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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

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

Tym Morrison's Third Live-Streamed Concert, Plus Covers From Relocated Local Musicians!!

Lately, most of the news and updates to hit our news desk have been in the form of solo performance videos, which is definitely a by-product of social distancing, but there's enough of that to keep regular posts going, and that continues today! We'll start with the third "Live Guitar & Singing Of All Mightyness 7th Show" from local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, as live-streamed on his Twitch page on Thursday! For this first non-Tuesday installment, Tym reverted to including the entire set in one 2+ hour video, and the wait for the actual stream was only 13 minutes this time. In performance order, Tym covers Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed", The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun", Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall", Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69", Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Journey's "Open Arms", The Bangles' "Eternal Flame", ...

...Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", Billy Joel's "She's Always A Woman", Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny", Abba's "The Winner Takes It All", Toto's "Africa", a Spanish guitar instrumental, Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", brief snippets of his new originals "Angels of Light" & "Number of the Beast", Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love", Aerosmith's "Dream On", Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time", and Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me". Tym noted early that he was using a different lyric book for this live-stream than the previous two, so only "Here Comes The Sun" & the instrumental repeat from the prior shows. As usual, Tym's strong guitar work and nicely ranged vocal fit these covers nicely, including a slightly heavier array this time, so give his newest live-stream a watch below!

Next up, let's move over to YouTube for some new solo performance videos, starting with two vocal covers from former Time of Ruin frontman & local concert promoter Rich Moreland! As you may remember, Rich and his promotion agency Dismembertainment moved to Edmonton in 2012, where he has since found success as a concert photographer. These covers were posted on the Dismembertainment YouTube channel earlier this week, where he covered Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and, as embedded below, The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris". Compared to Rich's death metal band work locally in the 2000s, this is a massive departure, but he does have a nice melodic voice that fits these covers pretty well, and it's nice to see him staying busy out west, so give these a look above and below! Rich hasn't been as active in promoting concerts in recent years, but do check out his concert photography at this link, as he's seen some huge shows (metal or otherwise) in the past two years, and he routinely gets some excellent pictures there!



Finally for today, here's a new cover from local/Elliot Lake alt-punk solo project Ashoka at the Show, planned to be the first installment of a series of "songs to quarantine to". This is the first video uploaded to project leader Darren MacDonald's 184Films YouTube channel in 3 years, now that he has regained access to it, and it features him covering Fall Out Boy's "Sugar We're Going Down" on vocals & acoustic guitar. I'm not a Fall Out Boy fan, but Darren's cover has a nice melodic base and it flows together nicely, so give this one a watch below as well, and stay tuned for more!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Europe), Ten Kings Concert Previews, And More!!

As another work week comes to a close, we have some more big news for you guys on this cold Friday afternoon, so what's on the docket today? Some assorted recent updates, a new acoustic performance video, previews of a pair of Sault Michigan concerts this weekend, and first, our first major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT at Kewadin Casino for 2015, so here's what you should know!

After a hiatus of over 18 months, Allstar Promotions are bringing major concerts back to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, with one being headlined by Swedish glam metal legends Europe on Thursday, April 23rd! Best known for hits like "Rock The Night", "Carrie", and (of course) "The Final Countdown", Europe will be touring in support of their brand new album "War of Kings", and their memorable hard rock sounds should be welcomed to the Soo for the first time(?) in April, and courtesy of their classic lineup too! Support will come via The Black Star Riders, the hard rock band who basically spun-off from Thin Lizzy so they could tour and record full time (not unlike Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell), and their lineup features 3 Thin Lizzy members plus Megadeth & Ratt alumni. These guys definitely deliver quality classic hard rock, so be sure to come early to see their set!

Note that this show comes one week after Allstar Promotions' official return show, a rare country concert from them headlined by Parmalee and featuring local country openers Hawk Junction. It's odd to see that neither of their new shows are modern hard rock in tone, but they have teased more shows to announce in the coming weeks on their Facebook page. Tickets for the Europe show (which is all ages) are a very respectable $27.50, and go on sale this Monday online, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. For more details, visit the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions back in the game, and the Europe show should be a hit, so stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's our only known Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert previews of the weekend, as new local modern hard rock quartet Ten Kings will make their live concert debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Featuring ex-Nixxon Dixxon singer Brandon Carr, ex-Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and former Bottom Line bandmates Joe Jenkins & Will Storey, this will be the first of two straight weekends at The Rapids Lounge for this promising new band, whose lineup speaks for itself, and it will be extra neat to see Brandon fronting a band again over 4 years after Nixxon Dixxon's breakup! This weekend's shows both have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 21+ age limits. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss the debut of Ten Kings TONIGHT or TOMORROW, and here's the preview video from WK Media!

