Early Man (band)
Encyclopedia
Early Man is a heavy metal
band from Brooklyn
, New York
, now based in Los Angeles
, California
. Guitarist and vocalist Mike Conte
began performing under the name "Early Man" in the early 2000s, and when drummer Adam Bennati
moved to New York in 2003, the two formed the nucleus for the current line-up. Drawing influence from bands such as Black Sabbath
, Mercyful Fate
, Megadeth
, Judas Priest
, Kreator
, Celtic Frost
, and early Metallica
, their traditional approach quickly gained the attention of the independent music scene and they released their first EP in early 2005 on Monitor Records
. Matador Records
quickly signed them and released their debut LP, "Closing In
", in the fall of the same year. Lead guitarist Pete Macy was added to the band's lineup in 2005. The band has used several bass players over the years and at times will perform without one.
The band cut ties with Matador Records
and signed with The End Records
in 2008. They released "Beware The Circling Fin", a 4-song EP on October 14, 2008, and tours with Iced Earth, High On Fire, 3 Inches Of Blood, Toxic Holocaust, Skeletonwitch, and Valient Thorr soon followed. The follow-up to the group's debut album is entitled "Death Potion". It was recorded and produced by Jack Endino
. "Death Potion" was released on July 20, 2010, and the band did a fall tour with Evile
and Bonded by Blood
. Prior to the tour Mike Conte announced that he had officially cut ties with Adam Bennati. The band is currently using various touring drummers for live shows.
In July 2011 it was announced that Mike Conte
is the Composer for a new show debuting on the Cartoon Network called Secret Mountain Fort Awesome
. Conte does all of the music for the show which will premiere in the fall of 2011 and will air a sneak peak on the Cartoon Network on August 1, 2011 at 8:30pm.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, now based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Guitarist and vocalist Mike Conte
Mike Conte
Mike Conte is an artist and musician, most well known as the lead singer and founding member of the heavy metal band Early Man . He is 36 years old and is known by many in the music scene as "Early Mike". He began working on what would become Early Man songs in the late 90's using a drum machine...
began performing under the name "Early Man" in the early 2000s, and when drummer Adam Bennati
Adam Bennati
Adam Bennati is a musician who was born in Columbus, OH. He has played punk music from a young age. Though he has performed with many different types of groups, he is most known for being the drummer for New York/Los Angeles based heavy metal band, Early Man. Bennati joined up with Mike Conte in...
moved to New York in 2003, the two formed the nucleus for the current line-up. Drawing influence from bands such as Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate was a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen. Initially active from 1981 to 1985, they reunited in 1992. The band went on hiatus again in 2000, when frontman King Diamond decided to continue his solo career...
, Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
, Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
, Kreator
Kreator
Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany, formed in 1978, but formalized in 1982 under the name Tormentor. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction and Sodom, the other two big German thrash metal...
, Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost was a metal band from Zürich, Switzerland. They are known for their heavy influence on the extreme metal genres. The group was first active from 1984 to 1993, and re-formed in 2001. Following Tom Gabriel Fischer's departure in 2008, Celtic Frost decided to break up again...
, and early Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, their traditional approach quickly gained the attention of the independent music scene and they released their first EP in early 2005 on Monitor Records
Monitor Records
Monitor Records is a Hong Kong-based music shop selling various rare and alternative CDs and music items. Monitor Records is also a distributor of Hong Kong indie bands and independent musicians such as the Pancake, Elf Fatima and Alok...
. Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
quickly signed them and released their debut LP, "Closing In
Closing In
Closing In is the debut album of Early Man, released on October 11, 2005. There are clear influences from heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands like Metallica...
", in the fall of the same year. Lead guitarist Pete Macy was added to the band's lineup in 2005. The band has used several bass players over the years and at times will perform without one.
The band cut ties with Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
and signed with The End Records
The End Records
The End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...
in 2008. They released "Beware The Circling Fin", a 4-song EP on October 14, 2008, and tours with Iced Earth, High On Fire, 3 Inches Of Blood, Toxic Holocaust, Skeletonwitch, and Valient Thorr soon followed. The follow-up to the group's debut album is entitled "Death Potion". It was recorded and produced by Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
. "Death Potion" was released on July 20, 2010, and the band did a fall tour with Evile
Evile
Evile is a thrash metal band from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Their debut album, Enter the Grave, was produced by Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark and was released worldwide in 2007 by Earache Records to critical acclaim by fans and critics...
and Bonded by Blood
Bonded by Blood (band)
Bonded by Blood is an American thrash metal band, named after Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood. Like its labelmates Evile, Gama Bomb, and Municipal Waste, Bonded by Blood is part of the thrash metal revival movement, whose aesthetic embraces not only the 1980s thrash metal music, but the fashion...
