Let's start with the new local bands, and firstly, we have a new Sault Michigan area hard rock band named Half A Man! I first heard of these guys through casual Facebook searching a few days ago, and here's what you should know about them! Based out of Brimley, Half A Man features former Lower S.E.S. bassist Erik Rintamaki on vocals and guitar (you may also recognize him from the defunct acoustic band Set To Random) along with Bent Rollercoaster guitarist Denny Breslin (whatever happened to them?), Erik's former Set To Random bandmate Gary Croad on bass, and former Drayton Fever guitarist Doug Reed on drums. The band was formed by Erik and Doug earlier this year, with the name "Half A Man" coming from their coincidental hand-related injuries at the time. Now a four piece, Half A Man have played a couple concerts in Brimley, both of which were outdoors at the baseball diamond at Bay Mills Resort & Casino, and they have some videos from both shows on their Facebook page!Completely originals that I've heard so far, they actually aren't bad! I wasn't expecting a lot considering that most of the band are on different instruments than we typically know them for, but they groove nicely, and Erik's vocals are solid, especially when he drums and sings simultaneously like he did at their first shows without Doug Reed! Plans are for an album at some point in the future from Half A Man, judge their brand of hard rock for yourself at the links above and at their official MySpace page!
Now I didn't embed any videos of Half A Man here because Facebook videos aren't embeddable. In the case of our other new band, I can absolutely show you guys here! Earlier today, I got an e-mail from SMS reader Daniel Horton, who sent me a video of a new local band named Sativa Rose! Three members, full info isn't posted on the video description as to the full lineup, but he sent me a video of Sativa Rose covering Iron Maiden's "Two Minutes To Midnight", which was uploaded onto YouTube user MrJohnveale's YouTube channel on Saturday! Also on said channel, there's videos of the band covering Metallica's "The Four Horsemen", and most surprisingly of all, Exodus' "Piranha"! Nice to hear an Exodus cover, you never hear them much among local bands! All three videos come from a performance at a Wednesday jam night at Foggy Notions, and to the best of my knowledge, Sativa Rose have yet to play an official live concert. But if this jam night "set" is any indication, these guys are quite promising, especially on guitar! Vocals are patchy, especially on the rangier stuff on "Two Minutes To Midnight", and the songs are missing the bass, but they're bringing thrashier stuff back to the scene, here's hoping they grow from here! Check the above links for more, and their performance of "Piranha" below!
And now, to cap off today's news post, is news from two bands with upcoming albums! And first, we'll touch on perhaps bittersweet news on Woods of Ypres' next album! Frontman David Gold posted a new image onto Woods of Ypres' Facebook page with this title: "The Fifth and Final WOODS OF YPRES album: WOODS Muthafuckin' Five!" Now, it's great news that Woods of Ypres are making a new album, but at the same time, it's the last album? We'll get to speculation about all of this in a second, but for some added info on "Woods V", the very first comment on the picture is from David, where he announced that "recording in the north begins on Sunday." Nothing beyond that is stated yet, so I don't know if they'll be back at Stereo Soul Studios or not for the sessions, or if they're recording elsewhere. For the record, Miguel Gauthier from Stereo Soul Studios hasn't mentioned anything about Woods of Ypres recently on Facebook, so take that for what you will, but David has openly praised Miguel's work in the past. I'll of course keep you guys posted on "Woods V", which will surely be another great addition to the Woods of Ypres catalog and the slate of local albums coming out in the next while!
That being said, the questions continue to mount. If this truly will be Woods of Ypres' last album, what does the future hold for the band? Where exactly is David going at the end of the month? Why is he leaving Canada? Why is he selling his guitars and ending merchandise sales entirely? Again, he's doing a fantastic job of not giving things away and keeping us guessing, but I'm sure other fans would agree that answers would be nice to have! There's tons of possible hints and cryptic statements on Facebook to check out, so if you can piece anything together in advance, be my guest! Hopefully explanations and announcements will come out closer to August 25th, his so-called "final day in Canada", and I will for sure keep you guys in the loop on that front! My final Woods of Ypres note today is that David's acoustic guitar HAS been sold, and will be shipped to it's new owner once "Woods V" sessions wrap up. His third and final guitar for sale is now posted online, which is his yellow Gibson SG purchased in 2006, later used in "Woods IV" recordings and in some Eastern Canada tour dates. For details on how to buy it, click here! More on "Woods V" and all of David's plans in the coming weeks!
Finally today, we have new updates on Frightlight's debut album! Frontman J.D. Pearce, a.k.a. Johnny Pints, e-mailed members of the band's Facebook group (and posted on the wall of it) details about their first CD, along with a statement about their involvement in next weekend's Pauline's Place benefit show! Now, onto the album. The tentative title is "It's A...Live!!", fitting given their horror styles and the live nature of the recording! The album will be produced overseas by Sault native Nick Jackson at London's Spacehouse Studios, same as where his progressive rock band iT's albums are currently produced. The other new update about the album is that Frightlight want YOUR help! They're looking for submissions from fans for the official front cover artwork for the album, and are offering a $100 cash prize and credit in the album's liner notes for the winner! I would have thought they'd get Kevin Powe to take care of that, but hey, this opens up the album even more to the fans!There are no limitations as to what you can or can't include that I've noticed, but I recommend including the band's logo and the planned title, if nothing else. If you want to submit a design for the contest, upload it to the band's Facebook group! Hell, I have some experience with graphic design, so I submitted an entry for the contest, but I'm positive I'm not the best at it out there, so you guys should submit your front cover ideas A.S.A.P.! Hopefully we get something killer for the front cover, and I will keep you posted on Frightlight's debut album as I hear more!
That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more as the month rolls along, including previews of the Kiss/Garden of Bedlam and Skull Fist concerts on Monday! Thanks everyone, and make sure to see some concerts this weekend too!
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