Also today, here's the long teased episode of Local2 & VM Radio's new acoustic performance webseries Bare that features members of local grunge/alternative trio The Pixo Control (who confirmed on their Facebook page last night that they've signed with Tidal Records!) Uploaded to the official Bare YouTube channel this morning, the video features frontman Michael Mikus and bassist Steve Edwards (drummer Keeghan Rosso's not featured) playing an acoustic version of their song "Land of the Moles", which won't be uncommon if you recall the guys' unplugged sets at Gusto's early last year. Still, this is a strong performance of one of the guys best' known oriigals, and it still retains the grit and grungy qualities of the full band version! Give The Pixo Control's Bare episode a look below, and don't miss them with The Cover Up and Northwest TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar!



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

• Infamous drummer Damon King is looking for a hard rock guitarist and bassist, though I can't confirm if the search relates to Infamous, and/or if original guitarist Anthony Boudreau has left their lineup. If this is for Infamous, time is of the essence, as the guys are scheduled for the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next month, so if you're interested, message Damon at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday!
• The long teased Edmonton, Alberta relaunch of former local concert promotion agency Dismembertainment is now official, as they're promoting Benighted & Bookakee's upcoming concert there on March 15th at DV8! Still ran by Rich Moreland, you may remember Dismembertainment for promoting the original Rosie metal nights and 2012's Ypres Metal Fest before Rich moved out west, but it's great to see him promoting again after almost 3 years!
• Former State of Misery drummer Nick Kainula is looking for a bass player (and maybe a second guitarist) to join his new local punk project, which apparently already has a singer and guitarist enlisted. No word yet on extra sound details, but if you're interested in trying out, message Nick at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

The Roosevelt Hotel Metal Nights: A Look Back

Three years ago on Monday was the premiere of the most successful regular metal concert series of recent memory in Sault Ontario, as former local concert promoter Rich Moreland launched the Roosevelt Hotel Thursday metal night series on November 11th, 2010! The series made it to 47 brutal and entertaining installments under three different promoters before quietly falling inactive after it's last installment in July 2012, and though it's faded out, it's still fondly remembered for giving metalheads a regularly scheduled outlet to see live metal, hard rock, and punk bands on a local stage! Coinciding with an increased push into more active concert bookings and renovations, The Roosevelt Hotel soon became a must-attend location for metal concerts in the area, helping promote and give rise to our current wave of death metal bands, and serving as the backdrop for a number of notable concerts, from Woods of Ypres' last local show to the long awaited return of The Dayglo Abortions. Though the last 10 installments were more spread out and not as prominent as during the series' 2011 peak, many fans still miss the metal nights at The Rosie, and I'm among them!

Sure, Thursdays were an adjustment compared to the weekend, but this series made Thursdays the most metal night of the week for 20 months, and I always enjoyed going to The Roosevelt Hotel to see the bands in action! I'd never given The Rosie much thought before Rich began booking concerts at The Rosie, but look at it now, and he deserves a lot of credit for his role in creating and promoting this series' during it's longest and biggest era! That's why today, on the first Thursday after the third anniversary, I thought I'd spotlight some facts, numbers, videos, and memories from the series' run, starting with a listing of all 47 official shows in the series, and note that the lineup order of each show is not guaranteed to be accurate: (Updated at 2:15 PM)
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Rich Moreland/Dismembertainment period (November 2010-October 2011)

