Antagonist - 'World In Decline'

Antagonist has always had a lot of different influences in their music, but have always been primarily a metalcore band. Their fourth full-length World In Decline still has numerous elements of metalcore, but they have diversified their sound even more.

World In Decline's opening song “The Bane Of Existence” has thrashy riffs along with frenzied vocals from Carlos Garcia. The intensity doesn't abate, but the grooviness increases with “Sasha Grey.” “God Of Fire” is one of the most metalcore tracks on the album, with numerous breakdowns, and is also one of the weakest.

The strongest songs on World In Decline are the ones that are thrash based with some modern metal touches, such as “New Human.” It has some really catchy riffs and nice melodies, but is still edgy. Antagonist takes their foot off the pedal momentarily for the mellow intro of “Darkest Darkness,” but ratchet the intensity back up rather quickly. The title track wraps things up with a bang, a punishing up-tempo dose of brutality.

I like the progression Antagonist has made with World In Decline. They could still cut down on the breakdowns and use a little more vocal variety, but they've stepped up their songwriting and continue to hone their craft.

(released August 17, 2010 on Prosthetic Records)

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