A New Local Band, Two Defunct Hard Rock Bands, And Project 421 Updates!!

Before we get into this post, here's two notes from this past weekend's concerts. One is that local cover hard rock quartet Lucky 13 did  play at The Rednecks Saloon on Saturday night, as confirmed on the Facebook event page despite it not listing a Saturday gig originally. Second, Sault Michigan hard rockers Ten Kings played an outdoor Summerfest gig on Saturday night at The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, despite neither the band or venue announcing the show online (our source is frontman Brandon Carr's personal Facebook page.) Apologies for missing both, we'd have plugged them on here had they received advance word! Now, today's post features lots of PaperClip Productions updates (good & bad), but first, here's a new local band!

We have a new local metal band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Dullahan, who are bringing atmospheric black metal to the local scene! Formed earlier this year, they're the newest two man band to launch in the area, and their members go under black metal-style stage names (Wyrn on guitar & bass, and Sevriz on drums.) On Wyrn's request, I won't reveal their real identities at this time, but one member has played in bands we've covered on here, and we've plugged a band search for the other on here. An instrumental project for the time being, Dullahan (a headless rider in Celtic mythology) posted their first original song "The Wood Cutter" on their YouTube channel and Bandcamp page, which is planned to be the title track of an EP of the same name, though we await confirmation on if full album sessions are ongoing. The song joins a cover of Burzum's "Lost Wisdom" that can be heard at both links as well.

So far, Dullahan are showing promise, and they'll immediately make waves based on the genre alone, as pure black metal is something we don't get a lot of in the Soo! The songs have musical talent, and hold your attention, but we'll have to see how things go when/if the guys add a singer or possible extra instrumentalists. Check out "The Wood Cutter" below & more above, and Dullahan are now in our band links!

Next up, we have two newly defunct local bands to address, including the earlier-than-expected breakup of local alternative/hard rock quartet Haggith, as per their Facebook page last week. Originally, the guys planned to play a farewell concert on August 19th, but that has since been cancelled for unannounced reasons, other than to say that they're "all moving on to bigger and better things", which leaves the Zaum-headlined show at The Rednecks Saloon in May as their last gig. As well, their planned opening set at this Monday's Lie Among Us/Eternal Prophecy concert at The Algonquin Pub is understandably off too, and they have now been replaced by classic metal quintet Project 421, featuring Haggith alums Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Horton (good & natural choice!) This is disappointing for fans, especially given the sudden and abrupt nature of their ultimate breakup, but in the past 3 years, they did about as much as they could do within local confines!

I was hoping that the new Haggith lineup would rejuvenate the guys and keep things going, but they left us with lots of studio recordings and good memories, and you can see members in Project 421, Mike Haggith & The Din, and more to come! Best of luck to Curtis, Caleb, Jordan, Mike, and other former members in the future!

The other newly defunct band is Haggith bassist Jordan Leach's recent doom/punk trio The Revolution, as per the recent deletion of their Facebook (and sadly, only online) page. As a result, a reason for their breakup wasn't announced, but fans may remember that they had previously broken up in February before coming back two months later, so similar issues may have recurred. Originally the second version of Brutaly Fatal, The Revolution played sporadic sets at all ages shows in mid-late 2014, including sets opening for Endast & Anciients, and they began work on their planned debut EP "Roll Call" with PaperClip Productions, but the band never played live after Jordan replaced Rainey Vincent on bass late last year, and their reunion only resulted in studio work, with all announced sets after October of last year endinup cancelled. The Revolution were a work in progress, but they had promise and a unique blend of genres that seemed to be serving them well, and I wish they hadn't deleted their Facebook page!

Austin McCrae needed to work on his stage presence and confidence a bit, and their covers often were poor matches for their regular genres, but the guys had a good thing going, and hopefully we see them back in the future! Be sure to follow the original Brutally Fatal and Mike Haggith & The Din for members' current projects, and best of luck to Austin, Jordan, Brandan, and other former members in the future!

Finally today, let's close things on a positive note with some videos and updates from the aforementioned Project 421! As a clarification note to start, Saturday night's Elements/Becomes Astral concert did indeed take place downstairs in The Algonquin Pub as initially planned, despite a report late last week that the show had been moved upstairs to The Rockstar Bar. A reason for the return downstairs wasn't announced online, but given the metal genres on display and Gonqshow series continuance, it makes sense to keep it there! Our source is these photos from the show on the band's Facebook page. With singer Curtis McKenzie back in the fold, he posted three jam session videos of the guys from last March onto their Facebook page yesterday that hadn't been online previously, including covers of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave", Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.", and (as embedded below) their original "No One Rides For Free", so how are they?

Then featuring drummer Larry Mousseau (and Daniel Horton's long hair), the videos sound pretty good, with Curt nailing the vocals as we'd expect, but the videos occasionally skip and show a brief static screen, almost like a VHS tape. We await videos of the new lineup (including new drummer Chris Thompson), but these are a nice teaser of what's to come, so check them out below, and don't miss Project 421 on Monday at The Algonquin Pub! (Yes, the video works, it just starts black before fading in.)



That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!