Wonderfully named Antarktis Utopia fooled me; I thought this was black metal, but naah, this is semi-technical death metal. Their first 'Promo 2002' was partly bloody nice piece of Scandinavian demo-level death metal (nine songs in all!), so does this better the first one, then?

This time around the band sound angrier. Scandinavian chords are still the basis, but overally this is more technical and warped. 'Machinery of Death' features spastic parts (think Deep Turtle playing death metal), more Scandinavian-sounding stuff and quirky melodiousness. I love those hauling riffs (like coming a bit too late than intended) and in all it's a very interesting opener, if not water-proof, composition-wise. 'The Room' sounds distantly like mid-period Death, with Kalmah/Unanimated style lead guitars. The song's middle part is again something different though; time for some NWOBHM! Yeah, it's clear now, that the band don't much care what kind of divergences a composition can hold. With 'Universal Truths' it gets more melodic. Not too far from Gothenburg branch of Scandinavian metal, this must be the catchiest song of this trio.

Even though these three songs are quite different from each other and include almost non-metal things, this demo is a fine presentation of this young band. Quirky song writing fits well with lyrics, which are technological/sci-fi stuff and Lovercraft mythology (or something similar).

The playing is good all around; only the drummer sounds like he's at times trying to play something a bit too complicated for his skills. The guitars are all over; riffing is fast, guitars shriek and generally two guitarists must feel very busy while playing these songs. The rubbery-sounding bass guitar is pounding, giving more backbone when guitars go higher. This was recorded at the band's rehearsal place. Therefore this is raw, but that's only positive, I think. This sounds live, sweaty and heavy. Raspy, throat-rippingly brutal growling and occasional heavy metal screams are ballsy, but clean wailing on 'The Room' isn't!

With its three songs and around 13 minutes of playing time, 'Views from Above' definitely betters the debut. While it's not easy to name any bands describing Antarktis Utopia's influences too easily, more own ideas are still very welcome. Nice evolution anyway and hopefully they keep this direction.

Reviewed by Lane
12/14/2003 19:49