Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Acention

Here is this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, our recurring series on local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands from the past, always randomly selected from our inactive band links! For this month, we head back over a decade for a look at a promising band that sadly didn't get too far off the ground, so here's what you should know on them!

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Acention

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative/Post-Grunge

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Dalton James Boissineau (Meant To Last, These Sins Of Time), vocals/guitar
Josh Willet, guitar
Caleb Cachagee (Haggith), guitar/bass
Cayne Cachagee, drums

Danielle Wierzbicki, vocals
Mikey Cachagee (20 Pack Of Marshmallows), bass
Konar Zayet (Suffacation), bass
Jonny Amendola (Half Past, Skeyes Of Seven), drums

Audio/Video: Acention had cited Papa Roach, Evanescence, and Three Days Grace among the groups that they were covering as of their initial launch, and they shared a setlist in June 2012 on their Facebook page featuring covers of the likes of Nickelback, Buckcherry, and Theory of a Deadman, among other hard rock and post-grunge groups, while Dalton had teased posting an unplugged cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Strip My Mind" at one point. Original songs were also being composed during their active run, but they never played a public concert, and their only posted media is this Facebook video of Dalton & Josh working on an original song with acoustic guitars. It's obviously a very incomplete glimpse of what Acention were aiming for, but there is a promising guitar line here!

Info/Analysis: Forming in the fall of 2011 before making their public launch in April 2012, Acention were comprised primarily of teenage musicians at the time, and posted frequent updates that spring and summer as they worked on their sound and setlist. Postings drastically slowed down from that fall onward, and despite teasing a new original song and some new song lyrics in early 2013, the band would cease updates after a January 2014 post where Dalton cited personal matters and in-band drama for their recent inactivity. It's hard to know how Acention would have sounded as a full/live concern, but their modern rock radio-centric set would have had local fans, and be sure to follow Caleb & Jonny's more recent bands!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! In a coincidence that I absolutely did not plan (I use a random number generator to pick bands in this series), our June profile will be of former Acention bassist Mikey Cachagee's prior hard rock band 20 Pack Of Marshmallows! Look for that on or around June 10th, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

 

A New Album Release, New Videos, And More!!

As our backlogged news is slowly chipped away, we'll touch on a few more assorted items, new videos from two separate Sault Ontario acts, and leading off, the release of the first new hard rock album of the year, so here's what you need to know!

Dafter, Michigan hard rock artist Sweetkenny (Kenneth Sutton) released his 11th solo album "Slobber" on Sunday via his Bandcamp page! Coming in advance of a planned CDBaby release on January 15th, "Slobber" will likely be the first of three 2015 albums if his recent recording frequency is maintained for the coming year. Recorded last year at Waterfall Records, this is self-described as a "heavy rock, vocal, instrumental, high energy, fun album" which mixes instrumentals and full songs with vocals, "Slobber" has songs based around a "let me help you" feeling, though the intent of the "Slobber" name and pirate motif are somewhat vague. The album features 10 songs (all recorded solely by Ken), and it can be bought at the Bandcamp link above for $12, though physical copies will likely be $9.99 on CDBaby when released. If you're a fan of SweetKenny's prolific hard rock output, you'll want to check this out, but is a review of "Slobber" on the horizon?

We do plan to review a new SweetKenny album soon (very likely later this month), but we're actually going to take a look at his last 2014 CD "Amazonian" instead, as it's slightly heavier, but "Slobber" remains very possible for a review as soon as the summer once the 6 month buffer period (to avoid showing a bias) is cleared, though we may have to pick between that and a future SweetKenny release if his recording schedule remains busy. In any event, pick up "Slobber" and more albums at the above links!

Next up, here's the first new video from Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's YouTube channel in six months, as posted yesterday! A cover of Def Leppard's instrumental "Switch 625" (itself Alex's first hard rock cover in over a year), this will be of extra note to A.T.D. fans via drum tracks provided by drummer David Peredun, though he isn't drumming live in the video (and I have no clue if this collaboration is a sign of life for Ashes To Dust.) More similar to Alex's earliest covers due to the lack of vocals, it's a strong rendition with nice energy, and it's great to see Alex posting videos again, so give it a look below!



