Single topic post today, as another new episode of local metal radio show Metal Morpheus debuted on The Borderline on Sunday night, so what should you know about it? Following last week's heavily (and divisively) topical episode, host Josh Amendola brought back his planned series of alphabetical spotlights of the metal scenes of countries from around the world for this week, and after previously jumping ahead six countries to look at Austria for differing topical reasons, he headed back to the regular order yesterday to look at metal bands from Andorra, an extremely small (but highly developed) principality on the French/Spanish border. For context, Andorra is only barely more populated than Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario! I am surprised that Josh didn't lump Andorra in with the next A countries in line, which also have small metal scenes, but he made Andorra alone work by playing local bands for almost half of the episode's runtime.
The slightly shorter 55 minute episode begins with Josh noting that you can now hear The Borderline on FM radio locally at 107.5 FM, which is news to me! In checking around for details, they launched an FM transmitter downtown on or by January 22nd, and it is low power with an estimated distance of 5-7 km from the originating source, presumably their 527 Queen Street East home base. From my checks of the CRTC's website, there has been no public application for a new FM station at 107.5 FM, so the short range may indicate that their transmitter is the biggest they can get without needing a federal license. For the record, I did try to pick up The Borderline at 107.5 FM from about 2.5 km away, and the signal did not come in (disclosure, I didn't test it downtown), but if 5-7 km is just the furthest reported signal, the range could be comparable to the transmitters used at drive-in theaters. Your mileage may vary!
In any event, you can hear The Borderline 24/7 online at this link, but FM availability is great for anyone in range, and who knows what this could lead to! Back to the Metal Morpheus episode proper, Josh next gives some statistics about Andorra & its native music, before moving into the country's very small roster of prominent metal bands, so much so that the first FOUR songs come from the same band, namely melodic death metal sextet Persefone, including their songs "In Lak'ech" (3:00), "Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly - Act I: Clash of the Titans" (10:35), "Mind As Universe" (17:00), and "The Demise of Oblivion" (21:50). Josh finishes the Andorran half of the episode with a song from ambient black metal solo project De Veneficas Inferi, namely "Daemonic I, Stone Witches" (30:05). The final 21 minutes of this episode belong to local metal acts, so who got played in the back half?
In order, Josh plays defunct hardcore punk band The Harsh Heads' song "Carolly" (35:15) from their kinda-released album "First Hated Then Forgotten", three songs from mysterious mid-2000s extreme metal solo project Recognition (their self-titled track [39:05], "Flying Ashes" [43:00], and "First" [45:05]), late 1990s hardcore punk band Proposition 86's song "Another Lost Cause" from their EP (47:15), and defunct Sault Michigan groove metal band Lower S.E.S.' song "Bold" (51:00) from their EP. Before playing the final song, Josh did hint that he wants to do more themed episodes apart from the alphabetical country series once he finishes with the As, and for reference, 6 countries that start with A come after Andorra (obviously excluding the already-covered Austria), with Angola next in line if Josh stays in alphabetical order. Solid episode overall that takes Metal Morpheus back to its 2021 form with quality music all around!
Some of Josh's pronunciation of Catalan terms wasn't great (points for trying, of course), and for variety's sake, maybe he should have stretched out to include more than two Andorran bands, but Persefone are a strong and heavy group in their own right, and the locals on offer were fun to hear again! Hear this and other back episodes of Metal Morpheus at the above links, and tune in for the next episode (Angola or otherwise) on Sunday night at 9:00 PM and/or on-demand after the fact! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
We've fallen very behind on recapping episodes of Metal Morpheus on local internet radio station The Borderline, so let's dive into some more back catalog episodes! I was originally going to look at episode #17 from October 24th, which was all about local metal bands, including a few from Sault Michigan, but that episode was quietly taken down for unannounced reasons and re-aired as last night's episode with a heavily altered track listing. I have no idea why Josh overhauled it like this, but we will look at it on the site when we catch up to December in the timeline! Instead, let's stay chronological with the October 31st episode, which began a new theme for the series, as host Josh Amendola is starting to spotlight metal bands from around the world with country-specific episodes, weekly local bands aside! Rather than starting with prominent national scenes, it looks like he's going in alphabetical order.
Josh started this theme with a 64 minute episode all about metal bands from Afghanistan, and if you've ever seen Sam Dunn's excellent documentary Global Metal, you'll know about the cultural differences and persecution that metal bands can have in the Middle East, so it's nice to see Josh putting a deserved spotlight on bands from that region! The first half of the episode is entirely devoted to the same band, namely Kabul-based atmospheric black metal band Almach, who get four songs played on air, including "Battle of Tours" (1:00), "Dream Elegy" (10:00), "Sons of Umayya" (19:20), and "Kandahar" (25:45). The second half starts with New Jersey-based Afghani death metal project Strains of Bellum with their 2020 songs "Alive" (35:20) and "Children of Isis" (40:35), before closing the themed portion of the episode with masked groove/progressive metal band District Unknown.
