Antikaroshi - Crushed Neocons

by Peter Allison

published: 21 / 3 / 2009

Label: Exile On Mainstream
Format: CD

Bland and drearily uniform heavy metal on debut album from German-based group, the Antikaroshi

Review

With its distinctly political title, I was expecting this debut album from the German based Antikaroshi to have an equally defiant political edge, much in the style of Rage Against the Machine. Instead, I was disappointed to find that the Antikaroshi have a distinctly cooler and much more subdued approach to their music, which I cannot deny tainted my initial impressions. The opening track. 'Downtown', is perhaps the weakest on this low-key indie album and for me was a cause of my initial dissatisfaction, since given its title and implied subject matter, I was expecting an album centred around the theme of global politics. With this in mind, I found the insipid vocals and plain music on offer to be a grave disappointment. This does not in any shape or form denigrate the actual skill or quality of their music, for Thea’s guitar work is exceptional, and Aroshi (drums) and Ntik (keyboards) are likewise skilled. But I found Thea’s passionless and bland vocals, which was often unclear and drowned out by the instruments, to be disappointing. There is also limited diversity in the structure of the Antikaroshi's music which re-used the same format on several tracks, and this dreary uniformity quickly led to me becoming bored. Having said that, this is not a terrible album, as there were a few more exciting moments, but these was sadly in the minority and were unfortunately overwhelmed by the negative points. Overall, this album is flawed by its weak vocals and limited sound.