Also, here's a new teaser video from local doom/punk band The Revolution, as posted on their Facebook page on Christmas! The video features Austin McCrae & Brandan Glew (no new bassist yet) playing a new original song that is planned for their forthcoming debut EP, though it suddenly cuts off 86 second in, and was uploaded sideways for some reason. It's a little cymbal heavy, and Austin's hard to hear, but I imagine this will hold up with other tracks when they have a full lineup and work out the kinks! Check out The Revolution's new video below!



Finally for today, here's three shorter news items from the last little while, and these are in alphabetical order by band or event name:

• Barring a sudden sign of life, we'll be moving local modern hard rock band Acention to our inactive band links by Saturday due to a year's inactivity, last posting on their Facebook page on January 10th, 2014. Featuring alumni of Haggith, Skeyes of Seven, and These Sins Of Time in their various lineups since 2012, Acention showed some promise and ambition, but they never played live during their run. I was hoping that Acention would have finally gotten off of the ground, but best of luck to Dalton, Josh, Cayne, and other former members in the future!
• A new review of AlgomA's "Reclaimed By The Forest" was posted on Boxing Day on the Italian metal site Metalhead.it on Boxing Day, albeit in Italian. Reviewer Matteo Piotto gave the CD an 8.5/10, calling it (according to Google Translate) "pitch black, claustrophobic, and oppressive" but also "a monument to the heavy sound", comparing the vocals to that of Godflesh. Good review, so give it a look at this link and with a translator!
• A new individual award has been announced for the Tidal Records Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March, as Bomb Energy Drink will be providing the "highest energy act" with a case of cans of Bomb and large t-shirts for each band member. Interesting, and I'm curious to hear what other awards are announced for what should be a huge event! Our source is promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page yesterday.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

New Videos And More Assorted Recent News & Notes!!

For this news post, we have a lot of shorter recent items to clear out of our news cache, along with some new video postings that might be of note, so read on below to get caught up! We start with a new video from 2/3rds of Toronto metal legends Anvil, who issued this video greeting to local fans yesterday in advance of NEXT WEEK'S headlining show at The Canadian Nightclub! Just 15 seconds long, it's basically a brief show plug from frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow" and drummer Robb Reiner, and while nothing new is stated, it's great to get some direct advertising from Anvil themselves! Remember, they rock The Canadian this coming Saturday with fellow Toronto metallers Caym and local opening bands Jack Spades, The Suicide Kings, and Project 421, and tickets remain on sale for this 19+ concert for $20 (or $25 at the door), so get yours A.S.A.P. at The Rad Zone, The Canadian, or from local band members while they last, and check out the new video below!