That band is heard via two songs of their own, namely "64" (44:50) and "Portraits" (52:40), before Josh acknowledges the loss of two local soldiers from the Soo fighting in the war in Afghanistan. Nice of him to pay respect in this way! He wraps things up with that week's local pick, namely hard rock guitarist Tym Morrison's non-album original song "Mystical" (1:00:35), so picked due to its Middle Eastern themes. Solid episode to take us through three promising metal bands whose Afghani roots definitely impacted their music, and I especially liked Strains of Bellum, so give the whole thing a listen above! As for the following episode on November 7th, the 67 run time belies the fact that it's topic (music from Albania) doesn't really have a huge recorded metal output, but Josh does make up for that by starting the episode with a historical lesson on Albanian music and its cultural origins.
Kudos to him for sticking with alphabetical order despite the obvious challenges for certain countries, but he clearly has his limits, given that some countries were skipped before his Austria episode on Nocvember 28th (was there not enough bands from Australia? Parkway Drive would fit!). Unlike the vast majority of recent episodes, a song list is not given on the episode's page, but the first song played is by Albanian progressive death metal band Gverr, entitled "Fail Philosophy" (4:15), followed by speed metal band Thunder Way's song "The Order Executors" (9:50). Black metal band Nihil (not Nile, different band) follow with their entire 2014 EP "Nën thundrën e dhunës", featuring the songs "The Majestic Word of Darkness" (16:30), "The Dark Side of Lust" (19:50), and "Macabre Ruins" (22:55), though Josh doesn't credit any of those songs by name. Death metal solo project Ethernil are played next via the song "Age of Awakening" (26:50).
The first half of the episode ends with the ambient/black metal project Cryptorsatan via their song "Hymn Ov Sathanaa (Weapons Ov Death)" (31:25), while Josh jumps back to death metal to end the Albanian portion of the episode with the band Aten's "I Call Upon Thy Name" (37:40). Possibly as a consequence of a lack of Albanian metal songs, Josh spotlights five acts with local talent to end the episode, starting with his old extreme metal band Winkstinger, via an Alan Wells-era live recording of their original song "Sadist" (44:45) from 2011, though Josh doesn't credit then-rhythm guitarist Jason Ladouceur by name in the intro. Josh does allude to recording an album that was never put out during his stint with the band, but I never heard pray tell of that outside of this episode. The deleted October 24th local-only episode aside, the first ever Sault Michigan band on Metal Morpheus is next!
Specifically, Josh went with alt-metal trio Weed via their 2007 song "4:20" (50:55), but I think he got his wires crossed keeping all these band bios straight, as he credits Papa Fogals Chair's Andy Chillman as being in the band (they were definitely from Sault Michigan, featuring ex-Clownsack bandmates). Josh next plays a song by defunct local punk band Proposition 86, namely "Scapegoat" (55:40) from their self-titled 1998 cassette tape, though I'm surprised he never mentioned that their drummer was late Woods of Ypres founder David Gold! Soo native Jeff Nisbet's old Kitchener-based solo project is next via the instrumental "The Juice" (1:00:55), and the episode ends with inactive local/Toronto hardcore punk quartet Detroit with their quick original "Spiritual Warfare" (1:04:30), specifically the "Brace For Impact" re-recording from 2009. Well, that was a lot to take in, but this was also an entertaining episode!
While the Albanian bands are definitely more obscure as a rule with not a lot of back story to draw from, I applaud Josh for trying to put the spotlight on the ones that he could, and it will be interesting to see what he can wring out of other perhaps unlikely countries! Just needs to pin down correct details moreso, especially on some of the local bands. Listen to both of these episodes at the above links, and stay tuned for more from Metal Morpheus as the month rolls along, including the next live episode this Sunday at 9:00 PM on The Borderline! Thanks everyone!
Merry Christmas, everyone! And yes, Happy Holidays too if you don't celebrate. We have a Christmas present to round out this post, but first, here's some recent musician searches and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the holiday season (including a SHORT NOTICE one), so here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will host a special Boxing Day jam night concert at Reggie's West TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the official Facebook page last night. Apparently a delayed replacement for local blues rock veterans' Mojo weekly Thursday jam night (presumably cancelled due to Christmas Eve commitments), this is the first publically announced jam night hosted by Mourning Wood since their Rednecks Saloon jam nights ended in the spring, but the format will be very similar, with them as the house band rocking out as usual, and extra performers are welcome to join in and bring their instruments & talents! If you're familiar with Mojo's jam nights, this should also be fun, if not as blues-heavy, so keep it in mind for your Boxing Day plans TOMORROW NIGHT! And no, they're not listed for a concert at Reggie's West (the former Roosevelt Hotel) tonight, as far as we can tell.
