Antlered Man

RCN, Visions, Legacy, Westzeit, Tracks, Noisy Neighbours, Frankenpost, Musix, Eclipsed - Various

Classic Rock, Total Guitar, Artrocker, Rock Sound, Kerrang, Rock a Rolla, DIY, DiS, Terrorizer + more - Various

Before tonight’s bill topper are due on stage, though, it’s Antlered Man‘s turn to impress the 150+ music fans in front of the stage.

London locals Antlered Man might not be the biggest name on tonight’s lineup but they’re doing their hardest to rectify this. Dotting about the stage like a man possessed, frontman Damo Ezekiel-Home’s high-pitched vocals were a juxtaposition to his band’s progressive sludgy metal. Opening with ‘Platoono Of Uno’, the air is filled with the constant plea from Ezekiel-Home: “I am a man and I want to be heard!” The pseudo-grunge nature of Antlered Man is similar to that of early System Of A Down, especially during the politically charged ‘Surrounded By the White Man’. Ending on a vigorously energetic rendition of ‘Misruly Roo’, the whole crowd are in appreciation of what could be a big thing in metal circles. - There Goes The Fear

Formed in 2009, Antlered Man have since honed a sound that is reminiscent in many ways of earthtone9, Melvins and Queens Of The Stone Age. Their down-tuned, slow, low rumbling rock, hits that tone that makes your bones shake as it twists and turns through changing rhythms and time signatures. Frontman Damo Ezekiel-Holmes’ lyrical style then only adds to the intriguing sound showcased on the band’s debut single, ‘Surrounded By White Men’, and the recently released, ‘Outrages 1 Ta 3'.

And like all the best rock bands, they don’t take themselves so seriously that they can’t be playful. As a result, alongside the various original tracks to be found on their SoundCloud page is a cover of ‘Sugar Sugar’ by The Archies (also the b-side of ‘Surrounded By White Men’). And, despite how awful that might sound on paper, it actually works pretty well. Catch the band live in London tonight at John Kennedy’s Xfm X-Posure Live night at The Barfly in Camden. - CMU Daily

It’s a little bit hard to understand why there seems to be a growing media buzz about Antlered Man. They are, generally speaking, the sort of band that hip music journalists (or even less hip ones like me) tend to steer clear of. They don’t fit neatly into any particular genre so they can’t be easily categorised. They don’t write songs that are three minutes long and have hooks the size of Wales. They don’t even have clearly audible lyrics. I mean, for Christ’s sakes guys, get a bloody grip. Do you really expect Radio 1 to go anywhere near you?

It’s a good thing they clearly don’t expect such things to be honest. This is fuzzed up, fucked up, dirty rock and roll that sounds like it’s here to steal your toys and drink your cider. 'Outrages 1 ta 3' doesn't seem to be about anything in particular, nor can it decide whether it wants to be heavy or not. This six minute single (what Zane Lowe would call an “epic”) constantly threatens to break into ferocious heaviness but almost seems like it can’t really be bothered. The heaviest things yet still makes the band sound as if they are toying with their listeners rather than anything else. It’s like we’re all just tiny parts of a dastardly Antlered Man controlled game. It seems like a pretty good game to be part of to be honest.

I like this band. I like them a lot.

Plus did I mention they’ve got a singer who also plays slide guitar and a girl called Sarah who plays flute...yeah, I know, flute... hardcore.

Single Rating: 8/10 - Stereoboard

Following swiftly on from the really excellent debut single 'Surrounded By White Men', newcomers Antlered Man, from London, are set to release 'Outrages 1 Ta 3' as single number 2. So "could 17 be the new 27?" - well I don't know truth to tell, but Antlered Man could definitely be my new favorite band.

The new single is stitched together from various influences - noticeably System Of A Down out of Led Zeppelin - but as with their previous effort the result is distinctive and highly original. What immediately impresses is the sense of a tightly knit unit without any weak links, having fun from making rock music. The video is very cool, too, and they seem to be gathering momentum, with a justifiable confidence in their own abilities.


The b-side is in the same vein as the last one ('Sugar, Sugar'), being a cover of En Vogue's 'Don't Let Go' - and it's also very entertaining. All told, I am more impressed with Antlered Man the more I hear.

As I said in the previous review, I like them a lot and especially because their voice is distinctive in a scene where being the same is more often the order of the day. As I also said earlier this year, perhaps Who Dares Wins will describe the best of this year's new sounds and Antlered Man certainly fit this bill. - Faded Glamour

See link. - Artrocker Magazine

2011 sort of marks the anniversary of 'grunge', the breed of metal that was presented by slack-jeans-wearing college drop-outs and angry young men with machine-gun riffs. Therefore you can expect reissues of classic albums such as "Nevermind", "Superunknown" and "Dirt", anytime soon.
Meanwhile, here is Antlered Man, a band that possess an uncanny resemblance to the makers of the three albums above, as well as Dinosaur Jr and Husker Du. Slash another whole in the knee of your Levi's and I'll reveal why.
"Surrounded By White Men" is a low-down dirty dog of a track, equipped with a bassline that's lower and grubbier than a badger's nut-sack and some vocals that don't sound too dissimilar to something that Soundgarden's Cornell might dream up. As the mucky animal opens up, I hear elements of math-metal a la Alice In Chains (when they were good), as well as a spot of satirical verbals in the Biafra mould - "Daddy buys me anything, presidency, oil-company"....well, you get the picture. Nice track.
The accompanying track is an even sleazier growler - a cover of The Archie's normally risible bubblegum pop-fluff, "Sugar Sugar", cheekily given a pretty tinkly xylophone motif to remind us all that, hey, we're rocking out like deranged brew-heads, but we're having fun. I have to say though that I have rumbled them - it's a dead-ringer for "It's Not Peculiar" from Husker Du's essential "Warehouse...." double-set from the '80s, drum-rolls and all. You get a back-slap and an extra bottle of Strongbud for effort boys!
They earn a 4 out of 5 for successfully making me want to hear an album pretty soon - and isn't that the whole point of a single? - All Gigs

