Saturday, April 17, 2010

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Levitate & Necramyth

It's that time of the month again, as I give you the fourth monthly profiles of out of town bands that just happen to have a Saultite in their past or present lineup! Mostly positive feedback from this feature so far, and fingers crossed that you guys will like today's bands that I am profiling! We're leaping even further from home for these two bands, stretching to Prince Edward Island and South Korea for these bands, so let's kick off this month's profiles! And of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me! (UPDATED: November 26, 2013)
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Levitate (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last lineup in italics)

Cory Murchison (vocals/guitar)
Brad Stevens (bass)
Chris Knox (drums)

UnsignedBandWeb page: http://unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/1351/

Local Info: The only local member of Levitate was Cory Murchison, who you'll best know as the singer for local hard rock band Skeyes of Seven, and previously in the similar local band Sense of Truth! He lived out east in Charlottetown before moving here in the mid-late 2000s, and is now one of the more recognizable metal/hard rock frontmen in Sault Ontario. Of course, you'll likely remember Sense of Truth from numerous local concerts over the past 3 years, like winning the 2008 Battle of the Bands to open for the aborted Skid Row concert at Runway Park, backing up notable bands like State of Shock, Ultraviolence, and Econoline Crush, and for their finals appearance at December 2009's Kiss Battle of the Bands, while Skeyes of Seven have been hard at work since with a pair of major concerts and some studio work, so keep an eye out for more from them!

Band Bio: Levitate were active in the Charlottetown scene in the mid-2000s, looks like 2004 was their peak year of activity. There isn't a whole lot concerning Levitate's biography or band history online, but I can tell you that the whole band's still active in music! Cory's working on a new band, while bassist Brad Stevens has since moved to Halifax, where he's played bass for area rock bands Stone Mary and Danny Mainstreet! Chris Knox is still in P.E.I., where he's played drums for bands like Seventh Stone. None of their bands are really "metal", but there's some great stuff there, so check them out if you want!

How do Levitate sound? Not bad, they have a nice groove and the band sounds like they had great chemistry! Cory sounds good vocally, his tone and style hasn't changed since 2004, but that's not a bad thing! I think he's a stronger singer now, but his Levitate singing worked very well! Nice guitar work too, I think his guitar playing is a bit underrated! They have two songs online: "Waiting For You" is catchy, I like Chris' drumming, and the riff is cool, though the abrupt ending threw me off guard. "With These Eyes" is cool too, it makes nice work of effects to start the song! It's a slower longer song than "Waiting For You", gives more of an introspective side than I expected! It has heavy choruses, though still slower, they mold pretty well! Good quality too, and if you're looking for similar material to Cory's local projects, maybe Levitate will tide you over! For more, check out their song "Waiting For You" below!


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Necramyth (Seoul, South Korea)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last lineup in italics)

Pedro "Urlok" Chae (vocals/guitar)
Herlock (guitar)
Johan (bass)
David "Veillko" Gold (drums)

Blackheim (guitar)
Opposer (bass)
Jin Rock (drums)
NiavEvarc (session guitar)
Lee Woong-Beom (session drums)

MySpace page: http://myspace.com/necramyth
Last.FM page: http://last.fm/music/necramyth
Spirit of Metal page: http://spirit-of-metal.com/groupe-groupe-Necramyth-l-en.html

Local Info: Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold was well known for his many appearances as drummer in external projects, and one of the most prominent was Necramyth! Alongside bands like Gates of Winter, Thrawsunblat, and Will of the Ancients, David's most exotically located was Necramyth, who were based out of Seoul, South Korea. David joined Necramyth during a one year stay there as an English instructor from 2007-2008, and his appreciation of the area never faltered, from the release of Necramyth's last album through his old Practical Art Records label to his planned South Korea metal documentary, which was never completed before his sudden death in December 2011.

Band Bio: Necramyth were founded in 2001, and released two albums prior to David's union with the band. Numerous lineup changes impacted Necramyth, with only frontman Pedro "Urlok" Chae a constant presence. David joined Necramyth in 2007, I think he replaced "Jin Rock" as the band's official drummer. With Necramyth, he took the stage name "Veillko" once again, as he used while in Will of the Ancients. David drummed with Necramyth for a number of shows during his time in the Far East, and it's from that time when he and the band began recording their last studio album, "Slaughter of the Seoul"! It was released in December 2009, initially as the bonus disc with copies of Woods of Ypres' "Woods IV: The Green Album". The band split up around that time when Urlok left, but you can now purchase their last album online, prominently on iTunes, and Urlok now fronts the Spanish metal band Embloodyment.

Brutal band, Necramyth were, and if you like death and thrash metal, you'll wanna check them out! Urlok has some great death growls, the guitar is awesome and definitely moshworthy! Bass is good too, and David was as good as always on drums, so no complaints drumwise! They're one of those bands that will rip your face off with their heaviness, and it's a shame they could never come here for a show! You guys should take notice, so check Necramyth out if you want some very heavy death metal! Nice melodies too, more or less, it's well played and you can tell there's skill here and not just loud music! Check out more from Necramyth at this location, and here's a live clip of Necramyth (with David) playing their song "Ravenouz Ritual" from a show in October 2007!


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And so ends this month's profiles of two more out of town bands with local representation! Next month's profile post will likely be nearer to the end of the month, I'm shooting for May 18-24th. What bands will I feature? I plan to profile Port Colborne, Ontario's Human Disorder (featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne from Phatstick) and Lansing, Michigan's Summon (featuring local drummer Mikey Bishop!) Stay tuned for that, and much more on The Sault Metal Scene, including tomorrow's review of tonight's Garden of Bedlam fundraiser, the FM radio poll's results, the new SMS poll, and more!

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