Band:	Antimatter
Album:	Fear Of A Unique Identity
Style:	Atmospheric rock
Release date:	November 23, 2012
Guest review by:	Monolithic

01. Paranova
02. Monochrome
03. Fear Of A Unique Identity
04. Firewalking
05. Here Come The Men
06. Uniformed & Black
07. Wide Awake In The Concrete Asylum
08. The Parade
09. A Place In The Sun

It was nearly 5 years ago when Mick Moss decided to move on to another subject and it was social and political issues, but he came up with a well-crafted album with a title that perfectly describes one simple problem in our modern history.

As a normal human who lives in a society, being repulsed by a feeling that you don't belong to anywhere just because you seem different is quite a common trouble and I can assume a lot of people have doubts over "fitting in." It's often overlooked with a simple sentence: "let's accept each other for what we are, not for what we want each other to be." But hey, addressing that issue in an album is pretty cool, especially if it's done by a band as melancholic as Antimatter.

I'm afraid I have to disclose my feelings towards previous album Leaving Eden and how I felt it was a collection of good songs rather than an album. This time it's much easier to go linear when you have a specific theme within. But then again, the album has an unusual peak in the beginning, and it seems Mick Moss could have done some juggling to rearrange the songs when the flow is unevenly distributed in 9 songs. But still, there's no reason to bash it or say it's a poor attempt. On the contrary, I found this album to be well-crafted and solid regardless of the track listing. The use of actual drums and utilizing violins and synthesizers in the background coupled with gothic-influenced guitar melodies fits perfectly with Mick's beautiful, stunning vocals. The man has a gifted voice and he knows how and when to use it properly, and add Vic Anselmo to that and there is no flaw in the performance.

I'm pretty disheartened to see such a solid album suffer from the lack of emotional climaxes, even in songs such as the electronica-infused "Monochrome" or the bittersweet "Firewalker". But this should not deter you from enjoying the band's performance as a whole and the genius of Mick Moss giving Antimatter a unique identity to ascend from the lurking shadows of the usual Porcupine Tree-Anathema comparison.