Next up, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's newest solo cover is now up via his YouTube channel, this time a cover of Green Day's "21 Guns"! Uploaded last night, it continues his recent multi-instruments trend with vocals, and while I'm honestly not a fan of this song at all, he does handle it as well as I'd expect! I'd be curious to hear how Alex does on older Green Day songs too, but for now, check out his newest solo video below!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• In their first public update in 5 months, long gestating Sault Ontario hard rock band Acention updated their Facebook page on January 10th, where (I believe) frontman Dalton Boissineau blamed the lack of activity on personal issues & internal drama. However, he did promise that music will be up as soon as possible, and when things come together, the band will talk about potentially writing an EP. Fingers crossed things work out, because progress has been way too slow from their camp!
• Local concert promotion agency Heavy North Entertainment are looking for metal bands that might be interested in playing a concert of theirs in almost two weeks on Friday, March 21st. No word on the venue or already enlisted bands yet, but this might be the same show that the on-hiatus Crimson Crusade turned down an offer to play at last month. Stay tuned for updates, and if you're interested in playing, message promoters at this link!
• Barring a re-emergence of activity by then, we'll likely be moving local progressive hard rock project The Mourning Glory to our inactive Sault Ontario band links on Tuesday due to a year's inactivity. Despite teases for material and such this year, the band has made no public updates since this post on drummer Glen Thomas' forum Freq's Music Planet last March. Hopefully the band turns up again, but either way, follow Glen and Tony's main band Flat Stanley for their current work!
• I have deleted former Sault Michigan record store New Moon Records from our Other Sault Michigan Links section, as their old website's domain name is now held by a California independent label of the same name, after previously expiring by the end of last year. New Moon Records (which was in the current Dotgames location) closed long before we were aware of the site, so this isn't a big loss, but I just wanted to let you guys know!
• London/Thessalon metal quintet Papa Fogals Chair (featuring a number of current Saultites) will hold a one-off reunion on May 3rd at The Moose Lodge as part of the entertainment for bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe! The event will also feature drummer Derek Turner's current band Garden of Bedlam (in their first announced set of the year) and acts to be announced. Given the personal nature of stag & does, we don't call them as full public "concerts", but click here for more information!
• Local goregrind duo Rotopsy are the fourth confirmed act on this year's Sewer Swampstravaganza on Saturday, May 3rd, in the first appearance at this yearly Oddfellows Hall all ages event by a Blood Shed Productions band. Should be interesting, and stay tuned for further lineup confirmations as they come in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, as well as this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles on Monday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), Plus News From Frightlight, LemmaFest, Acention, And More!!

Well guys, the weekend's schedule is largely quiet for metal and hard rock concerts at present, but is there anything heavy going down that I can verify? Yes, as we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a show TOMORROW (and a related lineup change), and that leads off today's post, but also stay tuned afterwards for a local band's recent interview, LemmaFest updates, a young local band's first video glimpse, and more!

Apparently, Sault Michigan hard rockers Powerslug will return to The Corner Pub Bar & Grill for perhaps the first time of the new year TOMORROW NIGHT! I actually learned about this show from a different source, that being prominent local musician Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten (Wearwithal, ex-End of Existence, etc.) on his personal Facebook page yesterday. As it turns out, he's actually their current drummer (replacing Ivan Schliska), and recent postings indicate that he joined the band around the time of their name change from River Witch last August. However, note that I haven't found any postings from Orb from before April referring to Powerslug, so take that for what it's worth. Either way, the band's lack of an online page precluded me from hearing about the change when it happened, and I apologize for being so late with word here, but it's good to see Bob drumming live again! He's definitely talented, and with Great Bodily Harm dissolved, it's nice to see him hitting the local stage still, even if details on Powerslug are hard to source! Best of luck to Ivan too, and though I don't know why he left, hopefully we hear more from him at some point! As stated above, this talented hard rock quartet will hit the stage at The Corner Pub tomorrow, and they'll be on at around 10:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit.

Though I wish Powerslug had an online page of some kind or video footage to keep fans abreast of any songs, lineup changes, or upcoming dates, there is clear talent in Powerslug's lineup, and I know that their show tomorrow will be a great time, so if you're in the mood for some hard rock on this quiet concert weekend, go chug your mug with Powerslug tomorrow night at The Corner Pub!

Next up, here's a new article on local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight! Lydia Peever from the fittingly named Ottawa horror culture website Ottawa Horror recently interviewed singer Johnny Pints towards an article/contest for their site on Wednesday, and it's a nice read! In the article, Johnny discusses the band members' love for horror movies, the inspiration for the Frightlight name, and some horror links to some of their tracks (including hinting towards a They Live-inspired new song), while Lydia also complimented the band's artistic style and the sound of their "It's A...Live" EP, and expressed hope that Frightlight will play in Ottawa down the road. My only gripe is that they incorrectly credited the Die Mannequin show earlier this month as drummer Chris FreakNStein's second live show with Frightlight, when it was his fourth (following the Misfits gig in Toronto, the Coch's Corner Halloween party, and Dead In The Van), but the rest is awesome and gives Frightlight some well deserved press! As well, a contest is also featured there where the winner will receive a large Frightlight t-shirt, two copies of their EP, three pins, and four stickers, so if you wanna enter, e-mail contests@ottawahorror.com with the name of your favourite horror-themed band before 1:00 PM TOMORROW!

