Blast Worship: Antigama

Where they from?
Warsaw, Poland. So I’m pretty sure I mentioned that my Mom is from Lomza, a small agricultural village about 90 miles northeast of Warsaw. I cling to this fact because it’s really the only deviation I have from being your prototypical straight white male American. “Yeah, how can I be problematic if my Mom was BORN IN ANOTHER COUNTRY?!”

Why the hype?
Antigama have seemingly been around forever and I have loved them for just as long. Their 2007 full-length and Relapse debut Resonance is a personal favorite of mine, combining avant-garde space jazz with math-y, chaotic grindcore into one of the most blistering and curious pieces of music of all time. I have long considered Antigama, Psudoku and Noisear to be the holy trinity of ‘Space Grind,’ a micro movement which seeks to blend the more science fiction elements of death metal with modern grindcore. Though I think Psudoku most consciously committed to the bit, I always admired Antigama’s authenticity and earnestness when it came to trying to confuse your head before severing it fully.

Latest release?
Whiteout out now on Selfmadegod. So it appears the Polish bad boys took a lot of inspiration from Napalm Death’s more recent catalogue when putting this album together. Tracks like ‘Dust Farm’ and ass-beater ‘Holy Hand’ sound like they’d be right at home on Apex Predator and chaotic space grind finale ‘2222’ could easily fit right in on the equally experimental Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism. This is not to say that Antigama don’t do their thing here, quite the contrary, the longer songs and more intentional songwriting seems to suit their particular brand of madness just fine. To infinity and beyond!