Kaine will be celebrating 5 years of the Reforged line-up with a special gig, and live album recording at Three Wise Monkeys, Colchester on Friday, May 19th, 2023. Joining them will be guests Osmium Guillotine, Killerkorp, and Heathen Kings.
The current incarnations of Kaine formed in May 2018, and have since released two studio albums Reforge The Steel (2019) and After Extinction (2022) as well as the Extinction After EP (2023), Kaine EP (2021), Falling Through Freedom X EP (2022), The Waystone EP (2020) and two live albums. The band has headlined Colchester Arts Centre, opened Burrfest at a sold-out Dome in Tufnell Park as well as toured the UK in support of the legendary Lillian Axe and Riot Act in 2022. Recently the band supported NWOBHM legends Trespass and Cher/Whitesnake Guitarist Joel Hoekstra alongside Brandon Gibbs of Devil City Angels and Poison fame.
This week’s rehearsals at Unit One will be purely in preparation for May 19th. The band plans on debuting some new tracks for the event, which will be recorded for a new live album by Talon Payne of Gallow Wood Studios.
Advanced tickets for the event are still available here.
I think it’s important to reiterate the point that five years ago, this band was close to being dead and buried. In short, not long after our main stage appearance at Hard Rock Hell Metal 2018, and after the release of the A Crisis of Faith three of the members quit the band in quick succession and I was left for the vultures. It became a topic of hilarity online, with many mocking comments, people spreading rumours about the departures, and one person going so far as to make songs making fun of me under the very imaginative name “Kaine Are Shit”.
People were telling me to quit, that it was over, or at least to take a break. The reality was we had just released a new album that I was thousands of pounds down on, and I had to find a way to continue.
I recruited Liam Etheridge, Toby Woods, and Isaac Healy, we put the band together in two weeks and were back gigging without missing a single date. Later that year we started recording our first album together Reforge The Steel.
Over the five years, we have released more material than any previous line-up, as well as becoming the single longest continual line-up this band had ever had. Our momentum was slowed a bit during the Covid lockdowns in 2020-21. However, we used that time to write and record much of the new music we have put out in recent months, as well as The Waystone EP.
Last year, out of the blue, we were able to jump onto the Lillian Axe and Riot Act UK Tour. This was the first tour this line-up has done, and it was an amazing experience supporting two legendary acts as well as getting to new venues across the country that we as a collective hadn’t played before. The last time Kaine had toured was back in 2014, long before this version of the band had come into existence.
We didn’t expect to be touring again this year, but we were kindly offered by SD Entertainment again to jump on and support Chris Holmes on his 65 Tour. Chris Holmes is best known for being the guitarist in the classic W.A.S.P line-up appearing on all the critically acclaimed albums. We didn’t ever expect to be touring once, let alone doing back-to-back tours! If you had told me 5 years ago that when Kaine looked to be finished that we would in 5 years be stronger than ever I don’t think I would have believed you!
I reflected a lot last year that 2022 was our busiest ever, we finished a new Album, two EPs, and toured in the same year! 2023 is shaping up to be equally busy! We have a gig supporting Joel Hoekstra and Brandon Gibbs coming up at The Music Room, our 5-year celebration at Three Wise Monkeys, and the 65 Tour with Chris Holmes! We’ve already released a music video this year and are planning a further studio release for Patreon.
2022 was an amazing year for Kaine, but 2023 could be even better. The question is, what is next?
