Two More Metal Morpheus Episode Recaps From The Borderline!!

Before we fall any further behind on recapping episodes of Metal Morpheus on local internet radio station The Borderline, let's look at two today, including episode #15 from October 10th, where host Josh Amendola returned to metal subgenre-themes after his three week spotlight on guitarists, so what did he look at that week? Technical death metal, in what you could generously call a follow-up to the death metal episode from August, but this takes things into a further, more progressive category. The 62 minute episode begins with Virginia tech death metal band Arsis with their song "Looking To Nothing" (1:10), followed by Montreal death metal legends Quo Vadis (who Gates of Winter opened for on tour) with their song "Silence Calls The Storm" (5:40). Fellow Montreal death metal band Beyond Creation follows via their song "Coexistence" (11:15), and Josh noted that he opened for them live with a (presumably not local) band of his named Karmageddon.

The trip to Montreal ends with Vengeful's "Forsaken" (19:35), and Josh next spotlights German technical death metal band Defeated Sanity's song "Verblendung" (24:35) to end the first half of the episode. We head back to Canada next to spotlight Mitochondrion's lengthy original "Parasignosis (29:20), before next looking at Quebec death/thrash metal group Martyr's song "Endless Vortex Towards Erasing Destiny" (37:15). This episode's local content follows, courtesy of defunct London metal quintet Papa Fogals Chair, whose lineup was comprised entirely of Soo and Thessalon natives but were never properly based here. While not a technical death metal band, Josh does note that they had intricacies to their sound, which you can hear in their on-air song, "Disgust" (41:35). Next, we go back to Montreal, starting with Augury's "Alien Shores" (46:15), and like with P.F.C., this song is not on Spotify.

The Montreal quotient of the episode wraps up with Cryptopsy's "Slit Your Guts" (51:15), and the episode proper ends with the legendary Death's slow instrumental "Voice of The Soul" (56:40). While the episode is heavily dictated by Josh's time living in Montreal based on what bands he picked, that is a good sign. After all, the episode comes from a genuine love and appreciation of these bands & this sub-genre, and you'll get your brutal and technical fill from this episode without too many obvious selections, so give it a listen at the above links!

As for episode #16 from October 17th, that episode was also on a metal subgenre, specifically on crossover thrash, so if you're a fan of punk and/or thrash metal, this episode will straddle both lines and hopefully please both fanbases! Given the shorter song lengths, more bands are crammed into this episode, starting with The Dirty Rotten Imbeciles' classic "I Don't Need Society" (0:45), followed by subgenre pioneers Beowulf & their song "Lost My Head" (2:45), which is not on Spotify. Iconic sludge metal band Corrosion of Conformity follow with "Loss For Words" (6:15), which comes from their pre-Pepper days playing hardcore punk in the 1980s. British punk stalwarts G.B.H. are next with "Sick Boy" (11:10), followed by hardcore punk/thrash legends Suicidal Tendencies and their fan favourite track "Send Me Your Money" (14:05), featuring Metallica's Robert Trujillo on bass.

New York thrash band Carnivore (featuring late Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele) are next with "God Is Dead" (18:40), followed by songs from two very notable New York hardcore bands, including Agnostic Front's ultra short "Victim In Pain" (23:55) and The Cro-Mags' "Age of Quarrel" (24:55) to end the first half with. California crossover thrash band Excel's song "I Never Denied" (30:40) comes afterwards, preceding the legendary Nuclear Assault's song "Game Over" (36:10). English anarcho-punk band Antisect's song "They (The Eternal Myth & Paradox)" (39:10) is played next, but it isn't on Spotify either. The last non-local band is the killer thrash quartet Sacred Reich with "Death Squad" (45:25), and Josh closed that week with three songs by 1999-2004 local punk band Downshift (later Burn The Past), all coming from from their 2000 debut album "Before You Knew Me..."!

While not a true thrash band (Jack Spades would have been closer to the theme), Downshift sure have the fast punk quota down via their songs "Ground Zero" (50:30), "Hold My Head Up High" (54:00), and "Worth Repeating" (56:10). Josh doesn't elaborate on back stories for these bands as much as he did for the technical death metal episode, but he covers some very fun and intense bands here, and this is another fun episode to listen to, especially with how into the hosting duties Josh has gotten! Check out both of these Metal Morpheus episodes (and more) at the above links, listen to episode #21 live on The Borderline this Sunday, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!