YouTube Channel Profile Series: black cloud, Frank Thomas, and Dave Prendergast

Here is our last monthly feature post of October 2020, namely this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This ongoing feature looks at up to 3 YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk acts, all of which are randomly selected from our active YouTube subscriptions. This month, we drew 3 channels, as the first only had 3 audio demos, which means I only pull one to feature in the post, so I added two more channels who only had one SMS-relevant video. Still, there's some interesting stuff to see, so here's what you should know!

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black cloud (http://youtube.com/channel/UC9DYv-NpD7poW1R839JBdcA)
 

Owner: Black Cloud project leader Peytan Andreola

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 5th, 2019; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud, it used to feature more content than what is currently present (including their full debut album "Abstract Sounds"), but a swath of video deletions preceded the upload of their remaining three audio demos (a self-titled song, "Bloodbaiting", and as embedded below, "Ghost Stomp"). Black Cloud's minimalist brutality is still a work in progress, but there is promise on these demos, and hopefully Peytan keeps at it into the new year!

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Frank Thomas (http://youtube.com/channel/UCSxehYsMJF-TI0DG_aZlmOw)

Owner: YouTube user and area resident Frank Thomas

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 10th, 2012; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: While still actively used for personal needs, Frank's only video is from California punk legends The Offspring's headlining set at GFL Memorial Gardens on November 19th, 2019, where he filmed their three opening songs ("Americana", "All I Want", and "Come Out & Play"). Despite a vertical camera angle, this relatively central video captures lively and faithful performances from The Offspring (albeit with Dexter's deeper modern voice), and this is definitely worth a watch for fans who saw or missed this show last year! There are a lot more videos on YouTube from this show courtesy of other attendees.

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Dave Prendergast (http://youtube.com/channel/UClVaIeCdzMZVVdmvnoSYL7g) 

Owner: Former Nebraska Arms, Gilmour, and Small Town Rivals guitarist Dave Prendergast

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 4th, 2009; Videos posted that day and on September 17th, 2010

Channel Summary: Aside from a 10 second video of him jousting at camp a'la American Gladiators, Dave's only video here is of his late 2000s indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms playing their original song "Clockwork" at the original Coch's Corner location on Boxing Day in 2008. The band was represented here by Dave alongside the late Guy Thiffault (The Hangdowns) on vocals & bass, Wayne Watkins (Northwest) on guitar, and Adam Sauve (Renderware) on drums. The scratchy audio is a hindrance, as can be the tight camera angle, but this was a solid performance by this talented new group, and luckily, there are more videos of theirs floating around elsewhere!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around November 27th when we look at YouTube user jonasgasperas' channel, featuring 10 videos of Jonas' old metal band Winkstinger from their original heyday! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews, Including The Soo Zombie Walk!!

With the Halloween concert season fast approaching, let's touch on the first of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, including two joint events from an annual seasonal event for you brain eaters! Note that our preview of Saturday night's Ripcordz-headlined "Fed Up" split release party will come in our next post, along with likely late notice show announcements, so stay tuned for that! Now, here's what you should know for this weekend!

We'll start with local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, whose usual weekly concerts are advertised to continue this weekend, including matinees at Gliss Steak & Seafood TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, and more typical nighttime shows at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! As is sometimes the case, these shows have yet to be confirmed via Facebook event pages, but all five are among the extensive concert listings on his website's calendar. As Tym's lengthy runs at the Quality Inn's restaurant and the former Madison's Pub march on, look for more entertaining hard rock renditions in an intimate setting at both venues this weekend, and if you're up for some unplugged action, you have lots of options this weekend! As usual, the Gliss shows are 6:00 PM events with no announced cover or age limits (but remember, it is a restaurant), and the Harp shows are at 10:00 PM with no announced cover, an a 19+ age limit. Check the above links for more details, and here's Tym live at The Harp!



Next up, let's head across the border to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned are scheduled to rock The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking the month of September off, this will be the second of four St. Ignace concert weekends from Banned in a five month span, and while they're certainly no strangers to their Kewadin branch, don't miss out on this weekend's concerts if you can't see them next month! And remember, Alex, Wayne, and Don's annual Halloween show will be at the Kewadin Casino in Manistique next weekend, so keep that in mind if you might be out there. Like Banned's past and future Kewadin Casino concerts, this weekend's concerts take place at 9:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 or older to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Banned live earlier this year!



Heading back to Sault Ontario, let's touch on the seventh annual Soo Zombie Walk, which goes down THIS SATURDAY at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a third straight year, and we'll see bands (the exact same bands, in fact) in both the daytime lineup and at the afterparty! As usual, bring your best zombie costumes for the annual brain-hungry walk downtown, which begins an hour later at 6:00 PM this year, but the pre-walk activities (including games, face painting, photos, contests, and vendors) have been cut down from 3 to 2 hours, with everything beginning at 4:00 PM. For full details on non-musical events and the downtown zombie walk itself, visit the official Facebook event page. This year's acts will include headlining local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage (marking their fifth straight appearance at a Zombie Walk concert), reunited Sudbury unplugged hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic (fronted by ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan, though we're unsure of the new lineup's composition), and Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan (in his third straight Zombie Walk set.)

