". Great guitar leads and nice harmony vocals.

6. It's All Inside- Very Bowie-esque. Keyboard work is a nice change
of pace. Good guitars.

7. Little Things- Suzanne Vega meets techno with nice harmony vocals.

8. Beautiful Babe- Nice beat effects. Reminds me of "Let's Dance" by
Bowie. Haunting guitars and a dark ending.

9. Waitia While- A great slow song. Like the keyboard work.

10. Rose of Love- Really nice intro. Cool beat. The most hopeful
lyrics on the entire disc. Reminds me of what I remember the older discs by Anti-m were like. Could be a club or dance track. Powerful guitars.

11. Godzilla VS Rodan- Great effects. Reminds me of a thunderstorm.

12. Into The Rain- Another song with a lot of radio potential. Deep
despair here. Nice use of harmony vocals. Like hard rock Leonard Cohen / Nick Cave.

13. Incineration- Good driving beat and radio potential.

14. Shiver- Haunting fragment. Like a dark bit from an Evanescence song.

15. Damage in the Dream- Upbeat rhythm with despair-filled lyrics.
Very Darkwave or Goth (The Gathering).

16. THE SIXTH EXTINCTION - A long instrumental with a lot of
different emotions here. Starts sad, ends up like something from
"Strange Cargo" by William Orbit. I like it.

17. NO KILL I- A powerful closing track with great guitars on this
one. The album then closes with a reprise of the song Deep which is
just beautiful.

I love this disc!

By no means do I intend criticism of this fine work by the title above. "Damage," the latest release from Anti-M, melds many styles into a captivating composition; one that draws you in, challenges you, enlightens you, and subtlety demands listening. My first brush with this CD was met with judgment and skepticism. I remember thinking, "I don't like that guitar sound." I meant (as a fellow guitar player), rack-mounted, overly processed, distortion effects with signature metal licks. That thought came to me in the opening bars of "Let U In," but left prior to the song's conclusion. I like "Damage" - a lot. This is an amazing accomplishment for the apparently Santa Barbara-based[...] studio band. "Damage" does not disappoint.

The opening drones of the instrumental "Dreaming in Metaphor" set the stage for this journey. At the get-go the talent shines in chord voicing and chord choice. The ear is led to resolution that does not take place. Instead, a more interesting motif is presented, and the listener is beckoned to go further. When the guitar starts you are enticed to label this music, but the smart listener (not me first time around) resists. Do I hear Rush? Perhaps. The classical guitar flourish is tasty and provides excellent contrast. A repeat of the guitar melody leads us back to the drones.

"Let U In" snaps you to attention with its quick yet sensual opening cry. The listener is treated to their first introduction of the truly fantastic female vocalist. Benatarian verses and choruses explode with power and meaning. The arpeggio coda is a good touch.

The Title track, "Damage", sans-lyrics, displays excellent keyboard and guitar-doubled melodies. I may be wrong, but I hear acoustic drums as opposed to the prevalent use of drum machine. The china cymbal works well.

The diamond of this music walks into the room via "Deep." Sublime barely describes the level of perfection found here. The vocalist is celestial, evoking the Seraphim. I am unable to listen to this song too often.

The heavy guitaring in "Rage" holds this semi-instrumental down. The effects applied to the vocals, both overdubs and electronic effects, are well done. There is a definite middle-eastern tone achieved in several parts. As one of the longer pieces, it continues to introduce new material to the listener until it dissolves into drums and bass-like sounds.

The third name is this article's title shows up in "It's All Inside." The short break-out launched at 0:52 is fresh. It ends quickly, but resurfaces at 2:06. The vocals and composition are superb. What seem to be real drums accent this song well. The herald at the end gets your attention.

Syncopated lyrics in the verse lead off "Little Things." The Pop sound of this song would make an excellent soundtrack for the latest "chick flick." I hope the band takes that as a compliment -- those songs make a lot of money! Direction: "As theme song ends, dissolve to long shot of coffee shop on rainy day."

David shows up again in "Beautiful Babe," both in the lyrics and the timbre. In a change of mood, the female vocalist arrives, calls to the man...and he answers. Then two are one. The sensuality of this song is undeniable.

"Waita While" takes a very different direction. Moody, searching, and longing melodies are woven into this tapestry. The underlying piano holds this piece together while new tones are introduced throughout.

