LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Pixo Control & Ten Kings), A New Album, And Gonqshow Updates!!

Let's touch on some recent big news items on the site today, including updates to an ongoing concert series, a surprise new album release, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! If you're wondering, our River Jacks concert preview is coming in our next post. Now, here's what you need to know!

New Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Ten Kings will play outside of the Kewadin Casino umbrella for the first time next month when they rock The Savoy Bar & Nightclub on Friday, June 5th & Saturday, June 6th! It's great to see this regional supergroup expanding their territory to take some different stages, so whether you haven't seen Ten Kings live yet, or you're familiar with them from their Kewadin gigs, you might want to write these dates down! Just for reference, remember that The Savoy has hosted outdoor gigs under their old Summerfest umbrella in the past, but nothing indicating that is on the band's own Facebook event page. Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, neither has an announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend either. For more details, check the above links, and stay tuned for more from Ten Kings!

Next up, Sault Ontario hard rock/alternative trio The Pixo Control will headline a huge fundraising concert on Friday, June 12th at The Rankin Arena! The self-promoted event is intended to raise funds for the band to produce a quality North American tour this summer and full release of their upcoming debut CD, and to that end, the show will feature free pizza, games, prizes, and a cash bar as added incentives to take the drive out to The Rankin Arena for this event. You don't see a whole lot of fundraisers of this scale from local hard rock bands (Garden of Bedlam and Stillbroke had notable ones during their heyday), but if this can put a dent into what it takes to get their CD and tour rolling, then all will work out! Opening will be new local rock band Caroline Divine (featuring ex-Frasiers members) in their second announced concert, but what exactly do they play? Attendees can find out then, or at The Algonquin on June 5th!

Entitled "Pixo Plays For Food" and sponsored by Case's Music & The Rad Zone, tickets are available for $15 at both locations and via Pixo Control members. The event will take place on June 12th at 8:00 PM, though it is sadly a 19+ event. For more details, visit the above links! Adding to a surprisingly busy concert weekend at this Batchewana Street arena (joining The Danger Cats' roller derby sets the next day), hopefully this is a huge success for Michael, Steve, and Keeghan, so stay tuned as more info rolls in!

Also today, here's some info on a surprise album release, as Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock artist SweetKenny (real name Ken Sutton) quietly released his 12th solo album "Fleabag Hotel" on his Bandcamp page a few days ago! Honestly, a new mid-year release was likely given his usual schedule, but not as much was said about this one this time. Officially scheduled to recieve it's physical release on June 15th, the 11 song album is self-described by Ken as "a heavy rock, vocal, instrumental, high energy fun album", and it includes instrumentals and songs with vocals like usual. The album notably includes SweetKenny's Woodbangers Entertainment theme song "A New Dawn" among other new songs, some with amusing titles like "You Can Pet My Cat". Digital copies of "Fleabag Hotel" can be bought now at the above links for $12, but when can you expect a review on the site?

Not until July at the earliest, as we only reviewed last year's "Amazonian" in January, and we're still within our 6 month buffer period to avoid showing a bias or favoritism (Haggith's "Apocalypse" is coming in the next few weeks, and next month's review is to be determined.) Also, "Fleabag Hotel" is definitely next, as January's "Slobber" won't really be a "new" album anymore by the time SweetKenny's next review makes the site. Look for that then, and check out SweetKenny's albums above!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, all relating to upcoming Gongshow events at The Algonquin Pub! Our source for each is recent updates on the Facebook event page, and all are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local doom metal trio AlgomA have been added as openers for the Wilt-headlined Gonqshow concert on Saturday, September 27th, though one more band is to be announced. I believe this will be AlgomA's debut at The Algonquin Pub, and their brutal sludge metal should be a good compliment, so keep this show in mind for the fall!
• Toronto thrash trio AxMinister are no longer listed as headliners for the Gonqshow event on July 4th, again via recent event page updates. A reason for their exit hasn't been announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened! The show (also featuring Alberta punk quintet Calling All Captains and local rapper Mikey Thomas) is still on though, and a replacement band is to be announced, but will promoters stay with the varied genre theme? Stay tuned for more!
• New local metal trio Faceityoureametalband (featuring RedD Monkey, Pillory, and Bear Hunters alumni) have been named as the final local openers for the Gatgas-headlined Gonqshow concert on June 27th! Good to hear that they're definitely not a one-off project, and they'll fit the show well, but we have yet to find an online page for them. We'll keep you posted when we hear more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some mid-week concert previews and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Danger Cats), Haggith's New CD, And New Videos!!