Note that an advertised fourth performer, ex-Phlashback guitarist Terry Becker (brother of Sykotyk Rampage's Paul & Dirk Becker) has quietly been removed from event advertising for unannounced reasons, but hopefully nothing bad happened, it was encouraging to see him listed given his recent health issues! In a unique double booking, all three acts will head to Coch's Corner (in the former Foggy Notions building) later that night to take part in the sixth annual Zombie Walk afterparty, which returns to the site of it's 2010 & 2013 installments after spending last year at Wacky Wings and without live music. As you may know, Coch's Corner has been an acoustic-only venue since it moved to 708 Queen Street East, so to fit that and keep things simple given the double booking, both of Sykotyk Rampage's sets will be acoustic on Saturday, which will be interesting to hear! This will be their first set at the afterparty since 2012, while Aggressive Acoustic headlined the afterparty in their own right in 2013.

The Zombie Walk entertainment at 4:00 PM (and the walk proper) are both ALL AGES with admission via a canned good donation and $3 (kids under 10 only need the canned good), while the afterparty will be at 9:00 PM with $2 admission & a canned good, and it's definitely 19+ there. For more details, visit the above links and the afterparty's Facebook event page! It's great to see bands rocking out at the Soo Zombie Walk (and afterparty) again, so whether you'd rather see the bands in the day at the Bushplane Museum or at night at Coch's, especially if you also plan to hit the Ripcordz concert, you have options! For a preview, here's Sykotyk Rampage at last year's walk!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soo Zombie Walk Afterparty), New Videos, And More!!

Now's a good time to get our first full news post of the month on the site, and within, we have some assorted recent notes, two new videos from two familiar local bands, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a familiar yet distinct Halloween season concerts! Here's what you should know!

The musical entertainment at this year's Soo Zombie Walk will see an unplugged encore, as the acts playing at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, October 24th will head to Coch's Corner that same night for the afterparty! After spending last year sans music at Wacky Wings, the afterparty returns to it's 19+ roots at the site of it's 2010 & 2013 incarnations in three weeks time, but like in 2013, all performers will be acoustic, going with Coch's Corner's focus since moving into the former Foggy Notions building. As recently (and quietly) confirmed on the Facebook event page, all four acts will pull double duty on the 24th, including alternative blues/hard rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage (in their first afterparty set since 2012), Sudbury cover hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic (who headlined 2013's afterparty), and solo musicians Greg Callaghan & Terry Becker, so if you'd rather see the bands at nighttime in a bar setting, or in the day before the walk with a family audience, you have options!

Sykotyk Rampage frontman Dirk Becker has also confirmed with me in a recent conversation that Aggressive Acoustic have not broken up (though there have been lineup departures), and Syktoyk Rampage's daytime pre-walk set will also be acoustic, which does sound easier given the double booking. This year's afterparty has a $2 cover charge (plus a canned good), it goes down at 9:00 PM on October 24th, and you must be 19 to attend... but never fear, you can see all four acts at 4:00 PM at the Bushplane Museum too! Check the above links for more details, and keep both of these Zombie Walk shows in mind for when the undead prepare to roam downtown!

Next up, we at last have confirmation: The Bear Hunters are in studio recording their second full length CD "The Dead Testament"! Details on progress are forthcoming, but the fan-favourite local death metal band confirmed on their Facebook page that sessions began yesterday, and they have posted two short videos to their new Instagram page of drummer Johnny Belanger tracking drums at Mission Control Studios (more on them in a bit), with the video embedded below crediting the song as "The Void". Both clips don't actually show Johnny, instead Dustin Jones at the controls during the tracking. Photos, and more videos, are planned to go up on Instagram in the coming weeks, but this is a great sign for fans of The Bear Hunters, so check out the other video at this link, see more above, and here's Johnny laying down drum tracks for "The Dead Testament"!

A video posted by The Bear Hunters (@thebearhunterscanada) on Oct 2, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT

Also today, here's the newest video from local alternative hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din, which gives us our first glimpse at their new guitarist! Posted to their Facebook page yesterday, it's of the new lineup playing Mike's solo original "Out Of My League", but perhaps intentionally, the new guitarist is filmed from behind, and aside from the long blonde hair and purple guitar, there are no dead-giveaway markings to their identity. I have a guess, but let's wait for the band to confirm the new axeslinger themselves, be it online or at the Speak Easy Battle of the Bands next month! In any event, it's a solid rendition, complete with post-production filters, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from The Din!



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

• A concert event in remembrance of late local country musician & Case's Music founder Mike Case is in the works for July 9th of next year, and organizers are looking for bands to take part. It would be a 2:00 PM-2:00 AM event, but further details are not known as of this writing. This very well may be a special and huge occasion given Mike's outreach as a musician & instructor, so message co-organizer Christine O'Hara at this link or at her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from September 15th for more info!
• A Facebook page has finally been launched for the aforementioned Mission Control Studios, the local recording studio ran by Dustin Jones & Tidal Records, and the site where a number of local bands are either recording or planning to record new studio material, like The Apocalypse Afterparty & The Pixo Control. The setup and reputation is all very professional, so check the above links for more info on Mission Control Studios, which are now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!
• After previously looking for a drummer in August, local musician Rob Charlebois is looking for a guitarist for his "fresh" new band. They have originals and covers, ranging from alternative to classic rock, and practice at night. If you're interested in trying out, message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from September 25th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for another new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's First Metal, Hard Rock, And Punk Concert Previews!!

First up, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert, as local classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood apparently played a show on Tuesday night at Reggie's West (formerly The Roosevelt Hotel.) The only mention of the show that I found was via bassist Steven Flint's personal Facebook page that evening, and neither the band or venue plugged it online that I saw. I'm unsure if the Tuesday booking was for a special reason, but I sincerely apologize for missing it! We'll cover their Toystock set on the site in the coming days, but for now, here's the first of this weekend's hard rock concert previews on a busy weekend, so here's what you should know for your concert plans!

