Myrmidon

W

hen Steve Jones and Mike Hobbs decided to start a band in 1997, although to be originally called Helmunt, Myrmidon was the result. Steve Jones, for his part, had been playing guitar for several years while fellow founder Mike Hobbs had not played an instrument and took the drum spot shortly after purchasing a basic kit and learning how to play.  Ray Monner (bass) and Laurie Wilson (guitar), friends of Hobbs', were invited in to play and they opened up shop as the famous and since deceased act Helmunt, an act that lasted until 1998.

Hobbs, Jones and Wilson reformed shortly later as Myrmidon with the intention of being more Thrash and more complex structurally then they had been before. The problem was they were once again without a bassist, so in desperation Jones asked Matt Riley, a buddy, to join his act. Riley, however, was not interested in joining a band and jokingly said "Sure, if you can find me a bass and an amp by the end of the day". The challenge was met and Riley became a member of the act.

The act was less than perfect for Riley had never played bass before, Jones was dabbling with vocals for the first time and Hobbs was still a new comer with drums. With all of these problems the act still managed to pull off 4 tracks and an additional two in the form of covers of Slayer's Raining Blood and Metallica's Motorbreath. Indeed, things were on the move for Myrmidon who would soon later play their first gig on March 8, 2000 in their hometown of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada with two more original tracks following soon after. By September of 2001 they had recorded several tracks via trial and error and attended a dozen more gigs; by November 2001 their debut six track Aggressive Redemption EP was released.