Impure Wilhelmina - Antidote

Angry Metal Guy 100

Back in 2017, I was introduced to Swiss post-metallers Impure Wilhelmina via their sixth album, Radiation, having had absolutely no prior knowledge or experience with their brand of gloomy post-metal. If Katatonia was the metal equivalent of The Cure, Impure Wilhelmina is basically The Smiths, with guitarist/vocalist/main man Michael Schindl offering up his best velvet-smooth Morrissey-level crooning.¹ I ended up loving Radiation… a lot. Not only did it grab the top spot in my 2017 year-end list, it’s held up ridiculously well over the years, with me pulling it out to give a spin when the mood strikes, which has been a lot lately. So when word dropped that their seventh, Antidote, was on the horizon, I honestly just wanted to like the album about as much as Radiation, tempering my expectations that topping Radiation would be a herculean task.

To be fair, a good amount of songs on Antidote proudly go toe-to-toe with Radiation‘s brightest moments. “Vicious” hooks you in with an upbeat groove and driving riff in the verse before the chorus opens up and envelops you, all but ensuring repeated plays. Elsewhere, “Dismantling” and “Midlife Hollow” both possess the dreamy, hazy melodies and passionate choruses that, once again, will have you singing along at the top of your lungs while you bop your head from side-to-side in (dour) happiness. So, rest assured, if you enjoyed Radiation, I’m happy to report that these songs, at the absolute least, will get plenty of replay on your end.

Antidote by Impure Wilhelmina

As for the remainder of the songs on Antidote… frankly, they’re a marked improvement over anything found on Radiation in terms of memorability, emotional impact, and the willingness to color outside the lines just a bit. Lead-off single “Gravel,” as a shining example, combines not only atonal riffs and melodies by Schindl and fellow guitarist Diogo Almeida, but one of their best multi-layered choruses where by the time Schindl screams “And we scream and mourn and sing along” at the end, you’re feeling it. As for the variety, both the aforementioned “Dismantling” and “Midlife Hollow” incorporate blast beats and a tinge of black metal shrieking (in “Dismantling”‘s case) to get their points across to chilling effect. Hell, even the short instrumental title track acts as a much-needed pick-me-up late in Antidote‘s play time, as the gutwrenching closer “Everything Is Vain” sees Impure Wilhelmina putting their best doomy foot forward, giving modern-day Paradise Lost a run for their money, closing out the album on a suitably down note.

Compared to Radiation, Antidote is also easier on the ears, with the added benefit of everything sounding fuller. You can actually feel Sébastien Dutruel’s contributions this time around, as his note choices on bass help him stand out a lot more than he did on Radiation. Thankfully, Mario Togni’s drumming still remains impactful, driving close to the edge of distortion and overproduction without actually flying over it. Yvan Bing and Ladislav Agabekov did a tremendous job of producing and mixing, respectfully. Their production work, on top of the increased quality of songwriting from Radiation, made a 52-minute album not feel at all like 52 minutes. Everything that I was hoping for in terms of improvements actually came to pass, all while leaving what worked alone. Even then, what worked before also saw a bit of an upgrade, as just adding the right things at the right time worked wonders on here.

I’ve tried to find faults with Antidote during my two weeks spent listening to it. As a reviewer, you try not to jump to any conclusions right away. But when you’re replaying songs after hearing them the first time and not just to offer a critique, but because they’re just that damn good, that’s a sign that you’re listening to something truly special. Antidote is flooded with moments like that. On Radiation, I remarked that they should stand as tall as Katatonia as leaders in terms 80s goth-rock-influenced metal. Here, everyone should be giving Impure Wilhelmina even more of a listen, because Antidote is that much more improved… and Radiation scored a 4.5 from me. I know people will balk at the score below, but given not only the improvements, but also the quality of songwriting here, not to mention how I’ve only just now stopped playing it so I can finally review it, it’s more than warranted. Stupendous job, guys.

Rating: 5.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: impurewilhelmina.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/impurewilhelmina
Releases Worldwide: May 21st, 2021

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