Local hard rock/alternative trio The Pixo Control will headline a rare heavier show at The Speak Easy at Algoma University TONIGHT! Fresh off of their successful set at Sault Band-O-Rama, this will be the guys' second show of the month, and will mark the first public Speak Easy show featuring a hard rock band that we've heard about all year, so if you like that venue, keep TONIGHT'S show in mind! No word on if the Thursday booking has any special ties, or if it's just the day that it was scheduled for. Support tonight will come via Boxes of Boom, the local/Toronto techno rock project led by musician Sam Decter, who will have an interesting set of lo-fi rock mixed with electronic beats that turned heads when both bands opened for Castle at a private gig earlier this month, so don't miss their set either! TONIGHT'S show has a 10:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge, and while The Speak Easy is usually a 19+ venue, they can and do have all ages shows, so keep that in mind just in case.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!  This is a unique show for at least recent months (I'm surprised The Speak Easy isn't used more often), but it's great to see these guys getting together TONIGHT, so don't miss out if you want some Thursday night action! For a preview, here's The Pixo Control live at Superior Heights Collegiate!



Next up, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will cap off November with solo acoustic gigs at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Though he has yet to post a Facebook event page for this weekend's shows, his website confirms that his ongoing (mostly) weekly concert arrangement at the former Madison's Pub will continue with his usual hosted jam night TOMORROW followed by Saturday night's usual solo unplugged show, and either way, he should have lots of entertaining hard rock concert previews this weekend for fans and bar regulars alike, so don't bypass his shows either! Admission should be free for this weekend's 19+ shows at The Harp, and there's 10:00 PM start times in effect. For more details, visit the above links, remember Tym's prolific Harp run for this weekend, and here he is at The Service Grill!

Moving to Saturday only concerts, local indie/punk quintet Northwest and pageless funk/hard rock quartet Late Shift will join forces for a special cause THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Postponed a week due to the Santa Claus Parade, this show is to raise money to help Tiffany Maj, a friend of both bands who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Hopefully she can beat this, as cancer sucks, and it's great to see the bands joining forces to help Tiffany out at this time of need! Promoted by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan, this show will be a rare punk/hard rock event at Coch's Corner, which has been generally an acoustic venue since moving to the former Foggy Notions location, but it's unclear whether this will be an unplugged show or will have electric instruments. There is a suggested donation of $5 to attend the benefit concert, which will have an earlier start time of 8:00 PM, but will likely still be a 19+ event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, our best wishes go out to Tiffany (especially over the holidays), and here's Northwest at The Rockstar Bar!



Finally for these previews, local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters will finally release their long awaited debut studio album "Eternal Hibernation" THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at their long anticipated CD release concert at The Canadian Nightclub! Postponed six weeks from the original date (and moved from The Algonquin Pub), Saturday's concert will see the guys finally launch their first full album in their first concert since opening for Archspire in August, and in honour of the release, their entire first set will be comprised of the album's tracks in order! For their second set, The Bear Hunters (including relocated guitarist Josh Stephney) will play songs from their planned second album, to be called "The Dead Testament", plus select covers, so your favourite era is covered either way! Support bands will include Brampton deathcore quintet Livid & The Bloodthirsty in their local concert debut, and they should brutalize with their energetic hybrid sound, so be sure to get there in time for their set!

The opening set will come courtesy of local grunge/hard rockers Haggith (replacing Destroilet), who are currently in the midst of a bassist search, so how will their set look and sound on Saturday? Be there to find out! They're on at 10:00 PM for this ALL AGES show, which has admission fees of $5 via advance ticket purchases at The Rad Zone or through band members, but the price jumps to $7 at the door. CDs will cost $10, and for every 10 tickets sold, there will be a prize pack drawn featuring Bear Hunters merchandise, so keep that offer in mind as well! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This will be an awesome concert, and about time given all of the CD release delays, so I hope to see you guys at The Canadian on Saturday night! For a preview, here's The Bear Hunters live in Echo Bay last year!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's last feature posts, our previews of Sunday night concerts, news and notes, and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Whiskey Shits, Havadder, And Northwest), And More!!

I wasn't expecting to have a second post today, but due to some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND (and some other notable concerts coming later this month), here's one more post for the day! Along with the new shows, there's also updates on the next big Blood Shed Productions project, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out all the details on next week's Rock For Dimes concerts and more in the post below this one!

Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Havadder will return to The Rednecks Saloon for solo concerts there TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band just announced the shows via a Facebook event page yesterday, though the shows were advertised on the marquee board outside of the former Nicolet Tavern before then. Fresh off of their Studio 10 debut on Halloween, these will be Havadder's first Rednecks Saloon dates of the fall, and they should be rip roaring to go with another solid weekend of their varied and often heavy covers! Note that drummer T.J. Case is scheduled to play with his other band Mourning Wood at The New American Pub tomorrow night (source here), but like on Halloween night, former drummer Scott McLurg (also of Turner Up fame) will be filling in for him this weekend, as per his personal Facebook page. Solid choice once again, and we wish him good luck this weekend!

Like usual for Havadder's recent Rednecks gigs, there are no announced cover charges this weekend, you must be 19 to attend, and there is a 10:00 PM start time in effect TONIGHT & TOMORROW. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss Havadder's shows this weekend if you don't have other plans, and here they are at this venue earlier this year!



