We will be celebrating 5 years of the “Reforged” line-up of Kaine in May on the 19th at Three Wise Monkeys, Colchester. Tickets have already started to sell well and we have already sold 20% of the allocation available. This event will be filmed/recorded for a video and live album release.
Our new music video for Green to Grey from the album After Extinction has broken over 43 thousand views since its launch on Friday. This has been achieved through a number of Google Ads (which make up 91.6% of the views) and a Facebook advert campaign, both being run simultaneously which we will be doing and adjusting on an ongoing basis. So far, while the campaign has generated a lot of views, with over 500 people checking out the Bandcamp from the video, a 159 people subscribing to the channel however this is yet to transfer to a single sale of the album.
We are pleased to launch our brand new music video for Green to Grey! The video contains a new single version of the track which was given a remix and release to help promote the new video. The video was recorded, directed and produced by Talon Payne of Gallow Wood media. The new version of the track is available on all streaming sites and on Bandcamp.
Directed and recorded by Talon Payne Rage Sadler: Vocals, Rhythm, and Lead Guitars Liam Etheridge: Drums and Backing Vocals Toby Woods: Lead and Rhythm Guitars, and Backing Vocals Isaac Healy: Bass and Backing Vocals Heidi Crowell: Keys and Harmony Vocals
You can watch the video by clicking the play icon above or by clicking here.
We will be working at Gallow Wood Media with Talon Payne this morning for our first music video for the new album After Extinction. This will be the second music video the band has done, the last being in 2018 for the A Crisis of Faith album. Joining us will be Heidi Crowell who will be performing her keys/vocals from the album.
The music video will be released alongside a new single, which will be a new version of the track from the album for which the video is for.
After shooting is completed, we will head over to Unit One Studios for our rehearsals to prepare for our gig at the Hotbox in Chelmsford next week. You can get tickets for the event here.
There was once a time prior to every Slipknot release we would get Corey Taylors’ view on every matter from every available media outlet, presently we are getting inundated with things about Ghost since they found TikTok success with Mary on A Cross, apparently Sleep Token is the next big thing and we know Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica 40 odd years ago, but for some reason, this story is repeated daily. This morning we learned about what Bruce Dickinson did when Blaze Bayley replaced him in Iron Maiden in slightly more recent times, 1994…
I have noticed these articles are getting two types of engagement. One group of responders are those who read the headline and not the detail and will comment on the headline only, without understanding the context of the headline or the quote in question.
One recent piece I read was about the challenges Dave Mustaine had replacing Dave Ellefson, organising the re-recording of the parts for the new Megadeth album, and then preparing a new line-up for a major tour, all of which anyone who’s been in bands will understand will know will be a stressful and difficult period. This was a small part of a recent interview where Mustaine talked about his success on his recent tour. In this, he spoke about how well the band had done, and he showed a great level of appreciation for the bands he had toured with.
It was an interesting piece, however the headline however simply said, “I know what it is like to have people gunning for me” in reference to how the music press had gone after Dave Ellefson immediately following the controversy, showing some empathy for his former bandmate. The headline let down the article, which was actually a good one, a positive one. Because a large number of those who engaged with the article only read the headline, the response was overwhelmingly negative, assuming that this was again about Dave Mustaine and Metallica, which it absolutely wasn’t.
The other group who comments are those who are sick to death with seeing the same stories recycled by all the major outlets, the attempts to reignite a feud that finished decades ago and people’s opinions on stuff that frankly nobody cares about, just to get certain groups angry.
On the flipside the media outlets will argue, they post and write about this stuff because that’s what people engage with, but it’s almost all negative, whether it is people arguing over whether Sleep Token is the next big thing, how much they hate the latest Ghost single, or a falling out between the members of Journey. But this negative content is pretty much all they write about, and it’s to win at algorithms and not contribute anything substantial to heavy music, or even the debate. They pander to the angry, not the interested. Surely there is something else, something better than just this to write about?
The whole Rock and Metal online environment has been turned toxic, and the music seems secondary to the online arguments and the drama. In the U.K. we call these “Sun” “Mirror” or “Daily Mail” headlines used to get readers angry, and make a cheap political point but have very little substance. While it might generate engagement and a few clicks, it’s not going to be generating album streams, sales, or selling tickets to anyone’s gigs. We know that, as everything is declining.
I do think the silent majority are sick to death of the way things are presently, and do want something new. The media has the power to flip this on its head and to contribute towards growing streams, album sales, and ticket sales but instead, it’s choosing to go for cheap clicks instead. Is it any wonder so many of these outlets can no longer afford to print their magazines?
As I have stated, frankly, the silent majority want something new, the legacy bands are established, and they will always have a growing fanbase, they are not gaining anything from feuds from 40 years ago. People are getting fed up with this style of journalism which is doing a ton of damage to the Rock and Metal scene by encouraging its ugliest elements to continually engage with negative and angry content rather than celebrating the quality of the music, the live performances or the excitement at a potentially good new band. All the good going on is being lost behind the anger aimed at these clickbait articles, and the average music fan just wants something good to listen to, they don’t care about other stuff. These are the people we are turning away in droves by the media continuing to create this environment.
Do we see the same negativity ever being written about what say Ed Sheeran does by the “pop” media? No. Because they promote his music, and the qualities he has as a person, not whether he fell out with a mate when he was 19 while recording a demo. They are making big money with the positive approach. A lot could be learned from that.