Plucked notes (on the bass?) start "Rose of Love." The mix of Devo and falsetto works for this electronica. Although the guitar will not let you forget that this is pure rock.

"Godzilla vs Rodan" demonstrates excellent synthesizer composition, tone sculpting and sound mixing. The syncopation keeps this piece interesting.

The wonderful ballad "Into the Rain" is an effective bridge to the hard-cutting "Incineration." The guitar here defies criticism. Wow! The guitar is mated with majestic soaring keyboard lines until it all slides down to a slow dark dirge that is "Shiver." I am not completely sure what "Shiver" warns of, but I'll be sure to avoid it.

Two longer pieces draw the record to its close. "Damage in the Dream" could be seen as repetitive of other styles and material previously presented, yet it presents its message. Dream leads the listener to "The Sixth Extinction" which mixes traditional piano, classical styles and Rick Wakeman inspired runs into a technical fury. The guitar enters to give us a quick lesson before the piano finishes us off.

If you thought Anti-M got soft, "No Kill I" pushes that aside. Guitars and keys knock your head off. Anti-M always finds the melody, (an attribute of most Yes songs as described by Jon Anderson in almost any interview). The lyrics tell us "goodbye," the guitar and drums push us out the door to the gates of hell........but we are met by the angel once again ----- the crystal notes of "Deep" return and are matched with a lone music box, as we look into the lonely eyes so Deep.

This is a masterpiece.

Sometimes I get to the point where I am just tired of listening to music, and I want to try something different. This album has a distinct crispness and elegance to it. It fits, like a comfortable pair of shoes, yet the songs are not just tired, cookie-cutter replicas of each other. Some tracks are instrumentals, some have a female vocalist, some have a male vocalist.

The artwork underscores the mood. The music is dark, but also dreamlike. The production quality is really quite excellent. The band has something to say. Art is more important than just throwing another album out there.
An eclectic blend of instruments and genres. As I was listening to Dreaming In Metaphor, I took a double take-is that a didgeridoo!? Sure as hell. Different. Bold

Wedge and the Anti-M crew are back and bigger than ever. After listening to Damage several times, I realized that I had a different favorite song each time I listened. Damage has a combination of hard driving guitar, cool synthesizers, and even some of the vintage Anti-M featuring Wedge on vocals. I listened to "No Waves in Hell" and "Positively Negative" again to compare with Damage. I really enjoyed the rawness of No Waves in Hell and the funky beats in Positively Negative. Damage is the next step in sophistication of Anti-M. I like to turn up the volume and really feel this music. I'm looking forward to any videos and wouldn't it be cool if the band did a live show. I know I'd pay to see them. Damage is a great CD to add to your collection. I hope it won't be so long for the next Anti-M CD. Thanks Wedge. You ROCK!!

I don't write many reviews, but this disc definitely deserves mention and should not be overlooked.

"Damage" is still Anti-M...but more! Wedge and company have evolved the band's musical style in a way that pleasantly surprised me. The guitars stand out more, but there's still the excellent interplay with the synth/keyboards. Barabara Mosely's vocals can be forceful as well as melodic, and the female and male vocals intertwine well. Excellent guitar work by Jon Moseley, whether it's a great riff or "just" helping provide ambience. The songs are well-crafted (as always), but "stronger" - even the slower songs have a hidden force you can sense. And the band's playing is tight - everyone doing an excellent job.

Other reviewers have gone into much more detail than I could ever manage, so just some personal favorites from "Damage":

"Dreaming in Metaphor" - what a strong opener, and has become a close second to...
"Rage" - this song has everything, and is the best - excellent!
"Incineration" - catchy instrumental, in a good way
"No Kill I" - surprising closer - just when they'd slowed things down a bit, this one grabs you

Do yourself a favor and buy this disc. And check out the anti-m website to see videos and other band info.

This is a very cool album. The production is solid, all the songs grab and hold my attention, and there are several songs in particular that I think are very strong. Two songs co-written by Santa Barbara chanteuse Barbara Moseley were particularly resonant and stayed with me: "Let U In" and "Little Things." I think "Let U In" has some serious radio potential, and her vocals throughout the album are impressive. Also, some excellent guitar work on the album and, to my ears, a different feel than some of Anti-M's earlier material. I really like the different layers of ambient sound and interesting keyboard patches throughout the disc, as well as some very cool vocal effects. Great artwork, too! All in all, definitely worth picking up.