It's great to see Frightlight spreading the dead far beyond the Soo, and it's a nice complimentary article all around, so give it a look at this location, and enter the contest if you can to win a cool Frightlight prize package!

Thirdly, here's the latest updates relating to the second annual LemmaFest outside of Dondee Lanes on June 23rd! There's been a change to the band order for the festival, as local metal trio Scofflaw and local cover rock quartet Chump Change have swapped slots, with Chump Change jumping back to a 3:00 PM set and Scofflaw now closing the outdoor stage at 9:00 PM. The switch was made due to a booking conflict for Chump Change, presumably due to an existing concert lined up that evening, as per drummer Jason VanLuven on the LemmaFest Facebook page. Not too drastic of a change, but it helps all parties, and it does stack the deck more for metal in the evening, so make note of this lineup alteration! Also, LemmaFest organizers have announced that some proceeds from this year's event will go towards the Grosse Pointe Music Academy's Guitar Camp in Sault Michigan this July, and there's an attached contest deal going on with this event, so click here for all the details on that! This could be a fun and rewarding way to get young prospective musicians in the area a chance to learn more on the guitar, and it's awesome to see LemmaFest supporting the cause! Check the above links for more on LemmaFest, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Also, here's some more recent updates from new Sault Ontario hard rock band Acention! Band members have frequently been updating their Facebook page with new stuff, so here's some of what's been posted over the last few days! They've confirmed that guitarist Dalton Boissineau is handling vocals at the moment (replacing Danielle Wierzbicki), and they've also posted a bunch of new band photos (including a new logo) to go along with a bunch of recent status postings. Most have been teasers for original material & covers they're working on, including a cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Strip My Mind", but most recently, they've posted their first video footage! It's a Facebook video (so I can't embed it here), but it's of Dalton and guitarist Josh Willet working on an original song on acoustic guitars, and this is a solid start, but I definitely wanna see this expanded on with bass and electric guitars and so on. Click here to check it out, and stay tuned for more news and notes from this promising young band as it all comes in!

And finally, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or festival name:

• Continuing their recent spring run of concerts outside of the Sault Michigan area, Kinross hard rockers Banned will hit the Trailhead Campground in Drummond Island (just under 2 hours from here) for a "job" TOMORROW NIGHT! Sure, it's a bit of a drive, but if you wanna see Banned live, keep their Drummond Island trip in mind this weekend! My source is the band's Facebook page.
• The official poster for the second Sewer Swampstravaganza concert on July 13th has been revealed! Like last year's, it was done by local artist & Ye Olde Mold Pickers accordionist Rihkee Strap, and the design this year is a bit cleaner and more artistic! However, Inhuman Methods isn't pluralized on the poster, but this isn't the first time that their name has been misspelled locally. Stay tuned for more updates on this 10 band all ages show!
• Sault Michigan hard rock trio Tantrum (formerly Abstract) are apparently playing a gig of some kind tomorrow at 6:00 PM "off 7 Mile Road", as per their Facebook page. They weren't any more specific, but I believe this is an outdoor show. I don't have enough information to officially "call" it on here, but if you're along East or West 7 Mile Road on Saturday evening, and you see Tantrum playing, go check them out!

That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news as the weekend rolls along, including this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

The Sewer Swampstravagnaza's Newest Band, Acention Updates, And More!!

We're actually close to clearing out our recent news cache, so much so that I'm low on new stories to report in the coming week as of right now! Even still, there's stuff to talk about, including new "Woods V" reviews, a new video added to one of our monthly feature posts, and the latest from a newer local hard rock band, but first, here's info on the newest band on a major upcoming concert, and what heavier material they play!

