Saturday, August 22, 2015

YouTube Channel Profile Series: gatesofwinter00's Channel

It's now time for our monthly YouTube Channel Profile, as this recurring feature series again looks at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels, whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artist or concert videos, in order to spotlight them and encourage readers to view and subscribe to them! This month's random choice is of one of the highest profile local metal bands of the 2000s, and they're still plugging away on their long awaited new CD at last word, so here's what you should know!
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gatesofwinter00's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/gatesofwinter00)

Owner: Gates of Winter bassist Steve Furgiuele, though the channel is credited to the band as a whole

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 17th, 2006; Current videos posted from August 2008 through September 2013

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for local progressive death metal favourites Gates of Winter, current content includes five studio tracks, two live concert videos from one of their most recent concerts, and two sneak peek videos at their planned next release "Perihelion".

Why Should You Watch: Basically, it's the best completely public and official spot to check out Gates of Winter media on YouTube, so if you've missed the guys in the past seven years, don't bypass this channel! However, note that a number of videos have been deleted or privatized by the band since their stage hiatus began, in order to emphasize their newer and more technical material, so all actual video footage shot prior to 2008 is gone, and no material from their self-titled demo EP is featured either, but some unaffiliated YouTube channels feature select G.O.W. media.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Gates of Winter - Omega: The channel's earliest surviving videos are of four of the nine songs from Gates of Winter's second release and only full length CD (to date), 2008's "Lux Aeterna", including "Burning Kingdom II: Heavenly Insurgence", "Burning Kingdom III: Lux Aeterna" ("I: A Dark Affliction" isn't featured), "The Wildwood Pariah", and as embedded below, "Omega", which has over 10,000 views. Featuring the band's 2006-2007 lineup (singer/guitarist Lee Maines, guitarist Bryan Belleau, bassist Steve Furgiuele, keyboardist Brian Holmes, and drummer Jonathan Harvey, who left before the album's release), this is a well written, heavy and dramatic track from a CD that I think the band underrates a bit nowadays, with's Lee's voice in fine form, and everyone holding up their end instrumentally! Also note the press quotes and nice hype for the album in the description.



Gates of Winter - Torment (Live 2008): In November 2011, the band uploaded two previously unseen concert videos to their channel, both from one of their last shows (to date) at the then-Lock City Grand Theatre in the fall of 2008, during their brief tenure with late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold on drums. One video is of "Winter Flight" (whose "Lux Aeterna" studio track isn't featured on the channel), while the other is of "Torment", a fan favourite early original that the description notes "has not, and will not be featured on any albums", though a studio demo of the song does exist. It's not representative of the direction Gates of Winter's studio work has taken in the 2010s, but it's a heavy and catchy song, and a nice throwback to their local peak! For more videos from this era of the band, visit David Gold's YouTube channel.



Gates Of Winter - Sneak Peeks & Orchestral Production: Three current videos have been posted relating to the ongoing recordings for Gates of Winter's third release "Perihelion", which will likely be their first album without keyboardist Brian Holmes, and at last word, would feature programmed drums. One video from November 2011 is of Steve announcing that their hiatus was over and that they'd be releasing "Perihelion" in 2012, complete with a sample of the song "Dimensions". A demo recording of another new song ("Prometheus") was uploaded in April 2013 as the planned album opener, but embedded below is the latest clip from September 2013, a sneak peek of clips & orchestral tracking for a planned song, and it sounds very promising! As of April 2015, progress on "Perihelion" was ongoing, but with Lee, Steve, and Bryan all living apart at the moment (only Lee's in the Soo right now), things have been slow. The wait's been excruciating, but Gates of Winter have come so far with such promising hints, so keep the faith, and hopefully "Perihelion" is in our hands soon!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we have randomly chosen ex-Elipzis bassist Ryan Harrison's old "freakwoog" YouTube channel, which features 14 videos of him performing solo hard and modern rock covers, and might be of interest for fans who miss his old cover band Riot! By Night, which he fronted! Look for that on or around September 22nd, and stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

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