Monday, September 10, 2012

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Weed & PYSS

It's time for our 32nd & 33rd Defunct Local Band Profiles at the SMS! As always, this monthly series looks at one or two randomly selected defunct or inactive metal/hard rock bands from the Twin Saults and area, and as the first band we picked had minimal information, we've added a similarly sized second band to this installment, making it our first double profile since the spring. One has familiar faces to Sault Michigan metalheads, and the other was more minimal and size & prominence, but both have things to talk about, so read on below for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! (Updated on May 8th, 2013)
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Weed

Genre: Alternative Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (This information is incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@hotmail.com if you can help fill in any blanks or make any corrections!)

Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten (Powerslug, Toast), vocals/drums
"Stg. Spinr", guitar
Tony "Laughing Boy Long Snake" Rogers (Toast, Clownsack), bass

Info/Analysis: Weed was a short lived Sault Michigan metal project that was active from roughly July 2007 through 2008. Featuring then-Clownsack bandmates in their lineup, Weed's name and lyrical content in their two posted songs ("420" & "Triple Beam") alluded to marijuana culture & use, which likely would have been a continued theme had the band lasted longer. Online information on Weed is minimal, but they never visibly extended beyond studio work, and after quietly going inactive by late 2008, the members would move on to newer & more active musical projects. Musically, Weed remind me of a Pro-Pain styled band in some ways, which leads to some catchy and heavy stretches, but their two songs are too similar to me. The music's well played, but the lack of guitar solos is noticeable, and I'd like to see Orb sing on the verses beyond the monotone spoken word he tended to use in Weed. Though I prefer most of the members' other bands, the more groove metal approach of Weed is neat, and if you like those styles, the members' other bands, or "weed", you'll probably like these guys! I've posted both of Weed's songs on our YouTube channel, so click the above links for more, and here's "Triple Beam"!


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PYSS

Genre: Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (This band's lineup may be incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Liam White?, all instruments

Info/Analysis: PYSS is an inactive solo metal project from Sault Ontario that was active in the mid-2000s. Likely launched by former local musician Liam White, this is one of two solo bands that I believe he spearheaded around this time, joining his more substantial later act named Bill Satchels. However, PYSS was an all instrumental project that was maintained from January 2006 until maybe as late as 2008. Online information is minimal on both of Liam's bands, but of the two projects, PYSS is both the heaviest & least varied. Their 5 available songs tend to be very short & repetitive, with a lot of droning bass & drum work and noise effects. It's all definitely metal, and he does have talent, but some of these songs will start to wear on casual listeners based on the contents. If you like experimental or post-metal styles, and if you don't mind repetition, you may find something in the songs PYSS created, but these songs strike me as unfinished ideas and not a whole lot else. However, you can check out each of their 5 songs above and on our YouTube channel, where we've posted "db", "Hear You Scream" & "The Nihilist", "1", and "Song342" for you guys to check out, and here's my favourite, "db"!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month, we'll return to Sault Michigan for likely the last time of 2012 in this series (unless we see a two band post again in November or December), so what band have we randomly chosen this month? Next month's profiled band will be Unleashed, the late 2000s Guitar Studio rock camp products featuring Tantrym Tyme's Jacob Hotland on drums, so watch out for this profile on or around October 10th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!Link

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