Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

I'm still trying to clear out a lot of news from my pile that I've let build up too much, so here's our ninth post in the last 5 days, all about new videos! Today, we've got new videos from the David Gold memorial concerts, a local band's new instrumental demo, a heavier cover from a local indie band, and this week's classic video, so here's what you need to know, and check out our latest news post below this one for local album updates, news on a concert venue's move, lineup updates for the Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and details on Reverbnation's new look!

Let's start with some new David Gold tribute concert videos from YouTube user Laura Lee Louise, who posted five new videos related to the local & Toronto events on her YouTube channel on Thursday! Two are from the Toronto memorial show/"Woods V" CD release party, including London metal quartet Kittie covering Woods of Ypres' "Evertything I Touch Turns To Gold (Then To Coal)" and part of David's mom Esther's speech to the Toronto crowd, so click the above links to check them out! The staticy audio issues on Laura's camera are evident on the Kittie video, but the video of Esther came out well, and it's good to get another view of her thanks to David's fans and friends! The other new videos all relate to the local show, Windsor stoner metal band Gypsy Chief Goliath in particular, with the first two dealing with the night before the Ypres Metal Fest. One is right after the band arrived at The Canadian Nightclub the night before with remarks from frontman Alex Petrovich about the ride and some initial plans, and the other shows Gypsy Chief Goliath locked out of their hotel room at The Canadian Motor Hotel, and what happened when they got in. Interesting to see videos of a band's pre-concert happenings like this, so click the above links to see them!

However, the other new video of Laura's is of Gypsy Chief Goliath covering Woods of Ypres' "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" at the Ypres Metal Fest last week, and though the staticy audio remains an issue, it's nice to get a close and clear alternate angle of Gypsy Chief Goliath in their local debut, so check out this newest video from the local David Gold tribute concert below, and stay tuned for more David Gold tribute show fallout!



Next up, Brimley metal quartet Half A Man may not be playing at the end of the month with Fifth Way anymore, but they're staying busy with the recording of their first EP, and a taste of one of it's tracks has been posted onto YouTube! Drummer Mikey Bishop uploaded this instrumental demo of their new original song "Release Me" onto his YouTube channel last month, which I apologize for missing for so long, but how does it sound? Pretty good, but I'll hold full thoughts until the full version (hopefully with the full album) comes out. Check it out below, and stay tuned for more updates from this hard hitting Sault Michigan-area quartet!



Thirdly, longtime readers of the SMS may know that I'll share videos from non-metal local bands on here occasionally if they cover a metal or hard rock song live. Well, when I was researching info for our Downtown Showdown profile the other day, I came across this video from June of last year of local indie rock quintet The Tenagens covering Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", so I thought I might as well share it here! Uploaded by YouTube user jacksonnite, this appears to be from a function at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School last year. This is one of the hardest Queen songs to do justice to, and as such, the quality is extremely uneven, with the intro & opera section ("Scaramouche, Scaramouche", etc.) noticeably suffering in listenability and timing, but the rest of it is admirably played, especially the early ballad stretch. I applaud their effort here, but I'd much rather hear their originals, even if indie rock isn't something I listen to much of. What I would like to find is their cover of The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" that they played at the Smeltzer reunion show, that turned our surprisingly well! If you wanna hear The Tenagens tackle Queen, then check out the full video below, and hopefully they return to activity this summer!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! Late, I know, but we've had a lot of news this week that helped push this back. With Caveman Morrison's gigs this weekend at The Roosevelt Hotel, I decided to revisit them for a new video upload, and like our last three uploads of theirs, this video is from a late 2009 concert at The Rockstar Bar. The last video from this concert that was posted in .swf format on Caveman Morrison's website, this is of their cover of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough", and it's notable partly for featuring then-drummer Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on lead vocals! During his 2009-2010 run with the band before moving to Barrie, Jeff frequently sang and drummed on Tragically Hip covers at their concerts, and though you don't hear them cover The Hip as much nowadays, these were fun to hear when they occured! Also featuring frontman Tym Morrison on guitar and former bassist Rick White (Jeff's Frightlight bandmate in 2010), this video was ripped from http://tymmorrison.com/cavemanmorrison/video2.html, and apologies for the video quality. The lighting's hard to correct, fans got in the way of the attendee's camera, and the green watermark from the original conversion program late in the video was already on the original file.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Caveman Morrison and the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this performance with a deserving wider audience! It's a solid performance as one would expect (though not especially heavy), and Jeff has a decent singing voice, so if you can look past the video quality issues, give this 2009 Caveman Morrison video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a special all-video post dedicated to a local recording studio's recent original song blitz, so if you're interested in new Sault Michigan metal and hard rock material, definitely stay tuned tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

More New Videos & Fallout From The David Gold Memorial Concerts!!

