Peril Concert Previews, Swampstravaganza Updates, And More Recent News & Notes!!

Hey guys, it's time for some more news at the SMS, along with previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts! Honestly, this weekend is fairly quiet for metal/hard rock shows, with only two that I know of going down (both across the river), but we've filled this post out with updates for an upcoming all ages show, some early glimpses at Haggith originals, and much more, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start with the concert previews, as Charlevoix classic metal trio Peril will make their first trips to Sault Michigan of the new year TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino! Their third & fourth shows in the Eastern U.P. of 2013 (following two February dates in St. Ignace), this veteran Northern Michigan band should have an exciting weekend of metal and hard rock classics in store for their Yooper fans tonight & tomorrow, so don't miss arguably the heaviest local concerts of the weekend! Admission should be free for both nights, a 10:00 PM start time is likely, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see Jeff and company back in the Soo for some live action, so keep Peril's regional return in mind for your weekend concert schedules, and for a preview, here's Peril covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" a few years ago!

Next up, here's the latest updates on the third annual Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall, which as you may remember, goes down in August, though now on a different day. Originally scheduled to be held on Wednesday, August 21st, the show was rescheduled to Saturday, August 10th, as per the Facebook event page on Monday. A reason for the date change wasn't announced, but the Saturday placement is definitely an improvement for the scheduling, and hopefully there will be a bigger turnout! No word yet though on if any bands will drop out due to the date change. The other news for this event is that a new band has been added, and surprisingly, they're an out of town band, that being Montreal thrash trio Warsenal! My source is the event page linked above, as updated yesterday. The first fully out of town band to play at a Swampstravaganza, I presume they're headlining, but a full schedule has not been announced as of yet.

Warsenal have a fast and heavy old school thrash sound that should appeal to many local metalheads, so kudos to the guys in RedD Monkey for getting them for this show, give Warsenal a listen at this link, and stay tuned for more updates on the newly rescheduled Swampstravaganza as they come in!

Also today, here's another new video posting from Haggith/Sound X frontman Curtis McKenzie's new YouTube channel on Tuesday, and it's a bit of a throwback and a prototype all at once, as this is a package of three songs named the "Rage Train EP" that he recorded in early 2012. These appear to be recordings from before Haggith's formation, but all three included songs ("No Cure For Insanity", "Rage Train", and "Wanko [Reprise]") were adapted into Haggith originals for their debut album "Dragon Joy Ride" last fall. Featuring Curtis on all instruments (save for drums, which are covered by collaborator Zach Day Andre), these are well recorded and performed, and if you didn't know better, you'd assume they were just Haggith demos! Good stuff, and a nice early look at these songs, so check out Curtis' "Rage Train EP" below, and stay tuned for updates from his active band projects!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Frightlight/T-Rex Manning/Jack Spades frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce was thanked in the liner notes of Toronto metal legends Anvil's new album "Hope In Hell" (proof here), so if you pick up a copy, make note of this little local connection! That's awesome for sure, and maybe J.D. can bring them back to town for another concert at some point?
• Sault Ontario metal standouts Garden of Bedlam have launched their own Twitter page, so go follow them there for what will hopefully a new source of frequent band updates! Also, remember that they make their out-of-province debut TOMORROW in Quebec City, and they even have radio interviews planned when out east, so stay tuned for any fallout from the show when we have it!
• If you missed Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's live debut on Memorial Day outside of The Corner Pub, then pictures of their set are now viewable on their Facebook page! There, it appears that drummer Greg Giles was not in town for the show, so his brother Steve and keyboardist Craig Harrison likely played as a duo, but I bet it was a great event all the same, and hopefully Greg will be a part of future shows!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, including this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Insipid Brutality on Monday! Thanks everyone!