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By BRENDAN DEMYEN
Staff Writer

A silvery female humanoid, tree-like figure stands next to what seems like a normal man (albeit silver skin), hunched over in apparent sorrow. Behind them, the sky is rich with shades of red, orange and yellow. In the sky, a foreboding female face stares into you. Before you even give the music a listen, the album artwork for "Damage" makes it fairly obvious the next 71 minutes are going to be anything but ordinary.

The opening track, "Dreaming in Metaphor", lures the listener into the dark, fantastic world that Anti-M is set out to explore. Exotic drumbeats, epic synthesizers and classical guitars play along with each other to transport the listener back to the ancient middle east. Soon enough, distorted guitars enter the mix and from there things really take off into a melting pot of different styles and sounds.

With all the styles incorporated into their music, there is a trio of vocalists to carry the mixed bag of songs here. Barbara Moseley was recruited as lead vocalist for this album, and her powerful voice complements the music very well. For the best examples of her voice as an instrument check out the songs "Little Things" and the closing track "No Kill I", which fades out to only her voice, soothing and fragile.

The biggest shift of styles comes with the appearance of male voices on tracks such as "It's All Inside" and "Rose of Love". After listening to Ruston Slager's vocals, it's hard not to envision the David Bowie of the 80's, crooning to synth-pop sounds that fit in well with the band's influences, like Depeche Mode and Peter Murphy. The bouncy melodies of "Rose of Love", with both clean and distorted vocals, creates one of the quirkier tracks on the album, fit for select dance floors even.

For all the pop elements Anti-M use, there are definite progressive elements found throughout "Damage", most notably in the instrumental epic, "The Sixth Extinction". Filled with hints of Rush and Yes, that band members have stated as large inspirations on their sound, this is a definite standout track that sees Anti-M straying deeper into the world of psychedelia. Lilting piano melodies, scorching guitar solos, and keyboards that scream of the golden days of progressive, show a side of Anti-M that isn't fully exposed elsewhere. Interestingly, the music to a track with such a gloomy title is one of the less somber and melancholy on the disc.

Anti-M are firmly rooted in electronica, goth and hard rock, so I couldn't help but make comparisons to modern female fronted bands, like Collide or Evanescence. That's not to say Anti-M are clones in any sense. They are exploring similar paths of 21st century music, fusing a great deal of styles, and in the end they create a polished and interesting album. With 17 tracks, there's probably at least something in here for fans of a wide array of music styles.