Recaps Of Episodes #7 & 8 Of Metal Morpheus On The Borderline!!

Almost fittingly given that it is the 13th, let's spotlight episodes #7 & #8 of Metal Morpheus, the weekly metal-centric radio show on local internet station The Borderline. The show just aired it's eleventh episode yesterday, so we're slowly catching up, but for now, let's start with episode #7 from August 15th, where host Josh Amendola explored black metal for just under an hour that week. After outlining the usual tropes and themes of the subgenre and how it originated, Josh first introduced pioneering black metal legends Celtic Frost by way of their 1984 song "Into The Crypts Of Rays" (0:45), before moving on to Mercyful Fate's classic "Into The Coven" (5:55). Next up, Josh plays another vintage black metal cut, namely Bathory's "A Fine Day To Die" (11:25), with he follows by outlining the rather dark origins of the band's name, before playing a song by Morbid (not Morbid Angel), namely "My Dark Subconcious" (20:30).

The first half concludes with Ulver's 1997 song "Hymne I: Wolf & Fear" (25:30), which is on an album that is not on Spotify. The very memeable Immortal are next with their song "Solarfall" (32:25), before we head into that week's local talent, namely blackened doom metal veterans Woods of Ypres, from whom Josh plays two cuts from their last black metal-centric album "Woods III: Deepest Roots & Darkest Blues" back to back, including "Through Chaos & Solitude I Came" (38:35) and "The Northern Cold" (43:45). I am surprised that Josh didn't give more of a rundown of Woods of Ypres' lineup (even if just from this album) and their high points, but their story and run is very hard to sum up in a few minutes, so I can understand why he limited his remarks to just thanking David Gold. The last band of the episode is Windir, courtesy of their nine+ minutes long epic "Journey To The End" (49:20).

Josh does give some interesting context about Windir's sound and frontman beforehand, and yes, the long upbeat instrumental stretch is part of the song. The formal outro with Josh introducing himself and plugging the station is not on this episode, for the record. Solid episode with lots of brutal black metal action to behold from Europe and via Woods of Ypres, if lacking in some context given the grim and controversial nature of many black metal bands, so give the whole episode a listen at this link or above!

As for episode #8 from August 22nd, Josh took a deep dive into another subgenre known for long songs, namely progressive metal! A slightly shorter episode than previously, we start by looking at Canadian prog rock pioneers Rush via most of the opening suite of their classic album "2112", particularly "Overture" & "The Temples of Syrinx" (0:45), though he does not play "Discovery", which is probably for the best, as it'd eat up 20 minutes otherwise! Yes, Josh does acknowledge that Rush wrote part of "The Temples of Syrinx" while touring in the Soo. We stay in Canada by playing Voivod's "Nothingface" (8:50) next, before heading across the pond for a listen to Iron Maiden's classic "Moonchild" (13:50) from "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". Metal Morpheus goes a little underground next via Watchtower's "Control & Resistance" (20:00), though Josh fills us in well about their back story.

The episode's first half concludes with the legendary Rainbow and their song "Gates of Babylon" (27:35), complete with an interesting tidbit about when/how this song was written, and it is quite more paranormal in tone than you may expect! We hit the local content section of this episode next via long-lamented progressive/death metal favourites Gates of Winter, and like with Woods in episode #7, they get two back to back songs. This time, they are from their 2008 LP "Lux Aeterna", namely their self-titled instrumental (36:10) and "Burning Kingdom II: Heavenly Insurgence" (40:30). Sadly, there's no background info or context given for Gates of Winter here despite their ubiquity in the mid-late 2000s and the prolonged recording sessions in the 2010s for their unreleased third CD, but it is nice to hear them again! Like in the previous episode, we close here with another lengthy cut.

In this case, the song is Swedish progressive death metal legends Opeth's epic "The Leper Affinity" (46:15), which is fine by me, as I love this era of Opeth's career! The episode does have a proper outro again, but rather than Josh's spoken plug for the station, it's the main title music from The Matrix!? Another quality episode, especially moreso for my musical tastes, and I especially liked the Rainbow anecdotes, so genre fans will be well served to check out this episode here or above! That's all for today, but listen to episode #12 live on The Borderline this Sunday night at 9:00 PM or on demand after the fact next week, and stay tuned for our recaps of episodes #9-11 on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Misfits), VM Radio Updates, And New Videos!!