Next up, the long teased concert headlined by Montreal street punk quartet The Whiskey Shits has finally been officially confirmed via it's Facebook event page, and it goes down one week from tomorrow (Saturday, November 15th) at The Algonquin Pub! I'm surprised it took this long for a full public release, but at least we have full details now! Featuring Ripcordz bassist Matty Fortyfive, The Whiskey Shits have a hard hitting, gritty, and raw punk sound that should go over well in what I think is their local debut, so keep it in mind for next weekend! Local support will come via the live public concert debut of new local punk/grunge duo The Red & Black (featuring Telephone & Address' Chris Shoust and Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda) and local alternative/blues rock veterans Sykotyk Rampage (fresh off of their Halloween Party set at the same venue), and both should add their own varied punk sounds to this show, so don't miss them either next Saturday night!

The last announced punk concert of 2014 by promoter J.D. Pearce, this 19+ show has a $5 cover charge and should start at around 10:00 PM next Saturday. For more details, visit the above links! Sounds like a great time for punk fans, and it'll be interesting to see how The Red & Black do in their live debut also, so keep The Whiskey Shits' show in mind for next weekend, and stay tuned for potential updates!

Finally for new concert announcements, local indie/punk quintet Northwest and local hard/alternative rock cover quartet Late Shift will join forces for a special benefit concert on Saturday, November 22nd at Coch's Corner! The show is to help raise funds for Tiffany Maj, a local woman (and friend of the bands) who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so it's awesome to see the guys coming together to help Tiffany out during this time of need! This will be Northwest's first show since opening for Gob last month (and second with new drummer Marc Santos), while this will be the sporadically seen Late Shift's first gig of the fall, and hopefully we'll hear more from them to come as well! Note that as the show is being hosted at Coch's Corner, it's reasonable to assume it will be an acoustic show due to Coch's softer music focus since moving to the former Foggy Notions location in 2012, but this isn't explicitly stated there. It's still nice to see a punk show there again!

Promoted by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan, a $5 donation is suggested to attend this show (though you can donate more or whatever you can), while an 8:00 PM start time is advertised, and given the location, I'd assume it's 19+ until otherwise stated. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I don't know Tiffany, but cancer sucks, and I hope she fights this as hard as possible, and hopefully this show offers lots of financial and emotional support for her in this battle! Stay tuned for more updates on this event if they roll in!

Finally for today, here's the latest from local goregrind/rap label Blood Shed Productions, including ambitious plans for an 11 band compilation demo disc! Though no stranger to two-act split CDs, this "Rock And/Or Roll 11-Way Split" will compile studio tracks from 11 local and out of town bands alike, including Blood Shed grind acts Crucify The Whore, Rotopsy, Malignant Neoplasm, This Is Your Band On Drugs, fellow local metal bands Bad Back and The Apocalypse Afterparty, out of continent grind bands Peppermint Green (England) and Sin Vaselina (Argentina), North Bay hardcore punk bands The Human Guinea Pigs & The Muff Huffers, and a new local band currently named Scalpel Fight. Information on them is minimal as of yet, but the label confirmed that they're a new project from AlgomA guitarist Boyd Rendell (a.k.a. Darby Wigwaus), so we'll have to see what they're like! Ambitious plans are afoot for sure here, but I'm curious to see where this goes, so stay tuned for more on this 11-way split demo!

That's definitely all for today, but stay tuned for some big updates this weekend! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: SuckMyKiss535, formersome1, And LoveTheDeathbat's Channels

Hey guys, I apologize for the lack of updates over the last few days. I was in Detroit for the weekend, and even then, news was slow, but we will definitely have some big updates in the coming days, including an extended preview of Saturday's Soo Zombie Walk band lineup during our weekend previews (click here for the lineup before then!) To ensure we don't go three days without a post on the site, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles a day early! As usual, this is our monthly feature look at 1-3 YouTube channels with at least 50% of their videos being relevant to SMS-covered shows and bands, and due to the size of the first selected channel, we filled things out to three smaller channels this month! Read on below for what you need to know on this month's randomly selected channels, one of which is seasonally fitting!
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SuckMyKiss535's channel (http://www.youtube.com/suckmykiss535)

Owner: YouTube user SuckMyKiss535 (full identity unclear, but the owner is likely German, based on the language of his postings)

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 19th, 2009; Videos posted from October 2010 until February 2012

Channel Summary: Aside from a 2010 posting of Slipknot's "Vermilion Pt. 2" as an apparent tribute to his girlfriend, SuckMyKiss35's only upload is of defunct local blackened/doom metal favourites Woods of Ypres' song "Travelling Alone" from their posthumous final album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", as posted around the time of it's European release. The included image is of the band's 2009 lineup (all but late frontman David Gold left the band before 2011's "W5" sessions), but this is still a solid doom metal track with dark overtones and well thought out lyrics! Still, fans will find this and more on larger YouTube channels, and this channel hasn't visibly been updated since this song was posted.


