LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Apocalypse Afterparty), The Kaonashi Concert Preview, And More!!

Before we dive into a stacked slate of Halloween weekend concert previews, here's a new news post for your Wednesday morning, which includes recent battle of the bands results, how to check out a brand new album, and a special mid-week concert preview, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will return to Soo Blaster for yet another gig as the lone rock act on an an otherwise rap/hip-hop event, as they will be opening for Guelph rapper Robbie G once again on Saturday, November 29th! Fans may recall seeing the Stanghettas and Mikhal break out their double bass-and-drums attack when Robbie G headlined at Soo Blaster in April, and previously in 2023, let alone the prior Tech N9ne, Madchild, and Afroman concerts there that The A.A. also opened. Really, this band has never been one to stick to firm genre lines to get exposure, as seen when they headlined the very diverse Riffs For Remembrance memorial concert earlier this month, and these rap shows have done well for them, so hopefully things go well once again next month! At press time, The Apocalypse Afterparty are not credited on the Facebook event page, but the band confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday.

Former As It Stands frontman Justin "Nadj" Pregent is the credited host for next month's show, which will see opening sets by Southern Ontario touring rappers M For The Movement with Capital "A" Plus and Lumberjack Pat, while fellow local support will include Bold Noize (I wish he'd re-post "God Save Me"), MCs from No Filter Records, and KG Tha SunGod. This will be an all ages concert at 8:00 PM, and tickets are $20 at this link with VIP packages also available if so inclined. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's a special Wednesday night concert preview for TONIGHT, as Philadelphia hardcore quartet Kaonashi (Japanese for "faceless") will topline a stacked night of extreme metal at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! A fast rising progressive metalcore band with djent riffs and some retro touches, they should be more than capable of melting faces in this pre-Halloween concert, so don't bypass Kaonashi despite the work/school night scheduling! Also joining them on this stop of their I Wanna Go To Canada 2025 Tour is Calgary hardcore band Abrupt Decay (they don't spell it "Abrubt"), whose mathcore-inflected brutality will definitely help them stand out tonight, and they may steal the show depending on your preferences! Montreal post-hardcore trio Paresis will also take the stage as their tour converges with Kaonashi's, and their alternative influenced brand of screamo will also attract its own audience!

Local death/thrash metal trio Pillory will be tonight's local openers in their first show since the successful release of "Old Soul" on Saturday (more on that in a second), so they should be riding strong momentum! The local promotional debut for Thunder Bay's Piss Hard Promotions, this 19+ Wednesday metal night at the former Roosevelt Hotel has a $25 cover charge at the door, and a start time of 8:00 PM. Should be a fun and intense night of metal, and I know promoters hope to run more shows here, so pack the place tonight if you can before things get even busier for Halloween! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Kaonashi live!

Now, let's talk about Pillory's new album "Old Soul", which was successfully released at their release party at Soo Blaster on Saturday! The album wasn't immediately available that day on major streaming platforms, but it arrived thusly on Sunday at midnight, As linked via Distrokid, the album can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer, while it is also now streamable on YouTube Music. If you want to actually buy mp3 copies of "Old Soul", it runs for $9.99 on iTunes. CD copies of the album are available at Pillory concerts and through direct contact with band members, where it will cost you $20 (t-shirts with the album artwork cost $30). Aside from the tags on YouTube crediting former bassist Jordan Leach as a co-writer, I haven't seen any specific performer or production credits for the album, so like with Hails' new album, that all may be exclusive to the CDs.

I missed the release party due to the same cold that kept me from the LSSU Battle of the Bands (more on that in a second), but I hope things went well at Soo Blaster, and I will be eager to review "Old Soul" on the SMS in the new year! For now, give it a listen or buy it above, and here's the first song from the album that wasn't a pre-release advance single, namely "Abhorred Apprehension"!

Let's close this post in Sault Michigan with the final results from the third annual Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands at their on-campus Arts Center on Thursday, so who won the $150 top prize? In a mild upset, the winners were the debuting acoustic act The Dynamic Duo! Not bad given how new they were, but remember that every competing act on Thursday was either a solo musician or duo, which really opened things up. Personal Facebook videos from The Dynamic Duo's set show them covering The Cranberries' "Zombie" and Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", and Danielle & Ben sounded good there, so kudos to them for impressing the judges! At press time, I do not know who won the $50 second prize, other than that it wasn't Kevin Blakeney, but you can watch his opening set at this link, albeit from a really close upward angle. Solid gritty acoustic folk throughout!

New local rap duo Tunngtyed's set was filmed for YouTube, so give it a watch at this link. I'm not a hip hop scholar, but it is neat seeing strong rappers in the E.U.P.! A personal Facebook video of About:Blank (minus Nathan) playing an acoustic version of their song "Unfazed" is also floating around too, but like with the Dynamic Duo videos, it's not public. I have not found videos (public or private) of Socrates & The Cavemen or Kaleb "NDN Summer" Shannon's sets. The Dynamic Duo's new Facebook page hasn't shared videos of their set, but they did share Danielle's video of them being named the winners, so give it a watch below, and congratulations from Sault Ontario! 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Kaonashi & The Apocalypse Afterparty) And Pillory Updates!!

