The Latest Updates & Album News From The Realignment Project!!

Let's talk about local industrial metal solo project The Realignment Project in this single-topic post today, so what have they been up to since we last left off with them in November? Well, on the 7th of that month, project leader Matt Hicks revealed that their fourth EP would be called "Let You Fall", which he had already finished recording at that point (remember, T.R.P. released three EPs last year alone). On November 10th, Matt confirmed both the final album cover and the release date of January 2nd (this past Friday!), with the track listing following on the 16th, notably specifying that "Scatterbrain" was retitled from "Nitwit" for one reason or another. You can see "Scatterbrain", "Where Did You Go?", and "By Myself" from that album being tracked in vertical videos linked here, here, and here from their Facebook page that same month. In a surprise announcement on November 24th, Matt announced that The Realignment Project had signed a label deal!

As teased in this video, he is working with East London Recordings, a British indie label that help independent artists release physical albums, and they have released T.R.P.'s first two 2025 EPs "Afterthought" & "The Frustration Sessions" together on vinyl, one EP on each side! East London uses a print-on-demand method from ElasticStage for making albums, which is also what Mike Haggith's MorningStar Records utilizes for physical album pressings, but I have no idea if Matt was aware of that prior. It does appear that ElasticStage's 12'' vinyl records have a 23 minute limit per side, which affects "The Frustration Sessions". Rather than drop a song, Matt opted to edit down four of its songs to fit ("Minor Outburst" alone is chopped down by 50 seconds). Keep that in mind before buying, but if you want some local industrial rock on vinyl, it costs $43.90 at this link!

This would imply that their third EP ("War Songs") & "Let You Fall" will be similarly combined for a vinyl release, but if East London does release them thusly, note that both EPs exceed 23 minutes, so expect edits on both sides. "Let You Fall" was successfully released on Friday, and if you believe promotional postings, it is "available everywhere". Definitely not true, as it isn't even on Amazon Music at press time, among other services, but you can currently stream it on YouTube (with lyric video postings ongoing), Apple Music, Spotify, Boomplay, and KKBox, and it is buyable on Bandcamp (name your price) and iTunes ($5.94). Given our ongoing album review backlog, The Realignment Project are currently pencilled in for April, as No Arrow, Sykotyk Rampage, and Handsome Sandwich all had albums that beat the yet-to-be-reviewed "War Songs" to market.

In the event that "War Songs" and "Let You Fall" get a joint vinyl release by April 30th, I would review both at once, as that would be a singular local album release, but if this was a one-and-done, we'd just review "War Songs". Either way, I'll be looking at new music from The Realignment Project in the spring, and Matt never stops, as he was already working on his fifth EP as of December 13th! Also last month, Matt was interviewed about The Realignment Project by David Oman of the British blog PlayedByDavid, where David interviews various indie musicians, seemingly all being posed the same questions. In Matt's interview, he outlines his musical background, favourite original songs, his songwriting and recording process, favourite musicians, future plans, and more, and he gives some good detailed thoughts on the topics at hand! In terms of scoops, the biggest one is that he's planning to release T.R.P. CDs.

This would be through ElasticStage (no word on if he'd be combining them like on vinyl), and while Matt is not planning on playing live in this project, he hasn't ruled it out either. It's great to see The Realignment Project staying exceedingly productive, and hopefully 2026 sees more quality music from them, so stay tuned for more from Matt soon, and here's the lyric video for the opening/title track from "Let You Fall"! Thanks everyone!

The Realignment Project - "Afterthought" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 188th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and after a two month spell of archival reviews, we have the first new local metal release of 2025 to look at this month, namely new local industrial solo act The Realignment Project's debut EP "Afterthought"! Independently released to their Bandcamp page on January 29th, this EP is the first output from The Realignment Project, led by former Dirty Virgin drummer and Riverin frontman Matt Hicks, who is the only credited performer here. Readers around the local scene in the early 2010s will recall that Riverin were also an industrial metal band, so if you wanted to hear more from them, you may want to pay extra attention to The Realignment Project's EP! "Afterthought" is on sale on a "name your price" model, so while you can download it for free on Bandcamp, consider paying something to support Matt's work!

