Antemasque

The kinetic force of the recoupling of Omar and Cedric in 2014 was akin the blistering strike of lightning meeting the earth.  Omar and Cedric had begun the thawing of their relationship in the early months of 2014, with Cedric’s newly born twins and his wife being the main catalyst for the repairing.  The song, Winter’s Gone, would be uploaded to Omar’s new bandcamp page in February 2014, now absent of all his previous work due to his fallout with Sargent House, with lyrics that seemed to heavily imply his relationship with Cedric was on the mend.  Along with the single would come the birthing of a new record label, Nadie Sound, reflecting Omar’s second attempt to create his own label.  It would not take long for them to decide to form a new band, opting to forge a new path instead of dragging old names and monikers around.

There is some slightly conflicting history in the advent of ANTEMASQUE, with it being initially touted as a duo of Omar on guitar and Cedric on drums, celebrating their friendship and musical bonds, before adding Dave Elitch on drums as a token of appreciation for his brief run as a fill-in Drummer for The Mars Volta in 2010, and Flea doing studio bass work.  A later telling of the advent of this band is that ANTEMASQUE was born out of writing new songs for At the Drive-In and the band coming to fruition due to Jim Ward claiming he was not ready to start the band again.  Further folklore added that Jim was going to be in ANTEMASQUE at point.  Which is accurate is impossible to say.

Regardless of the true origins, in April 2014 ANTEMASQUE would crash land into the world with their first single 4am, a power pop-punk number reminiscent of their early punk and hardcore roots.  4am would be a significant divergence from the duo’s regular affair with Cedric’s lyrics being more grounded and direct with gristly growls and shouts, and Omar’s music having a more raucous filled and fun energy than he typically had allowed in previous output.  It did not appear Omar and Cedric were interested in venturing down the mutant rabbit holes of recent Volta history, instead opting to forge a new path that honored their origins.

In the course of a week three more singles would release, including People Forget, In the Lurch, and Drown All Your Witches.  Each were relatively unique, but overall painted a pretty clear picture of what was to come for this band; sharp, straight to the point songs that blended chunky bass work, blistering drums, and guitar lines that shifted from riffing to frenetic.  Much like when Bosnian Rainbows and Zavalaz came to existence, reaction from the dedicated fan base was a little mixed, although overall more positive than when those two groups had come around.  The songs themselves, far less encumbered than their The Mars Volta counterpart, did have hints of the duo’s old work with occasional teases of sonically freaking out, but were clearly not going to be launching off into the cosmos, rather off the freeway into a fist fight.  The energy was strong, but fickle fans will always find ways to critique music when it does not meet their exacting standards.

The release of the four song demo would lead to some classic Omar and Cedric bungling, as it’s release coincided with Le Butcherette’s second album Cry for the Flies, and the 10th anniversary remaster of Tremulant, released 12 years after its release.  All well intended, and a good way to start stocking Omar’s new label with releases.  However, the release was complicated by poor PR work and communication, leading to people to purchase songs across multiple platforms, and be teased with the prospect of bonus material that never came to fruition.  In addition, at this time it was hinted that more old The Mars Volta material and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez solo albums would be coming, through the ‘Obelisk’, all of which never happened.  A minor footnote that is mostly lost to time, but a weird misstep that is quintessentially Omar and Cedric.  The label developed for this album, Nadie Sound never progressed past its three initial releases.  Much like DEIMOS back in 2007 little happened beyond its initial announcement and is only remembered by hardcore fans as the butt of jokes.  While Omar’s musical prowess is undeniable, his business acumen has consistently been questionable.  

ANTEMASQUE’s self-titled LP would crash land digitally in July 2014, receiving mostly positive, although not glowing reviews.  Reaction from fans also was mostly positive, although again the community remained in its typical strife over the more simplified song structures versus those who enjoyed the powerful punch and rather joyous tone the songs provided.  As the studio and live settings frequently were drastically different for projects by Omar and Cedric there were major questions marks about how this would sound live when they took the stage next month.

ANTEMASUQE would perform live for the first time in August of 2014 featuring the same line-up as the studio album except for Flea being replaced by Omar’s brother Marfred on bass.  The shows were a blend of frenetic energy, such as the typical guns blazing opener Hangin’ In The Lurch, pop-punk pseudo ballads like 50,000 Kilowatts, and to the delight of The Mars Volta faithful, broody jams such as during Providence.  The sets were relatively short, only running about an hour with some give or take, and typically had the same song order throughout the initial few legs of the tour.  Sadly, much like the latter The Mars Volta tours, the setlist whittled down pretty quickly cutting Hung in Effigy and Drown All Your Witches only after a few shows.

