Kraken Mara EP Updates, A New Local Metal Radio Show, And New Videos!!

Before we get into the meat of this post, today marks the 14th anniversary of The Sault Metal Scene's launch on July 4th, 2007, and I wanted to thank the vast, vast majority of you for your support and kind words over the years! I just wish that we weren't in a pandemic during the anniversary for a second straight year, so I won't get too self indulgent, but hopefully I can time it with a proper concert to mark year #15 in 2022! Today's sixth post in as many days (amazingly) has new videos, the impending launch of a new local internet radio show, and leading off, some new album releases (maybe?), so here's what you should know!

 

Local progressive metal duo Kraken Mara may have quietly released their debut EP "Press Start" for sale.... AND a second EP.... and I mean, quietly! The band has not publically announced anything regarding a release on their Facebook or Instagram pages (they haven't even posted on either since April), but at some point in the past month, Kraken Mara posted "Press Start" and a 3 song follow-up EP named "Game Over" on their website on Wix. Both appear to be on sale for $15 each, but when I attempted to click through to see what Wix's online storefront process is like (I have never heard of a heavier local band only putting out an album this way), neither allowed you to proceed past entering an e-mail address to get the files sent, so I am thinking that they haven't completely finalized the release. In any event, this confirms that both "Press Start" and "Game Over" are complete and fully streamable there, both remain instrumental releases, and like "Press Start", the second EP features session drummer Cliff Aubut.

"Game Over" features the song "Moon's Haunted" (a prior removal from "Press Start") and new tracks named "Escort Mission" & "Antipath", mostly shorter than what made the cut on the main EP. Even if their sale postings worked, I probably wouldn't be reviewing "Press Start" on the SMS until next month (Molten Imp are waiting in the wings already), but if you want to hear all eight songs for free until/unless you can properly buy them, click here or above, and we'll keep you posted when we hear more!

Next up, do you recall the occasional teaser from musician interviews on local internet radio station The Borderline where a guest was suggested/teased as the host of an upcoming metal-centric program? Well, one is finally debuting tonight! This has not been announced on the station's website at press time, but former Winkstinger/Twistory frontman Josh Amendola tells me that he will be hosting a metal-centric series named Metal Morpheus that debuts tonight at 9:00 PM! Naturally, the first episode will go through the roots of metal in the 1960s and 1970s, but Josh did say that local bands will be in the eventual playlist. If you can't tune in live, one imagines that episode #1 will be available for on-demand streaming after the fact, once Metal Morpheus appears on The Borderline's website. For obvious reasons, it's great that The Borderline finally has a metal show!

Adding some musical diversity beyond the occasional interview or one-off interview is very welcomed, and it's nice that it's slotted earlier than you may expect for a metal radio show on an otherwise non-metal station! There are unknowns yet, but tune in to Metal Morpheus tonight at 9:00 PM to hear how Josh does in episode #1, and I apologize again for the delay in mentioning this on the SMS! He originally caught me in a busy stretch what with all of the new concert announcements in the area, no hard feelings whatsoever!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a new cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" from ex-Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik "Buzz" Boissineau's YouTube channel on Friday! His first upload there in three months, this vocal/acoustic guitar rendition lets you hear a higher and softer aspect of Buzz's range that isn't as apparent from his proper bands, and while I prefer later, more progressive Radiohead songs, this is well done across the board! Give Buzz's newest cover a watch below!

Finally, here's a new instrumental jam video from veteran local hard rock guitarist Mike Cliffe's YouTube channel on June 23rd! An progressive rock playthrough alongside pre-recorded drums by Washington-based drummer Bill Ray, Mike suggested in the description that this isn't finished and may have had a timing slip-up, but it sounds fine so far! Smooth and melodic, well handled by a prolific musician who knows complex prog rock very well, and it's nice to see more new content from Mike's YouTube channel, so give this video a watch below, and hopefully we hear more from Mike soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site later this week! Thanks everyone, and to all of our American readers, have a happy Fourth of July!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Darwin Project), A New Local Band, And More From Sault Michigan!!

