Antisect

Out from the Void EP [Reissue] (2011)

John Gentile

Like many great punk bands' final releases, Antisect's Out from the Void is as rewarding as it is frustrating.

The release is rewarding in that it features a quantum leap for the band. While the group's debut LP, In Darkness There is No Choice, featured interesting experimentation and flirtations with metal and goth, the core structure of the songs were rooted in three chord, two minute thirty seconds punk bashing. However, Out from the Void was a radical departure from the standard template. With no tracklisting, the EP can be considered a massive 10-minute song, with multiple parts, much like a symphony, or two handfuls of tiny songs that have been tied together so that they flow seamless from one to another.

Furthermore, Antisect increased the heavy metal aspect of the band, hitting harder, staying tighter, but all while retaining their crust punk identity. The unique crust punk tone of the guitar, which the band heralded, had become more potent, emitting a thick warping buzz which was more a wave of growling than individual notes. Meanwhile, the lyrics, while still political, had become more metaphorical, and the doomsday and nihilistic musing of the darker side of crust punk, became more prevalent, with some influence apparently coming from Rudimentary Peni's desperate proclamations.

But, the release is frustrating in that it was the second, and last, official release by the band. Just when they were about to really get out there and do something weird, Antisect fell apart. This is doubly irritating because it seems that Antisect may have been one of the few punk bands to get highly experimental, but retain a vicious edge, something often lost as bands drift closer and closer towards post-punk.

The Antisociety reissue is, again, a straight reissue, keeping all the original artwork and sleeves, without any post-production tinkering. When a band is about to make a leap beyond anything that had come before it, it's usually best to leave it in in its own void, as it is.