Let's dive into some more news and notes on this Tuesday night, including two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month and a new concert recording and related notes, so here's what you should know!

A memorial concert for avid local music fan (and my ex-girlfriend) Victoria Childs will be held on Saturday, October 4th at Soo Blaster! Taking place roughly a month after her sudden passing at just 34 years of age, this concert (titled Riffs For Remembrance: A Memorial For Tori) will feature a very diverse mixed-genre lineup, with proceeds being donated to mental health charities. The event is being organized by Paul & Amanda Stanghetta of party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, who were friends of Victoria's, so all the kudos in the world to them for taking the initiative to honour her, and in lieu of the now-closed Oddfellows Hall, Soo Blaster is a perfect place to host this show! The Apocalypse Afterparty (whose second bassist Mikhal Muto is a cousin of Victoria's) are your advertised headliners, but things shift wildly for the rest of the lineup, including veteran local country musician Leslie Cook.

Folk singer/guitarists Linsaey L.W. (who I've never heard of before this show was announced) and Gimiiwan Ikwe are also on board, with one more act to be announced. While Victoria was a punk fan first and foremost, she had wide ranging music tastes, and she would be very appreciative of all of the local musicians coming together in her honour next Saturday! This all ages concert has doors opening at 7:30 PM and admission is $5. There was no funeral for Victoria, so if you want to come out in her memory, do so next weekend, as she is very much missed by her family and friends, and it should be a fun night of local music! Visit the official Facebook event page for more on Riffs For Remembrance!

Next up, it'll be another Rosie metal night revival on Wednesday, October 29th at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, when Philadelphia hardcore quartet Kaonashi make their local debut! With a name meaning "faceless" in Japanese, Kaonashi bring a progressive and djent-laden original attack to their live shows, plus distinct vocals and a crushing overall sound that should pique many a local metalhead's interest next month! Calgary hardcore band Abrupt Decay (not "Abrubt Decay") are supporting Kaonashi on their I Wanna Go To Canada 2025 Tour, and their intense grind/math-influenced brutality will be a solid compliment on this night! Also joining the fray is Montreal post-hardcore trio Paresis, whose sparer and more screamo/alt-influenced sound will add an intriguing wrinkle to this pre-Halloween concert! Local support will come by way of local death/thrash metal trio Pillory, no strangers to opening for touring extreme metal bands this year.

A presentation of Thunder Bay-based Piss Hard Promotions, this 19+ concert has an advertised 8:00 PM start time, and admission will be $25, though I don't know if there will be advance sales of some kind or if that will be the door charge. Despite being on a work/school night, hopefully there's a strong turnout of metalheads for all of this brutal original metal action next month, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Speaking of Pillory, here's a new live recording of them in concert, albeit audio only! This comes from their set at the Insurrection/Beguiler show at Soo Blaster on July 30th (which they actually closed), and drummer Bret Shuttleworth had a camera rolling, but due to sub-optimal camera placement, he opted to upload it as just an audio recording, though three songs from their set were filmed by Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel. Their first show with former Crimson Crusade frontman Devon Lucier on bass (since 2014), Bret only uploaded the first 22 minutes of their set, as technical issues relating to camera space and file size led to their closing songs ("Sculptor of Cadavers", "Exhaustive Incarnation", Sepultura's "Territory", and Black Sabbath's "Into the Void") not making the cut. As luck would have it, one of Chris' videos is of "Into The Void", so click here to give it a watch, but what is in Bret's audio recording from the night?

Their set began with their intro "End Of Small Sanctuary" (which is actually a cover from the Silent Hill 3 soundtrack), "Specimen Of Egotism", "Abhorred Apprension", "The Angst Of Existence", "The Passing", and "The Curse Of Eternal Sickness". It's worth noting that frontman Robert Sartini confirmed after "The Passing" that "all these songs (that) we've played for you tonight are off of our upcoming first full-length album", giving the album's title as "Old Stone", as far as I could tell. He said that they are looking to "have it out in October", and they hope to have a date for a CD release party soon, though I don't believe the Kaonashi show will be that. Good to get some more confirmation of the album plans, which they hasn't been super forthcoming about on social media beyond brief mentions, so stay tuned for updates as October draws nearer! As for the concert recording proper, fans will be right at home with the brutality here!

Whether you saw Chris' videos from July 30th or not, the guys are at their technical death metal best here, with Devon fitting back in well on the low end, though the audio recording quality isn't pristine. Good stuff for extreme metalheads regardless, so check out (most of) Pillory's Soo Blaster set from July 30th below, and stay tuned for album updates! 

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