ANTI-DEPRESSIVE DELIVERY – Feel. Melt. Release. Escape

Are you feeling down? No shimmering lights in sight? Perhaps a little short of cash? Read on and you will see that there is a way to a better day …

Anti-Depressive Delivery is a quintet from Trondheim, Norway, made up of members from a number of highly reputable bands (such as Fig Leaf, Hellstorm, Maelstrom, and others). The band formed in 2002, devoting themselves to a modernised style of Progressive Rock. After the demos Voyage of No-Brain Discovery and At Rehearsal 03 in 2003, they inked a deal with Laser’s Edge Records in 2004 and the album Feel. Melt. Release. Escape. is the result of that contract.

After a few initial spins, the album’s and the band’s root in Progressive Rock and Heavy Metal become pretty obvious. However, this album belongs in no exclusive genre. It is simply MUSIC with a sophisticated edge, and a pure, natural touch. “Natural” what? Well, suffice it to say Michael Bolton is not natural, but Tom Waits is … and there are just too many Michael Boltons in Heavy Metal today. Anti-Depressive Delivery is (thank God) an honest exception!

After another few spins, the album does something to you, starting from deep inside and spreading out to each and every frail edge and dark corner of your body. This is when you reach the core of Anti-Depressive Delivery. This is when you start feeling alive … when your cold aches are melting away … when your locked up dreams are being released and you simply escape the dark, soggy matter of your miserable day.

Admittedly, there was (at first) a song or two that didn’t quite reach up to the level of the rest. After a while, however, their mission became more clear, and each track ended up being equal to all the other brilliant songs. With this in mind, it should be understood that picking favorites among the nine songs on the album is not at all easy. Still, the concluding track “Bones & Money” is nothing short of a masterpiece, much thanks to a brilliant composition, intriguing lyrics, and eight preceding excellent songs.

Feel. Melt. Release. Escape. is a an album with a high artistic level. Musically, Anti-Depressive Delivery stretches from the early days of Progressive Rock, via groovy 1970’s Hard Rock and big-bottom Heavy Metal, and extends all the way into the vast future. It’s all done with elegance, attitude, honesty and respect. The band have established a unique sound, and have possibly lit up a new path in the evolution of Progressive Rock. Hats off too for bringing diminished chords back to life!

Lyrically, this is a very solid piece of work too. Not only will the words stand alone in their poetic beauty, but they are so perfectly integrated within the music; it’s simply brilliant! Finally, the album has been given a nice cover, with a kind of inviting, mysterious glow … indeed in accordance with both words and music.

If any of this makes any sense to you, you ought to collect your nickels and dimes and trod down to your local record store and tell them, “I need the new Anti-Depressive Delivery album, and I need it now!”

It’s definitely a prescription worth following.