A new band has been added to the lineup for the second Sewer Swampstravaganza concert at The Oddfellows Hall on July 13th, and they're a punk/rock quartet named Ashes To Dust! They were quietly added to the lineup in the last few days, making them the 9th band (and counting) for this huge all ages show. Never heard of them? That's alright, I hadn't either before today, but they're a young band comprised of Superior Heights students that formed in December, featuring Noah Morden on vocals, Alex Hemy on guitar, Kyle Breckenridge on bass, and David Peredun on drums, all of whom I haven't heard much on before musically. Now, Ashes To Dust admittedly aren't a full fledged metal or hard rock band judging by the covers posted on their YouTube channel, but they do have a couple heavier covers posted! These include live performances of Three Days Grace's "Break" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" at Superior Heights gigs (the former's last verse is from a jam session) and a cover of Stone Sour's "Through Glass" (with multiple angles, nice touch!) by half of the band, so click each link to check them out! Other posted videos include covers from bands like Green Day, The Rolling Stones, The Foo Fighters, and My Chemical Romance, so visit the above links to check those (and more) out too.

While not a full-on hard rock band, Ashes To Dust aren't bad for their age, and they know their covers well enough that I've heard! Noah's singing voice is pretty good for clean singing & punk material, but his upper range needs more development (especially on the "Break" choruses), and he missed parts of the lyrics late on "Paranoid". I'm curious to hear how they sound live outside of the school, and hopefully no matter what they play, they'll make lots of new fans in July at The Oddfellows Hall! Check out their cover of Three Days Grace's "Break" below!



Next up, here's the latest updates from the new local hard rock band Acention! The deletion of their Facebook group did not mean anything negative for the band's status, as members have recently been updating their Facebook page with new information and photos. One piece of news is that Acention appear to have parted ways with singer Danielle Wierzbicki and drummer Johnny Amendola, likely around the time their Facebook group was deleted. A reason for their departure has not been announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and best of luck to Danielle & Johnny in their next musical steps! Since then, the three surviving Acention members have revised their page to feature some interesting new details about their sound, including a more grunge-heavy style influenced by everyone from Avenged Sevenfold & Papa Roach to Metallica & Nirvana. In some other recent posts, band members have indicated that they had a "rough start" but they are jamming and laying down some songs, and they're hoping to unveil some material and play shows soon. I'm interested to hear more from Acention, and I'm glad they're still alive, so keep posted on their next moves at the above links, and if you're interested in singing or drumming for them, it's worth a contact in case they're looking!

Thirdly today, here's some more "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" reviews from the last little while! In January, Dave Steed from the pop culture website PopDose gave Woods of Ypres' last recorded album a favourable review, calling it "virtually perfect in every way" & "their crowning achievement", while also adding that it's one of the saddest records you'll ever hear, given it's release after & the connections to David Gold's passing. Nice review connecting to their past, with some well used lyric excerpts, so click here to check it out! Also, Jason Guest from the progressive rock site Sea of Tranquility gave "W5" 4½ stars out of 5 in a brief review from March, calling it "damn near as perfect as it gets", while stressing the weighted experience of it and how close and sad the lyrics are given real events. Nice review, if short, so give it a look at this location! Finally, "Cneaz" from the blog Metal Comment gave "Woods V" an 8.5/10 rating in February, and this is maybe due to the hit & miss Romanian translation, but he barely went into any detail on the album beyond David's death in summing up his score. Still, he called it a great album, though monotonous at times, and give his review a look at this link! Stay tuned for more "Woods V" reviews in the future!

And finally, I wanted to alert you guys to a major update to one of our YouTube Channel Profiles. Before our next Banned-centric one goes up on Tuesday, I had to edit our YouTube Channel Profile on local electronic hard rock project Candle Hour, as for the first time, a video recommended by us on a profile in this series was deleted from YouTube. That was Candle Hour's music video for their song "March to the End", which was quietly pulled for unknown reasons this year, though it's still available on other websites. As a result, I replaced it with this 2010 video for their song "Overture", which is set to footage from the 1903 silent version of "Alice in Wonderland". Check out my thoughts on the video at this profile linked above, which was also updated to reflect their latest video postings from this spring, but for now, give "Overture" a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes, including a preview of Wednesday's Fuck The Facts show, in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

Hempfest Lineup Updates, Plus Lots Of Assorted News & Notes!!

