YouTube Channel Profile Series: werehold's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we continue our ongoing spotlight features on YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk music, in order for readers to watch some entertaining and relevant content and hopefully subscribe for possible further updates! This month's randomly selected channel will be a familiar sight for fans of local metal in the E.U.P., especially at their mid-2010s peak, so here's what you should know!
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werehold's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/werehold)

Owner: Werehold Records founder Jason Mills, who's also well known as a multi-instrumentalist in numerous Sault Michigan area bands (all now inactive) that were signed to the label, including Life's Eclipse, Moss, Swampghas, The 1,000,000,000's Who Died, and Shatterhand.

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 14th, 2011; Videos posted from that day through March 2018

Channel Summary: Launched around the time of Werehold Records & Life's Eclipse's joint revival in the spring of 2011 (after both previously being active through the late 2000s), the Werehold YouTube channel would become the primary repository for new and old material from label acts, mostly on the metal spectrum, and many attached to albums that never received a contemporary paid release. Most of the 81 current uploads on the channel came from the nine Friday the 13th new music posting events held on every Friday the 13th (except one) between April 2012 and January 2017, largely comprised of audio recordings that were typically preceded with the Werehold logo and a title card for the song. A select few videos on the channel were for amusement factor and not related to local music, like this Star Wars video game parody that attracted over 1,100 views.

Why You Should Watch: This is a must watch channel for fans of Jason Mills' local music work as both an extreme metal guitarist and as one of the last major active proponents of local extreme metal in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, despite Werehold acts not being known for playing regular public concerts. I enjoyed a whole lot of Werehold's roster, even if many of the posted songs lacked vocals, and their roster deserves a lot more eyeballs than it got in it's original run or it's 2010s revival. However, note that both Werehold Records and all of it's signed musical acts have been publically dormant since early 2018 (earlier in the case of certain bands.) Also, note that this channel was not immune to certain old video deletions.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

Swampghas - Bog (sync up version): From 2011-2015, a prominent band on the Werehold roster was Swampghas, a then-reunited death/thrash metal trio featuring Jason Mills on lead vocals & bass alongside East Branch guitarist J.R. Johnson and Drayton Fever/ex-Half A Man drummer Doug Reed. During this second run, Swampghas was very active in studio, recording for an unreleased debut album named "The Raco Tower Incident", and in a Werehold rarity, they actually recorded a music video for their instrumental song "Bog", which was released in September 2011. The black & white video features assorted footage of the guys exploring a farm at nighttime, and there is an eerie ambiance to a lot of it if you can look past the heavy riffs. You also see J.R. & Jason jamming in a field, though faces appear to be obscured on purpose. A brutal song while it lasts, you can also see behind the scenes footage from the shoot at this link, and many full songs are posted on this channel as well.



Life's Eclipse - Welcome to the Vortex: The most popular Werehold video that is definitely focused on their musical acts is of their flagship metal band Life's Eclipse's short song "Welcome To The Vortex", which was to have been the lead single for their unreleased album "The Chemicals To Make You A Better Person", and was belated posted in July 2013. Full credits aren't given, but Life's Eclipse's last stated full lineup featured Jason Mills & Joe Semasky on guitar, Jason's brother David on bass, and Casey Amo on drums. Recorded in 1996 or 1997, this archival track showcases Life's Eclipse's pounding metal attack well, particularly with the riffs, though like most songs on this channel, it is an instrumental. If you like this song, there's plenty more from Life's Eclipse to hear on here from an assortment of older albums!



The 1,000,000,000's Who Died - Horrible Laughter (9 string song): As Werehold collaborator activity died down in the late 2010s, much of their 2017-2018 output revolved around Jason's own material, such as The 1,000,000,000's Who Died, his progressive death metal solo project that was comically billed from Isle Royale. This project was the most uploaded of the Werehold roster from 2014 onward, and showcased a more technical, intense style than many of Life's Eclipse's older tracks. "Horrible Laughter" was The Billions Who Died's apparent swan song from January 2018, and it makes great use of Jason's then-new 9 string guitar, which you can see him model in this actual video from that same winter. Jason also broke this guitar out for one preceding song, "Long Walk Upright."