The marathon of news continues today into it's latter stages, as we give you some news from across the river! Today, we focus on Sault Michigan, including the latest news from Beyond The Surface & Life's Eclipse, an intriguing piece of news from Werehold Records, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's a new local band! (UPDATED: Monday, 8:32 PM)

The new band I've discovered is Chained Memories, a new young metal band from nearby Kincheloe, Michigan! Though they started their MySpace page in December 2009, I've only seen them really active in the past few weeks, so they really flew under the radar in the past year and a half. As far as I can tell, the only current member of the band is former Silent Despair drummer Mike Rynberg, though their Facebook page also credits Outshined frontman Jacob Zeeryp as a band member with an unknown role. The lineup on the band's MySpace page is, as best as I can tell, outdated (so guitarists Brandon Mason & Isaac Suggitt appear to be out,) and they are looking for band members aged 14-17 to fill out their lineup, which would include a keyboard player! Aside from a logo and some hints towards t-shirt designs, there's not a lot to say yet, but hopefully Chained Memories succeeds where Silent Despair failed! Check the above links for more, as well as their Reverbnation page, and I will keep you posted!

Now for those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as a prominent Northern Michigan band is returning to Sault Michigan in July! Cheboygan hard rock quartet The Darwin Project will make their first announced local stops of the summer when they hit The Corner Pub Bar & Grill on July 8th and 9th for a weekend set of entertaining music! The news about these new local shows was quietly posted on the band's Facebook page on Thursday thanks to two new Facebook event pages, this one for the Friday show, and this one for the Saturday concert. Both shows have 9:30 PM start times, you must be 21 to attend on either night, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! It's always good to see The Darwin Project out and about in Sault Michigan, and their energetic take on radio hard rock should go over well, as it always seems to! Stay tuned for more updates on The Darwin Project's next local stops as I hear them!

Now for some stories related to the recently relaunched Eckerman metal quartet Life's Eclipse, starting with the posting of demos from their upcoming album "Shadow Over Superior"! On Wednesday, the band posted a video onto their record label Werehold Records' YouTube channel that features 30 second samples of every song on the "Shadow Over Superior" album! The tracklisting hasn't changed from what was on their MySpace page, so head there for title previews if you don't pay attention to the screen in audio-based videos like this. 30 seconds is very little to go on to give definitive thoughts to the songs on the album, but these instrumental samples all sound promising, and this should be a quality album when it comes out! Of course, one of the songs (the instrumental "Not Dead, But Dreaming") is posted on their MySpace, so if you want a full taste, check that very cool song out! Now though, give a listen to samples from the whole album, which I'm eager to hear, how about you guys?



Speaking of Werehold Records-related topics, Life's Eclipse frontman/Werehold Records head Jason Mills has a big plan in mind involving an album featuring local bands, so here's what you should know! He's hoping to make up a compilation record featuring local bands to help give them exposure, presumably through release through Werehold Records in the coming months. He's aiming to have bands who want in on the CD to contribute up to two songs for inclusion on the record, which would be professionally pressed and be available to sell at shows and on band pages. Nothing he said to me implied a restriction for which side of the border your band lives on, or if you had to be connected to Werehold Records already to get in on this. I've heard similar rumblings on this side that I won't go into without public word, but Jason's idea sounds very intriguing! Never hurts to get some well needed exposure, and why not do it with other bands who also want the same thing? If this flies, this could be to the benefit of a lot of bands, so definitely shoot Jason a message at werehold@hotmail.com if you or your band would be interested in being on this compilation record!

And finally, here's the latest news on young Pickford hard rockers Beyond The Surface! Firstly, the band appears to have quietly parted ways with guitarist Blake Mastaw, just two months after his addition to the band. No statement has been made as to his exit, but he was removed from the Beyond the Surface's lineup on their Facebook page, reducing them (at least for now) to a three-piece band. I know that when Blake joined, there was a visible uproar from some fans, but I wonder what happened so soon for him to leave? Well, best of luck to him, and of course, if you're a Pickford-area guitarist and want to try out, give the band a shout, you never know! Also, in some of the band's latest updates, they announced that they are looking to play some dates soon, and were open for suggestions. That, and they're apparently playing a set on Tuesday night at the Pickford High School gym, but without a lot of details, I don't know enough to really "call" it on here. Still, best of luck to them, and they are a promising young band! Check the above links for more!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes tomorrow, including (maybe) a book review? Keep your eyes peeled to the SMS! Thanks everyone!