Review: Antitheus “The Faults of Our Kind”

Hmmmm… after a little hiatus from reviewing I return with something that is a bit of a pickle for me. The Faults Of Our Kind, by the two-man melodic death/thrash band Antitheus, from Seattle.

Now before you form an opinion of this review or the reviewer, please bear in mind that I listened to this album and their first EP – Evocator – multiple times, and I will always advocate that you listen to the album for yourselves, to perhaps see what I am referring to, and see whether you agree or not.

On that note, I am not going to sugarcoat this.

Martin McDonagh’s vocals need a lot of work. The meaning behind the lyrics are noteworthy, but his vocals make every track, except for some of the song ‘Baba Yaga’, sound the same. There is very little variation in his tone and range and it leaves you wanting an instrumental on the album just to get a break. His vocals leave you feeling like none of the songs stand out, and that they perhaps lack any structural hooks. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they are the part of this album that needs the most work. They overpower any sort of variation in the music.

Erick M Goin is clearly a very proficient musician, some of his guitar work is fantastic, but the vocals ruin it. The music however does also lack depth. It lacks bass. And it lacks a real drummer. The reason the song ‘Baba Yaga’ (as simple as what the lyrics are) is in my opinion the one song on the album that stands out, is because it has some variation in tempo, musicianship and vocals. It is unfortunately still only the best of a bad bunch.

I’m sorry guys, but it’s really difficult to find anything positive about this recording, it all sounds the same, and as proficient a musician as what Goin is, he is being weighed down by very average vocals, and dare I say, some multiple-member influence. The music seems to lack some depth and soul. It sounds programmed and in metal I’m afraid that doesn’t cut it for me. Metal needs to be way more organic than that. I don’t mind it being polished in studio, but it still needs to possess the basics that make metal what it is… excellent riffs, excellent drums by a real drummer, excellent vocals and of course bass to match. This album I’m afraid only has some proficient guitar work but that’s where it ends for me. Antitheus needs a vocal overhaul, more members and a real drummer. Scathing I know, but perhaps they should revisit their debut EP which, even though you could see them vocally heading in this direction back then already, musically still had that raw, organic metal feel about it. Evocator, whilst not brilliant, is far better than The Faults Of Our Kind.

I have mentioned this before… talented musicians are easier to come by than talented vocalists, so if you get the vocals nailed down, then half your battle is already won.

So, as an overview…

• McDonagh’s vocals need a lot of work.
• Goin’s guitar work is proficient with a few decent hooks peppered throughout the album, but ultimately overshadowed by poor vocals.
• The drums, although excellent, are programmed from what I can gather.
• And as for the bass… well there is none. Even the big epic intro lacks bass.

Til next time.