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around August 26th when we return to Sault Ontario for a double profile, as the first randomly selected channel we picked only had two distinct types of videos, so I randomly chose another channel with two videos much the same as each other to round things out. As such, we'll be looking at the YouTube channels of users paperclipprojectX (featuring 4 early videos from the band Haggith) and Thelilspirit (featuring a couple of notable covers from prolific local drummer T.J. Case.) Stay tuned for those then, and for more news and updates this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 6)

For the fifth time since April 2012, Eckerman, Michigan label/studio Werehold Records have posted lots of brand new music onto their YouTube channel to coincide with Friday the 13th, so in this special feature post today, we'll look at the first half of the new songs! In fact, there's nine today for the first time since the inaugural Friday the 13th spree two years ago, courtesy of 8 acts (mostly of the local metal variety), including our long awaited first glimpse at a mysterious project, but we're going to break up our coverage of the new Werehold tracks into two posts due to the amount, with the other coming this weekend. We'll touch on the songs in alphabetical order by artist name, so Life's Eclipse, Moss, Palaver, and Swampghas' new songs will definitely be in the second half! Now, to the first four songs, one of which being a new song by Isle Royale extreme metal quartet The 1,000,000,000s Who Died entitled "Pile of Tongues", and while the band is still somewhat of a mystery, there's promise in this short instrumental track, especially guitar-wise! That said, the drums sound very artificial, and they can be a bit too relentless, but give it a look at this link!

Moving to local bands, we finally have our first public look at Awaken Eidolen, a band that Werehold Records has teased in postings since last summer, but revealed nothing else on until today, so what do we know now? Well, the name alludes to waking the dead, but we still don't have an online page, confirmed lineup, or home base for them yet, but their new song "The Urge" is definitely a metal track! An instrumental rocker, it's got a steady crunch to it that's reminiscent of some other Werehold projects, but perhaps more melodic. I'm digging it, and hopefully we'll learn more on Awaken Eidolen soon, so give "The Urge" a listen below!



Next is the only project to get two songs on this newest Friday the 13th spree, that being local thrash solo project Drayton Fever! Led by Half A Man alum Doug Reed, his new songs (ironically both 4:58 in length) are called "The Browning" & (as embedded below) "Beatnik", so how did these turn out? "The Browning" has more of a groove metal/Pantera vibe to it, while "The Beatnik" has more of a diverse spread, ranging from a grungy into to full thrash at it's peak. Doug's vocals are effectively harsh, and these songs definitely fit with past Drayton Fever originals in intensity, so check out "Beatnik" below and more above!



Lastly for today's Friday the 13th Werehold coverage is "XYZ", the new song from Strongs metal project East Branch! Led by Swampghas' J.R. Johnson, you largely only hear from East Branch on Friday the 13th, and this is their most unique track yet, consisting entirely of what sounds like sputtering machinery or repetitive drum beats. I'm sure there's a message here that I'm not getting, but it's a far cry from their past songs, which lean to a dark metal base. Interesting if nothing else, so give "XYZ" a listen below!



Remember, we'll complete our look at Werehold Records' newest Friday the 13th posting event either tomorrow or Sunday with a look at Life's Eclipse, Moss, Palaver, and Swampghas' new songs, so be sure to come back to the SMS over the weekend for them and more news and notes from the area! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 3, Plus A New Local Band!!)

I know this is badly late from when it took place, but this got pushed back and back repeatedly thanks to other posts and some personal commitments. The wait is over though, as it's time for our coverage of the second Friday the 13th blitz of new material by Eckerman, Michigan label/studio Werehold Records! As you may remember, July 13th was a Friday this year, and Jason Mills' local label made good on plans to do another Friday the 13th song upload spree to the label's YouTube channel after the success of the first one in April, but this time with just 6 new songs, which is down from 9 that went up in April, so we'll fit this into one post rather than two. As a result, there's no new material from Moss, Wearwithal, or Orb Hearthstone's solo project this time around (or from a mystery band named Awaken Eidolen that Werehold pages also mention), but there is one new artist included this time around, and despite the smaller number of songs, there's a lot of quality songs to cover as there were in April, so let's start this look at what went up for Friday the 13th this month on Werehold Records' YouTube channel!

