(03.26.06) I’ve been getting over my surprise this last week about Antigen
Shift’s newest record, The Way of The North. Familiar with the
noisy history of his discography, I’m still adjusting to just how
not noisy this record is. Which isn’t to say — in any way —
that Nick Theriault has lost his edge, verve or focus; he’s just gone
and taken Antigen Shift in a new direction. Funnily enough, just like
his name implies: the antigens have shifted. The Way of The
North is a passionate concept record — an arctic homage of
melodic ambience, fractured motifs and symphonic syncopations.
On the underside of the CD tray is this quote: “The way of the north
must not be threatened by the spectre of arctic drilling.”
Theriault’s efforts with the record are to capture the natural
character of the north and the opening track, “The Way of The North,”
is a wealth of glittering percussion laid across rarified melodies
while swells of ice-laden wind storm across the pristine landscape.
“As Flies To Careless Boys We Are To Gods,” while not quite the most
over-the-top title on the record, finds a syncopated groove and dives
deep into it, tugging synths and digitized harmonica into dark caverns
filled with echoes. Theriault’s programming is spot-on (the whole
record is impeccably recorded); his application of sonic details and
emotive melodic elements create miniaturized soundtracks, tiny epics
that evoke a strong sense of place. “Verglas” shivers and bleats with
discordant beats and gusts of noise while thin melodies — think
streams of atmospheric lights high above a cracked tundra — glide
through rarified atmosphere. The intent is to instill in the listener
a sense of the unspoiled and isolated beauty of the frigid north —
the pure landscapes, the cutting wind, the crackling ice and the empty
skies. “L’Horizon” begins as a winter drone, filled with whispering
atmospheres and guttering notes, before transforming into sizzling
trip-hop (complete with the moaning voice of an arctic queen).
Along with “Toppling Drunk Into The River While Trying To Embrace The
Moon,” “Peacekeeper” veers towards old-school rhythmic noise
territory, though the beats are less caustic, less crushing in their
application. Theriault, like a lot of his contemporary noiseniks, has
moved beyond a need to make the listener bleed and is more fascinated
with complexity than sheer volume and density. If some of the other
tracks are synonymous with being caught in a brisk wind on the open
glacier, then “Peacekeeper” is being swept off your feet and rolled
down a mountainside by an avalanche of snow. You just keep moving
faster and faster. “Toppling Drunk Into The River While Trying To
Embrace The Moon,” one of my recent favorite beat-driven tracks,
weaves in a bit of didgeridoo as the piece grows into its calamitous
climax.
Okay, so there are noisy bits, but they are accents to the thematic
thrust of the music. Well, “Tundra” is pretty hard, but the growling
of shale and the grinding of granite is played against the ambient
drift of a simple piano melody and a hovering sonata of strings. Its
an intense struggle back and forth between the two extremes. “Fimbul
Winter,” opening with a crystalline smear of analog tones and tinkling
bells, transforms into a muscular track with heavy bass, syncopated
heartbeats and damaged percussion.
Nothing is relentless in Antigen Shift’s The Way of The North.
I guess that is the crux of my temperamental adjustment to change.
Theriault is becoming a chameleon, able to disguise himself within a
number of different styles and textures. It’s not a disjointed or
chaotic record — the thematic homage to snow and ice keeps the mood
in line — it’s a record of some depth, filled with the sort of
fascinating layers that keep revealing themselves the more you pore
over it. It’s like taking a ice core and discovering an amazing
wealth of interesting strata beneath the crystallized surface. (Buy it at Amazon.com)
The Way of The North is out now on Ad Noiseam.