November 11th, 2010 (1): Breaking The Fourth Wall (Montreal), As It Stands, Bring The Fallen, and Winkstinger
December 9th, 2010 (2): As It Stands, Bring The Fallen, and State of Misery
December 23rd, 2010 (3): The Bear Hunters, Sativa Rose, Shit Liver, and State of Misery
January 6th, 2011 (4): As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and Bring The Fallen
January 20th, 2011 (5): Shit Liver, Winkstinger, and State of Misery
February 3rd, 2011 (6): As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery
February 17th, 2011 (7): The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, and Changing Waves
March 3rd, 2011 (8): As It Stands, For All That Is Lost, and Changing Waves
March 10th, 2011 (9): Woods of Ypres, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery
March 31st, 2011 (10): As It Stands, Shit Liver, and Skull After Betrayl
April 14th, 2011 (11): Bring The Fallen, For All That Is Lost, and State of Misery
April 21st, 2011 (12): As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
April 28th, 2011 (13): Late & Loud, Sativa Rose, and Changing Waves
May 5th, 2011 (14): The Bear Hunters, Sativa Rose, and For All That Is Lost
May 12th, 2011 (15): No Bragging Rights (California), Hallows Die (Toronto), Farewell To Freeway (Guelph), and As It Stands
May 19th, 2011 (16): Shit Liver, Sativa Rose, and Changing Waves
May 26th, 2011 (17): As It Stands, For All That Is Lost, and Changing Waves
June 2nd, 2011 (18): The Bear Hunters, Sykotyk Rampage, and Bring The Misery (later March Into Regression)
June 9th, 2011 (19): The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver
June 16th, 2011 (20): The Dayglo Abortions (Victoria), Frightlight, Shit Liver, Sativa Rose, and Skull After Betrayl
June 23rd, 2011 (21): The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, Winkstinger, and Bring The Misery (later March Into Regression)
June 30th, 2011 (22): As It Stands & Sativa Rose
July 7th, 2011 (23): As It Stands, For All That Is Lost, and Changing Waves
July 14th, 2011 (24): RedD Monkey & Changing Waves
July 21st, 2011 (25): Garden of Bedlam, The Bear Hunters, and Winkstinger
July 28th, 2011 (26): As It Stands & Redundant
August 4th, 2011 (27): The Bear Hunters & Changing Waves
August 11th, 2011 (28): Black Moor (Halifax), Sanktuary (Halifax), The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
August 18th, 2011 (29): Abriosis (Vancouver), Method (Winnipeg), For All That Is Lost, and Changing Waves
August 25th, 2011 (30): Annex Theory (Winnipeg), Laika (Winnipeg), Thekillingfield (North Bay), and Shit Liver
September 1st, 2011 (31): Tribune (Vancouver), Redundant, and Changing Waves
September 8th, 2011 (32): Late and Loud & Shit Liver
September 15th, 2011 (33): Thekillingfield (North Bay), The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
September 22nd, 2011 (34): Empyrean Plague (North Bay), The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
September 29th, 2011 (35): La Promesse (Rimouski) & Late and Loud
October 6th, 2011 (36): The Nailheads (Montreal), Fifth Column (Espanola), and Redundant
October 13th, 2011 (37): The Dead Peasants Revolt (St. John's) & Shit Liver
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Stephane Vincent period (November 2011-March 2012)

November 10th, 2011 (38): The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, and Redundant
November 24th, 2011 (39): Late & Loud, For All That Is Lost, and View To A Kill (later The Valentine's Day Massacre)
December 8th, 2011 (40): The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, and General Striker
January 19th, 2012 (41): As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and Changing Waves
February 16th, 2012 (42): For All That Is Lost, Winkstinger, and The Valentine's Day Massacre
March 15th, 2012 (43): Waster (Winnipeg), Farewell To Freeway (Guelph), and As It Stands
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Mitch Sirie period (April-July 2012)

May 31st, 2012 (44): As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
June 7th, 2012 (45): Winkstinger, Changing Waves, and Borderline Divine
June 21st, 2012 (46): The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, and Inhuman Methods
July 5th, 2012 (47): The Valentine's Day Massacre, Changing Waves, and March Into Regression
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Rosie Metal Night Trivia, Facts, And Other Notes

