Antania never seems to stop, giving the impression that the Californian duo have been around for much longer than just two years... Formed out of the ashes of Luna 13, Antania have played a string of concerts (including several tours with Psyclon Nine) and released two albums, Lividity and The God Complex. 3AM 666 is their third, and the tried-and-tested formula remains unchanged: inspired by sordid events and serial killers, Antania mix bass music and extreme metal to produce a heavy, grimy, cross-genre result.
It's with carnivorous satisfaction that we return to Doc Luna's hypnotic, heavyweight beats before Kali Mortem's sinister voice begins to declaim Fishtro's lyrics like a nursery rhyme: ‘it's time to celebrate Albert Fish’ she recites, evoking memories of the sinister cannibal serial killer (among other qualities). A sense of constant threat, crushing synthetic assaults and that hoarse, dry vocal, as if Kali Mortem had risen from the grave after a long slumber and her vocal cords were drier than the dustiest of mummies: Antania reeks of death, and their music is particularly creepy.
3AM 666 then follows on from the putrid incantations, the combination of thick bass and chanted lyrics accentuating the impression of a black mass. The slow declamation of the lyrics and their theatrical heaviness give a grand-guignol flavour to this nightmarish whole, all the more so as the lyrics are easily intelligible. We can then take advantage of the nice messages Antania has for us: the ‘I want your blood’ croaked on Pigz or the Richard Ramirez-style ‘Hail Satan’ from Stalker crawl into our ear canals to lodge themselves in the darkness of our brains. Although the recipe doesn't change much, Antania have fun with noisy industrial transitions of Void and Abysmal, confirming their approach: even if a certain groove sometimes makes you want to move (Blood Love, Dahm's catchphrases and melodies), we're not here to party. It's dark, disgusting, suffocating.
Amongst all these atrocities, the cover of Static-X's Cold is almost like a breath of fresh air: come on, forget that this track was on the soundtrack of the unbearable Queen of the Damned and appreciate its gloomy synths and heady chorus: it's almost an anthem for Antania! 3AM 666 affirms the unique universe of the Joshua Tree duo: no revolution in sight, but confirmation of a personal approach to electronic music, continuing to redefine “heavy music” and dark hybrids... and a real radicalism, a refusal of easy-listening despite real dance potential. It's sleazy, opaque black, gritty, haunted and dirty, and it's a pleasure to listen to.