As promised, we've got even more coverage and fallout from the David Gold memorial concerts this past weekend today, including new videos from both the Sault Ste. Marie and Torotno shows and a review from one of them, so read on below for all of the newest stuff from that very special weekend!

We'll start with new videos from the Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian Nightclub from this past Saturday, starting with two from YouTube user LauraLeeLouise's channel! Laura was among the lucky few to attend both the local & Toronto tribute shows in Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold's memory, and of her five videos from the two concerts, a couple of them are from Saturday night in the Soo, starting with this one from Woods of Ypres' members Joel Violette & Rae Amitay's set! Though the video is incomplete, Laura shot the last song from the Woods' alumni's set that night, where Rae sung "A Meeting Place & Time" with Joel on the keyboard, and I'm extremely glad that someone filmed this song, even if only the first part! Rae completely surprised me this weekend with her singing ability, and she and Joel definitely turned this black metal epic into a touching ballad with success! Fitting how it ended their set locally too, seeing as it was the last song Woods of Ypres ever played at a local concert last March. I'm stil curious to hear the full performance again, but kudos to Laura for filming this, and check it out below!



The other video that Laura filmed at the Ypres Metal Fest on Saturday was from local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam's set, though not of their Woods of Ypres cover. Instead, she filmed a brief snippet of the end of their original song "Torment" from a side stage angle, and though the band are on form, Laura's camera handles heavier music worse than softer material, and it sounds very staticy. Good video quality though, so check out this new Garden of Bedlam video below, and stay tuned for more from her videos at the end of this post!



The rest of the new videos from the Ypres Metal Fest are from Gypsy Chief Goliath guitarist Sean Hamilton's YouTube channel, and he posted four videos from the Windsor stoner metal band's set this past Saturday! All are from a mounted camera behind the stage to the band's left, and only drummer Adam Saitti is well lit, but these are interesting videos from a unique angle! The videos are of Gypsy Chief Goliath's Woods of Ypres cover "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" and their original songs "Elephant" (preceded by their set opening jam), "The Return", and "St. Coven's Tavern", so click the above links to check them out! These sound good and show off their sludgy metal skills well, though the audio quality isn't perfect, and a tinny washed out sound is sometimes noticeable. Still, these are solid new videos, so check them out at the above links, and because of it's length, check out Gypsy Chief Goliath playing "Elephant" (and jamming prior to it) in the Sault below!



The rest of the news today comes from the David Gold memorial concert/"Woods V" CD release show in Toronto last week, which has seen a lot of videos and photos lately! Laura Wiebe from Exclaim.ca reviewed the Toronto event for an article on Monday which you can read at this location. Concise but well written, and it echoes many of David's own messages, so give it a look at the above links! As for new videos, one comes from the same channel that posted the Woods alumni's "Shards of Love" cover in the Soo yesterday, and it's of Gypsy Chief Goliath playing "Suicide Cargoload" in Toronto, so click here to check it out! Slight audio distortion, but the video quality's nice! Also, YouTube user ImpaledBman got 8 videos from the Toronto show, featuring most of the bands, though Gypsy Chief Goliath, Hallows Die, Empyrean Plague, Sixes & Sevens, and the Bolero members aren't featured. Decent video quality, though there is some blur and shakiness issues. Still, these are solid for extra Toronto videos, so click here to see them! The other new Toronto videos come from the aforementioned Laura Lee Louise's YouTube channel, and they include nice quality videos from Gypsy Chief Goliath & Musk Ox's sets, and also, video of a very special guest's speech that night!

