EX-PERIPHERY SINGER JOINS BAND THAT SOUNDS JUST LIKE AND INCLUDES MEMBER OF PERIPHERY

Shockwaves Ripples emanated throughout the metal blogosphere last month when Sumerian young guns Periphery announced that vocalist Chris Baretto had been replaced by Spencer Sotelo. It seemed like Periphery were just getting into the groove with Baretto having been singerless for so many years, on the heels of successful Summer Slaughter and East Coast headline runs, and with their Sumerian Records debut slated for release this Spring. And not for nothin’, Baretto is a talented singer and an enthralling frontman capable of energizing any audience…. the move was a bit of a head-scratcher.

But fear not, Chris Baretto fans. Haunted Shores, an instru-metal band we featured here this past October, have tapped Baretto to fill their vacant vocalist spot.

And here’s the kicker: Haunted Shores count Periphery’s Misha Mansoor (aka “Bulb”) among their ranks as producer and guitarist (which shouldn’t surprise anyone listening to the tracks on Haunted Shores’ MySpace page). Those sound like Baretto’s pipes on the track “When in Oslo”, and they sound damn good.

We never got an official reason for the Baretto / Periphery split but we can assume from the Misha connection that things between at least between these two gentes are amicable. Looking forward to hearing more Baretto-fronted Haunted Shores music in 2010.

-VN