With six songs running for about 22 minutes, let's begin this review with the opening song, "Broken Machine"! This song alternates between Matt serving as a carnival barker/ringmaster of sorts, if for a very dark circus, with angry shouted choruses about how we can't stop/fix the title machine. The industrial and electronic influences are well applied, but it's definitely a hard rocker underneath, and it has a cool sound to it with good percussion. I would like more varied lyrics, but it's a good starter for The Realignment Project! Next up is "Finger On The Trigger", which earns its metal points from Matt's vocals, not the music, which is purely electronic, and very repetitive and plonky (especially the ending). The aggressive and pointed vocals do help push things along, but I'd have inserted them over something heavier.

Third is "Mother", which seems to be from the point of view of missing one's late mother (having lost my mother in 2020, I completely sympathize with Matt here). For as relatable as the lyrics are, they are a slightly awkward fit in an industrial song, let alone with Matt's singing voice not really being suited for a mournful lament like this. It's well composed as an instrumental piece, but the lyrics and singing don't really fit inside for me despite the sincere intentions behind this song. Your mileage may vary! Then we have "Incomplete", which opens with a distorted bass line that drives things even as more instruments and industrial effects come into play. Lyrically about being incomplete to conform with societal expectations, this song does return to form in terms of its darker overtones, if with a somewhat 16-bit synth sound (if that's fair), but it's more ominous than heavy. I do like the contrast of how laid back the structure is compared to the instrumentation!

A little over-long, but it's the best song since the opener on "Afterthought"! The penultimate (and longest) song on the EP is "Something Strange",  which seems to be about a personal crisis and trying to escape it at all costs. The heaviest song on offer since "Broken Machine", this alternates spare industrial verses with more aggressive and in-your-face choruses, with layered gang vocal effects therein. The verses are dancing on the line of rap at points, and I'd have had more instrumental involvement to liven them up, but it's got more going for it as a complete composition for metal fans! The Realignment Project close their debut EP with its shortest song, "Synthetic", which is another song that comes closer to rap than metal thanks to the techno beat, but he does yell the choruses, and the verses are delivered in an eerie whisper. It's not badly done for what it is, and while I like heavier stuff than this, Matt shows his musical variety well to close!

So, what are my final thoughts on The Realignment Project's first EP? Inconsistent for what I like musically, but there's enough here for industrial and rock fans to get something out of it! To compare how things have evolved since Matt's prior industrial metal project Riverin sounded in their heyday, I did check out their songs on Reverbnation anew, and T.R.P. definitely feel like a fuller realization of what Matt was going for a decade+ ago in both musical performance and production quality. Vocally, Matt does have limitations, but I was reminded of Henry Rollins more than once, which is not an insult whatsoever! The industrial side of things is way more prevalent than the rock side, with only "Broken Machine" and "Something Strange" having heavy passages, but Matt does yell on additional songs. Molten Imp aside, industrial music isn't too common locally, and what we get here is strongly composed and performed!

Of course, I'd liked to have heard more rock-integrated music for longer, but beyond that, I don't think "Mother" worked that well despite its strong lyrical theme, and some songs could be a little long and/or repetitive as they went along, but there's a nice variety here, and it's good to see Matt back with a new project, let alone one where he can finally pull off things that Riverin didn't! Buy or stream "Afterthought" at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Barring a new album release ahead (check our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post on Sunday for candidates), we'll return to the archives for the March 2025 review if there's nothing new to report. Preference will be with artists who play live next month, but it will not be of a Sykotyk Rampage or Agnosticism album due to our six month anti-bias buffer period between reviews of albums from the same project.

Look for next month's review... next month, and for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, with weekend concert previews following on Thursday, and more news/notes soon also! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (HeadFirst), A New Local Metal Project, And More!!