Here's an auto-post full of recent assorted news for you guys, and that includes updates to some of our monthly feature posts, new "Woods V" reviews, some link changes due to page deletions, and much more! Leading things off though is some long awaited updates on a local music festival, and it's differences compared to recent years, so here's what you need to know!

Have you guys been wondering where the coverage for this year's Hempfest has been? I was curious as to the lack of news myself, but as it turns out, the second local installment under the marijuana culture festival's current ownership doesn't have a single metal band scheduled. The full lineup has been posted at the festival's Facebook group (and it's brand new official website), and from what I can tell, the full lineup of unique bands is much smaller than last year's as it is. Not counting DJs or non-musical acts, there were 13 different bands & solo artists on the main stage last year in Ophir, including 4 heavier bands, two of which were local. This year, there are just six bands over the four nights of live bands (August 9th-12th), playing a mix of folk, ska, and reggae music for the most part. Only one (The Blackberrys) are 100% verifiably local, but half of the bands this year are returning from last year's Hempfest. Each band this year is playing on at least two nights, and timeslots are being filled with the Willy High Games (which were a part last year's event), a DJ, music over the speakers, and in one case, a band playing twice on the same night. I will note that local punk trio Redundant are the official spare band if any of the scheduled acts drops out, but they're the closest to metal at the moment.

I can only assume that the lineup is halved from last year due to monetary concerns (I may be wrong though), and having admittedly heard mixed things from last year's Hempfest, less bands may be an way to help fix some of the issues. It's a shame that metal won't be represented, but hey, at least the bands playing this year fit with the crowd & themes really well! Lineup aside, everything sounds about standard from last year, so click here for all current details on tickets and other festival rules and notes. I know many of you guys will still be all ready to enjoy Hempfest in August no matter what, so check out all of the details at the above links, and here's to another successful year!

Next up, I wanted to let you guys know about a series of Facebook page/group deletions for three local bands, though I'll note that all had alternate pages to replace them with. One is sadly for defunct local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete's Facebook page, which was deleted in the past month presumably due to their breakup in April. I wish they'd have left it online for their old fans and to archive their history, including their solid year of local concerts, but what can you do? Luckily, their Reverbnation page is still online, so I just replaced the link for it! The other deletions are for a pair of bands featuring local guitarist Dalton Boissineau, those being new local hard rock band Acention and his former local band These Sins of Time. While the latter's page was likely deleted for similar reasons as Sneaky Pete's (T.S.O.T. broke up last year), the reasoning for Acention's Facebook group's deletion is unknown, though members' personal Facebook pages have hinted to jamming and band activity as recently as this weekend. If I hear anything definitive towards Acention's status, I'll have it here, but I've replaced both of the links for these bands with Acention's outdated Facebook page and These Sins of Time's MySpace page! Hopefully that's all for page deletions and bands erasing their online history for a while, because it is a bit disheartening!

Also for this post, here's even more reviews of Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! One newly found review comes from Will Cifer at the metal website Global Domination, who gave the album a 7/10, with the consensus that it was "solid shit fo' sure, but still nothing new." He gives a lot of good opinions on the album's conviction and it's fittingness as their final chapter, though he doesn't believe that "W5" will spur an after-death revival. I like his honesty, even if I don't entirely agree, and if you can get past the hit & miss English translation, check it out at this link! Another new review from January was by Neil Pretorius of The Metal Observer, who gave "Woods V" a 9/10, calling it their magnum opus & a very nuanced album, while praising it's dark and prophetic tone. Another good review, so check it out at this location! Finally for now, Brad Sanders from Jukebox:Metal gave this album 5 stars in a recent review, and though he connects much of his feelings to David Gold's passing (even saying it might as well be a suicide note), he called it their "most consistent & best album yet". Short but well written review, so click here to check it out, and stay tuned for more "Woods V" reviews soon!