Tickets for all these events are selling fast – so book now using the buy links below to avoid missing out:
April 15th, 2023 – The Music Room, Ipswich (Buy Tickets) **
May 19th, 2023 – Three Wise Monkeys, Colchester (Buy Tickets)
June 16th, 2023 – The Patriot, Crumlin (Buy Tickets) *
June 17th, 2013 – The Tivoli Venue, Buckley (Buy Tickets) *
June 18th, 2023 – Bannermans, Edinburgh (Buy Tickets) *
June 22nd, 2023 – Trillian’s, Newcastle (Buy Tickets) *
June 23rd, 2023 – The Black Prince, Northampton (Buy Tickets) (Buy VIP) *
June 24th, 2023 – Boston Arms Music Room, London (Buy Tickets) *
June 25th, 2023 – The Waterloo, Blackpool (Buy Tickets) *
We are planning a big 5-year show in May to celebrate the coming together of the band’s current line-up of Rage Sadler (guitars and vocals), Liam Etheridge (drums), Toby Woods (lead guitars) and Isaac Healy (bass) in 2018.
Since forming, we have released two albums, Reforge The Steel (2019) and After Extinction (2022), two live albums, Kaine X (2019) and Reforge The Steel Live 2019 (2020), the Kaine live EP (2021), The Waystone EP (2020), Falling Through Freedom EP (2022) and the Extinction After EP (2023). This line-up is the only version of the band to appear on back-to-back albums and studio releases and has been the longest running consistent line-up the band has had since originally forming in 2009. The line-up has also toured for the very first time alongside Lillian Axe and Riot Act ( ex Riot) in 2022.
The 5-year event will be held in Colchester at a to be announced venue, the event will be filmed and the set recorded for a live album/video release. This will be a ticketed event.
We will be setting off on tour next week in support of Lillian Axe and Riot Act! We are looking forward to hitting the road at the following dates/venues:
August 22nd, 2022 – Robin 2, Wolverhampton (buy tickets)
August 23rd, 2022 – Trillian’s, Newcastle (buy tickets)
August 24th, 2022 – Nightrain, Bradford (buy tickets)
August 25th, 2022 – Bannermans, Edinburgh (buy tickets)
August 26th, 2022 – Hangar 18, Swansea (buy tickets)
August 27th, 2022 – Underworld, Camden, London (buy tickets)
The album has made some progress in recent weeks with the addition of keys and some last-minute changes to some of the vocals. The reason this album has been more complicated than previous releases is it has been recorded between two studios (Unit One and Gallow Wood Media) and both studios have had a hand in the editing process whereas I and the band have overseen the mixing process in a more involved way than previous releases. It’s not where our expertise is, but due to the UK Lockdowns over the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to work in this way. This has also meant the costs associated with the album are much greater than our previous releases. Broadly speaking the project is almost finished and we are sorry about the delay.
Kaine 21’ EP
All the instruments have been recorded, I am in the final stages of finishing the lyrics before I book in vocal recording sessions. This EP contains 5 brand new songs and has been delayed largely because of the backlog to do with the new album. So far all of the recordings have taken place at Unit One Studios and no editing or mixing has taken place.
Kaine 22’ EP – Falling Through Freedom Anniversary Box Set
We have finished recording all the bass and guitars for the new EP at Gallow Wood Media, with Liam currently working on what he would like to do with the drums. This EP will be included in the anniversary set of the album, which will include the “demo” album, recorded by the 2011 line-up, the original 2012 album, the 2016 remaster, and the new EP.
Lillian Axe and Riot Act Tour
I have also been very busy working on the tour. I am pleased to say the transport and hotels are now all booked up. In terms of crew, Alex Odinson and Charles Franklin will be handing roadie duties which include everything from loading in, to providing tech support, looking after merchandise, and recording video footage of the gigs.
All t-shirt pre-orders have now been sent out with signed posters. In recent weeks I have written to a number of our Bandcamp buyers via the post with invitations to the tour, I have been using our emailing lists to send our targeted emails and videos to promote the events and obviously running an extensive social media campaign. I have also been supporting Lillian Axe with their social media campaign.
We will be using this tour to promote our most recent album Reforge The Steel, which was released just before the Covid-19 pandemic and this restricted the number of gigs we could do to promote it.