Here's a new news post for you guys on this Wednesday evening, and it includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, our first look at a new local band, and leading off, an even newer band to check out (with EP!), so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have a new solo project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely The Realignment Project! This marks the return to original local music of former Dirty Virgin drummer and Riverin frontman Matt Hicks, who we last covered on the SMS in an active band when Riverin posted their last updates in 2014. The Realignment Project hew much closer to Riverin than Matt's better known glam metal band, as they are an industrial metal act. Historically, that's something we never had much of locally, so they immediately stand out from that alone! Matt launched an Instagram page for T.R.P. last month, which has teaser images, AI art, and some short videos, many of which promoting the fact that they released their debut EP "Afterthought" on January 29th! You can buy it on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model, and they also now have a YouTube channel featuring lyric videos for four of the EP's six songs, only omitting "Finger On The Trigger" and "Synthetic".

As this is a brand new album on sale, this will be this month's CD review at the SMS, ending our two month spell of archive album reviews, so while I won't give thoughts on The Realignment Project's music yet, check back in the next week or so. That said, it's great to see Matt back working on new music, and if you were following Riverin in their heyday, you'll definitely want to check out The Realignment Project to hear similar and more fully realized material, so do so at the above links, and here's the lyric video for the EP's opening song "Broken Machine"!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local hard rock quintet HeadFirst have announced a mini-residency of sorts at Shooters Downstairs Lounge that will see them rock the Dennis Street nightclub for three+ upcoming Saturday night gigs! We already knew about their planned shows on March 1st and April 12th via Shooters' own advertising, but the new date will be on Saturday, March 15th, though no word on if it will have any St. Patrick's Day tie-ins. However, these three concerts will be themed across the board, as Shooters will be offering official HeadFirst-branded cocktails, shots, and food items that will only be on sale during these concerts, so click here and here for details on each drink. Fun idea, especially as this is beyond just one themed shot, so keep all of this in mind if you're hungry or thirsty when seeing HeadFirst at Shooters! Red, Raine, Liam, Claire, and Anthony allegedly have "more dates to come" at Shooters, so keep tabs with the band on social media for more concert details as they roll in.

Also, if you buy an official HeadFirst t-shirt, you'll also get a $5-off voucher for one of the drinks, which is a good bonus! In terms of their actual sets, the band will "occasionally be playing a few songs for our next project", with more details coming soon. By "project", are they just making their next CD/EP/album sound more mysterious, or is it something more/beyond just a new album? We'll keep you posted! All three Shooters shows so far have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, but we're not quite done with the raw|lust|hot rockband, as they have been named as one of the local openers for the previously announced Selias concert as Soo Blaster on Friday, March 14th! This is via the official Facebook event page, which also confirms that local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will open as well in their first gig of 2025. At least one more opening act is to be announced, we'll let you know when they are.

Note that Selias' local debut at the same venue in September featured seven opening bands, six being local. Tickets surprisingly aren't on sale for this show yet, but last fall's Selias concert ran for $15. So far, it does seem like next month's concert has more of a varied genre spread (neither A.D.S. nor HeadFirst are full "metal" bands), but with less than a month to go before showtime, hopefully Heavy North Entertainment gets everything in place for a great night of hard hitting music at Soo Blaster! See above for more on this event and HeadFirst's new Shooters dates!

Finally, let's cross the border to look at the first public videos of new Sault Michigan punk trio About:Blank! This union of Tarnished, Lift The Broken, and Midnight Logic alumni debuted at Serious Business' multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley on February 8th, and a bunch of photos from their set can be seen on their Facebook page, confirming that Parker Talentino is their vocalist and bassist. Two videos from that night can be seen on Facebook, both seeing About:Blank playing original songs, one being "Hearse". Despite being shot with the same camera and horizontal orientation, "Hearse" was crammed into a vertical portrait orientation with horrendous pillarboxing, and it was uploaded second (how did that happen?). As such, I've embedded the other song "Fix" below, but it is a lighter and more laid back punk number with a swinging vibe to it. "Hearse" is faster and more all-out, and has pseudo-rap vocals, no less!

It's just two songs so far, but About:Blank seem to be starting off promisingly, and the talent is definitely there! I will say that Parker's clean singing voice is better suited to "Fix", but I'll have to hear more to really judge how he fits in singing on electric material. Check out About:Blank's live debut below, and stay tuned for more from them soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert preiews on the site next! Thanks everyone!