Fourthly, here's some assorted recent shorter news stories, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or musician name:

• Trail's End guitarist Chris Hubbard uploaded a new video to his YouTube channel last month to show off his new OLP guitar with some custom upgrades. Despite it's newness, he's selling it for $600 or to the best offer, so if you like what you see in the video, give Chris a shout and make a deal!
• Former Havadder bassist Daniel Horton is looking for a bassist & drummer (age range 18-21) for a new alternative/grunge project he's fronting. If you're interested, check out his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Sunday, or message him on Facebook! I hope this takes off, as Daniel is talented and grunge bands are very scarce locally, so if I hear more, I'll let you guys know!
• Former Lion Ride guitarist Marco Pedalino is looking to join a new local band or jam with some musicians, and he's open to forms of metal. He also posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday, and he seems really eager to get out there in a band again. Marco would be a definite asset to any band locally, so if you're at all interested in his services, message him at this location!
  

And finally, here's some more updates to some of our monthly feature posts to make them more accurate and up to date! In the Defunct Local Band Profile Series, I've updated the joint SIGHdEFECT/Mugwort profile to note members' newer bands, including Jason Bourcier's work in Giwakwa, Matt Waples' new band The Belmonts, and Mugwort's Bob Helsten's new band Wearwithal. I also added a Giwakwa link for bassist Nolan Rainville on the Bring The Fallen profile, along with restoring a photo there. In the YouTube Channel Profile Series, I edited the profile for Lion Ride's YouTube channel to further emphasize their breakup and add notes on the channel's return to use and the upload of their "I'm So Excited" cover. I edited the Garden of Bedlam YouTube channel profile to remove dated references to their 2011 activity level, while I restored a photo on the profile for Bad Side's YouTube channel. In our profile of Joey Beairl's channel, I edited the reference to Unleashed drummer Jacob Hotland's current band, as they changed their name from Abstract to Tantrum earlier this year. Finally, I edited the profile for Scott Savoie's channel to note his band Swayze Train's breakup, make some date adjustments, and add references to his newest video, a Canada-exclusive Devildriver cover. There's more edits to come, but check the above links for all of the newly updated profiles!

That's all for now, but if there's no new posts by Sunday, I'll hopefully see you guys that night for the West of Hell/Tribune show at The Canadian, and the big local band returns beforehand! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, The Quest For Metal At Rotaryfest, And More!!

Our busiest month since August continues today with this latest post at The Sault Metal Scene, and for this latest batch of news, we have a brand new local band, news on a recent campaign towards a local festival that's gaining a lot of steam, and some more assorted stories, so here's what you need to know!

We've got a new local hard rock band to talk about today at the SMS, and their name is Acention! Their online pages were only started this month, but they're already showing some promise thanks to their lineup and sound descriptions. Acention's current lineup includes singer Danielle Wierzbicki, guitarists Dalton Boissineau (formerly of These Sins of Time) and Josh Willet, former Suffacation bassist Konar Zayet, and Cherry Crush drummer Johnny Amendola, who you may remember from a campaign earlier this year to see him join a local metal band. Notably, Acention's Facebook page still lists an earlier lineup for the band, which featured Dalton & Josh alongside Caleb, Mikey, and Cayne Cachagee (I think they're brothers), and though I know Mikey was once on bass in 20 Pack of Marshmallows, full older lineup positions weren't listed. Acention has been together since October 2011, and their Facebook group says that their current lineup does covers from bands like Papa Roach, Evanescence, and Three Days Grace, with plans to write originals and start gigging this summer. Become a fan or group member at the above links for current updates!

I don't know a whole lot on Acention, but there's promise there! Johnny's a very talented young drummer, I know Danielle from high school and she has a good singing voice, and I haven't heard anything negative about the members of this new band! It'll also be nice to see another heavier local band with a female singer, which is scarce on the Sault Ontario side of things right now (aside from Turner Up & the increasingly inactive Sativa Rose.) Stay tuned for more from Acention as it rolls in, and they're now in our band listings on your left!

