Kraken Mara's New Playthrough Upload, More New Videos, And Assorted Updates!!

News is predictably slow due to the current lockdown, but I have cobbled together enough content for a post on this Saturday morning, including some assorted shorter news and notes, and some new videos from some familiar faces. Here's what you should know!

As promised, local progressive metal duo Kraken Mara's newest playthrough video for their upcoming EP "Press Start" went public on their YouTube channel yesterday morning at 10:00 AM! Again, they went the "uploaded in advance for a scheduled premiere date" route. This video is for their song "The Woodward", and after sitting out their last two playthrough videos, guitarist Brendan Christie is back on camera for this one, playing alongside Jake here, albeit with the brothers-in-law filmed separately. Once again, I'll hold comment pending our review of the EP. As for it's remaining track ("Stratus"), that had a playthrough video shot in 2017 that was filmed outside of the former St. Mary's Paper building, and it's description has been edited to reflect the 2021 EP plans. "Stratus" does not appear to have been re-recorded, so I would not be expecting a new playthrough video for it.

Also, just to clear up any earlier discrepancies, their previously announced song "Moon's Haunted" appears to have renamed "Miscreant" for unannounced reasons. Now that all five songs are on YouTube and their website to stream, how soon will "Press Start" go on sale? Kraken Mara's website says that it is "now available for purchase", but that looks like a placeholder, as the band has not officially announced anything about a release. We'll let you know when more comes out, but check out Brendan & Jake playing through "The Woodward" below for some more metal action!

Next up, here's the newest videos from former No Arrow drummer/Faithless Sin guitarist Joe Falco's YouTube channel! After a three month hiatus, Joe returned last month to post eight new videos, all but one being acoustic covers. These include Pink Floyd's "Echoes", The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's "Blue On Black", Alice In Chains' "Don't Follow", Oasis' "Stand By Me", Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn", The Jeff Healey Band's "Angel Eyes", and as embedded below, Poison's "Something To Believe In". I went with that song because Joe also posted a short blooper reel video from his attempts at filming that particular cover, so give that a look if you want a laugh! Despite his self deprecating tone in the description, this rendition is solid, and as all of these covers are unplugged, his voice isn't as drowned out as on his earlier covers! You definitely hear more of his range in these.

Joe also posted an hour-long video on Tuesday of him working on his Aria Pro II STG-004 Series Stratocaster, if you're itching to see him fix and play an electric guitar. These videos are all worth checking out to see some well performed acoustic rock covers and more, so give Joe's newest uploads a look above and below, and stay tuned for more when we hear it!

 

Also today, here's a new original song collaboration from Inner City Surfers/ex-Role Models bandmates Brad "Example" Lacell & Dave Bahun! Posted to Brad's YouTube channel on Monday, this is entitled "The Nightmare's Real", and it's a gritty yet folksy number that fits more in line with Brad's modern solo work, complete with his raspy vocals (is it wrong to get a bit of an Everlast vibe from this?) Not a traditional punk number, but well done, and you can hear it for yourself below!

 

 

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

 

• The second annual (and final?) Coronafest live-streamed concert takes place tonight at 6:30 PM, with all relevant links and information to be found on the Facebook event page. While Coronafest is not originating locally, Saultites Kyla Becker & Jacob Baillie will play the second set, while ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan is a co-organizer of the event, and he will perform at 9:00 PM with his current Sudbury-based band The Rhythm Section. Check it out if you need some Saturday night entertainment!
• I have removed former local concert promotion agency Dismembertainment from our "Other Local Metal Links" section due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only known surviving) page at some point in the past year. The banner under which ex-Time of Ruin guitarist Rich Moreland promoted local metal concerts in 2011 & 2012, and for a time afterwards in his current Alberta homebase, Rich has since switched primarily to work in concert photography, at least until the pandemic. Hopefully he's doing well out west!
• Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished took a surprising trip downstate to play at the Hotel Royal Oak outside of Detroit this past Saturday! It was only announced on four days notice, oddly, but click here for details about the show. Hopefully the road trip was a blast, especially as social distance-limited concerts can still take place in Michigan! Also, note that on the Facebook event page linked above, their bassist and drummer were credited as Donny Wayne and Josh Tyler, omitting their last names.
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

New SooToday Videos, Plus More Recent Video Uploads!!

The last few days have been relatively quiet on the SMS, but I have an unwritten rule to try and ensure that we don't go three days on the site without a new post, so let's keep that up before I tackle my 27th birthday celebrations! Today's post is devoted to recent video postings from and featuring local artists, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with a pair of (sadly unembeddable) videos from local news website SooToday with metal & punk relevance, starting with the newest episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper, as posted online on Sunday! The second straight episode taken from last month's Motherfuckers-headlined show at The Oddfellows Hall, this one focuses on the Calgary hardcore punk headliners, with Donna interviewing frontman Dan Izzo and bassist Sean Hunter outside of the venue about Calgary's punk scene, their influence on Canadian punk music, their newest material, and what they know about Sault Ste. Marie, as interspersed with performance clips from their set. Not a bad interview, and the guys keep things light before their ferocious set, so give it a look above! The other new SMS-relevant SooToday video covers Darren Emond's Iron Maiden comic book launch at The Rad Zone earlier this month, so what should you know on it?

Darren is interviewed by an uncredited & unheard SooToday reporter about how he got on board with the Iron Maiden comic, his background and artistic endeavours, the reception of the comic so far, and his positive experiences in working with a band he loves, doing what he loves. Featuring some shots of his artwork in between, this gives Darren some nice press, so give it a look above, and pick up your copy of the Iron Maiden comic book A.S.A.P.!

Next up, here's some updates from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's Facebook page, including reveals that they now have buttons for sale (check out their next concerts to see if they're available), they're now on Snapchat, and yes, that they have new Facebook videos to check out! One video was uploaded on May 17th (apologies for the two week delay) where The Din noted that they, at the time, were close to hitting 300 likes on Facebook. In it, they try and hit 300 likes on their own with a real foot race between band members, and without spoiling who won, they came to the conclusion that they needed our help to hit the milestone. The campaign worked, as they surpassed 300 just 12 hours later, and currently sit at 320! Another video followed last week where guitarist Tammy Hill jokingly came up with an idea for the band's merchandising plans that involves bobbleheads. I'll let you watch it to see what it entails!

Embedded below though is The Din's newest Facebook video, this time just previewing the studio version of "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" from their forthcoming debut studio album "Give In To The Din", with Tammy manning the controls at the computer. This should serve as a nice teaser as the album sessions slowly march along, so give it a look below, and see much more from The Din above!



Also, here's a video from Boot Hill Crooners/ex-Inner City Surfers guitarist Dave Bahun as part of a big contest that he's entered! A cover of Randy Bachman's new song "Heavy Blues", this comes from a Vintage Guitar Magazine contest where guitarists are challenged to supply guitar tracks in place of Peter Frampton's on the song in a YouTube video. Randy himself will choose the winner on Friday, who will receive a $4,000+ D’Angelico guitar & Supro amplifier, a pre-video endorsement from Randy, and a trip to rock out with him in New York City. If you know Dave's talents, you'll know he handles this blues rocker well, so be sure to check it out below, and best of luck!



Finally for today, dormant local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam are the source of background audio in this new skateboarding demonstration video from local music/skate shop The Rad Zone! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Sunday, the video showcases three young local skateboarders (among them, Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner's son Dylan), as set to their studio track "New Rain". Solid footage of the kids delivering some quality tricks, and while this doesn't directly indicate new activity from Garden of Bedlam, it's nice to see them featured here! Give it a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more updates and this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post this week! Thanks everyone!