Opportunities like this do not come around often, and whether or not we get this kind of opportunity again depends on the success of this tour, which is why I am working flat out to try and make every show a sell-out. You can get tickets from here.
I will be writing to everyone on our mailing lists, past and present, with information regarding our August tour and inviting everyone to the shows. The reason I am doing this is social media tends to hide our events and announcements from timelines and, much like with our Arts Centre show a few years back, we hope that more people will see the dates via mail than online and that will increase the overall turnout.
This is the biggest tour we have done since 2014 and the first with this line-up. We will be takings this opportunity to have a “soft” relaunch of our album Reforge The Steel which we were previously restricted from promoting due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Rage, Kaine
August 22nd, 2022 – Robin 2, Wolverhampton (buy tickets)
August 23rd, 2022 – Trillian’s, Newcastle (buy tickets)
August 24th, 2022 – Nightrain, Bradford (buy tickets)
August 25th, 2022 – Bannermans, Edinburgh (buy tickets)
August 26th, 2022 – Hangar 18, Swansea (buy tickets)
August 27th, 2022 – Underworld, Camden, London (buy tickets)
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.
Although in the past there had been several members who had long tenures in the band, original bassist Dan Mailer (2009-15), and Waystone/A Crisis of Faith drummer Chris MacKinnon (2012-18) the current line-up of Kaine, which came together in May 2018 has now been the longest running in the band’s history, and the only line-up to appear on back-to-back releases. Reforge The Steel and the new album After Extinction are the only Kaine albums where the same line-up has featured consecutively.
MK1 (2009-10)
Sadler/Mailer/Moreton/Jackson
MK2 (2011)
Sadler/Mailer/Moreton/Fairhead
MK3 (2012)
Sadler/Mailer/Moreton/Murch
MK4 (2012-2014)
Sadler/Mailer/Murch/MacKinnon
MK5 (2014-15)
Sadler/Mailer/Murch/MacKinnon/Davids
MK6 (2015)
Sadler/MacKinnon/Murch/Davids/Ellis
MK7 (2016-18)
Sadler/MacKinnon/Davids/Ellis
MK8 (2018 – Present)
Sadler/Etheridge/Woods/Healy
*This isn’t counting transitional line-ups, or where former members have returned to cover for the band on occasion.
The band in its current incarnation is the longest running version of Kaine since the original band was formed back in 2009.
As announced earlier this week, Kaine will be supporting Lillian Axe and Riot Act (ex-Riot) on their UK Tour in August. Lillian Axe is an American hard rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, US, best known for its major label albums, Lillian Axe, Love + War, Poetic Justice and Psychoschizophrenia. Originally formed in 1983, the group is still active, and features Steve Blaze and bassist Michael Max Darby from the original line-up.
Riot Act features former Riot guitarist Rick Ventura, Don Chaffin-vocals, Paul Ranieri-bass, Claudio Galinski-drums. Rick Ventura was born in Brooklyn, NY. Along with Mark Reale, he comprised the guitar driven, high energy sound of Riot. He went on to play and contribute songs on four studio albums and two live albums including the legendary Fire Down Under, touring the world with the likes of AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Rush and so on.
Kaine are honoured to be supporting both Lillian Axe and Riot act on the following dates in August:
August 22nd, 2022 – Robin 2, Wolverhampton (buy tickets)
August 23rd, 2022 – Trillian’s, Newcastle (buy tickets)
August 24th, 2022 – Nightrain, Bradford (buy tickets)
August 25th, 2022 – Bannerman’s, Edinburgh (buy tickets)
August 26th, 2022 – Hanger 18, Swansea (buy tickets)
August 27th, 2022 – Underworld, Camden, London (buy tickets)
To raise funds for the tour, Kaine has released a limited edition t-shirt and poster available to buy on Bandcamp:
There are just 35 copies of this album remaining on CD. Once they are sold out this will not be printed again. This set was recorded in November 2019 at the B2, Norwich not long after the release of the album.