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formersome1's channel (http://www.youtube.com/formersome1)

Owner: YouTube user formersome1 (identity unclear, but a Twitter user of the same name is also credited as "Lins H")

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 15th, 2007; Videos posted on October 31st & November 1st of 2011

Channel Summary: This channel solely consists of three videos from local punk trio Redundant's set at local concert promoter J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party on October 29th, 2011, which would mark the annual event's last installment at the original Coch's Corner on Bay Street before the event & venue both moved to new locations. Joining Frightlight and the one-off 1990s alternative tribute The 151s for a night of Halloween action, Redundant donned their best Green Day costumes for fitting covers of Green Day's "When I Come Around" & "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" to go along with that! Embedded below though from formersome1's channel are their renditions of Weezer's "El Scorcho" (with "No Scrubs" interlude) and The Vaselines' "Molly Lips", and in all cases, the videos are well shot from very close to the stage, though the visuals are slightly blurry, and drummer Rick White is almost completely in the dark. Redundant and punk fans should like these though, and don't miss J.D.'s 2014 Halloween party next Friday!


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LoveTheDeathbat's channel (http://www.youtube.com/lovethedeathbat)

Owner: Former T.E.N. bassist Nick Ritchie

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 2nd, 2013; Videos posted from that day until January 2014

Channel Summary: Despite his band experience, Nick's YouTube channel is mostly based on a mid-2013 jam session by friends of his, specifically Blood Shed Productions founders & Brutaly Fatal members Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson (Nick's old T.E.N. bandmate) and Austin McCrae. The videos (shot at Blood Shed headquarters) include loose covers of Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime", Nirvana's "About A Girl", and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", two videos of instrumental jamming (here & here), and the longer original jam clip embedded below. If you're not high on the Blood Shed's grind-heavy artists, you might like these videos more just for the softer music & clean vocals on display, and the informal jam nature gives some neat insights, but Austin's reserved vocals can be a bit monotonous on some of the above videos. Good range overall, but note that Nick's only video since these postings was a Grand Theft Auto 5 clip.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, I've randomly selected three more YouTube channels, as the first one that we chose only had one video, and the second only had one that fit the site, hence a second straight triple-channel month. That said, we'll be looking at the channels of YouTube user syrfer72 (featuring a Kiss video from their Essar Center show), Chronic Demonic bassist Ryan Gratton (featuring audio recordings of his old band Faithless Sin), and YouTube user turnerup100 (featuring a video of their one-time sister band Havadder), so watch out for these on or around Novemer 22nd! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!

Mike Haggith & The Din's Breakup, And Much More Assorted Notes!!

Back to the news today as we slowly wind down October 2013, so what's on tap for this Monday afternoon? Mostly some recent shorter news items, but first, we do have new goregrind material and a new band breakup to take note of, so read on below for what you need to know! (Updated on Tuesday at 4:20 PM)

Local acid jam/hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din are also breaking up (or have already?), joining sister band Haggith's planned dissolution in December. The news was revealed on frontman Mike Haggith's solo project's Facebook page on Saturday night, and though a direct public reason for The Din's breakup hasn't been made, I'm fairly certain it's for the same amicable/personal reasons that Haggith are breaking up. Featuring 3/4ths of Haggith in shuffled roles, and playing extended jam versions of Mike's solo material, this short-lived project only played one public concert in Sault Ontario (at Bushplane Musical Madness II in July), though other gigs took place at private events, and helped provide nice quality audio recordings that later made their way to YouTube. I thought Mike Haggith & The Din was a solid outlet to get more of Mike's original material to a wider audience, but best of luck to Mike, Curtis, and Daniel in their future plans! No word though on what this means for other bands that Haggith members were in this year (i.e. Sound X, Purple Core, and The Nirvanabees), but I don't believe Mike's solo project as a whole is ending.

Perhaps as a last act as a band, Mike did post two live audio recordings of him & The Din playing the originals "Lay My Body Down To Rest" and (as embedded below) "Limb Coast" at Bushplane Musical Madness II onto his YouTube channel on Saturday, and it provides the same entertaining jam rock sound that fans were accustomed to from their few live dates, so give it a look below, and don't miss Haggith's last two shows at The New A next month and at The Algonquin in December!



Next up, here's a new audio upload from Blood Shed Productions goregrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm! This video comprises of this project's part of the label's "Bloody 3-Way" split demo with Rotopsy & Brutaly Fatal, and though we've heard most of these 5 songs before, the first and last ones ("Malignant Neoplastic Disease" & "Postmortal Inflammation") are new to YouTube and weren't posted earlier as single tracks. Totalling just 5:26 in length, the songs continue with Ringsnaps Gibson's medical & more techno-influenced themes while incorporating his usual grind vocals & style, so if you like his other projects and this genre, give the full Malignant Neoplasm third of the demo a listen below!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news and notes from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