By The Numbers: 22 different local bands played at Rosie metal nights, with The Bear Hunters playing a record 20 times, followed by Shit Liver (19), As It Stands (15), Changing Waves (13), and For All That Is Lost (8). Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie holds the solo appearance record, playing at 21 metal nights as an official band member (the 20 Bear Hunters sets, plus once with Borderline Divine), making him extra fitting to be the series' final promoter! The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver shared the stage at Rosie metal nights 12 times, more than any other combination, none of which occurred more than 5 times. Aside from members of the above bands, local death metal singer Steve Rhodes fronted bands at 11 metal nights, including 6 with State of Misery, 3 with The Valentine's Day Massacre, and 2 with Bring The Misery. Shit Liver were arguably the iron men of the series, playing 3 straight metal nights twice in June & September 2011. Somewhat surprisingly, despite playing at a combined 27 metal nights, none ever took place featuring Shit Liver and For All That Is Lost on the same night.

Firsts & Lasts: Five local bands made their live concert debuts at a Thursday Rosie metal night, including The Bear Hunters & Skull After Betrayl (both then featuring guitarist Mike Vincent), State of Misery & Bring the Misery (each featuring Steve Rhodes & Ray Cowan at the time), and the one-off classic metal band General Striker, who were essentially Late & Loud minus singer/guitarist Brendan Christie, as they didn't want to play under the Late & Loud name without a full lineup present. General Striker aside, bands that played their last concert ever at a Rosie metal night included Changing Waves, Inhuman Methods, and March Into Regression, notably all during the Mitch Sirie era. As well, Woods of Ypres' last local show was in this series (preceding a number of out of town gigs), and Bring The Fallen's last gig during their active run was a Rosie metal night (though they returned for a one-off farewell concert in July 2013.)

Promoter Changes: An active promoter in the Sault area since the mid-2000s, Rich Moreland launched Dismembertainment in March 2012 to fully focus on regional metal & punk concert promoting. His exit from the metal nights and promotion at The Rosie was at least partly due to his purchase of Foggy Notions (renamed Feedback under his tenure) in the fall of 2011, though the series outlived Feedback, which is now the current location of Coch's Corner. Rich continued to promote concerts under the Dismembertainment banner at Feedback and The Canadian through May 2012 (including the Ypres Metal Fest that April) before moving to Alberta, though he hasn't closed the door on promoting shows there. The Rosie's then-kitchen manager Stephane Vincent took over the series in November 2011, running 6 installments through the spring of 2012 before handing the series over to Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie that April in advance of his move to Toronto. Mitch's four Rosie metal nights joined a slate of other early-mid 2012 concerts that he promoted, but he stopped actively promoting concerts (including this series) in late 2012 so he could focus on his music projects.

Out Of Town Bands: In both size (5 bands) and scope, the 20th Rosie metal night on June 16th, 2011 was arguably the biggest, thanks in large part to the short notice return of The Dayglo Abortions to Sault Ontario, attracting close to 200 raucus fans, and instant talk of a return engagement, though they didn't return until October 2013. 9 of the last 10 Dismembertainment-promoted metal nights featured one or more out of town headlining bands, after having only 3 shows with out of town headliners in the preceding months. By contrast, only 1 of the last 10 metal nights had out of town bands (Stephane Vincent's last one on March 15th, 2012, which was also the only metal night to experiment with an all ages model.) In all, 19 out of town bands (not counting the regional For All That Is Lost & Inhuman Methods) played at official Rosie metal nights, including such local favourites as Thekillingfield, Empyrean Plague, and Hallows Die, though you could arguably include Woods of Ypres too given their mostly non-local membership at the time of their appearance.

Press Coverage: The 21st Rosie metal night on June 23rd, 2011 was spotlighted by ex-Free Beer singer Christian Lemay in a news piece for Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie, featuring interview segments with two attendees & then-promoter Rich Moreland on the event, venue, future plans, and his concert promoting in general. The full video (which aired on TV for a week that summer) features clips of Winkstinger & Bring The Misery from that night, including the only known footage of Bring The Misery with Daeson Lesage on rhythm guitar before their hiatus & lineup/name changes. The November 10th, 2011 relaunch of the series was covered in two separate Sault Star articles by Jeffery Ougler (links here & here), complete with a video from the event, though the articles incorrectly noted the length of the series' hiatus, and generalized some aspects of the series' past promotion & bands. The video features clips of The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver's sets & interview clips with Stephane Vincent & Bear Hunters members Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger.

