Antidotes are a 4 piece Metalcore from Dublin, Ireland. Influenced by bands such as Northlane, Architects and While She Sleeps, the band is always striving to combine the technicality of metal with catchy and hook-filled song-writing found in rock ‘n’ roll music. Formed in 2014 by Rob Gaffney, Donal Bowens and Stephen Cannon, after befriending each other in BIMM music college, the band set out to take the Irish metal scene by storm with a unique brand of metalcore. At the beginning, the band spent 8 months away from the stage, instead opting to hone their set of original music, with the goal of making an impact on the Irish metal scene. During this process, the band recruited Jessie Ronan to complete the line-up on bass. In February 2015, the band released their debut single ‘We Are’, which racked up 1,000 views in a week, a huge feat for a band that was still in the early stage of their music career. After the success of the debut single, the band were announced to support Irish metal heavyweights Red Enemy. The show is still one of the most memorable to date. In May 2015, the band began recording their debut EP, ‘Just a Taste’. Unfortunately, the lack of experience and the perfectionist attitude of the band led to delays. This was a very arduous period for the band as the momentum built up from the release of ‘We Are’ was beginning to dissipate and cracks in the band’s character were starting to show. A lack of consistent recording time led to quite a fragmented recording process which left a sour taste in the mouth of all the members. The lack of progress with the EP began to affect the band’s live show. Coming to the end of 2016, the EP was still not finished. Momentum for the band came to a stand-still. A change was needed to save the band from plundering into obscurity. This change came in February 2017, when after nearly three years, the band parted ways with Jessie Ronan. With the band without a bass player, Rob turned to his long time close friend Leigh Walsh. Although Leigh was not a bass player by trade, the band decided to look for someone who they knew and could get along with, instead of auditioning more technically gifted players who the band didn’t know. The injection of passion and enthusiasm from Leigh was infectious on the rest of the band. The band began finding their love for music and after three months, the band found themselves in the Bloodstock Metal 2 the Masses Final, playing alongside some of the best talent in Ireland. The reception the band and new bass player Leigh from reviewers and fans had blown them away. With debut EP ‘Just A Taste’ out on August 18th, 2017, the new chapter of Antidotes has begun. "A groove/nu metal infusion of several different band's power their unique sound" - Overdrive "They smash you in the face with a sledgehammer akin to Deftones at their heaviest." - Planet Mosh