• As they've now hosted two distinct public concerts with hard rock/metal acts (the Soul Killing Female & Project Legion-headlined shows), I've now added 180 Projects' Facebook page to our active Sault Ontario venue listings on your left! A concert spot and art exhibition space at 180 Gore Street (the former MJ's building), it's great to have an active host for concerts on Gore again, and stay tuned for more on their next show bookings!
• Recently dormant hardcore quintet As It Stands revealed on their Facebook page on Friday that they're back to jamming and hope to play some concerts A.S.A.P.! They also said that they're planning to have mostly new material, but unlike their 2010 reunion, they will have a few older songs & were asking through Facebook what old songs should be brought back. I don't think they should scrap most of their old songs, but I can't wait to see As It Stands back, as it's been far too long! Stay tuned for updates!
• I've moved both the new Coch's Corner and The Harp Pub & Grill (formerly Madison's Pub) to our active Sault Ontario venue listings as well due to their recent return to hard rock bookings, albeit in their current all-acoustic directions (so for convenience, I've noted there that both venues host only unplugged music acts.) I also deleted the separate Madison's link that we had, as it was changed to a Harp personal account to go with the new name, and no other Madison's pages remain online.
• Last week, a review and photo album of last weekend's One Bad Son/Crash Karma show at The Rockstar Bar by SooToday's Donna Hopper was posted online at this link, featuring some positive comments on the bands, including the headlining supergroup! For hard rock fans, she gave nice brief thoughts on them and also took 5 photos of them in the included album (though all 22 are black and white.) Solid as usual, so check everything out above!
• I don't usually go back & edit news posts this old, but I was asked to give full name credit to an earlier artist mention on here, so I thought I should do that! In this November 2012 post (mostly related to assorted shorter stories like this), I mentioned that an artist named "Morkryd" had featured on metal material from ex-Dark Salvation singer's Kevin Calder's most recent solo work, but I now know that Morkryd's real name is John Verdone. Thanks to John for the clarification!
• Asylum Country drummer T.J. Case (who recently had brief stints with Jack Spades & Project Legion) is again looking to join a new local band, as he's not playing live often, and he's even open to fill in with a band if need be. T.J.'s a solid drummer with metal experience, so if your band needs a drummer, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week!

That's all for today, but stay tuned TOMORROW for more updates and our preview of Wednesday's Bear Hunters-headlined all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Aggressive Acoustic & Glitch) And More Recent News!!

We're packing this post with updates and news (no videos in sight) to help clear out some recent stuff, so what's on tap? Assorted recent short items, news on new and old members of Chronic Demonic, and leading things off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this coming weekend and next month, including a venue's return to concert booking, so read on below for what you need to know!

Former Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan will return to the local stage for the first time in over a year & a half when he headlines this year's Soo Zombie Walk afterparty at Coch's Corner THIS SATURDAY with his Sudbury-based unplugged hard rock act Aggressive Acoustic! Coincidentally, this will also be the first heavier concert at Coch's Corner since it's move to the former Foggy Notions location last spring, partly due to Coch's current focus on mostly/all acoustic bands. That said, Brian's bringing some "aggressive" acoustic to the afterparty this year for his first appearance at the annual event, which returns to 708 Queen Street East for the first time since Foggy Notions hosted the first afterparty in 2010, though additional acts have yet to be confirmed. As best as I can tell, Aggressive Acoustic features Brian and collaborator Sean Trottier doing acoustic hard rock covers, which will be a bit of a shift from the last 3 years, but as previously reported, the scheduling of full plugged-in bands is now in the afternoon at the Bushplane Museum prior to the Zombie Walk itself, so click here for details on that front.

Admission is FREE with a wristband from the Zombie Walk (cover charges may apply if you don't have one), doors open at 9:00 PM on Saturday, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit this Facebook event page! The downscaling of the afterparty is still somewhat of an adjustment, but Brian's a talented musician who should put on a great show in his local return this weekend, and maybe he'll rejoin Sykotyk Rampage for some songs in their afternoon set that day before the walk? Time will tell, and stay tuned for updates!

Also in new concerts, new local classic hard rock cover quartet Glitch will play their second public concert when they return to The Rockstar Bar for another gig on Friday, November 22nd! After taking October off (barring any interim announcements), it'll be great to see the new band featuring Sneaky Pete, Lion Ride, and Tripod the Dog alumni back at it with their diverse but often heavy blend of covers! Admission should be in the $5 range for this 19+ show, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised, so click here for more details! In the same Facebook group posting to announce this concert, guitarist Marco Pedalino revealed that Glitch will also be among the performers for the second annual Toystock event, which will take place this year on Sunday, December 1st, but a venue has not been confirmed as of this writing. Toystock was the Maxx Entertainment-promoted Christmas Cheer fundraiser concert featuring 10 local bands (mostly cover acts) at The Canadian last November, and it's great to hear that it's coming back for another year, but I'll wait for venue confirmation & such before going much further. Stay tuned, and don't miss Glitch next month!

Next up, the new singer & drummer of local metal band Chronic Demonic have finally been announced, as The Bear Hunters' Nik Deubel and their former guitarist Mike Vincent (most recently of Skull After Betrayl) have been confirmed to replace the departed Sabrina Lavoie and Rick White respectively. The news was revealed on their Facebook page on Friday, and it's especially nice to see Mike back in a local band project! Though I'm not very familiar with him as a drummer, he has a lot of talent that's nice to see put back to use in this new band, and I wonder if Nik will have any new styles up his sleeves vocally himself? Remember, Chronic Demonic had previously identified as a "punk/metal/rock" band (and had a female singer), which is a big change, but will the band adapt to Nik's vocals, and/or will he adapt to their genres? I'm curious to find out! It's interesting to note as well that all 4 current members of The Bear Hunters are now in other bands (joining Caveman Morrison, Jack Spades, and The Suicide Kings), but hopefully this doesn't mean anything bad for their ongoing status and album plans. Keep an eye out for news on Chronic Demonic's next plans!