Let's first look at the bands that either lie outside our current coverage range or aren't metal first. One of the new songs is the "seriously truncated" instrumental mix of Isle Royale metal band The 1,000,000,000s Who Died's track "Declaration", which has promise and a solid low groove, but it's fairly repetitive, and I'd like to hear it with vocals and some more variance. Click here to check it out though! Also new on the 13th was "Nameless", the new song from Brimley electronic project Palaver, and like their earlier tracks, it's an edgier techno/electronic instrumental that isn't as monotonous as other similar songs I can think of by other artists. If you like electronic music, Palaver are an interesting listen, so click here for their new song!

We'll go in alphabetical order for the rest, starting with a new (and overdue) addition to our band links, that being the local thrash metal project Drayton Fever! We hadn't listed them on the site before as their pages described them as being from both Paradise & Hulbert (both outside of our current coverage range), but their Facebook page lists their current location as Sault Michigan, and knowing this project's leader's local band work, they definitely fit for further full coverage on the SMS, but their addition was inevitable regardless! Drayton Fever are led by veteran local musician Doug Reed, who you may recognize from past work with bands like Bludgeoned, Great Bodily Harm, Half A Man, and currently with fellow Werehold acts Swampghas & Wearwithal. A solo project at it's core, Drayton Fever have been active since 2008, and have been working on a solo album named "The Longest Summer" off and on in recent years, which is based around Doug's recent life events. This album is where the Friday The 13th upload "And On With The Killing" comes from, and unlike the other new Werehold tracks, this has vocals! I like the varied singing styles that Doug uses here, but his heavier singing does sound a bit forced. That said, the music (though short) is well recorded and very heavy, and it lives up to earlier tracks like "Mary Kelly", which I really dig!

Drayton Fever is definitely a promising metal project, and hopefully Doug keeps at it so we can hear "The Longest Summer" in full at some point! He's got lots of talent on different instruments, and he puts them to good use on the Drayton Fever tracks I've heard, which is good, as pure thrash metal is a rarity for active local bands. Check out "And On With The Killing" below, and for more on our newest addition to our Sault Michigan band links, click here and the above links!



Next up is the new song from Doug's Swampghas bandmate J.R. Johnson's Strongs-based metal project East Branch! Though they still don't have an online page that I know of, this latest instrumental "haunt" is called "Hillbilly Highway", and it's a lot lighter than "Black Market Body Parts" from April. It's harder to describe than it's fellow Friday the 13th uploads, and almost feels like two separate songs, as the first 90 seconds sound much different from the rest of the song. It's well done, and it has sort of a lonesome travelling vibe going for it late, but it's something you'll have to hear to really get. You can do that below, as it's worth a listen!



Also for the new uploads is a new old song from Eckerman, Michigan metal quartet Life's Eclipse, as led by fellow Swampghas member Jason Mills! Again, we have an instrumental track here (entitled "Up From Sleep"), which is part of an (unreleased?) demo from 1998 named "Deeper In The Woods". I really like where this one's going, as it's very heavy with a dark yet upbeat vibe, but a guitar solo and some vocals would definitely help it be less repetitive, especially midway through. I've always really enjoyed Life's Eclipse, and this song definitely fits with their solid local track record, so check out "Up From Sleep" below!



Finally for the latest Friday the 13th Werehold Records songs is (who else?) Swampghas, and not just the members in other projects this time! The Strongs metal trio's contribution to July 13th's uploads is a demo mix of their song "Fistfight With A Microwave" from the forthcoming "Raco Tower Incident" album, and thanks to the video description, we now know the inspiration for that song title! Despite commenting that this was the version recorded so lyrics could be written, it's also an instrumental, but a heavy and fast paced one, and slightly longer than their earlier originals! The riffing's fast and very heavy, and the drumming suits it well, so I'm eager to hear the full track! Give a listen to "Fistfight With A Microwave" below!