Before we begin this post, we send our best wishes out to Mike Gingras and Wayne Kozeyah on the screenings of their short films "The Kid Who Made The Face" and "LemmaFest" at TODAY'S Soo Film Festival at The Soo Theatre in Sault Michigan, hopefully you guys get a great reception (for possible attendees, their films will be part of the 3:00 PM screenings!) Now, today's post features new concert videos, updates on an upcoming regional radio station, and first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

New Jersey horror punk legends The Misfits will be hitting Sault Ontario on Thursday, September 18th for their first ever publically advertised concert in our area! Known for classic songs like "Last Caress", "Hate Breeders", "Astro Zombies", and "Scream" (among many others), The Misfits have long been a favourite cover choice for many different local bands, and now Jerry Only and company will finally be playing a public concert for Sault-area fans! Fitting an event of this scope, this will be a rare heavier concert at The Kiwanis Community Theatre Centre at 1007 Trunk Road (also the site of White Pines Collegiate), so metal and punk fans in the east end will like that convenience! For Black Flag fans, note that The Misfits' current guitarist is Dez Cadena, and they are known to cover some Flag originals live too! Local support will come from local punk/metal quintet (and ardent Misfits fans) Jack Spades, and this will be familiar territory for frontman & promoter J.D. Pearce, who has opened for The Misfits in Toronto with Frightlight, and has teased going on tour with them this September, so we'll have to see how that shakes out!

At least one more opening band has been teased on personal Facebook postings, though details haven't been publicized yet. Co-presented by J.D., The Sault Ste. Marie Arts Council, and VM Radio (more on them in a second), this concert will be ALL AGES (and licensed), an early 6:00 PM start time is advertised, and tickets will be around $35 (including tax) at the Kiwanis Theatre box office at the Station Mall (no word yet on other ticket locations.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! No matter which Misfits era you prefer, this is a huge announcement, and hopefully there's a fittingly big turnout next month, as this is shaping up to be one of the biggest local metal/punk concerts in our area this year! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, remember how SooToday & Local2's parent company Village Media has been in the planning stages of launching a new local internet radio station named VM Radio? Well, some more public details have been released, so here's what we now know! According to their new Facebook page, VM Radio (whose logo is pictured) will actually be three separate stations, with one dedicated to rock music, one to roots music, and one for a mixture of other genres. Great idea, especially to ensure that specific music genres get sufficient attention and timeslots! A launch date is teased for at some point next month, but announcements relating to on-air programs, streaming formats, and on-air personalities have yet to be made. I have high hopes that VM Radio will fill in the Sault Ontario-produced radio gaps that have been vacant for too long, especially as we only have 4 Canadian FM stations, and only 2 are locally produced. I'm very excited to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates on VM Radio as we hear it!

Closing with new videos, here's a bunch of clips from local hard rock quartet The Danger Cats' set at The Esquire Club last weekend! Uploaded to the girls' YouTube channel over the last few days, an attendee shot these clips of the band covering Blondie's "Call Me", the last half of The Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" & AC/DC's "Big Balls" (both part of one video with bassist Jamie Jaguar on lead vocals), and as embedded below, renditions of The Runaways' "I Love Playing With Fire" and The Scorpions' "The Zoo", so click each link to check them out! Inconsistent lighting, but the girls sound good on these covers, and they're shot at a good close angle to the stage! They're definitely coming into their own, and you can see more of that TONIGHT when The Danger Cats open for Late & Loud one last time(?) at The Rockstar Bar, though they'll have a special guest too, as former Sativa Rose singer Marisa Valois revealed on her solo Facebook page that she'll be joining them for a couple of songs. That should be interesting, so don't miss that TONIGHT, and here's The Danger Cats at The Esquire Club!