Though video of this is already online via the 77 minute video of all of the Toronto Woods of Ypres covers, I wanted to give it special emphasis now that it's online by itself, as this is David Gold's mom Esther's speech to fans at the Toronto tribute show last week! She got lots of time to talk about her love for her children and how her family is adjusting without David, along with giving thanks to Woods of Ypres supporters & David's friends and the organizers & bands at the memorial concert. She also took time to emphasize that we should all find true love and someone to love, connecting David's beliefs to that sentiment, and you can tell how genuine it was in Esther's voice. She also added hopes to make the Toronto memorial show an annual event (possibly outdoors next year around David's birthday), and you guys should definitely check this video out below! From what I know, Esther's sounds like a great mother and ambassador for her son's music, and kudos to her for her eloquent speech and thoughts! Check out the video below, and much more from Toronto at the above links!



That's all for now, but stay tuned either tonight or early tomorrow for weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!

The Ypres Metal Fest Extended Preview!!

Today's post is focused entirely on one major concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as one of the biggest local metal events of 2012 goes down tomorrow at The Canadian Nightclub for the planned first edition of the Ypres Metal Fest! Stemming from existing plans for a yearly metal festival between Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland and late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, this will not only be the realization of that goal, but it will also double as the local tribute concert in David's memory following his tragic passing in December. It's the second of two official David Gold tribute shows (following yesterday's "Woods V" CD release party in Toronto), and both shows share many bands, themes, and goals. The Ypres Metal Fest is Dismembertainment's first concert in about four months, but they've outdone themselves in securing a 12 band lineup featuring 6 bands based out of town, and from what I understand, most (if not all) of the bands tomorrow night will be covering David Gold compositions, be they from Woods of Ypres or his pre-Woods local band Proposition 86, which should be intriguing to say the least! So, who's on tap for this massive tribute concert event?

Going in rough order from the poster, the headliners are Chicago doom metal notables November's Doom, who headlined the Toronto tribute show and have shared the stage with their good friends at Woods of Ypres numerous times in the past on their American tour runs. Their mix of death metal, doom, and Gothic influences have helped them achieve a noted following, and they'll fit perfectly as headliners tomorrow night! Co-headlining the Ypres Metal Fest are gold selling London all-female metal quartet Kittie, fronted by David's close friend Morgan Lander, and since their 1999 debut album "Spit" became a major success, they've just gotten heavier and faster, so you know they'll be worth the wait tomorrow in their local debut! I'm curious to hear their Woods of Ypres cover especially, knowing Morgan & David's friendship, and hopefully they'll hit the perfect balance between mourning and face melting tomorrow! North Bay black metal standouts Empyrean Plague will also hit The Canadian tomorrow night for their first local concert appearance since the 34th Rosie metal night last September! Despite being the last confirmed lineup addition, their brutal black metal sounds will be welcome, as they surely were at the Woods of Ypres concerts they opened, so don't miss their fast paced "Against The Seasons"-esque set!

Also on the bill are Windsor stoner metal outfit Gypsy Chief Goliath, and though they're not an outward genre fit with the black, doom, and death metal surrounding them, they have an interesting slower and catchy metal sound that Down fans will appreciate, so don't sleep on these guys tomorrow night! Toronto melodic death metal quartet Hallows Die will also hit The Canadian tomorrow in their third local stop in the past year, following sets opening for Farewell To Freeway & Napalm Death under the Dismembertainment banner in 2011! I've heard rave reviews from their local sets last year, and hopefully they shred some brutal originals tomorrow night, as they have at the Woods of Ypres concerts they've opened in the past! The out of town bands are rounded out by Sudbury black metal standouts Wolven Ancestry, who are the only non-local band not at last night's Toronto memorial show, but they'll absolutely rock the Ypres Metal Fest tomorrow! Fronted by Mark "Lord Defiler" Howitt (whose company Archaic North Entertainment are helping produce the Woods of Ypres tribute CD), Wolven Ancestry are local favourites stemming from many local appearances in the mid-late 2000s, and tomorrow's set marks their first Sault Ste. Marie appearance in 3½ years, ironically at a show headlined by Woods of Ypres!

Notably, a special acoustic tribute set is also planned at this concert featuring Joel Violette and Rae Amitay from Woods of Ypres' final lineup, though details on it specifically are scant. Will we see special guests or surprise covers? I don't know, but it's fun to speculate over!