. Prior to the tour Mike Conte announced that he had officially cut ties with Adam Bennati. The band is currently using various touring drummers for live shows.
In July 2011 it was announced that Mike Conte
Mike Conte
Mike Conte is an artist and musician, most well known as the lead singer and founding member of the heavy metal band Early Man . He is 36 years old and is known by many in the music scene as "Early Mike". He began working on what would become Early Man songs in the late 90's using a drum machine...
is the Composer for a new show debuting on the Cartoon Network called Secret Mountain Fort Awesome
Secret Mountain Fort Awesome
Secret Mountain Fort Awesome is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt and produced at Cartoon Network Studios for Cartoon Network...
. Conte does all of the music for the show which will premiere in the fall of 2011 and will air a sneak peak on the Cartoon Network on August 1, 2011 at 8:30pm.
Albums
- Early Man (EP)Early Man (EP)Early Man EP is an EP by Early Man, released on April 5, 2005.-Track listing:#"Fight" - 3:21 #"Death Is the Answer to My Prayers" - 7:33 #"Undertaker Is Calling You" - 6:11- Personnel :* Adam Bennati - drums...
(Released April 5, 2005 on Monitor RecordsMonitor RecordsMonitor Records is a Hong Kong-based music shop selling various rare and alternative CDs and music items. Monitor Records is also a distributor of Hong Kong indie bands and independent musicians such as the Pancake, Elf Fatima and Alok...
) - Closing InClosing InClosing In is the debut album of Early Man, released on October 11, 2005. There are clear influences from heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands like Metallica...
(Released October 11, 2005 on Matador RecordsMatador RecordsMatador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
) - Beware The Circling Fin (EP) (Released October 14, 2008 on The End RecordsThe End RecordsThe End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...
) - Death Potion (Released July 20, 2010 on The End RecordsThe End RecordsThe End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...
)
Singles
- 2005 - "Death Is the AnswerDeath Is the AnswerDeath Is The Answer is the 1st single by Brooklyn, NY's Early Man. The song starts off in a very Black Sabbath-like manner: slow and heavy. Yet as the song progresses, it steps up tremendously into a speed metal song, complete with multiple solos...
" - 2008 - "Tormentor Of The Unseen", split 7" with Rammer
Soundtrack songs
- 2007 - "More to Me Than Meat and Eyes", from the film Aqua Teen Hunger ForceAqua Teen Hunger ForceAqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...
- 2007 - "Feeding FrenzyFeeding frenzyIn ecology, a feeding frenzy is a situation where oversaturation of a supply of food leads to rapid feeding by predatory animals. For example, a large school of fish can cause nearby sharks to enter a feeding frenzy. This can cause the sharks to go wild, biting anything that moves, including each...
", from the video game MLB 07: The ShowMLB 07: The ShowMLB 07: The Show, produced by SCE San Diego Studio, is a baseball video game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP. It is the only first-party MLB-licensed video game for the season, and the only baseball game available for the PlayStation systems aside from Major League Baseball 2K7... - 2007 - "Evil Is", from the video game NHL 2K8
Trivia
- In 2009 the original version of "Death Is The Answer To My Prayers" from the Early Man EP was featured in the first episode of HBO's Eastbound & DownEastbound & DownEastbound & Down is an American comedy television series broadcast on HBO, starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a former professional baseball pitcher, who after an up and down career in the major leagues is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, as a...
. - In September 2009, the song "Death Is The Answer" from Closing InClosing InClosing In is the debut album of Early Man, released on October 11, 2005. There are clear influences from heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands like Metallica...
was featured in a line of RadioShackRadioShackRadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
commercials. - Strip 482 in the webcomic Questionable ContentQuestionable ContentQuestionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...
referenced Early Man, where Martin Reed describes them as sounding "like Black SabbathBlack SabbathBlack Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
if Ozzy OsbourneOzzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
weren't functionally braindead now."