EP review: Antethic – Mythographer B-Sides

When St. Petersburg trio Antethic finally broke onto the world stage with third album – and debut international release – Mythographer in May 2020, the spheres of post-rock and avant-electro sat up and took notice. In everything from a name borrowing from the terminology of American philosopher Charles Pierce (for the normative science combining logic, ethics and aesthetics), to compositions that felt simultaneously dense in detail and sprawling in scope, there was an intelligence and conceptual dexterity at play that could not be ignored. How had these mysterious Russians flown under the radar since 2012, we wondered, and where could we hear more?

Six-track companion release Mythographer B-Sides tantalisingly fleshes out the picture. Most significant in that are the two original compositions that kick proceedings off. Evoking Vangelis’ legendary Blade Runner soundtrack and the brilliant, juddering claustrophobia of Wild Light-era 65daysofstatic, Scope constructs a sonic cityscape of neon-streaked synth and murky subterranean bass to superbly cinematic effect. Subsequent ten-minute epic Nothing builds, skyscraper-like, from that street level squalor into the clouds, with clean edges and glassy textures glinting in the sun before it erupts into the celebratory big beats of an almost EDM-alike outro.

The four remixes more subtly expand the Mythographer multiverse. Manchester post-punks Pijn add urgency and organic, real-band feel to Frontier. I Glow becomes a lurching, squalling post-rock statement in the hands of Pressor. Fellow St. Petersburg outfits Eurodeath and WOWOD both take on the already-expansive Haoma: the former expanding it with ambient, almost-folky flourishes, before the latter turn it into something altogether more desolate and despondent.

Far from a cobbled-together afterthought, these winding 40 minutes offer fresh perspective on a genuinely intriguing act. Even more than that, they whet the appetite for the soundscapes yet to come.

Verdict: 3/5

For Fans Of: 65daysofstatic, Blanck Mass, Mogwai

Mythographer B-Sides is out now via Church Road.

READ THIS: 16 of the greatest post-rock albums