Recaps Of Episodes #9 & 10 Of Metal Morpheus On The Borderline!!

I'm out of town this weekend due to family commitments, so while things are quiet with the pandemic and all, I apologize if I missed anything short notice or pressing in the last couple of days. I'll be back home tomorrow and will have a post of some kind on the site by Tuesday. Thanks for your understanding, and we'll be back to normal (for 2021) business next week!

To ensure that some content makes the site in the interim, let's recap episodes #9 & 10 of Metal Morpheus on local internet radio station The Borderline today! We're almost caught up, for the record, as episode #12 premieres tomorrow night at 9:00 PM on the station's proper live stream. Let's start today with episode #9 from August 29th, where host Josh Amendola gave us a tour through power metal, so what's on offer from the end of last month? After the opening theme music, Josh outlines some of the basic themes of the subgenre, before introducing us to the legendary Rainbow, from which he plays their Dio-era classic "Temple of the King" (0:45). Next, Josh plays a track from power metal greats Helloween, namely their epic "Keeper of the Seven Keys" (6:35), which runs for over 13 minutes, so strap in! Owing to the substantial length of these early songs, the first half of the episode ends with song #3 via guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, who gets a lot of biographical info.

Josh plays Yngwie's classic instrumental "Trilogy Suite Op: 5" (20:10) on air next. We go more underground afterwards for American power metal band Helstar's Dracula-inspired song "Harker's Tale: Mass of Death" (29:45), but if you want something more mainstream in the subgenre, Josh has you covered via Queensryche's concept album title track "Operation: Mindcrime" (34:55). Next up is German power metal band Blind Guardian via their song "Imaginations From The Other Side" (39:50), before we hit this episode's local content.... kind of. Rather than go with a band based out of the Soo, Josh chose Thunder Bay thrash metal band Wreck-Defy, who feature Sault Ste. Marie native Matt Hanchuck on guitar alongside Annihilator & Testament alumni. We haven't really covered Wreck-Defy on the SMS before, but don't bypass them!

Wreck-Defy are a bit of a leap for this episode (Josh admits that they're from more of a thrashy vein), but they are a technically sound band with the right firepower, and hopefully Matt brings them here for a show! That said, as we learned from the NWOBHM episode of Metal Morpheus, the Soo isn't brimming with pure power metal bands that happen to have studio material unless you dip more into bands with a glam/hair influence. Their song played on air is "Powers That Be" (47:25), while the episode closes with Italy's own Rhapsody of Fire's "Holy Thunderforce" (55:20), complete with some good context about their origins. Hear the full episode at this link or above!

As for episode #10 from September 5th, this episode is all about industrial metal, which Josh intros by describing some of the building blocks of the genre, and the first band played on air is Godflesh, from whom Josh plays two songs back to back, namely "Christbait Rising" (0:45) and "Street Cleaner" (9:25). Another two-for-one deal follows courtesy of one of my favourite industrial bands, Ministry, who also get some nice biographical setup from Josh! Their songs here are both from their classic album "ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ", those being "Psalm 69" (16:50) and "N.W.O." (24:05). These two bands eat up the first half of the episode, but it's one song-per-act from here on out! Another politically charged band follows, courtesy of Germany's own KMFDM and their song "WWIII" (29:50).

One of the artists who helped introduce me to metal is next, with Josh playing Rob Zombie's classic "Scum of the Earth" (34:35), before moving to Fear Factory, who also get some informational tidbits before their song "Zero Signal" (38:15) is played. Death/grind band Mortician are featured next, which Josh ties into industrial metal via their use of a drum machine, and we hear their self-titled song (44:55) on air. That week's local artist follows, and for the first time, we get one that did not release a paid studio album, namely inactive technical death metal solo project Gorrifier, which he ties into industrial metal for the same reasons as Mortician. Led by Pillory frontman Robert Sartini circa 2014, their song played here is "Swimming In Maggots" courtesy of Gorrifier's Reverbnation page (48:25). No, there's not really a true "industrial metal" band in the Soo, at least not one that took.

This episode closes on a familiar level with Nine Inch Nails, with Josh giving us some info on Trent Reznor's background before playing "Right Where It Belongs" (54:15). Lots of quality music to be had for this industrial-themed episode of Metal Morpheus, and Josh is definitely settling into a nice groove here for his on-air presentation, though his background info and trivia can still be unevenly applied. Click here or above to hear episode #10, and that's all for today, but listen to episode #12 live on The Borderline tomorrow at 9:00 PM, and stay tuned for a new news post by Tuesday! Thanks everyone!