Saturday, April 6, 2013

The End Of For All That Is Lost, Another Inactive Band, And More Recent News!!

For our 40th straight day of new SMS posts, today's updates have a bit of a downer feel to them, as we have a major band breakup, another who've likely fallen inactive, and a member departure from another local band in this post. There is some levity concerning a venue change (sort of) for a major upcoming show, but read on below to get caught up on these recent stories!

First, Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost have surprisingly announced that they've broken up. In a posting on their Facebook page last night, they announced that they will "no longer be a band", though they added that they had a great run, they appreciated their fans, and they encouraged other local bands to keep their music close & their friends closer. A reason wasn't given for their breakup, though their brief bassist departure status on Facebook from last month could have been linked. This ends a successful three year run for F.A.T.I.L., who launched at CASS Cafe gigs in early 2010 before moving to concerts everywhere from St. Joseph Island to Thessalon, later becoming a favourite at Sault Ontario metal shows from early 2011 through last fall. Memorable concerts included 8 Rosie metal night appearances, their various multi-band gatherings at members' homes, opening slots for bands like Fuck The Facts, and their third place tie at last April's Humane Society Battle of the Bands, though they only played one live concert in the past 7 months.

I really enjoyed For All That Is Lost, and I thought that they had steadily improved as a unit during their run with a lot of brutal originals (plus their unique masked look in many later shows), helping make them arguably the highest profile of the Central Algoma metal bands that sprouted in the early 2010s! I don't know what led to their breakup, but I can only hope things were amicable, as they're talented guys that would all benefit newer bands! Best of luck to Tyler, Brook, Ben, and Kameron in the future, and hopefully we'll hear of new music from them all sooner or later!

Next up, we have another band to add to our inactive local band links, that being the former locally-based metal band Sue Inside. They last updated their then-new Facebook page on April 10th of last year, but they have shown no visible signs of life since then elsewhere, so it seems likely that they fell inactive. Sue Inside had been active since their 2007 inception in Sault Ontario, and they may be best remembered locally for their duo appearances at the Skid Row and YMCA Battles of the Bands in 2008 & 2009 (in fact, they were the last continuously active band from either battle.) After members Shane Lipsit-Fraser & Jeff Vogel moved to Southern Ontario in mid-2009, the band remained active over the next three years, including the addition of Shane's former Paricide bandmate Adam Veen on bass, the posting of many new songs (many of which were acoustic) onto Shane's YouTube channel, and the occasional show in the Sarnia/Oil Springs area, but updates grew more sporadic, and hopes for more concerts & larger activity following their Facebook page's launch don't seem to have panned out.

I think Sue Inside flew under the radar a lot during their run thanks to their small lineup and few live concerts, but they had a solid chaotic death metal sound that would have fit well at newer local metal shows, though from what I heard of the guys with Adam, he added a nice new dimension that I wish we could have heard more of! Best of luck to Shane, Adam, and Jeff in the future, and hopefully they stay musically active going forward!

Now, let's break from the break-ups and departure news briefly to talk about next Saturday's Ripcordz-headlined concert (featuring local metal openers Destroilet & T-Rex Manning!) While the physical location of the show (864 Queen Street East) hasn't changed, the venue still has, as the show has been moved upstairs from The Algonquin Pub & Sports Bar to The Rockstar Bar, as per Destroilet drummer Matt Waples on the Facebook event page this past Wednesday. A reason for the change in floor wasn't announced, but the upstairs bar will arguably give the show a bigger feel, so hopefully this will benefit all involved, and the music will still rock! Nothing else has changed regarding age limits and ticket prices, just the floor. Also, if you've seen a YouTube video about The Algonquin Pub being "born" on March 8th as the Lower Lounge at the Rockstar with a dance nightclub theme, I wouldn't read into it, as that video was posted well before The Ripcordz show was announced, so I don't think metal/punk shows are off limits downstairs. Keep an eye out for any other possible updates on this huge concert coming news weekend!

Finally for today, local thrash band Pillory have announced the departure of bassist Jonathan Tiberi, as per a posting on their Facebook page on Monday (which the band emphasized was not an April Fools joke.) A reason wasn't given, but it's already been reported that Jon's moving back to Southern Ontario later this spring, so that's likely at least part of why he's left. No word yet on if the band will launch a replacement bassist search, but Jon's departure (and guitarist Andres Duchesne's sudden passing in December) leaves just frontman Robert Sartini & drummer Bret Shuttleworth in their current lineup. I expected to start hearing winds of change with Jon's local bands following the news of his impending move, but Pillory's coming first surprised me a bit because he'd been so important & involved with the band's planned "Cringe At The Cross" EP (as seen on Facebook), and after such a promising debut show last fall, it's disappointing that he likely won't be there for their second.

Don't worry though, as he still has one gig with Late & Loud left at the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Finals, so best of luck to him in the future no matter what, and contact Pillory at the above links if you're interested in their open guitarist or bassist positions! That's all for today, but stay tuned for hopefully a new news post tomorrow, possibly including a new concert announcement! Thanks everyone!

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