Mandroid Echostar is a six-piece heavy metal band from

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. The band's sound has been described as a combination of melodic technical guitars,

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

, and heavy metal. The band won the

Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year The Juno Award for Heavy Metal Album of the Year is an annual award, presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honor the year's best album by a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified wit ...

at the

Juno Awards of 2017 The Juno Awards of 2017, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Ottawa, Ontario the weekend of 1–2 April 2017. The ceremonies were held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata and televised on CTV with Bryan Adams and Russell ...

for their album '' Coral Throne''."Local Musicians Win Juno Award"
Blackburn News, April 2, 2017.

Band members

The band was formed in the summer of 2010 by bassist Adam Richards, guitarist Sam Pattison, and drummer Matt Huber-Kidby."Guelph rockers nominated for Juno Award"
'' Guelph Mercury-Tribune'', February 7, 2017. Over the remainder of 2011, guitarist/keyboardist James Krul, guitarist Stephen Richards, and vocalist Michael Ciccia were added to the line-up.

Current members

* Michael Ciccia – lead vocals * Matt Huber-Kidby – drums * Adam Richards -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Sam Pattison –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Stephen Richards –

* James Krul –

History

''Mandroid Echostar'' and ''Citadels''

The band finished writing their debut self titled EP in the winter of 2011 and recorded in Sundown Studios, owned and operated by Jordan Valeriote who engineered, mixed and co-produced the EP. The album was mastered at Masterdisk in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

by Roger Lian. The ''Mandroid Echostar EP'' was released on April 22, 2012. Mandroid Echostar announced an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for their second EP, ''Citadels'', in March 2013. The band offered merchandise and fan experience packages and eventually raised $7,480 toward the production of the EP. The band once again chose to record at Sundown Studios with Jordan Valeriote in their hometown of Guelph. Recording began on April 15, 2013 and the EP was released on November 13, 2013. After gaining traction online, the band signed to Distort Records in late 2013.

''Coral Throne''

In 2014 Mandroid Echostar began writing their debut full length record and first release with

Distort Entertainment Distort Entertainment is a Canadian independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario. The label specializes in bands performing hardcore punk-derived music, including Alexisonfire, Cancer Bats and Johnny Truant, but its sister division Distort L ...

. The album, ''Coral Throne'', was recorded in December 2014 and January 2015 at Vespa Studios in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, with Juno award winning producers,

Eric Ratz Eric Ratz is a Canadian producer, engineer, and mixer. He has won multiple Grammy and Juno awards. Throughout his career, Ratz has worked with some of Canada's most successful and influential rock bands, including Arkells, Big Wreck, Billy Ta ...

and

Harry Hess Harry Hess (born July 5, 1968) is a Canadian record producer, singer and guitarist best known as the frontman for the Canadian hard rock band Harem Scarem. Hess has used his recording studio (Vespa Music Group) to work with many famous acts, ...

. ''Coral Throne'' was written as a concept album inspired by the histories of colonialism, cultural genocide, and the clash of organized religion and traditional spirituality. Throughout the writing process, the band made many notable appearances such as performing in direct support of Megadeth, playing the main stage at Koifest ( Kitchener) alongside

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams wit ...

and

Foxy Shazam Foxy Shazam is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2004. , the band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Eric Nally, pianist Sky White, trumpeter and backing vocalist Alex Nauth, bassist Trigger Warning, guitarist Devin Williams ...

, as well as the main stage at Lachie Music Festival (

Cayuga Speedway The Jukasa Motor Speedway (formerly known as Cayuga Speedway and the Cayuga 2000 Speedway) was an auto racing track located near Cayuga in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. Famous stock car drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Matt Kenseth, Bobby ...

- Hagersville, Ontario) with

July Talk July Talk is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 2012 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, and drummers Danny Miles and Dani Nash. July Talk relea ...

and

The Trews The Trews are a Canadians, Canadian rock music, rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Chris Gormley. The band is currently based in Hamil ...

. In an attempt to promote ''Coral Throne'', Mandroid Echostar embarked on the ''Kezia X'' tour across Ontario with Protest the Hero. The album was released on January 15, 2016. Ciccia was featured on the song "Cataract" by Protest the Hero which appeared on their 2016 EP, ''

Pacific Myth ''Pacific Myth'' is a subscription-based serial album and the fifth major release by the Canadian progressive metal band Protest the Hero, distributed through the online music subscription service Bandcamp. Following the independent release of th ...

''. The band has announced that they are currently writing new music, expected to be debuted on tour in 2017.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

*''Mandroid Echostar EP'' (2012, Self-released) *''Citadels'' (2013, Crowdfunded on Indiegogo)

Awards and nominations

In 2017, Mandroid Echostar won the

for their album ''Coral Throne'', beating out other more critically acclaimed Canadian groups such as

Devin Townsend Project Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also h ...

Despised Icon Despised Icon is a Canadian deathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 2002, the band is noted for the talent of its drummer, Alex Pelletier, who makes frequent use of the blasting technique, as well as for its dual lead vocalists; Alex E ...

, Annihilator, and Protest the Hero.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Canadian progressive metal musical groups Musical groups from Guelph Musical groups established in 2010 Juno Award for Heavy Metal Album of the Year winners 2010 establishments in Ontario