LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden Of Bedlam), Two New Local Bands, And More!!

Here's a new news post for your Sunday evening needs, and there's a lot to say for tonight, including two brand new local bands, a new video from a prominent local band, and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT with a big tie-in release you guys should be excited for, so here's what you need to know!

Garden of Bedlam are returning to the stage for the holiday season with their new album in tow! As previously hinted at on their Facebook page, their first full length album "Everything Will Die" is indeed coming out on Boxing Day, but it's now official that the album will be released on December 26th at a CD release concert, which will be their first local concert in 5 months! For the occasion, the prominent local metal band will return to The Canadian Nightclub for the first time in almost 21 months to launch this CD in style, and knowing the significance of The Canadian to some of their bigger moments as a band, it's a fitting place to release the new album! Full details on this concert (including admission prices, times, CD price details, and potential opening bands) are not known yet, but this concert is official, as cited at the above links. I'd assume that this is a 19+ event though, and I'd expect a cover charge of at least $2. Until an event page is launched, check the above links for more details! This should be a huge event, and hopefully tons of fans turn out to reap the rewards of this new album! It's been over a year in the making, and you know it'll be worth the wait, so be sure to head to The Canadian on Boxing Day for Garden of Bedlam's CD release party!

That said, will "Everything Will Die" be our next CD review on the SMS? Maybe. I'm actually gonna be out of town for family Christmas commitments from Christmas Eve through the 27th or 28th, so I regrettably can't make this show. If I can get an advance copy of the CD, or get it before New Years' Eve, I'll definitely try and review it this month, but time will tell. If I don't get it until next month, then I WILL 100% review "Everything Will Die" in early January, so a review is coming, but when is up in the air at the moment. I'll keep you guys posted, but in the meantime, click here for studio previews of two songs from the CD!

Next up, we have two new local bands that recently came to my attention, both of which are from Sault Michigan, so here's what you need to know! The first one I've found is named Hoist The Sails, a new local metal sextet (yes, 6 members) that seemed to form earlier this month, though they do feature a few familiar faces in their lineup. The band includes singers Travis Theel & Lucas Falkowski, guitarists Nathan Switzer (Traces) and Mitch Goetz (Seeking Reverence, The Highest of Fives), and Nathan's old Analog Deficiency bandmates Joe Niemi on bass & Marcel Grengs (also from Mitch's old pop rock band Focus) on drums, so there's a lot of young local talent in this band! Hoist The Sails describe their genre as "an undefined form of metal", though they list influences ranging from Protest The Hero & The Devil Wears Prada to Lamb of God and Meshuggah, so there's definitely a lot of sound possibilities for this new group. There isn't a lot of updates to their Facebook page yet, so a lot is unknown about them at the moment, like how Lucas sounds as a singer, but we'll find out more as time goes on, I'm sure!

There's promise in Hoist The Sails, as Nathan and Mitch have solid guitar skill (though I thought Mitch moved out of town for college?), Analog Deficiency seemed to have a bright future when they were together, and Travis has a good singing voice judging by the acoustic videos he's posted on his YouTube channel, but time will tell how Hoist The Sails develop, so become a fan at the above links and stay tuned for band updates at the SMS as they roll in!

The other new band I've recently came across is a hard rock quartet named Elements of Madness, so here's what you need to know on them! Based out of Sault Michigan and Newberry, the band has been active since roughly June of this year, and their lineup features singer/guitarist Cody Rosebohm, singer/bassist Tyler Fox, guitarist Joe Pine, and drummer Kyle Hummelgard. I'm not familiar with any of them musically, and I believe they're younger on the whole, so that could be why. Initially known as ThatOneBand, their Facebook page heavily hypes the members, and though a specific genre beyond "rock" isn't listed, the descriptions and influences hint towards at least a hard rock sound. Updates on their page are sporadic, with nothing new posted since last month, but we do have a slight glimpse of their sound thanks to Cody Rosebohm's YouTube channel, which has three solo acoustic riff videos towards Elements of Madness originals named "Falling" and "The Beast Inside"! The videos don't amount to a lot yet, just some short riffs, but there's some heaviness present, and hopefully these are built into fullet tracks sooner or later! Check out more from Elements of Madness at the above links, Cody's new version of "Falling" below, and both Elements of Madness & Hoist The Sails are now in our active Sault Michigan band links on your right!


And finally for today, Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids epic metal quintet End of Existence have posted a new 15 minute video onto their YouTube channel called "The Making Of 'End Of Existence' (Part 1)" featuring a lot of random band goings on from the last while! Uploaded earlier today, the video features everything from frontman Bob Helsten reading various radio voiceovers to a number of radio stations to band rehearsal footage to just random conversations and joking between the band members, and if you're a fan of tour vlogs or "making of" videos, this should be an entertaining glimpse into End of Existence's rehearsals and time together as a band! A "Part 2" is hyped to follow this video soon, so if you enjoyed this video, there's definitely more to come! Give End of Existence's new video a look below, and stay tuned for more news and material from them very soon!



That's all for today, but hopefully there'll be some more news on the site by Wednesday! Things might slow down this week due to my exam week, but I'll try to stay on top of things! Thanks everyone, stay tuned for more!!