Rosie Punk Nights: The Roosevelt Hotel tried a punk night series alternating with the metal nights for 5 installments from February 10th to April 7th, 2011, as promoted by Typhoid Meaghan. Regular performers included RedD Monkey (4 times), Sykotyk Rampage and Shit Liver (twice each), along with attracting one out of town band (Skepsis) for the March 17th installment. However, the series failed to take off at the same success level, with some fans noticing that the punk nights usually had at least one band who couldn't be classified as punk (like The Bear Hunters.) After the punk nights ended, Dismembertainment started running the metal nights weekly in their place in April, and slowly began adding some punk-influenced bands to the metal nights that summer (including Redundant, Frightlight, RedD Monkey, and select out of town bands) until they cut ties with the series that fall. Under later promoters, Redundant played the return show on November 10th, 2011, but no full punk bands followed before the series' demise.

Spiritual Successor:  Following his role in securing The Dayglo Abortions as headliners for the 20th metal night, local metal/punk singer and concert promoter J.D. Pearce has booked occasional metal & punk concerts on Thursday at The Rosie since May 17th, 2012 under his "Johnny Pints Presents" banner, among other shows on other days at this and other venues. All of his Thursday shows featured out of town bands on their originally announced lineups, though they're not part of a distinct revival of the metal night series. 7 have been held since, with regular bands in his Thursday night shows including Sykotyk Rampage (4 times), Redundant (3 times), Frightlight, and Haggith (twice each.) The February 21st, 2013 show (a.k.a. Axed Theory Night) was promoted as the return of the Rosie metal nights on their Facebook page, but it was likely an in-name return only due to their last promoter Mitch Sirie's performing involvement with The Bear Hunters, and their page has not been used to market future Thursday shows at The Rosie. Keep an eye out via the above links for the next Johnny Pints Presents concerts, as he's got a lot of great stuff in the works!
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Sample Videos From The Series

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LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Biipiigwan), Haggith Concert Preview, And More!!

Keeping the recent news rolling, we have some more big stuff to get to today, so what's on tap? New video discoveries from a recently featured act, a preview of a show going down tomorrow night, and some more assorted notes, but first, here's a pretty cool LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you need to know! (Updated on Sunday at 2:46 AM)

Ottawa sludge metal quartet Biipiigwan will hit Sault Ontario for a rare metal show at The Moose Lodge at 543 Trunk Road on Sunday, November 24th! Yes, I know this concert's Facebook event page has been online for two weeks now, but the venue was only just confirmed on Thursday, so I held it until a location was announced. Though Biipiigwan (which is Ojibwe for "flute") have a solid local following with their hard hitting brand of metal, and you may recognize them from a For All That Is Lost-hosted Thessalon event in 2011, this will be their first Sault Ontario stop that I can 100% source, and it'll be awesome to have their sludgy and brutal original sound here! Two local sludge-influenced opening bands are signed on, including the fifth live appearance (and fourth public set) from local stoner metal trio AlgomA, and the return of local death metal outfit Giwakwa, in their first concert in four months! No word yet on the status of their vocalist position following Josh Stephney's move out of town, but bassist Nolan Rainville will indeed be back for the concert, though I'm not positive whether he's already moved back home, or if this is a temporary return.

This show is being promoted by Oh! Right Arm! Promotions in a collective with AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent (a.k.a. "Geezer") and his promotion agency, so like most of Jamie's other shows, this will be ALL AGES! It's also the first non-stag & doe that I can recall in a number of years to feature metal bands at The Moose Lodge (just seconds from The Rad Zone), so if you're in the East End, here's a very heavy bone that was thrown your direction! Admission is just $5 (great deal), and a 7:00 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss what should be an awesome metal concert at an unfamiliar venue next month! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's a preview of a special Sunday night concert, as local grunge/alternative rock quartet Haggith will play their second show in their current fall arrangement with The New American Pub at 602 Bay Street TOMORROW NIGHT! After a successful first show at this newly renovated downtown venue last month, Haggith are still on a roll with their entertaining hard rock originals and select covers, and hopefully tomorrow's show continues their run well! Note that any talk of a bassist addition hasn't amounted to anything public as of this writing, so nothing should look any different tomorrow. Like last month, there will be an opening band, as newer local rock quintet Nikkfitt (featuring Fitswitch, Caveman Morrison, and W.F.O. alumni) will play their third live concert set, second publically attendable set, and first at The New A tomorrow as well! Unless you've seen them live, the jury's still out on their sound, but I have heard good things, and we'll have to see if any media or specifics come out at all! A $4 cover charge is in effect for tomorrow's concert, you must be 19 to attend, and Nikkfitt will open the festivities at 9:00 PM.