“He wrapped them up in white skin, and said it was for their benefit”

It’s a pretty safe bet to say that Antlered Man are not going for mass populist appeal with their debut single. First things first, they called it 'Surrounded by White Men'. As debut single titles go this is a pretty brave one, I wouldn’t expect to hear it on pre-10pm Radio 1 any time soon. It’s the sort of song name that ex-Mclusky, now Future of the Left, man Andrew Falkous would be proud of (and he came up with 'Lightsaber Cocksucking Blues' and 'Adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood' so has pretty high standards). Not that you can judge the quality of a single release on name alone but for fans of sarcy noise rock bands it can only be a good sign.

Thankfully the actual song more than backs up the preposterously brilliant title, it’s gloriously fuzzy and sounds as likely to be the work of four slightly insane carpet salesmen as anyone else in particular. When the whispering vocals first join the thumping drums and pounding bass this band has already conjured a sound that does a great job of not really sounding particularly like anyone else, which is a rare feat for a band just starting out in this day and age.

By the time the nagging guitar riff has joined in things are already sounding somewhat apocalyptic but, of course, this is the apocalypse as Steve Albini would have it sound so things are all a bit haywire and you can’t hear the vocals very clearly because that amazing bass line is too busy trying to physically assault you in an inappropriate place. I’m not going to pretend to have a bloody clue what the lyrics are about half the time but the bits I can make out are powerfully dry, seemingly referencing institutional racism. The beauty of the song is that clearly, underneath the slight air of pisstake that dominates the (lack of) image and amusing song title, Antlered Man are clearly a band who have some points to make and if this is just the starting point then I cannot wait to hear how good their future exploits are going to sound.

Stereoboard single rating – 8/10 - Stereo Board

Check out this video from ‘Antlered Man’ - a bit of an intriguing mash between the metally poetic darkness of System of a Down and our own favourites Future of the Left.
The track is ‘Surrounded by White Men’, which is due for release on 18th April 2011 on Something Nothing Records


Read more: http://www.artrocker.com/node/33393#ixzz1M5HHIW4M - Artrocker

or some time now Antlered Man having been making jaws drop with their energetic live shows. Rock perfection doesn't come along that often and experiencing it on a big stage is rare enough, but these guys are pulling it off in packed out sweaty venues across the country... Lovely! The band release their debut single on 18th of April through Something Nothing Records and it has been receiving glowing reviews from the likes of The Fly, Artrocker, Xfm and 6Music. Their second single will be released on June 14th through Gary Powell's 25 Hour Convenience Store label, which should set them up nicely for their debut LP, having already recorded it they are looking at options for it's release. As well as playing at Barfly on Monday night they will also be playing Underbelly on Wednesday 23rd. - The Live List

Antlered Man are brand new band to me but the fact that they are influenced by Queens Of The Stone Age, Dead Kennedy’s and many other great alternative rock bands really got me psyched up to listen to their new single ‘Surrounded By White Men’ and I am so glad I did as if the song is anything to go by then these guys have a lot of potential.

‘Surrounded By White Men’ is one hell of a random experimental industrial sounding rock track, the aggressive riffs will please the majority of rock fans, whilst the delicate orchestral sounds adds more to the randomness and the Jonathon Davies style spooky vocals are just spot on.

The B-side to the single is a cover of ‘Sugar Sugar’ and what Antlered Man have managed to do hear is to turn this sweet and innocent pop tune into a full on distorted rock anthem, it is big sounding and extremely fun and really shows off the talent of Antlered Man.

It has been a long time since a unknown rock band has had this kind of positive effect on me but there is something about antlered Man that I really love and at the end of the day you can’t beat dirty experimental rock music.

4/5

Review by Trigger - Alternative Vision

An even stranger beast is second act Antlered Man, who blend fierce, pummeling hardcore punk with prog time signatures, polished off with orchestral tinges provided by flutes and violins. Wonderfully named - and intriguingly bearded - frontman Damo Ezekiel Holmes boasts an impressive bellow but, like the band themselves, it’s constantly controlled and held down, giving it all an energy and dynamism most groups as raucous and fiery as this usually miss.

Antlered Man are a difficult act to follow... - The Fly

As soon as we heard the filthy, dirty hulking bassline of AM's debut single, we were hooked, line and sinker... (click link to read full article) - Rock Sound

Antlered Man had an uphill task with this writer for dissing Paul Rogers on MySpace and the name does conjure up visions of paganism and hobby horses. However, this has to be one of the most original bands around at the moment. Try to imagine a collision between Lard and Queens of the Stone Age. This was a sonic attack; at times a wall of vicious guitars but they just as easily handle gentler snaking eastern sounds. A pulverising performance.

It was going to be difficult for Max Raptor to follow Antlered Man... - Music News

ANTLERED MAN - SURROUNDED BY WHITE MEN
Driven by a dirty, fuzzy bass, anti-establishment types Antlered Man go a bit System Of A Down (well, a lot, actually), with this rather good anti-capitalist rant. - Kerrang