Speaking of Chronic Demonic, here's the latest from their original singer, also known as Sabrina Strange! Since leaving Chronic Demonic, you may know that she's been hard at work in the local music scene via her upstart company Sabrina Strange Productions and with her turns as an interviewer, but she's also back into new bands, one of which just making their surprise debut last night! Named Project Legion, they're still lacking online pages or any detailed public info (i.e. are they heavier, who's in the band), but they replaced Vancouver "power slop" band The Screaming Queens at an Oh! Right Arm!/Jamie Vincent-promoted punk/alternative concert at 180 Projects last night. I didn't mention it on here due to a combination of no verifiable hard rock acts & no time to slide it into a post, but hopefully Project Legion had a successful debut! Sabrina is also looking for a band to regularly play live with (Project Legion are apparently a "musical discovery project"), and she'd prefer playing old metal & rock covers in it. If you're interested, contact her at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today's post with some more assorted shorter news items, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or company name:

• Local concert promoter J.D. Pearce is offering a deal for Zombie Walk attendees to get a discount at his eighth annual Halloween Party THIS SATURDAY at The Roosevelt Hotel, where if you show your wristband at the door, you'll only have to pay $13 to get in! I don't believe this applies if you bought an advance ticket though. If you're up to see The Ripcordz, Jack Spades, and Destroilet after the Zombie Walk, keep this deal in mind!
• An aspiring local singer named Michelle Anderson is currently looking to join a local band, as per her post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Friday. She has no genre preference in mind, but in case any singer-less hard rock/metal bands are interested, give her a shout at this link or above!
• Former local metal musician Josh Stephney (Bring the Fallen, Bear Hunters, etc.) is exploring the possibility of returning home to host a second annual Oddzfest Metal Mash-Up concert at The Oddfellows Hall next year, via a status post on the original edition's Facebook event page on Thursday. If it happens, any details are still a ways off, but the original show in July was awesome (despite the rainstorm), so comment above if you want Oddzfest back in 2014!

That's likely all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week and as we creep closer to Halloween! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Suicide Kings), Plus Plenty More News & Notes!!

Before we get to this post, I just wanted to send my condolences to everyone affected by the school shooting in Connecticut yesterday. To do that to children right before Christmas is just disgusting, and hopefully something's done to prevent something similar from ever happening again. Now, it's time to clear out much of my current news cache, so we have lots of updates on this Saturday morning! Today, we have a new drumming video, a band's local concert search, the latest Haggith news, and more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT from a band we've covered a lot on recently!

The Suicide Kings have yet another new concert on their ledger for this month, as the new hard rock quartet will return to The Nicolet Tavern one week from today! Just announced on Facebook yesterday, the band is hyping this show as a "survival party", given that it takes place on December 22nd, the day after the supposed Mayan apocalypse (note that there is no Friday show next weekend, as bassist Mitch Sirie will be in Sudbury with the returning Bear Hunters for the Doomsday Massacre metal concert that day.) This show comes just two weeks after their most recent stop at The Nic, and hopefully their originals and hard/alternative rock covers go over swimmingly once again next week! Admission is likely free for this 19+ show, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Now with 6 advertised concerts on the horizon, The Suicide Kings are definitely staying busy, which is great for fans, but hopefully they can plug future shows a bit closer together or in clumps, just for convenience sake. Stay tuned for more from The Suicide Kings soon, including maybe more new concerts?

Next up, here's the latest studio updates from local grunge quartet Haggith! According to their Facebook page on Tuesday, the guys have completed the conversion and post production for their projected live album "Flight 75", which is on track for a release in January. An album cover has been chosen, but has yet to be publically revealed, so keep an eye out for updates! They also noted that they're working on upgrading recording equipment so they can hopefully record material in an analog format, and then digitize it, which would offer better sound quality on future CDs. If this goes through, their planned third studio album "Deuce" would be the first recorded this way. I'm all for improving the sound if this will help, as their recordings are good but can be muddled at times, so we'll have to see what comes of this! Also, I swear I saw on a band member's personal Facebook page that they were currently on a minor break (partly because drummer Mike Haggith is in his hometown of Windsor for the holidays), but I can't find the post to source it or cull other details. Still, look out for lots more from the Haggith camp soon!

Also today, can you help bring a metal band here for a show on Monday? Short notice, yes, but I was only able to slot it into a post today. Reader Jeffery Mills brought to my attention in a recent e-mail that Vancouver hardcore quartet Machines were hoping to play a local concert on Monday during their current Canadian tour run, as they're passing between Hamilton & Thunder Bay that day. You may recognize Machines as featuring 3 ex-members of Callahan, who played at least once in Sault Ontario back in 2009, so there's a familiar sound and essence with this band, and it'd be good to see their melodic hardcore sound in town on Monday night! If anyone out there can help book, promote, or host Machines for a possible late notice concert on Monday night, message the band at this location, and give them a listen, as they have talent and a sound that would go over well with newer hardcore fans!

Let's not leave out Sault Michigan in this post, so here's a new solo performance video from London Gentlemen/ex-Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Tuesday, this is his cover of Halestorm's "I Miss The Misery", as filmed above his kit (similarly to his other recent drum covers), albeit in a sepia tone for some reason. Jake's drumming is on form as you would expect for this recent hard rock hit, and his skills are clearly visible, so check out Jake's newest solo drum cover below!



Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or venue name:

• I've moved Coch's Corner from our Sault Ontario Concert Venue Info section to the Other Sault Ontario Metal Links, as its been a year since a hard rock band last played live at 708 Queen Street East. While the last Coch's Corner metal show at the old Bay Street location was only in February, the venue's current acoustic direction & recent slowed band activity haven't boded well for metal acts. Hopefully heavier music finds it way back to Coch's Corner/708 Queen at some point in the future though!
• Keeping with their recent onslaught of updates related to their new CD release, local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet have launched a SoundCloud page featuring streaming copies of the 10 tracks from the iTunes release of their self titled album! Nice little bonus to preview their work, so check the above links to stream the songs (and contact band members for the two unposted covers from the CD pressings), and if you like what you hear, buy Destroilet's new CD!
• A recent Facebook campaign has begun to try and get local horror punk/metal standouts Frightlight as an opening band for Marilyn Manson's Sudbury concert on February 1st! If successful, it would be Frightlight's first ever Sudbury show & their biggest concert to date, and there are already 48 likes in support of the idea, so if you want to voice your support of this goal, click here! Fingers crossed!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including this month's poll and our first Christmas surprise uploads beginning next week! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Metal Band, Gates Of Winter News, And Much More!!