The local contingent of this concert is headed up by the 2012 debut of Garden of Bedlam, in their first concert since their "Everything Will Die" CD release party on Boxing Day (and frontman Buzz's back injury that postponed their Rockstar Bar gig last month.) They should deliver a great set tomorrow night, and it'll be good to see them again no matter what, so don't miss their metal fury! Local punk standouts Redundant are also scheduled, and though they might seem like an anomaly, frontman Justin Langlois was a very good friend of David Gold's since childhood, and that alone makes them perfect to be on this concert, so expect some great music from them tomorrow night! Musicians who opened for Woods of Ypres at their last local concert last March will also feature at the Ypres Metal Fest, including ex-State of Misery singer Steve Rhodes (with his current deathcore band The Valentine's Day Massacre) and the very last local band to open for Woods of Ypres (melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, in their Canadian Nightclub debut) so expect fast and furious sets of their quality original material tomorrow evening, and hopefully they'll leave huge marks!

The local bands are rounded out by grimecore trio Shit Liver in their first concert set of 2012 after a 4 month break (and their first Canadian Nightclub appearance), so it'll be a long time coming to see these guys brutalize the stage! Check out all of the above links to hear the entire lineup for the Ypres Metal Fest! With all of that said, how can you go to this major concert event? Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at The Canadian Motor Hotel's front desk, Northland Music, Bossy's Pub N' Grub, or through Rich Moreland, David's sister Marie, and possibly some of the local band members playing tomorrow (contact them on Facebook if you can!) Tickets will be available at the door pending availability, the show starts nice and early at 5:00 PM, and unlike last night's memorial show in Toronto, the Ypres Metal Fest is ALL AGES!! Yes, if you're 18 or younger, you can go, and it's still licensed for those of you legal to drink, so hopefully this ensures a huge turnout! Like last night, all proceeds from tomorrow's event will go towards covering David Gold's final expenses and the David Gold Music Scholarship at Sault College, and from what I can gather, band merchandise (including "W5") will be on sale tomorrow as well. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This is going to be one of the biggest metal events we've ever had locally, and it's all for a great cause! Sure, David sang about not wanting to be posthumously immortalized, but he's far from undeserving. All of these bands are very talented and entertaining, and whether it's the rememberances of David, the Woods of Ypres covers, or just the glory of 9 hours of metal, this is definitely a can't miss event! Hell, I'm currently battling my third cold in four months, and I'm not missing this for the world! Will we see any surprises, special announcements, or anything like that tomorrow? We shall see, but all I know is that this could be the best concert for the best cause of this year, and I will 150% see you guys there tomorrow evening! Stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow featuring more on this event and some other stories from the local scene, and for a preview, here's November's Doom's video for their song "Harvest Scythe", but definitely check out all of tomorrow's bands to get hyped up for the Ypres Metal Fest! Thanks everyone, and see you guys there at 5:00 PM tomorrow!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ypres Metal Fest) Plus Lots Of "Woods V" Updates!!

It's time for a very exciting post at the SMS which is split into two related halves, one dealing with a major upcoming album release, and the other dealing with a major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's all that you should know!

The David Gold memorial concert in Sault Ontario is indeed official, and I can now tell you guys some official details on the event! Titled the Ypres Metal Fest, it's being held by Dismembertainment in their first announced metal concert of 2012, and quite a stellar lineup of metal bands will gather at The Canadian Nightclub in honour of late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold on April 7th, so here's who to look for at this huge concert event! London, Ontario all-female metal quartet Kittie (fronted by David's girlfriend Morgan Lander) will headline this huge concert in what should be a fast and furious set of extreme metal! Though best known for their gold selling 1999 debut CD "Spit", Kittie have released much more (and heavier) material since then, and they should deliver a brutal set for fans in attendance on April 7th in their local debut! Joining them at the Ypres Metal Fest are veteran Chicago doom metal band Novembers Doom, who played with their friends in Woods of Ypres at a few of their American tour dates in recent years. Their death metal and gothic inspired sound is a very good fit at this concert, and they should impress all who attend with their heavy and brutal metal assault!

