After a handful of years developing their best selected pieces and arriving upon an agreeable line-up the ambitions of Concepción, Chile-based death metal quartet ANTAGONYZE finally surface beyond their pandemia transmitted demo in the form of a raw at the edges yet spirited debut full-length album. Rooted in classic late 80’s/early 90’s death metal and developing fresh aptitudes with each passing moment ‘Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness‘ is a well-considered and resourcefully crafted introduction to a potentially unique sound which is yet. Bearing a thrashing and nigh prog-death inflected form of esoteric aggression thier work is not concerned with perfection or any too-direct semblance to outright tradition and yet successfully conveys a barrage of forms in the process of wild mutation.

Antagonyze formed circa 2019 between guitarists Ignacio Riveros, Francisco Álvarez and bassist Mateo Gutiérrez with the intent of creating their own morbid vision of ‘old school’ death metal with some collective enthusiasm for melodic, technical, and thrashing variations of the old ways found in their first demo tape (‘Echoes From Soul‘, 2020). That first tape not intended to be approached as a full-length release per its rough lack of production values, limited release, tentative line-up and the fact that many of those songs were preliminary versions we also find on ‘Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness‘. We can identify some admiration for the rhythmic simplicity of an album like ‘Leprosy‘ per their still early-going abilities on that tape but also just as much reverence for speed metal for a result I might compare to (earliest) Septic Flesh in its at times too-ambitious reach on songs like “Hidden Wisdom” alongside the use of keyboards for dramatic effect. In the years beyond that first tape they’d replaced the original drummer as well as the vocalist, Riveros also joined Blood Oath, and by 2022 they’d begun work on refining their demo pieces into a full-length.

Collecting the most coherent and relevant pieces from the ‘Echoes From Soul‘ demo and polishing them up to snuff alongside as many newly written songs ‘Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness‘ offers a step up from the band’s tentative work prior both in terms of rising to a competent level of musicianship and a clarified (as in, audible) render. Their work is yet built for and by a still deep underground sensibility which emphasizes frantic riff-driven tangents and esoteric exaggerations rather than the usual status quo inclinations. As we chunk through the heavier riffs of the opening pieces, such as the initial bruising of “Interior Entity”, the work of Gutiérrez begins to stand out, lending an early progressive death metal hinge to swing upon. His basslines direct a sort of ‘Spiritual Healing‘ sized tangent through the first half of the album by the time the otherwise thrashing “Deadly Sorrow” (see also: “Shiny Dark Star”) saunters in. On one hand our warp through Side A comes with plenty of finesse, brutality and yet an off-kilter and busted sensation which comes from crossed wires between devil-may-care aggression and the most practiced points of precision shared between the band members. It feels like progress made and without a care for perfectionism.

“Paradoxical Panic Essence” kicks off the generally stronger material found on the second half of the album as they flex some of their prog-death side even more, once again bringing some of Gutiérrez playing into view for some bass flourishes and otherwise featuring some interruptive leads atop multi-tracked growls. From my point of view this feels like a lesser known Transmetal record from the late 90’s/early 2000’s (such as the underrated ‘Debajo de los Cielos Púrpura‘) though not as linear in its structure. The need to shred and the atmosphere it creates doesn’t always connect smoothly with the more brutal side of the band though the aforementioned “Shiny Dark Star” gets it mostly right. One of the more memorable and well constructed pieces from their demo, “Hidden Wisdom“, likewise marries an early 2000’s The Chasm style set of riffs alongside their focus on leads helping to further make the case for this mix of wailing solos and heavier rhythms though the song still feels somewhat unfinished at its point of conclusion. This sound shows some great potential as they continue to develop the space between ambitious leads, increasingly virtuosic bass guitar presence, and aggressive riffcraft yet there are still rough edges in terms of the vocals and their triple-positioned approach to vocals is probably the one part that doesn’t fully compliment the music.

As a fan of true underground death metal and the creative ingenuity of musicians making do with what they have with some willful independence in mind the thrashing, prog-death edged ‘old school’ punish of Antagonyze impresses for its ambitious scope and strong classics-minded sensibilities. Though not every aspect of this debut LP is flawless their attack of the material and its compositional disarray arrives in the right spirit (again) showing plenty of potential while managing a presentable death metal album with a weird touch applied to everything it does. ‘Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness’ manages an admirable starting point as they continue to refine their craft and yet represents a considerable leap in aptitude and craft beyond their 2020 demo tape. A moderately high recommendation.

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