In an ever-changing extreme music climate, it s not rare to find a band combining a barrage of styles into an ultimately metal sound; what is more atypical is to find one that can do just that in a memorable and motivational fashion and boast a broad history in the scene. Southern California s ANTAGONIST has, in one form or another, been doing just that, honing their unique craft of melodic metal for a solid 10 years, drawing inspiration from the early thrash of Metallica, the heaviness of Pantera s early 90s output, and a hint of aggression from the hardcore scene, resulting in a sound both sonically dense and undeniably memorable. Coupled with the band s energetic and crowd-involving live shows a testament to band s previous playing live the ANTAGONIST sound showcases a little something for everyone, without becoming cliché in a time where genre boundaries within the metal world continue being blurred.