YouTube Channel Profile Series: aishaday, Devon Lucier, and 98Watts' Channels

After rushing last night's post due to my flub on the Pop Evil date (apologies again, look for videos from it soon!), here's this month's delayed YouTube Channel Profiles! As the first randomly selected channel this month only had one video, and the second only had one distinct file type sans duplicates, we're going all out to profile three channels today, in order for readers to find out what each has to offer and what to watch on them, and perhaps think about subscribing too! There's a nice varied mix from Sault Ontario today, so read on below for this month's YouTube profiles!
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aishaday's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/aishaday)

Owner: Former local concert promoter and Murder By Romance singer Aisha Day

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 29th, 2006; Only video posted that same day

Channel Summary: Aisha's only video posting is of her brother Jayson Day's old band Devastation of the Heavens (or D.O.T.H.) covering Slayer's "Raining Blood" in a mid-2006 jam session, back when the guys were around 16 years old. Also featuring future Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent (then Ladouceur) and current Theriac drummer Joe Bumbacco alongside Jayson on bass and lead vocals, this may be the only surviving video of D.O.T.H.'s early lineups, with only Mike remaining in the band the following year. This cover admittedly doesn't have a great reception from YouTube commenters, with the performance itself being fairly messy and rushed, but remember that the guys were 11 years younger and less experienced. Joe's work with RedD Monkey and Mike's recent solo material definitely showcase their musical growth since, but this is an interesting look back!


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Devon Lucier (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPG3jM3COCsENznSkWh_eXA)

Owner: Former Crimson Crusade frontman, Dirty Few guitarist, and Pillory bassist Devon Lucier

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 17th, 2013; Videos posted in May & June of 2013

Channel Summary: A rising sight in the local metal scene of the early 2010s, Devon's only postings on his YouTube channel comprise of two separate uploads of his old death metal band Crimson Crusade's only EP "Upon The Eve of War", which came out in June 2013, just five months prior to their final concert. Featuring Devon alongside ex-Pillory bandmate Robert Sartini on guitar, Riley Marshall on bass, and Inhuman Methods alum Robert Crossley on drums, this independently-released EP was uploaded beforehand in May 2013 as 5 separate songs ("Vanquish the Tyrant", "Pillage", their self-titled song, "Left For Dead", and "Consumed"), but featured here is the post-release video featuring all 5 songs. "Upon the Eve of War" could have shown more structural variance, tempo changes, and guitar solos, but it was a solid blast of Death-inspired originals that shows why they were so promising, and hopefully Crimson Crusade re-emerge down the road!


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98Watts' Channel (http://www.youtube.com/98watts)

Owner: YouTube user 98Watts, an unidentified former member of the Chateauguay, Quebec hard rock band Axis

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 2nd, 2006; Videos posted that same day and on October 1st, 2006

Channel Summary: Joining a later live video of Axis playing an original song at a high school event (which isn't bad, but has muddled audio quality), 98Watts' only other upload is of the music video for local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger's Juno nominated song "American Psycho", which has attracted over 1.2 million views to date, a record for that song on YouTube. The lead single from their platinum selling 2000 CD "Wide Awake Bored', and arguably Treble Charger's most famous song, this features longtime frontman Greig Nori & guitarist Bill Priddle alongside then-bassist Rosie Martin & drummer Trevor McGregor. The video (copied from MuchMusic) features the guys playing on a rooftop, as intercut with footage of crimes, arrests, and seemingly candid everyday happenings, which the band later invades by slapping "American Psycho" stickers on everything, fittingly matching the lyrical themes. This is a fun video that helped introduce fans to Treble Charger's transition to a pop punk sound, and it's well worth checking out, along with the whole album!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our random selections will take us to Sault Michigan, namely YouTube user MissOutdoors' channel, as she has uploaded 29 videos(!) of Alice Cooper live at The Dreammaker's Theater back in 2014! Look for that on or around March 26th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Devastation of the Heavens

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! As always, this monthly feature series looks at one or two defunct/inactive metal bands from the Sault Ste. Marie region, including their local run, surviving material, and notable events and shows, and so on. This month's band was originally randomly selected in February for last month's two band profile, but after discovering more info than anticipated, I bumped them to this month for a solo profile (Sault Ontario was next in the rotation anyway), so read on below for this somewhat overdue defunct local band profile, and if anything's missing, please let me know! (Updated on August 28th, 2013)
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Devastation of the Heavens

Genre: Death Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This band's lineup may be incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Mike Ladouceur* (Skull After Betrayl, The Bear Hunters), vocals/guitar
Joe DelBasso (Quite Frankly), rhythm guitar
Jestin Ryan, rhythm guitar
Justin Lam (The Bear Hunters, Jack Spades), bass
Johnny Lowrie* (The Bear Hunters, Caveman Morrison), drums

Jayson Day, vocals/bass
Joe Bumbacco (RedD Monkey, The Fury), drums

(The * refers to band members whose last names have since changed. Mike's current last name is Vincent, while Johnny's last name is now Belanger.)

Audio/Video: Devastation of the Heavens (or D.O.T.H.) have a few examples of surviving media from their run, including one live video from July 2006. An instrumental jam session video featuring Mike, Jayson, and Joe Bumbacco loosely covering Slayer's "Raining Blood", it was filmed by former local concert promoter Aisha Day, but it's admittedly very rough (as the comments and rating for the video will tell you), so out of respect, I won't embed it here. D.O.T.H. drastically improved by their last show in April 2007, where their other two surviving media files (their proposed album's title track "Heaven's Final Apocalypse" & a cover of Metallica's "The Four Horsemen") came from, so hear their original below from their PureVolume page, and check out more at the above links, including both tracks on YouTube!



Info/Analysis: Devastation of the Heavens were a young Sault Ontario metal band that was active from roughly 2006-2007. Possibly evolving from the earlier Death Rise, D.O.T.H. notably opened for Gates of Winter at The Oddfellows Hall in 2006, before peaking early the next year with appearances at two battles of the bands, along with a few Bawating high school performances. D.O.T.H. quietly disbanded by the summer of 2007, with members moving on to newer projects, including local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, who featured 3 D.O.T.H. members in their 2010-2011 lineup. D.O.T.H. showed some of the talents and success that many members had in later projects, but they work to do, especially if the comments for their 2006 video are any indication. There was clear improvement by their demise, with overall solid guitar & bass work, and increasing chemistry, but neither Mike nor Jayson had a great voice at the time, and there were some timing issues, especially in 2006. D.O.T.H. had the potential to make a larger impact if they'd kept at it, but at least most of their alumni have hit bigger heights in newer bands!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, we'll be looking at two bands for the second time in three months due to the first band we randomly selected having no media, but who's on tap for May? We have the defunct Sault Michigan metal project Cherubic Red lined up, along with the late 2000s Sault Ontario metal band Faithless Sin (featuring No Arrow, Gates of Winter, and Quite Frankly alumni), so watch out for all of this on or around May 10th, and stay tuned tomorrow for our recap of tonight's second night of this latest battle of the bands! Thanks everyone!