Next up, this is related to a campaign that has been all over many local metalheads' Facebook news feeds in the last while. On Thursday, Bear Hunters/Borderline Divine guitarist Mitch Sirie launched a Facebook group named "Bring Metal to the Rotary Fest Main Stage 2012!", which is about what the title implies. Mitch was hoping to instigate an effort to add metal bands to our local summer festival's main concert stage at Clergue Park over the July 19th weekend, which generally features mostly local cover bands, typically ones who frequent local bars on weekends. While bands like Turner Up & That's Chester have been seen in recent years, the aim was to get even heavier bands with original material to be featured equally with those of other genres, especially with the progression of the local metal scene in recent years. Mitch has since heard back from Rotaryfest higher-ups that the main stage is for cover bands only, but his influence and efforts may help lead to a metal element on the Tenaris Second Stage outside of The Grand Theater on Queen Street East. Though that stage has generally been focused around local & out of town indie rock bands, they're more open to original material and metal genres, and despite no heavier acts last year, bands like Garden of Bedlam, Gates of Winter, and Stillbroke have rocked the Second Stage in the past, so it's certainly not taboo there.

If all goes according to current plan, Mitch is hoping to get some booking control over a proposed third day of the Tenaris Second Stage at Rotaryfest this year, which would see bands who apply for consideration this year (applications should start on Monday) be considered on a more metal-friendly basis. If this doesn't fly, Mitch and related contributors would be looking into hosting some type of outdoor metal event concurrently with Rotaryfest, but nothing is final at present. Check the above links for the recent discussions! I'm all for increased metal integration this year, as compared to other local music festivals, metal and hard rock is definitely a lesser focus at Rotaryfest. If I booked the main stage, I'd integrate all genres and try and focus on original material, but I understand why they have the bands they do each year. The bands they get are unoffensive, family friendly, and play familiar music that a diverse local audience can enjoy. Plus, Rotaryfest is a family festival in many respects, and some people won't want to hear death growling or expose their young children to it. I'd still prefer a wider range of bands for genres, ages, and levels of original material, but what Rotaryfest is doing at Clergue Park works for what they do, and I'm sure they feel that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Maybe we'll at least get Caveman Morrison this year though?

The Second Stage is definitely an easier nut to crack, as they generally have supported original & heavier material more, but the dependence on indie rock & numerous out of town bands has turned off some metalheads that I know. I find that the organizers of the Second Stage do a great job for talent that they book (local or otherwise), but even if a full day can't be secured for metal/punk, just seeing more than just one heavier band on a day's lineup would be welcome. I'm certainly not the type to try and force metal on the unwilling, but if we could get a cross section of the best of every genre, everyone would be happy, and hopefully some steps can be taken down that road! Stay tuned on Monday (if all goes according to plan) for applications to play at this year's Rotaryfest, as the odds may be better than ever that your band gets on the bill!

And finally, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by event or artist name:

• A review of April 5th's David Gold memorial concert/"Woods V" CD release party in Toronto has been posted online by Jonathan Millard-Smith of Hellbound.ca, so click here to check it out! Though I don't agree with his questioning of Kittie justifying why they were there (it may be how they grieved and got through it all), it's a nice and concise review of the night's proceedings, with solid photos by Adam Wills, so give it a read!
  
• I've moved Skull After Betrayal frontman Mike Vincent's solo project to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Mike last updated his solo Reverbnation page last April with some original song postings, but I think he's mostly been focusing on band work since. Hopefully he revisits his solo work down the road, but stay tuned for updates from Mike's band projects!
• The Posted Around concert poster exhibition at the Circle of Creative Arts building near The Grand Theater has been extended until May 7th (one week from Monday) due to public interest, which is awesome to hear! Go check it out A.S.A.P. to see some awesome local concert posters and buy prints of them for as low as $5!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and videos soon, plus our review of End of Existence's debut album! Thanks everyone!