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 (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

style with a remarkable amount of

death metal Death metal is an 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 growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

influence, which has led to the group to being considered one 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 breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

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

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish was an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their final album, '' This Is Where It Ends,'' was releas ...

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 fusion genre of 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, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, tribal drumming and

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

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, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

performing with such acts as

Malevolent Creation Malevolent Creation is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1987 and later based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original members were rhythm guitarist Phil Fasciana, vocalist Brett Hoffmann, lead guitarist Jim Nic ...

Incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a 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 ceremo ...

, 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. Throughout the band's earlier history, they were a three-piece group u ...

, Grimple,

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

Capitalist Casualties Capitalist Casualties were an American powerviolence / hardcore band. They formed in Rohnert Park, CA around 1986 and had their first concert in 1987 in Santa Rosa, California They have released multiple records, including many splits with oth ...

Cephalic Carnage Cephalic Carnage is an American death metal band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1992. The band comprises vocalist Lenzig Leal, guitarists Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp, drummer John Merryman and bassist Nick Schendzielos. Cephalic Carnage has rel ...

Brujeria Various types of witchcraft and occult religious practices exist in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean cultures, known in Spanish as (pronounced ). Influenced by indigenous religion, Catholicism, and European witchcraft, the purpose may range ...

Vital Remains Vital Remains is an American death metal band from Providence, Rhode Island, formed in 1988. History Formation and early years Guitarist Paul Flynn formed Vital Remains in 1988. Vital Remains' first line-up included Paul Flynn on lead guitar, ...

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band from San Diego, California, formed in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, bassist Olivier Pinard, and drummer David McGr ...

Intronaut Intronaut is an American progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California, that incorporates complex polyrhythms, progressive rock, and jazz. History Intronaut formed in 2004, and their initial line-up included guitarist/vocalist Sacha Dunabl ...

, Disgorge, Exhumed,

Obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

As I Lay Dying ''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...

, 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 cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a 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, C2, G2, D ...

, broken

pianos The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

choirs A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, different simultaneous

metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

markings, and several layers of

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

. 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 In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation techniques Mozart's Twelve ...

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 - guitar (1998-2007, 2019-) bass (2008-2009) vocals (1998-2009, 2019-) *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