It’s becoming harder and harder these days to find music that remains remarkable with each play-through, shows exquisite technical talent and harbors profound meanings in lyricism. Thankfully, Atlanta, GA based prog-metal sextet, The Antikythera Mechanism hits all of those marks with this years release of Pathos. And when I say they hit those marks, I mean that they easily overshoot them.
The EP opens with an instrumental, “Disclosure,” that gives listeners a bare taste of what the next four tracks have in store. When you have three guitarists, each layering on top of the other, you’d better believe that you need phenomenal recording quality—and these boys have just that. Everything on Pathos is clean and crisp: the highs come in just as clearly as the lows, and the mids never get lost. Fast and brilliantly technical drum work is consistent throughout. It maintains a distinct heaviness that is persistent and lively.
Oh, and lyrically? These guys are definitely like a metal-Papadosio. Don’t know them either? You should. The Antikythera Mechanism follows suit in a very special way—hinting at the future of humanity on a cosmic scale and leading listeners to question absolutely everything and to stop being so trapped in the reality they perceive. “Aperture Sequence,” one of the more movement-infusing tracks on the EP, presents the idea that “We’re upon the edge of creation; what’s more we no longer fear the unknown. Revealing a new beginning across this event horizon, we had never lost our way—just needed a bridge to take us to higher planes.” Humanity isn’t necessarily as lost as we all fear. Oh, and not to mention that Will Reynolds occasionally has a vocal style that’s eerily similar to Dimmu Borgir’s Shagrath.
Perhaps one of the best features of the EP is the positively unique nature of the instrumentality in general. These tracks are not, by any means, short; however, repetition is limited and there is always something new being shown. Each of the musicians works together perhaps more brilliantly than any in a prog-metal band that I’ve listened to in a hot minute to create something both beautiful and captivating.
If they keep going at this rate, neither The Antikythera Mechanism nor Pathos will “sink to depths of the forgotten oceans of time.”
Rating: 5/5
For fans of: Vildhjarta, The Contortionist
Check out a sample from Pathos below and be sure to connect with the guys and give them some love!
http://youtu.be/_Jl7wPXnyYU