Before we get into this post, I wanted to apologize for not getting official plugs of last night's two Mourning Wood concerts (a matinee at The New American Pub and a normally timed Rednecks Saloon show) on the site yesterday. Both only recieved short notice plugs on personal Facebook accounts a few hours before showtime at The New A, and as we couldn't rush a new news post in time to plug both, we covered them on our Facebook page. Had we recieved more advance word on both, we'd have definitely plugged them here, but our apologies either way! Now, today's post features new videos, a recent album release, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Local all-female hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats will rock The Rankin Arena at 17 Batchewana Street on Saturday, June 13th during... a roller derby event?! Yes, the girls' second announced show of the summer will come during Border Brawl, a Sault Roller Derby event that will see two games between Ontario and Michigan teams (with game 1 featuring Northern Ontario's own NORD Starz.) If you're not familiar with roller derby, it's a fun and physical game that the whole family can enjoy, so give it a look online to see if this is up your alley! Danger Cats frontwoman Kate Kougar confirmed in personal e-mails that they'll be playing during halftime of both games, so with each starting at 6:00 & 8:00 PM, their mini-sets will presumably be at around 7:00 & 9:00 PM. This may seem like an odd show for a local band to play, but some of the members are involved in local roller derby events, hence the connection. (Calico Katie even designed the poster!)

Admission is $10 at the door or via advance ticket sales through derby players,  while kids under 12 get in FREE! Also, note that there's an afterparty at The Rockstar Bar too, but if The Danger Cats (or any other band) are playing it, nothing has been publically stated yet. For more details on this unique concert event, check the above links, and don't bypass roller derby, give it a look and see if you'd want to check out Border Brawl!

Next up, here's some overdue notes on a recent album release, as local hard rock/grunge quartet Haggith released their newest CD "Apocalypse II" on May 9th prior to their set at that night's Swampstravaganza V! Apologies for the delay in getting this on the site, it fell through the cracks way too much. Released a day earlier than anticipated, "Apocalypse II" is the band's fourth full length studio album and second in their "Apocalypse" concept series, as recorded over the past year+ at PaperClip Productions. The album features (in various lineup arrangements and instrument roles) the band's late 2014-early 2015 lineup, including singer/guitarist Curtis McKenzie, ex-guitarist Daniel Horton, bassist Jordan Leach, and drummer/vocalist Mike Haggith, though only Daniel is credited on all 10 songs, and his Project 421 bandmate Frank McGillivray is credited with playing guest guitar on the three "Home" tracks.

"Apocalypse II" was on sale for $5, and likely will be at the band's upcoming concerts as well. You can stream all 10 songs ("Apocalypse", "Hands of Death", "Immunity", "Spreading The Disease", parts 5, 6, and 7 of "Home", "Tribute to Mike Haggith", "We Are The Damned", and the title track) at Haggith's YouTube channel for free as well, but will we be reviewing the album on the site this month? No, because it only makes sense to go in chronological order for the "Apocalypse" series, so look for our review of 2012's "Apocalypse" (at last) by month's end! Check out both above!

We'll close today with new videos, including this clip of Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve tracking drums for a guest spot he's doing for an upcoming Rotopsy track! As uploaded to his YouTube channel on Monday, the overhead video features him tracking his part in a speedo (as he pointed out), and it sounds good to add to a Rotopsy song! While a little monotonous, live drums top a drum machine and help give more of the full band feel to their goregrind intensity, and it'll be interesting to hear the final product! Give Nathan's new video a look below!



Finally, here's a new solo instrumental recording by prolific Sault native and Alberta metal guitarist Paul Melanson! The first upload to his YouTube channel in 5 months, the song is called "Split the Sphere", and it's a well recorded and performed original song with a nice solo and strong songwriting! His recent hard rock and cover work in Lethbridge is solid, but it would be interesting to see him tackle a full metal project like this again. Give his new video a look below, and see more above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Caveman Morrison), Plus More Assorted News!!