Finally, here's a newly shared Facebook video of local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control from one of their sets at Gusto's Bar & Grill at the Wellington Square Mall way back in April! This is of their cover of Nirvana's "Come As You Are", as filmed by attendee/Heavy North Entertainment owner Tyler St. Amour, and while it was only posted on his personal Facebook page at the time, The Pixo Control just shared it publically today. Aside from The Pixo Control's early 2014 shows here, Gusto's isn't largely known for heavier concerts, and with the video being dark and somewhat grainy, it's hard to get a sense of it's band setup, but there's a solid crowd, and the guys play a faithful energetic version of this Nirvana classic! Check it out below, and don't miss their set at The Emergency next Saturday!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Internet Radio Station, New Videos, And The Suicide Kings + Karaoke?

I'm back from St. Joseph Island a day earlier than expected, so we have a new news post for you guys today covering stuff missed over the break! In this post, we have new videos from both sides of the border, an intriguing new live karaoke project from some familiar faces, and first, news concerning a new addition to our local radio roster that you might find intriguing, so read on below for what you need to know, and make sure to read our Jack Spades EP review and 5150DOA YouTube Channel Profile that both went up as auto-posts over the last few days!

If you've been following SooToday recently, you may have noticed that two of their recent polls related to music, specifically one poll about if you'd listen to a local internet radio station, and a follow-up relating to readers' musical preferences (country & rock ran away with almost 60% of the votes combined.) Well, the polls weren't just hypothetical, as SooToday's Facebook page has revealed that their parent company Village Media is currently developing an online streaming radio station called VM Radio! Plans are for it to have a local focus and planned airtime for local original music, so if you're interested in submitting your own music for consideration on this station, drop them off at 642 Queen Street East (or via the mailing address on Facebook), or e-mail digital copies to arts@sootoday.com. No word on a launch date, programming details, or anything similar yet, but we'll keep you posted, especially in regards to possible hard rock/metal inclusion!

This won't be the first internet radio station founded in the Soo (Energy Rock Radio launched here before moving to British Columbia), but a local news-backed station that could serve as an alternative to the current FM stations would be a nice addition! Myself, I'd like to see a variety for everyone so that it attracts as wide an audience as possible, but keep an eye out for how VM Radio shapes up in the coming months!

Next up, while not technically a new local band in the traditional sense, all 4 members of local hard rock band The Suicide Kings (Mike Gaetano, Steven Flint, Mitch Sirie, and Ben Boudreau) have announced a new live music project named URawk that will serve as the hosts of Sault Ontario's first ever karaoke night with a live backing band rather than pre-recorded tracks! Covering genres from metal to country, they have a wide setlist ready for fans to come on stage and sing along with, while you can also request songs for the guys to learn in advance of one of their live appearances, and cash prizes are also planned. Current plans involve Urawk hosting live karaoke nights at The Rednecks Saloon (the former Nicolet Tavern) each Thursday at 10:00 PM for the foreseeable future, though no word yet on if we'll see them at other venues or on other days. Their debut night will be on Thursday, June 26th, and their wide ranging setlist (which has a number of metal songs, but doesn't emphasize them) is sure to grow, especially if URawk takes off!

No word yet on what roles Mike will serve with URawk, especially as the emphasis is on karaoke singers to sing with the band, but Mike is a guitar player too, so he could take on that role if need be. I've heard of the live band karaoke concept in bigger cities, and I'm very curious to see how well it goes, as this could be a way for many local music fans to let out their inner rock star without the band commitment, or maybe test the waters to get involved in a band further! You should know how talented The Suicide Kings are, and hopefully they bring the same intensity and focus to URawk, so keep their debut in mind next month!

We'll close today with new videos, including a new preview video relating to Sault Michigan-area label Werehold Records' next Friday the 13th music posting spree next month, this time courtesy of label owner & Life's Eclipse frontman Jason Mills! Posted to the label's YouTube channel on Friday, this is a 39 second clip of Jason playing guitar for a new Life's Eclipse original that will be unveiled on June 13th, playing overtop backing programmed drums. Short, but it's a nice tease for the new material to come, so give it a look!



Finally, Pillory/Crimson Crusade guitarist Robert Sartini posted another solo guitar cover onto his YouTube channel on Wednesday! This time, he covered Dying Fetus' "Your Treachery Will Die With You", and though you can barely hear his guitar over the original backing track, he definitely knows this brutal death metal track well, and it shows in the clip! Check it out below, and stay tuned for more from his channel and band work!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, plus this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!