“DUE TO SEVERAL REQUESTS, ANTI IS A PURE STUDIOBAND AND WILL NEVER PLAY LIVE GIGS”, we are informed by this German trio’s myspace page; the band thus laying down their elitist credentials in capital letters for the vision-impaired. It’s easy to poke fun at the phrasing of such a pronouncement. (So you have been getting several requests not to play live? How bad are you?).

This is one of those albums that gets one-or-two 100% ratings on metal-archives.com, but leaves readers of those reviews slightly mystified as to why; good old cult factor at work again, I guess. Looking at the line up, it’s easy to see why Anti might generate intrigue and enthusiasm. The bandleader, the eponymous Mr. Anti himself, was the guitarist for the last two records by endearing black metal outliers, Darkestrah, which could lead you to expect something less conventional.

So, what is the sound here? It’s a no-frills depressive black metal template. There are some elements of Xasthur, in the disappearing-down-the-plughole vocals and tinny, faded-out sound. But for better or worse, this is definitely “easier” than Malefic’s more esoteric ejectations. The riffs are rather more straightforward, lumbering mid-tempo tremolo washes. At times they do a good job of generating that most nebulous of qualities, “atmosphere”. Invocation has a simplistic but effective funereal clean intro, but one which quickly reverts to predictable type. Wailing leads are a nice addition on occasion, but too little to make this a genuinely interesting record.

It’s not quite enough to convince me that life is as insignificant as the title of this album would have it. This is worth listening to if you are one of those lost souls that cannot ever, under any circumstances, get enough depressive black metal. If you aren’t, I hate to say it, but it probably isn’t.