Hey guys, I'm back with some more local metal news and updates, so get yourselves ready! We have an upcoming concert looking for acts, and updates from two prominent local bands, but first, here's a long awaited LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Caveman Morrison are back! After a three month break and a band member changeover, the local metal cover trio will hit the stage for the first time since the spring on August 13th at The Vibe Lounge! This will be the band's first official concert featuring Browbeat frontman Dutch Vanderploeg on bass, replacing the departed Rick White. A start time of 10:00 PM is listed on the official Facebook event page, and according to one of Dutch's statuses on Facebook, there will be a $2 cover charge. I almost guarantee this is a 19+ show as well. Click here to confirm your attendance! It's great to see Caveman Morrison back, I'm really looking forward to seeing the new lineup in action, and hopefully you guys are too! If you wanna hear some great metal covers from one of the Sault's better known metal bands, The Vibe Lounge is the place to be on August 13th! And yes, the show's on a Friday, but don't be scared off by the whole "Friday The 13th" connection! Click the above links for more info and details!

Next up, I got an e-mail recently from Steven Dahlke, a Sault Michigan concert promoter and the event manager at The Big Bear Arena near Kewadin Casino, which has held a few notable hard rock concerts, including one of Half Stupid's final shows from last August. Steven's planning to hold a concert full of young local bands at The Big Bear Arena near the end of next month in cooperation with Steve's Music, and he's on the lookout for bands! I won't spill details on the early tentative lineup yet, the show hasn't been offically announced to the best of my knowledge, but there's some very intriguing names that he shared with me! He asked me for help in promoting the show, so that's exactly what I'm doing! I don't know 100% details, but know this: If you want to play in an all-locals concert in late-August in Sault Michigan, contact Steven at this location! This may sound geared towards Sault Michigan acts, but if you're in Sault Ontario and are interested, go for it! And as I hear more finite details on this show, especially concerning metal and hard rock acts, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Thirdly today, some assorted Garden of Bedlam updates that, in hindsight, I should have featured with my Rotaryfest review. Firstly, Garden of Bedlam recently announced that their upcoming full length album will tentatively be titled "Everything Will Die"! This was first announced in a Facebook group e-mail, and was later mentioned on stage by Buzz while introducing the song of the same name at Rotaryfest (source here!) Now, that could change (remember, it's the TENTATIVE title), but if it sticks, I approve! As for recording of the CD, all that's left for in-studio are vocals and some of Josh Belleau's guitar solos, according to the band's Facebook group! Buzz mentioned on his Facebook page yesterday that all he has left is one song, harmonies, and some "gut wrenching screams"! Sounds good to me, I can't wait to hear the finished product! Hopefully the illnesses that Buzz was battling were killed in a metal fashion so as not to affect the album! Also keep an eye out on producer Miguel Gauthier's Facebook page for studio updates too! I'll keep you guys posted as I hear more on the new album, and, of course, your next chance to see them live is on August 10th, when they open for Kiss at The Essar Center! You won't want to miss that!

Finally for today, we have new Woods of Ypres-related videos to share! But first, here's an article from Hellbound.ca where columnist Gruesome Greg reminisces about his lost Woods of Ypres t-shirt that was styled in a Batman logo-esque fashion. Only 25 are in existence, and it sucks that he can't find his! Interesting topic, I've never seen a metal column article around a band t-shirt, but it's actually a good read, especially for those of you who have a t-shirt or two that you hold dearly! Check it out here! Now, video time! The first video I'm showing also comes from Hellbound.ca's Vimeo channel, and it's outtakes from Woods of Ypres' recent music video shoot! It's basically 73 seconds of slow motion clips of frontman David Gold leaping off of a cliff into a river below with a handheld camera and, in one instance, a female co-star! No indications of which song the video is for though, but it's cool to get a glimpse of what to expect in the video! The second video is one of two new concert videos uploaded onto YouTube by user Ishadowseek from their show in Santa Clara, California! These are definitely not the best clips we've seen from the tour, especially not this clip, which has very muddled audio and shaky camera work. The one I'm embedding below, of the songs "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" & "Halves and Quarters", is longer and better, but not high quality for the video. Still worth checking out though! I'll keep you posted with more Woods of Ypres news and updates!





That's all for today, but stay tuned to The Sault Metal Scene for more news and updates in the coming days, plus some special feature posts as well! And just for reference, the next concert I hit will likely be Ultraviolence at Coch's Corner on Saturday night, so I hope to see you guys there! Thanks everyone, I'll be back with more news and updates tomorrow!