Album Review: Antemasque - 'Antemasque'

So it turns out that despite the many rumours upon the demise of The Mars Volta, BFF’s Omar and Cedric don’t hate each other. In fact, it’s on to the next one with the duo’s latest group, Antemasque, which swings things back in a more punk orientated direction similar to the boys roots but with a nostalgic 80’s touch.

When Bixlar-Zavala gets a bit enthusiastic on opening track and first single '4AM', and screams the band’s name, fans of At The Drive In will get a little excited twinge as all of those good memories will come flooding back. So it is safe to say that Antemasque offer up some more standard song structures and lengths when compared to the epic opus that is Mars Volta. Bass duties for the recording were handled by none other than the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Flea, and they are suitably intense and erratic as you would come to expect from the veteran.

The fast paced 'I Got No Remorse' carries punk rock energy with rock n' roll riffs and more refined, classic guitar tones, which attribute to the band's older style sound. It's as if ATDI matured a little, which makes sense, but in no way lacks the fury and passion that these guys put into all of their music. This is pretty much the vibe for the majority of the record, it's extremely melodic. 'In The Lurch' manages to insert some catchy little vocals lines and a groove heavy breakdown in amongst the punk rock chaos, sewn together so seamlessly that you will never see the changes coming.

Things slow down for 'Drown All Your Witches', which has a little Jane's Addiction influence creep into it (Flea?) as it travels along with an acoustic guitar backed by some strings and a happy-go-lucky beat before the sinister sounding and atmospheric 'Providence'.

The record ends with 'Rome Armed To The Teeth', a song that walks the line dead centre between the previous two ventures, the crazy guitar riffs of the Volta and the pace and aggression of Drive In, perfect.

It is hard to not constantly compare the elements of Antemasque to The Mars Volta or At The Drive In considering the people involved but this project seems like an appropriate progression and mixture of the two which is extremely enjoyable from start to finish.

1. 4AM

2. I Got No Remorse

3. Ride Like The Devil's Son

4. In The Lurch

5. 50,000 Kilowatts

6. Momento Mori

7. Drown All Your Witches

8. Providence

9. People Forget

10. Rome Armed To The Teeth