‘My Name is Sickness’ marks the third full length release from French Depressive Black Metal quartet Antilife. An instant talking point as ‘Despair Is My Home (…a Loss of Will to Live)’ opens the album is the vocal work, which is almost prepubescent in its high shrieking tone, conveying a level of anguish that some cannot physically reach. Later those nerve shredding bellows are conjoined by deathly growls but enduring the vocal work becomes a matter of wills. And yet… as the thoughtful guitar leads wander off into the distance and Antilife start to introduce softer, more melodic passages, the vocal work starts to make a lot more sense as a twisted carnival type atmosphere descends, similar in style to UK band A Forest of Stars but with a far bleaker hue, and soon the harrowing vocals are far more bearable as drummer/vocalist Haine pours forth every drop of turmoil and sadness from his blackened withered soul.
By the time we reach ‘Landscapes and Suicides’ it would that Haine has imparted the majority of his burden upon us as things settle down just for a little while, though his heart shattering shrieks soon return. Musically Antilife produce neatly worked tracks that can be battering down your door with savage blast-beats one moment, and the next you are taken on mystery tour of ambient mesmerizing melodies and dark story-telling. This contrast between thundering heaviness and depressive meandering is endearing and separates the darkness from the… well not quite so dark!
‘My Name Is Sickness’ is a prolonged argument for the cessation of life. It displays its creators vast unhappiness and nihilistic personality, but above all it invites you to experience its cold, dreary gloom! (Marksson)