For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Haggith continue to make a big name for themselves, and they always put on a good show, so don't miss tomorrow's concert at The New A, and come early for Nikkfitt! For a preview, here's Haggith playing their new original "Metal Cage" at The Algonquin Pub last month!



Also today (and leading from yesterday's new live video of this act), we have some new video finds from local lo-fi/grunge solo project Telephone & Address! Uploaded to mastermind Chris Shoust's YouTube channel in the past few months, they're of songs named "Can I Just Answer?" and (as embedded below) "Slow Brood". The former video features Chris walking with the camera pointed at his head, with no direct performing aside from the backing music, while "Slow Brood" has an artistic painting slideshow with graffiti messages slowly added, altered, and crossed off or painted over. Unlike his usual acoustic work, these songs feature electric instrumentation (the latter has no vocals either), but they show his creative alternative style well, and it's nice to see some variance from the usual outsider/grunge format of much of his recent work (I especially like the "Slow Brood" video.) Check it out below, and stay tuned when we hear more from Chris' music!



Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted notes from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by company or series name:

• It's not just the forums of the 705 Video Magazine that are down now, as their whole website has just been replaced by this message: "If you are the owner of this site please contact customer support.", which generally implies that a domain has been suspended for one reason or another. The 705VM is still alive and well via their Facebook page, and though I'm not sure if they're letting the site die or will eventually revive it, I know the forum had a spam issue when last active. For now, I've removed the forum and replaced the site's link on the SMS, but if anything returns, I'll let you guys know!
• In our "Other Local Metal Links" section, I've replaced the website of former local metal concert promotion agency Dismembertainment with their Facebook page, as their website's domain name has expired. Aside from hints at booking Edmonton-area concerts in July, the Rich Moreland-led company has been inactive since last summer and his move out of town, but hopefully he stays active in music!
• Profiles in our YouTube Channel Profile Series on the SMS are now all updated with larger featured videos, to better make use of the expanded field where posts are read on the site. No new updates than those otherwise, but I have more coming, and check out our past YouTube profiles in the sidebars!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

Bring The Fallen's EP Release, More Rotaryfest Videos, And Some Other Recent News!!

Approaching the end of one of our busiest ever months on the SMS, today's post is half dedicated to the remaining Local2 Rotaryfest hard rock videos, but we also have some shorter recent news items to get to, and leading off, details on a surprise recent EP release, so here's what you need to know!

Let's kick off this post with some info on Bring The Fallen's debut (and only) EP, which FINALLY got a physical paid release at Friday night's Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up in honour of their reunion/farewell concert, over four years after sessions began! As you may remember, the sessions for their EP (named "Stand Before") were held in mid-2009 at Green Room Productions with producer (and ex-No Arrow/SBD bassist) Brad Griffith, having won them at the YMCA Battle of the Bands that March during their live debut, but financial difficulties left the EP unreleased by the time of their 2011 breakup. Flash forward to last Friday, where fans finally got copies of it, so what should you know? "Stand Before" was released on a pay-by-donation model, and while there was no full artwork or liner notes, the jewel case and CD label are all done up professionally with band photos, a song listing, and two different CD designs released, and I've replicated my copy's design on your right as if it was the cover art.

The EP features their songs "Stand Before", "Night Riders", "Kill Your Life", "Exposed Embankment", and "Defiling Despondence", with tracks 2-3 making their official public debut in studio form, having not been uploaded to their MySpace page as a preview at the time. I like what I've heard so far, and it's nice hearing "Kill Your Life" again after so long, but if you missed Friday's show, that was likely the only day that copies will be available to purchase given that it was a one-off return. As for when we could be reviewing it on the site, I won't commit to anything yet, but with Crimson Crusade a lock for next month, it's looking extremely likely for the fall! Stay tuned!