After a couple of days off from new news posts, we've got some big new stories to address on this Monday morning, so what's on tap? We have a prominent singer addition for a newer local band, the latest news from one of the biggest local metal bands of recent years, and more assorted notes, but first, here's a new local metal outfit you should take note of!

First up today, we have a brand new local metal band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, that being Hydra! (Or is it "The Hydra"?) Though active for a few weeks via their Reverbnation page, activity only just picked up today there and on their new Facebook page yesterday. This new band's lineup features Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie and bassist Benn Garside alongside guitarist Talon Risto, a former St. Joseph Island resident and good friend of the L&L members. You may recognize him as the guitarist in the Deep River metal band Torture For Pleasure, who have some great classic metal material of their own, so click here to stream some Torture For Pleasure songs! No drummer or singer is secured yet, but I believe Hydra is the same band that Brendan was looking for members for on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, so if you can sing power metal or drum, give them a shout! As of right now, the only real Hydra updates come from instrumental demo uploads on their Reverbnation page, including tracks named "The Hydra", "Bombs Away", and "Into The Hollow", so click here to check them out!

There's still a lot of unknowns for Hydra (i.e. who'll finish their lineup, live concert statuses with Talon out of town, what their existence means for Late & Loud's future), but I like what I'm hearing from them so far! Their songs show classic heavy metal promise, but these demos would sound more complete if they had even placeholder singing from Brendan and some computer drum tracks. I'll keep my eye out for more Hydra news, so become a fan above, and I've added them to our Sault Ontario band links!

Next up, here's the latest updates from local progressive death metal standouts Gates of Winter! Updates from their camp have been slower than recently usual over the fall, but on Saturday, frontman Lee Maines posted a status onto the band's Facebook page which noted recent & new stuff relating to their future. Lee addressed the status of their planned third CD, saying that it won't be coming out in December as was previously announced, but he did confirm that progress is ongoing for it, while also adding that it will now have just 6 tracks and be of EP length (like their original demo), and will likely be renamed from the previously announced title "Perihelion". He explained the delays were due to personal commitments (i.e. family, education, and work) and the members' distance from each other (only Lee currently lives in the Soo), but he did note that the three current members still hope to finish this album A.S.A.P., as well as calling a return to the stage "an inevitability." Lee closed by saying that when the EP is finished, it will be "much more heavy, fast, and sophisticated", and will be "perpendicular" to their 2000s output. Check the above links for the full statement!

It's great to see Gates of Winter still slowly plugging away at this CD, and this has to be some cautiously good news for fans, especially given their four year stage hiatus & recent slow activity! A lesser band may have thrown in the towel already, but you know as well as I that Gates of Winter have the necessary talent & drive (even if the time & proximity isn't currently there), so hopefully we see the new disc at some point in 2013! I just wish they didn't discredit their earlier originals so much, as they're still well received by fans to this day, even if they're not as heavy & technical as what's to come. Stay tuned for more Gates of Winter news when it all rolls in!

Thirdly today, here's the latest news from newer local sludge metal band Giwakwa! Yesterday, they confirmed on their Facebook page that they've added Bear Hunters guitarist Josh Stephney to their lineup as their new singer, replacing the already-departed Jason Bourcier. In their most recent Facebook status, the band confirmed that they'd been jamming with Josh for a few weeks, and they plan to begin playing live in the new year. Though best known recently as a guitarist, Josh was well known as the singer for defunct local death metal band Bring The Fallen (who Giwakwa bassist Nolan Rainville was also a member of), as well as a brief vocalist stint with the recently-inactive March Into Regression this summer (are they still together?) It's great to see Josh back as singer in another death metal band, as he was definitely very good at it with his older bands! It's also good to see much of The Bear Hunters staying busy with other live bands while their demo is in progress (such as The Suicide Kings & Caveman Morrison), but hopefully we hear some death/sludge metal from Giwakwa on the local stage shortly, and check the above links for more details!

And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, promoter, or venue name:

• If you're wondering what ever became of the old Coch's Corner location (under the Days Inn at 320 Bay Street), the whole building was converted into a Holiday Inn Express over the summer, which likely explains the construction there mid-year & Coch's Corner's move to the old Foggy Notions building. The move must still be disappointing to some, but at least Coch's Corner has a new home!
• Local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade have launched their own Twitter page, so follow them at the above link for band updates! Note however that there's no tweets yet, but hopefully soon! (Also, for the record, the band has yet to confirm the full identity of their new guitarist, "Rob #2", but we'll know by Sunday if nothing else!)
• Frightlight/T-Rex Manning frontman J.D. Pearce is apparently now doing some concert bookings for The Algonquin Hotel's two bars (The Algonquin Pub & The Rockstar Bar), as per postings on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group recently! Bookings through December at The Rockstar Bar are being offered (preferably to classic rock bands), but bands downstairs will be more diverse from what I can tell. If you're interested in playing any weekends at the Algonquin, message J.D. at this location!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!