Antagony is an American deathcore/metalcore band from the Bay Area of California, United States, formed in 1998, disbanded in 2009, and reformed in 2019. The group are noted for combining their

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

style with a remarkable amount of

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

influence, which has led to the group to being considered one of the pioneers of the

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...

genre. Antagony has released three albums, each on a different record label. Members of Antagony have gone on to form bands such as Oblivion and All Shall Perish.

History

Antagony formed in 1998 by former members of the

band Y.F.H. Founding members Nick Vasallo, Carlos Saldana, Ben Orum, and Jody Handy combined elements from disparate forms of extreme music:

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

, hardcore,

, tribal drumming and doom into one sonic experience. They showcased their eclectic mix of styles in their first release, an EP entitled ''Expect the Worst'', and followed it with their first US tour. With a new drummer (Justin Hughes), their first album, ''See Through These Eyes'', released in 2001, further refined their style. Soon after, Antagony became one of the premier

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

groups in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

underground performing with such acts as

Malevolent Creation Malevolent Creation is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1986 and later based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original members were guitarists Phil Fasciana and Jim Nickles and vocalist Bret Hoffmann, who were ...

Incantation An incantation, spell, charm, enchantment, or bewitchery is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung, or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremonial ri ...

, Excruciating Terror,

Pig Destroyer Pig Destroyer is an American grindcore band formed in 1997 in Alexandria, Virginia. The band was formed by vocalist J. R. Hayes, guitarist Scott Hull and drummer John Evans. Pig Destroyer is one of the most well-known grindcore bands due ...

, Grimple,

Dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

Capitalist Casualties Capitalist Casualties were an American powerviolence / hardcore punk, hardcore band. They formed in Rohnert Park, California around 1986 and had their first concert in 1987 in Santa Rosa, California. They have released multiple records, includi ...

, Cephalic Carnage, Brujeria, Vital Remains, Cattle Decapitation, Intronaut, Disgorge, Exhumed,

Obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

, As I Lay Dying, and Monstrosity. After their Triangle of Hate Tour U.S.A. 2001, with supporting acts End of All and Boof, Antagony fell into a period of inactivity with all of their members directing their energies into other projects. By the time Antagony resurfaced with a new lineup (Kyle Anderson, Christian Mitchell, and Carlos Saldana replacing Ben Orum, Bray Almini, and Caysen Russo), Antagony strived to catch up on time away from the evolving metal scene. Antagony finally released the long-awaited ''Rebirth'' in 2005, combining material they had written since 2001. Although well received by fans and critics, it was a record that should have been released two years before. With their next album, ''Days of Night'', Antagony wished to shed their previous attempt at appeasing the audience. This was to be their most eclectic recording to date. The album employed use of

cellos The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, ...

, broken

pianos A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal tempe ...

, choirs, different simultaneous

metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...

markings, and several layers of

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio Music track, tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto o ...

. Musically, this album was a lot more " classically" structured as well; previously Antagony depended on the use of constant sectional changes to catch listeners off guard."Antagony - See Through These Eyes"
August 27, 2001 This proved especially effective when performing live and this variation form they put into their early sound definitely influenced their peers. Justin parted ways with Antagony during the recording of the album, but performs on three of the tracks ("The Truth Will Be Known", "Exhale Her Poison", and "Voyage"). Antagony parted ways in 2009 after 10 years of existence. Founding members Nick Vasallo and Ben Orum joined forces again to form the death metal band Oblivion.

Band members

;Current lineup *Nick Vasallo - vocals, guitar (1998-2009, 2019-), bass (2008-2009) *Ben Orum - guitar (1998-2004, 2019-) vocals (1998-2003) *Carlos Saldana - bass guitar (1998-2001) vocals (2004-2009, 2019-) *Bray Almini - bass (2002-2004, 2019-) *Luis Martinez - drums (2008-2009, 2019-) ;Former members *Jody Handy - drums (1998-2000; died 2009) *Justin Hughes - drums (2000-2007) *Cayson Russo - vocals (2003) *Christian Mitchell - bass (2004-2008) *Phil Cancilla - drums (2007) *Brian Camera - drums (2007-2008) *Kyle Anderson - guitar (2004-2009) *Ryan Rey - guitar (2006-2009) Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums

Music videos

References

External links

Myspace entry
{{Authority control Death metal musical groups from California American deathcore musical groups Metalcore musical groups from California American grindcore musical groups Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups from Oakland, California Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 1999 establishments in California