Antithesis: Dying For Life |

Dying To Be Remembered

(2001 – Nightmare Records/Massacre Records/Art Music Group)

There are bands that appear and then disappear. They release one album, maybe two at most, and then we never hear from them again, even though their material is hard to ignore. What could be called a cult band or, for that matter, a cult album. Something like this happened with Antithesis, a band based in the United States that appeared in the late 90s with a different approach to what was “in fashion” at the time. They released three albums in total, but we firmly believe that “Dying For Life” could be the legacy they have left behind, and one that many have overlooked, partly due to a lack of promotion and partly because they were not involved in the Christian music market, so to speak.
You could even say that the title of this album, “Dying For Life,” fits perfectly with what this album means. Antithesis, in appearance, no longer exists as a band, but it lives on in an almost perfect album like this one.

I have fond memories of this album. It came into our hands around 2001 or 2002. Listening to “Dying For Life” for the first time was a real blow, in an era when albums were listened to in their entirety, and not in bits and pieces (we still follow the old ways, as you may have noticed). I confess that I was so excited about this album that we used several Antithesis songs from it as background music for different commercials and bumpers on our radio show back then, which shows the impact it had on us in those years. Even today, it still makes an impact every time it plays on our stereo, why deny it?
“Dying For Life” was Antithesis’ second album. Previously, their self-titled debut was released independently in 1998, and much later, they would release what was to be the band’s last album to date in 2010, entitled “Dreaming Reality.” That was the story of Antithesis.
However, “Dying For Life” is possibly the band’s classic album and their most juicy album, so to speak. With a mix of traditional heavy metal, progressive metal, and the occasional small dose of thrash metal, Antithesis focuses on what is known as “Us Metal,” something characteristic of the great country of North America, and in this work, they display the best they have to offer. Each song seems to be part of a puzzle with a varied number of pieces that, when put together, manage to move not only those who love traditional metal and thrash metal, but also the casual listener in search of certainty, speed, melody, and musical excellence, all in one hellish combo.

There are riffs everywhere, crazy harmonic bass lines, more than interesting string arrangements, truly complex compositions, and the personal voice of Ty Cook, which gives the whole thing a truly metallic feel.
The Antithesis lineup for this album included the aforementioned Ty Cook on vocals, Paul Kostyack on drums, James Lewis on bass, Paul Kanjicija on guitar, and Sean Perry on guitar.
“Dying For Life” kicks off with the track “Soul Of Ice,” a riot of riffs, speed, and constant gear changes, framed by guitars that really fly and demolish with their impressive sound. “Consequences” is part of the same complex structure that Antithesis chooses for its compositions. With endless riffs and an intense, fast, and explosive pace, it is possibly one of the best things this album has to offer, but we are falling short. As soon as you hear “Deceiver Within,” you realize that hasty conclusions are dangerous. We are talking about the kind of ballad that is capable of blowing more than one person’s mind.
With relentless bass lines, “Distanced” appears, a song clearly conceived as yet another display of Antithesis’ virtuosity, with a complex structure and a barrage of guitars at full speed. As if to calm things down, we find “Times Of Trial,” with its interesting string arrangements as an intro and a slightly grunge influence, it seems to me, but which hides within it one of the best things about this album, even with its tremendous double guitar solos. Impressive is an understatement.
“Mad Poet” sounds a bit stoner, and a bit groove, at a time when we didn’t hear that term so much. At half speed, at least at the beginning, then it goes for some crushing riffs that bring Antithesis closer to something more thrash, but the thing is, “Dying For Life” moves back and forth almost all the time. This is even more noticeable in “Politicide,” another gem on this album, where a bass intro gives no hint of what is about to come.

Finally, we come to the track that gives this work its title. Not only is “Dying For Life (Limbo Pt. 2)” the longest song in terms of duration, but it is also a kind of epilogue that hides behind such classical guitar riffs one of Antithesis’ fastest and most furious demonstrations, in a burst that is somewhat reminiscent of Megadeth’s “The End of the World Is Nigh.” It is also a kind of epilogue that hides behind such classic guitar riffs one of Antithesis’ fastest and most furious performances, in a burst that is somewhat reminiscent of Megadeth’s “Rust In Peace,” despite the obvious differences.
The edition we have comes with an extra. A bonus track with the song “Netherworld,” which actually belongs to their first album, and which, on this occasion, hides a ‘hidden’ song after its playback. It is “Secret Fires,” a more than interesting ballad with a certain “southern” air, as they say in these cases, which also comes from their first work.
In fact, “Dying For Life” had different editions, not only with differences in the track list but also in the cover art. The version we have is the American edition from Nightmare Records, but the album had another edition in Europe under Massacre Records and even with the unknown Art Music Group, all on compact disc, without ever having the opportunity to be released on vinyl.
The different covers of the same album make it difficult to conclude which one is the best, but I understand that the cover of the American version is much closer to the concept that the band wanted to convey with this work. Even so, and with the differences that will make taste the subjective element in deciding which one you like best, both covers are excellent. As for the internal illustrations, they don’t really seem to fit with the album itself, but they leave room for interpretation, leaving everything up to the listener’s imagination.

What can be said about the sound? The final mix of this recording gave a lot of space to the guitars flying here and there, but leaving James Lewis’ bass chords and tappings intact, perhaps leaving little room (and this is merely a personal opinion) for the percussion to shine. In any case, taken as a whole, it has a superlative, powerful sound that sets your ears on fire. This is yet another difference between the American and European versions of the same album, as the latter has a different mix and mastering.
With “Dying For Life,” Antithesis managed to combine the speed of thrash metal with the technical and progressive aspects of metal, all with an enveloping metallic sound that gave it a unique personality. Since the days of our now defunct radio show, Antithesis has been played several times on our playlist. The reasons why the band did not prevail are another matter. Perhaps the story of Antithesis is not entirely over, but at least we have this excellent album to remember, enjoy, and rediscover…
Although “Dying For Life” can be heard again on the internet and in digital format, it is curious that the band did not record any music videos for any of the songs on this album. We were also unable to find any live material from it. So that will remain pending, and it will be our homework to continue searching and reviewing what lies behind what no one listens to and what went unnoticed…