The highlight of most shows eventually became the drawn out and haunting Providence, being reminiscent of lengthy Goliath or Con Safo jams, where one riff is played extensively with varying musical motifs and ideas layered on top.  The energy was not nearly as chaotic as At the Drive-In or sonically claustrophobic as The Mars Volta, but that previously mentioned sense of fun radiated from the stage into the audience.  Anytime Omar gets on back-up vocals it is a welcome treat.  Kind of like in 2013, this may not have been the future we really wanted, but it was one we could get behind.

ANTEMASQUE would kick into 2015 with tours in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, playing a variety of festivals and supporting Faith No More and Incubus throughout.  This leg of the tour led to one of their more notorious incidents as a fan alleged that Cedric burned them with hot water after throwing his kettle into the audience.  This was disputed by the band’s sound tech.  The set on that day was cut short after three songs. 

ANTEMASQUE would wrap up the spring with back to back performances at Coachella festival, a brief run of west coast shows and a final festival performance at the Neon Desert Festival.  This brief US sting reintroduced Hung in Effigy to the set list and debuted their turbo charged cover of Joe Jackson’s One More Time.  The band continued to be punchy, confident, and consistent in their performance quality.  This momentum would unfortunately grind to a halt as a string of Summertime European shows would be cut short for what was initially described as “unforeseen circumstances”. 

The circumstance, although never officially confirmed, was likely the separation of the band and Dave Elitch.  Although there has never been an official word as to what happened, Dave did briefly comment on social media that there is a reason Omar and Cedric struggle to maintain members long term.  It must have been frustrating considering Dave had dropped multiple projects to be involved in ANTEMASQUE. 

Unwilling to give-up, and presumably used to having to replace drummers, Omar and Cedric went searching and found the unlikely Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame.  The group recorded the follow-up album, Saddle on the Atom Bomb, and returned to the road in November 2015 for an extremely brief tour that showcased a collection of new songs from the album.  Was this new pairing bizarre beyond belief?  Absolutely, but Travis matched Dave’s frenetic energy and added his incredibly hard hitting style to become a well-deserved fit.  

Much like in 2013, this all was promising, in theory, but much like with Zavalaz and Bosnian Rainbows, the ANTEMASQUE story grinds to a halt in November 2015, like a novel that someone chose not to finish.  Saddle on the Atom Bomb would be teased, allegedly complete and ready to go, screen shots from a music video were even posted online, but it would never be released to the general public.  In January 2016 At the Drive-In’s second reunion would be announced which was as sure of a nail in the coffin of ANTEMASQUE as their could be.

Considering one of the presented narratives for the group was that this band was a holdover until At the Drive-In this does make sense.  Since At the Drive-In was now on their way back from the grave, again, there was no need for this project to continue further.  It’s purpose as a fun way for Omar and Cedric to rekindle their friendship, and probably make a few bucks had been fulfilled.  It is a shame though, because although you can definitely draw parallels between the two groups, they are distinct in their own right, with At the Drive-In being more akin to rusty razer wire across the throat and ANTEMASQUE a punch to the face.  ANTEMASQUE may have raged, but it did it with a smirk and wink along the way.  

This era was also when Isaiah ‘Ikey’ Owens passed away abruptly at the age of 39 while on tour with Jack White in late 2014.  The news was devastating as he was finding a musical renaissance as Jack White’s keyboard player after being unceremoniously dumped by The Mars Volta.  Sadly, there will never be a chance for them to resolve their friendship.  This was also a period of time where it became apparent Juan and Omar would likely never work or even speak to each other again.

Despite its brief, less than two year, existence the band was a welcome addition to the many groups Omar and Cedric have been a part of over the years.  Sure, it is frustrating to see another group fizzle out and another album never see the light of day, but to fans ANTEMASQUE was less about the music and more about the relationship of Omar and Cedric.  For about 18 months in 2012 and 2013 it seemed that their partnership was over and ANTEMASQUE was the celebration of it coming back.  We got to enjoy that with them and that was special.  

From here, Omar and Cedric would once again restart the first band of theirs that brought them significant attention and accolades.  At the Drive-In had been the specter that continued to haunt them, from the sudden crash landing in 2001, to the failure to thrive in 2012.  This time, they were ready to do it right and face it head on.