Metal Underground.com

Antigama is a band that isn’t afraid to break away from the pack of modern metal bands. Playing a mix of grindcore and death metal, with some mathcore riffing thrown in for good measure, “Warning” is an album that is heavy enough to satisfy grind heads, yet deviates enough from the standard formula to appeal to those looking for something a little different in their metal.

From the very beginning, the band demonstrates to the listener that they aren’t afraid to keep it heavy and a little strange at the same time. “Disconnected” starts the album off with some odd fly-buzzing sound effects, then erupts into a scorching grindcore song. It’s a great start to an album as heavy as this one is.

The music itself uses a lot of discordant riffing, abrupt blasts of aggression, and blazing double bass to create a brutal, alienating sound that stands out among the rest of modern metal. The vocals consist of heavy yells and barks, with a slight Mumakil-esque sound in the heavier parts.

The drumming is a stand out piece of "Warning." The drummer has some peculiar sounds coming out of the kit, as if his toms are tuned super high. The result is an almost bongo-like sound in some of the fills. It sounds very strange alongside the blasting aggression of the album and only adds to the album’s avant-garde feel. In some areas, it almost sounds like jungle beats mixed with grindcore. The song “Lost Skull” in particular features more than one of these fills.

The thing I like most about this album is that, though the music is repetitive at times, the band utilizes a lot of variation. All of the songs, with the exception of three, are brutally fast grindcore pieces, but the elements of the music vary from song to song.

The songs “Heartbeat” and “You Have the Right to Remain Violent” have more of a mathcore feel to them; with frantic stop start riffing, complex time signature changes, and blistering double bass. “Empty Room” and “Nightmare” have a more traditional grindcore feel to them, while “Lost Skull” stands out on the album with groovy guitar work and crusty, almost melodic vocal work (think Crowbar, but heavier), followed up by some frenetic blasting and static vocal effects.

Finally, the strangest parts of this album lie in the instrumental tracks. “Sequenzia Dellamorte” takes a quick break from the blasting to insert some eerie, ambient electronic sounds into the mix. “Paganini Meets Barbapapex” is an entirely Kafka-esque piece, with a rambling piano played over some jazzy guitar work and strange electronic effects. While it’s a satisfyingly bizarre break from the brutality, it does still feel a little out of place (though I think that’s what the band was going for). It doesn’t make or break the album, and one wouldn’t lose much by skipping over it.

The last instrumental track is the final track on the album. “Black Planet” is a brooding, dismal, ambient track, with melancholy organ work in the background. It has a very austere and lonely feel to it, yet is almost a relieving end to such a brutal album.

Antigama’s “Warning” is an album that obviously wants to stand out from the pack. It definitely achieves this, but I wouldn’t call this album memorable (though it does feature some riffing that will stick with you for a while). The music’s heaviness will satisfy those looking for crushing brutality, yet deviates enough from the norm to be interesting all the way through.