This 19+ concert has no announced cover charge and an earlier start time of 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links! It's nice to see Mourning Wood breaking out their jam night concept again (they definitely know a wide range of songs to help with that), so don't bypass this show if you want some plans TOMORROW NIGHT, and don't miss their New Year's Eve show at Rednecks next week either! Here's the guys live earlier this year!
Next up, the previously teased New Year's Eve concert at The Rockstar Bar is indeed still on (despite the deletion of two prior Facebook event pages), as local classic metal quintet Project 421 will end 2015 on a heavy note as headliners there on Thursday, December 31st! Replacing the usual New Year's Eve show from pop rock cover veterans Cherry Crush for unannounced reasons, this show comes barely a week after their Christmas-themed show from Wednesday night, and will be similar in scheduling and tone to that and their 2 year reunion show, complete with new (and still online page-less) local nu-metal band Eclipse opening once again, but in lieu of The Elements, young local glam/power pop trio Caroline Divine will make their Rockstar Bar debut (I believe) to end 2015, and it's neat to see them spreading their wings further! Promoted by Project 421 bassist Daniel Horton (and curiously not through the PaperClip Productions label), Eclipse will open at 10:00 PM, followed by Caroline Divine at 11:00 PM, and Project 421 on at midnight to kick off 2016 in style!
Given the New Year's trappings, there will be an increased cover charge of $10 in effect next week, and you must be 19 or older to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This sounds like another solid concert, and definitely a good and heavy way to finish off another year, so keep this one in mind when planning your New Year's Eve festivities! (Also, just as a reference note, Wednesday's Project 421 concert was moved downstairs to The Algonquin Pub due to a booking conflict, as per event page postings. Hopefully it went well despite the move!)
Also today, here's three assorted items from the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, which we haven't touched on in the last while, so who all is looking to find musicians to fill out a band or jam with? As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Local musician Al Blais is looking to start a band, and is open for auditions. He didn't specify any further details, but personal postings indicate that he does like metal bands. If you're interested in getting more info, message Al at guitargawd666@hotmail.com or via his Musicians Wanted group post from December 12th!
Redundant/Elements bassist James White is looking for a guitarist to join a grunge cover band that he's working on launching, that would cover primarily bands from the Seattle scene of the early 1990s like Nirvana & Pearl Jam. There's already some interest, but if you want to throw your hat into the ring, message James at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from Sunday!
Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie is looking for a piano or keyboard player that would be interested in playing rock and/or metal. Presumably, this references one of his long gestating solo projects like The Sorrow Fields, but he didn't elaborate on details. If you're an interested pianist, message Mitch at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from December 12th!
Finally for today, I wanted to have a little Christmas present for you guys, especially given my recent concert hiatus due to family health concerns, so today, we have defunct local punk quartet Proposition 86's self-titled album from 1998! Arguably best remembered today as the first major band from late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold (who drummed for Proposition 86 during his high school days), I was able to borrow a copy of the cassette tape from The Rad Zone's Paul Muncaster last month (huge kudos, Monk!), and I made mp3 copies and scans of everything for personal use, and now, as a Christmas upload for readers courtesy of our YouTube channel! Also featuring singer/guitarist Gord Jones, lead guitarist Paul Michael Stos (now of The Billy Bastards), and bassist Steve Zuppa (later of Downshift), Proposition 86 recorded this tape with producer Keith Davis at Full Scale Audio and released it independently through their own Knutsford label, and it's obviously now out of print.
Featuring 10 songs ("A Bloody Day", "Execution Style", "The Permanent Solution", "Release", "Unfold", "Lies", "Inferior", "Another Lost Cause", "Scapegoat", and a hidden bonus cover of Under The Influence's "Whoa"), you get some solid skate punk from the late 1990s local scene here, and while it's a far cry in tone from Woods of Ypres, fans of Steve's later bands will be in familiar territory! Now, is a review of the "Proposition 86" cassette tape imminent on the SMS? Probably not, as precedence goes to new CDs, but in a month with nothing new to cover, this could very well fit in, especially if we can tie it in with a Billys concert! Check out Proposition 86's album above, and here's track #1, "A Bloody Day"!
That's all for today, but I do hope everyone has a merry Christmas, and stay tuned for much more as the month & year winds down! Thanks everyone!