While I appreciate that music is subjective, and not everyone will like every band, at the same time we have an absolutely thriving underground Rock and Metal scene here in the U.K. with hundreds of amazing bands which cover every heavy genre, from Hard Rock to Extreme Metal. We have bands with great songs, we have tons of great young bands who really can play their stuff live, they have great attitudes, and their own growing fan bases. There is something for everyone, every generation and every taste. This should be covered, but it is being completely ignored. For me, it’s a shame this is being ignored in favour of promoting negative headlines and feuds from half a century ago, or the latest TikTok success. I think that something needs to change in Metal/Rock journalism that helps promote the good that is happening, and not just focus on the negativity algorithm or trying to benefit from a social media flash in the pan.
That may upset a few influential people, or make me unpopular as a result, but this is how I feel.
I thought I would do a write-up on the year with the band given it’s been our busiest ever. In the early part of the year, we played a run of gigs put on by One Eye Toad Records which really helped us get back on the road again after the Covid-era restrictions were finally lifted in most cases. Most of these gigs were with Neverworld and Planet Fatale, two bands we have played with on a number of occasions over the years and with who we enjoy playing alongside. It’s worth mentioning that John Morter who organised these gigs and helped us get back to a regular gigging schedule sadly passed away last month. For all of his hard work and dedication to the scene, he will be greatly missed.
Coda – 9/3/2022
During that run of gigs, we had a one-night-only reunion with Anthony Murch on lead guitar. Ant was in the band from 2012-2015 and played on our first two albums. Anthony again played songs from both his time in the band and later albums since his departure. He’s currently playing alongside our former drummer Chris MacKinnon (who likewise joined in 2012, but after our debut album before leaving in 2018) in a band called It’s Not A Phase Mum, covering the 2000’s era classics which can be found here.
We made our return to two of our favourite venues this year too, both the Melbourn Rock Club and the Rock Den in Hatfield, both of which were fun nights.
A large portion of the year has been taken up with recording, editing, mixing, mastering, and so on. We worked extremely hard to get our new album After Extinction finished this year, as well as recording a further 10 tracks for two EPs, one of which has been released digitally and the other is currently being worked on. I have said previously that I cannot remember a time the band has been busier and 2022 certainly was a challenging year, but I feel a great relief to know everything on our end is now completed and there is very little remaining to do going into 2023.
It is worth mentioning that there will be a new Falling Through Freedom t-shirt and patch coming to all our Patreon’s soon, with two EPs (which include a multi-disc set) on CD heading out to everyone paying £3 or more ASAP. We have been slightly delayed in getting these out due to the Extinction After EP still being finalised! These will be with you soon, depending on Royal Mail strikes!
In August of course we joined the Lillian Axe/Riot Act (ex-Riot) tour as a replacement for Kim Melville. This is the first tour this line-up has done, and we had an amazing time on the road, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to play with two exceptional bands here in the U.K.
We aptly finished the year with two hometown shows in Colchester both at the Brewhouse on the 25th of November and Coda, on the 14th.
We also introduced a new Patreon tier, a band backer tier which was to help the band fund an opportunity we were recently offered. Without giving too much away at this stage, an official offer/contract has come through and we used some of the new Patreon funds to have the offer independently accessed by an expert, as well as general guidance on the best route forward for the band in 2023, with more the be revealed at a later date.
Rage will be heading to Gallow Wood Media to record the vocals for the Falling Through Freedom EP. The EP will be a Patreon exclusive on CD and will be part of a multi-disc set to celebrate 10 years of the album release. The release will contain 5 tracks with two songs which were left off the original album. This will hopefully be the last recording session for the EP, which will mean the EP can then be edited, mixed and mastered before release. The CD ill have new artwork, as will the 2022 Patreon shirt. You can grab yours by joining Patreon for £3 or more a month here.
Rage will be heading over to Gallow Wood Media on Sunday (13th) to complete the recording of the Falling Through Freedom EP vocals and Unit One Studios on the 25thfor the 2021 EP. These will hopefully be the final recording sessions for both Patreon EPs.
The 2021 EP will contain 5 brand new songs not included on the recent album After Extinction and the Falling Through Freedom EP will be re-recordings of 5 songs to celebrate the release of that album 10 years ago which will include two songs, not on the original album. These will only be available on CD through Patreon. You can get both from £3 here.
Kaine guitarist/vocalist Rage Sadler has completed the tracking of the 22′ EP guitars for the Falling Through Freedom anniversary set and remaining vocals for the new album After Extinction. These were completed with Talon Payne and Gallow Wood Media yesterday.
The bands new album is close to completion, on the 21′ Patreon EP the lyrics are being finalised ready for recording the vocals, and with the 22′ EP all that is left to track is the drums and vocals. All three releases have been delayed due to the backlog caused by the Covid 19 Pandemic.
Reforge The Steel was released in October 2019 and not long after the release the UK went into a Covid-19 lockdown, and thus live shows were cancelled and suspended for the majority of 2020/21. This meant there was a lack of opportunity for ourselves to play live to promote the album and sell physical copies at our gigs. We are therefore using our August tour as an opportunity to run a soft relaunch of the album, we will be promoting the release through our social channels again and will be performing tracks exclusively from that album during the tour. You can order the CD here.
REFORGE THE STEEL TOUR TRAILER
The original version on CD sold out, the current version is our collectors edition version which includes a high-quality CD, a full colour booklet with all the lyrics all housed in a super jewel case and has 5 bonus tracks as well as a remastered and updated version of the album.
We also produce a limited edition shirt featuring the album art which is also available here.
