Saturday, January 8, 2011

A Newly Discovered Local Band, Our Next CD Review, And More!!

Hey guys, I know I probably should have had a post of some kind yesterday, but things have been a bit busy lately for me, but I'm back with lots of big news! Today, we have a new local concert video, the identity of our next CD review, and a newly discovered local band, but kicking things off is a new concert addition! Why is that first and not the new band? The stories share a link, you'll see! (EDITED: 4:11 AM)

New local hardcore band Changing Waves are the newest confirmed band for February 19th's all ages concert at The Oddfellows Hall! Presented by Bonology Lights & Sounds (who are now in our Other Local Links section on the left), Changing Waves join fellow local metalcore rockers As It Stands as openers at this show for Right From The Start and Calling Ocala, two high energy pop rock bands from London, Ontario. Nice to see Changing Waves back out there for this concert, although it would still be nice to learn more about them, especially given the lack of an internet page that I've seen. However, I do know a few details about their lineup, though not a whole lot. I can confirm from Jeremy Hannah and Mitch Sirie that Alex Hagerman, drummer from defunct local group Paraside, is in the band, and a wall posting from Nathan Bouliane (this show's promoter) confirmed that Benjamin Kallonen is Changing Waves' frontman, which is good to know! If anyone out there has more details on Changing Waves' lineup, background, or any possible pages, let me know! But for now, remember to hit the show on February 19th for a good dose of local hardcore and exciting pop punk! Click here for more details on this concert, and I will keep you posted!

Going back to Changing Waves for a second, when I heard that Benjamin Kallonen was their frontman, I did some searching online to see if he's been in any other local bands. Well, as it turns out, he was, though not on vocals! Ben was the guitar player in a short lived metal project from early last year called Face First, who were active on their MySpace page for just a single week in February 2010. Only one other member existed in the project, drummer Devan Lauzon, though I can't verify if he has any other connections to Changing Waves. The lack of a mention of Sault Ste. Marie on the page is probably why I never found out about Face First until this year, but the band did have high hopes for the future! Ben and Devan were looking for new members to join them and were hoping to "take over the world". The music on their page has promise, especially "Enjoying The Chaos" and "Closed In Fate", which have nice riffing and a metalcore feel to them, but the first two songs drag at parts. There was a lot of refining to do though, and it'd be nice to hear vocals, but both guys show skill, even Ben on guitar! Check the above links for more on Face First, and they're now in our band links on your left!

Next up, Mike Haggith's new album "Suspended Animation" is now on sale on his online store! All nine tracks are now available to preview and then download, but if you want to preview full songs beforehand, his Reverbnation page does have some free full length tracks. The album is available for just $4.50, which is a good deal! Individual tracks go for 99¢ each, but you will save almost double the total cost if you just buy the full album package by itself. Unlike many of his other albums on his store, ringtone versions aren't available. If you would like to buy a copy of "Suspended Animation" via mp3 download, click here! With that said, I would like to officially announce that our first CD review of 2011 will be of Mike Haggith's new album, "Suspended Animation", and it will be posted online in the next week! I have already purchased the album, so I'm good to go, and I've already given it a few listens. My thoughts? You'll see when I post the review, but do give Mike a chance! He has so much material and enough talent that there's gotta be stuff you can all enjoy! Also note that this will be our fifth review of a new local metal/hard rock album in the past six months (December is the exception), so even though the new album season may be slower than expected, new stuff is crawling in! Stay tuned for my review in the next few days!

Finally, here's the newest live video from local metal trio Sativa Rose! Once again filmed and uploaded by frontman Adam Veale's dad John, this also comes from the New Years Eve show at Foggy Notions. and like with their "Lucretia" video, they're joined by promoter Rich Moreland on guest vocals! This time though, they're covering Metallica's "No Remorse", and Rich supplies his own take on the vocals by death growling them, with beer bottles in hand! The band are great as always, they have a nice handle on this song with no major flubs, but the death growling is a bit off to me. Rich is a really good growler, almost going grindcore at parts, and I could see him singing for a death metal band, but I think this is the wrong song for this style. That's not a negative comment though, just not the best track for this type of vocals. At least I could hear him better than in the "Lucretia" video! Good stuff though, check out the "No Remorse" cover below, and stay tuned for more news from Sativa Rose!



That's all for today, but I have news from Woods of Ypres, End of Existence, Late & Loud, Half A Man, and Lion Ride to share in the next little while, along with our Mike Haggith CD review and our next Saultites In Out Of Town Bands profile next week, so don't go anywhere! Thanks everyone!

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