Also, Sudbury black metal standouts Wolven Ancestry will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on April 7th, after a three and a half year absence, having last played here in November 2008 at The Grand Theater (with Woods of Ypres on the lineup too, ironically!) Wolven Ancestry have always been one of Northern Ontario's highest profile extreme metal bands, and it'll be great to see them back in the area after so long! Toronto melodic death metal quartet Hallows Die will make their third appearance in the area in the past year as well, last being seen opening for Napalm Death at Feedback in October. After sharing the stage with Woods of Ypres a few times themselves last year, they should also deliver a solid and brutal set of their original material on April 7th as well, so don't miss them! The out-of-town lineup will be rounded out by Windsor stoner metal band Gypsy Chief Goliath in their Sault Ontario debut, and they have a unique sort of sound you don't get much of in the area, and they'll be sure to leave a good mark on fans at the Ypres Metal Fest! There will be local openers as well, and I know who's tentatively lined up, but they're not 100% finalized yet, so stay tuned for official word on that front!

Timeslots, admission prices, and other more specific details on this major concert have not been revealed yet, but given it's location, I assume this will likely be a 19+ event. Stay tuned for more official details as they come in, and thanks to Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland for telling me about these first details and giving the go-ahead to announce them! This is shaping up to be a huge concert for both the local metal scene and in David's memory, and if you love metal, do yourself a favour and reserve April 7th on your calendars! I know Rich and David had been planning for a while to launch an annual metal festival in the Soo, and it's a shame that this is happening without David around to help bring it to fruition. I'm sure it'll feel like he's never left when this all goes down though! Stay tuned for updates on this show as word comes in, as Rich is outdoing himself with this great lineup of bands, and hopefully it's a huge hit to ensure future Ypres Metal Fests in the area!

Also of note as a related concert, a David Gold tribute show will take place two days before the Sault show on April 5th in Toronto at a venue to be announced, and it will serve as the "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" CD release show. Specific details on it haven't been announced beyond a post on the official David Gold tribute Facebook page, but it'd be cool to see former Woods of Ypres members play at that in some fashion. I'll keep as you posted as word comes in for it!

Also in Woods of Ypres-related news today, the band's label Earache Records recently addressed many of the lingering questions that fans have had about the release of "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" and some other future band notes. In direct reply to a question from fan Chris Schneck on their "Ask Earache" blog, you can read the full post at this location, but here's the new and major stuff addressed in that post. At the time of David Gold's death on December 21st, "W5" was being mixed by British producer John Fryer, and their new lineup was scheduled to play their first ever overseas gigs next weekend, including sets opening for Evile in Manchester, England and Xerath in Nottingham, England, and though David's passing prevented either from happening, you can get details on what would have been at this link. The "Ask Earache" post briefly noted David's downbeat and world-weary outlook in December phone interviews prior to his death, and later discussed what to expect from the "W5" release. The North American release for the CD will take place two months after the official release on February 13th due to longer pressing plant lead times over here, so although it won't appear in physical stores until April, the American release date does coincide better with the Ontario tribute shows!

The extra track "Keeper of the Ledger" was also addressed, and it was noted that it wasn't in the free leaked copy of "Woods V" so it would be an album exclusive, which is why the second "Kiss My Ashes Goodbye" track (which doesn't look like it will be on the actual "Woods V" release) replaced it in the free copy we got in December. The track listing was also altered from what we downloaded to better reflect David's preferences for the album, and "Ask Earache" also noted that no band photos will be present in the packaging, as David hadn't chosen which ones he specifically wanted in the booklet. Though not addressed in the post, I've read on Woods of Ypres' forum that the "W5" t-shirts that are being sold on Earache Records' online store along with the CDs originally had a "David Gold, 1980-2011, R.I.P." message on the back (as seen here), but it was later removed at the request of David's family. Seems odd to me, but hey, if it's what they want, it's better to honour their request! Finally, the "Ask Earache" post noted that they still hope to re-release Woods of Ypres' first three albums under the Earache umbrella in 2012, though it's not known if "Woods 4.5", any other older releases or singles, or any unreleased material will see the light of day through Earache Records. Check the above links for the new "Woods 5" updates!

It's very nice of Earache Records to offer an honest and detailed answer to many of the "Woods V" questions we've had recently, and hopefully we'll hear a lot more about this album and any future posthumous news on Woods of Ypres this year! There's a lot of exciting stuff to come, and it's sad to know that David isn't here to be a part of it, but he still lives through his music! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes from David, Woods of Ypres, and anything else in the local metal scene in the next week and beyond! Thanks everyone!