I hope you guys liked this latest look at Werehold Records' Friday The 13th extravaganzas! If they plan to do a third installment of a new music blitz for the label on Friday the 13th, it won't be for a long while, as the next Friday the 13th will be in September... of next year, but when Werehold Records have new media and updates to share, you know we'll have them here! Stay tuned as well for two more all video posts tonight and early tomorrow, including our last CASS Cafe video showcase and this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, and I'll see you guys at the Rotaryfest Second Stage TONIGHT! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 1)

In the first of a special two-post spotlight, we're looking at the audio uploads made on Friday the 13th in a blitz of new material by Eckerman, Michigan label/recording studio Werehold Records! Well hyped in advance, the label ran by Life's Eclipse/Swampghas guitarist Jason Mills has always had a solid roster of bands and musicians from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and though they've generally not been frequent sights at local concerts, the Werehold roster has always had a lot of talent to speak of! On Friday, the label posted no less than nine new audio recordings from Werehold artists onto their YouTube channel, and from what I understand, there are hopes to repeat this spree of song postings on future Friday the 13ths (the next one is in July.) From what I was told, the Paradise, Michigan thrash project Drayton Fever was slated to have a song be a part of the Friday uploads, but it wasn't finished in time, which is disappointing. Still, there are 9 songs to check out, and almost all are of a metal or hard rock variance! Though some are out of our "local" range, there's a lot of local talent among the artists on this talented local label, so here's what you should know for the first chunk of Friday's uploads!

Let's start with two new uploads from Eckerman, Michigan metal quartet Life's Eclipse, whose songs were featured in two of the nine song uploads on Friday! The two songs are entitled "Prom Queen On Crutches" and "Electrography", both of which are likely to be part of the album "The Chemicals To Make You A Better Person", judging by the used picture on both videos. Both tracks are instrumentals, which isn't reflective of the songs' final quality, but Jason told me that the vocal tracks that were done for these songs didn't turn out well, so they were posted as is for the Friday the 13th Werehold uploads. Still, these are well recorded and have a nice metal sound going for them! If anything, the two songs sound very similar, but "Prom Queen On Crutches" has a catchier groove that's easier to headbang along with. There's some repetition late, but adding vocals would likely help for both tracks. Check the above links to hear both of these promising Life's Eclipse demos, and here's "Prom Queen On Crutches"!



Also among the new uploads are a couple of Upper Peninsula acts' newest songs, and though I don't know a whole lot on either, they're worth mentioning for sure! One is a new song entitled "Whispers Removed" by the Isle Royale metal act known as The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, and like the Life's Eclipse songs, it's an instrumental demo. I know very little on this band & their members, but Werehold Records' MySpace page describes them as what it'd sound like "if Terminators decided to play music". Interesting sound on "Whispers Removed", with a technical metal sound with some solid driving riffs, though the song has a very low tone. Hopefully we hear more from them soon! Another new track from Friday the 13th was "Still Standing" by the Brimley electronic/breakcore project named Palaver, and though it's the only real "non-metal" song of the nine new Werehold uploads, it sounds pretty good for it's style! Like with The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, I know extremely little about Palaver, but for electronic music, it's definitely edgier and not as repetitive as some other songs of similar genres that I could mention! Check the above links for more on both of the above bands and their material!

Finally for our first half of the Werehold Records Friday the 13th uploads, here's a new song from a band known as East Branch! I don't know a whole lot about them, except that they were once known as Jaar, they appear to be from Strongs, Michigan, and I believe that one of their members is J.R. Johnson from Swampghas (please correct me if I'm wrong.) That said, while I may not know their full lineup or band history, their new song from Friday (entitled "Black Market Body Parts") is a solid instrumental metal track! The song sounds a bit reserved in it's production, but it's slow deliberate pacing help give it a cool vibe, with some nice heavy riffing thrown in. so check out this new original from East Branch below, and I wonder if an online page will turn up?



That's all for now, but our look at the Werehold Records uploads from Friday will continue tomorrow with a look at the remaining four songs, including appearances by bands featuring Life's Eclipse and Great Bodily Harm alumni! Stay tuned for that tomorrow, along with more news shortly! Thanks everyone!