Next up, here's the other two hard rock covers from Rotaryfest's first stage at Clergue Park that we didn't feature on the site yesterday! Filmed by Local2's Mike Caruso as part of his "Everything Sault" series, these were uploaded to Local2's YouTube channel last week. I held back these two from yesterday's post because they're both covers of songs by The Cult, so why not feature them together? The first of them is a cover of "She Sells Sanctuary" from Friday, July 19th's lineup, courtesy of local classic rock cover quartet Mid Life Crysis. Featuring singer/guitarist Dan Hodgson, lead guitarist David Kettles, bassist Lori Reinholtz, and drummer Len Legacy, this is a solid cover for the most part, if played slightly softer than the original, but their talents are on point, and Dan's vocals fit the melody and vibe of the track! Mid Life Crysis are a popular sight for weekend gigs at local bars, and though their sets are completely varied across all genres, they can rock a little harder once in a while, so don't bypass them completely! Check out their cover of "She Sells Sanctuary" below!



The last of Mike's filmed hard rock covers from Rotaryfest comes from reunited local classic/hard rock quintet That's Chester's set on Saturday, July 20th, as their Local2 video has them covering The Cult's "Fire Woman"! Nice to see the guys back together, and their fun chemistry and talents came back too, but the guitars seem oddly low in the mix compared to some other videos from Rotaryfest that I've seen. I have no idea if That's Chester have any more shows coming up this summer, or if this reunion is on a limited or sporadic basis, but they haven't lost a step in their year-long stage hiatus, so give their "Fire Woman" cover a look below!



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

• Local metal concert promotion agency Dismembertainment is back... just not in the Soo. After a 14 month hiatus, owner Rich Moreland announced on their Facebook page on Thursday that he's recieved an offer to book concerts at The DV8 Tavern in his current home of Edmonton, where he moved last fall. Great to hear, even if it's so far from here, but if you want a concert booking in Edmonton, give Dismembertainment a shout!
• The proposed Heavy North metal festival in September at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre has quietly been called off in the last month or so, as per the deletion of it's Facebook event page. A reason hasn't been publically announced that I'm aware of, but J.D. had a good idea that would be neat to re-explore in the future!
• Former Turner Up/Johnny Lunchbox singer Krista Marshall is looking to start a new local hard rock cover band that would cover groups like Halestorm and Lacuna Coil. She apparently has a bassist lined up already, and is specifically looking for a drummer and at least one guitarist. It's be nice to have her playing live again, so if you're interested in trying out, message Krista at this location or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Wednesday! (Note that she's not to be confused with recent Haggith guest vocalist Kristi-Lee Marshall.)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some Tesla concert videos and more news tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Destroilet Updates, New Videos, And More Assorted News!!

We're back with more news on this Friday afternoon, so what's on deck? Today, we have a new video from a local guitarist, more archive album uploads, and much more assorted news & notes, but first, here's the latest updates from a band we haven't seen on the stage in way too long, so here's what you need to know!

Local old school hardcore quintet Destroilet are continuing their somewhat quiet activity with some encouraging new band updates, including the confirmation that they are working on a new album! Online pages are still updated only scatteredly, but drummer Matt Waples has been keeping fans up to date on his personal Facebook page to the recording plans, which will apparently lead to a 12 track full length album (including reworked versions of the songs from their 2011 EP), with a planned proper CD release concert around Christmas, which is something that last year's EP never got. Their MySpace page briefly had some unfinished demos of these tracks in recent days (including the previously previewed "Eternal Fire" and a cover of The Ducky Boys' "Cross To Bear", among others), though they've since been taken down. I'm cautiously optimistic about these Destroilet updates, and hopefully we'll finally see them fully back and active before you know it! I don't know exactly why they haven't played live in over 20 months, but if this helps speed up Destroilet's return, I'm all ears, so stay tuned for more band updates as they roll in!

Next up, local solo artist and Haggith drummer Mike Haggith posted two more of his old solo albums onto his YouTube channel yesterday to stream for free! Uploaded as single files of the whole album in one video, they're of Mike's 37th & 38th solo albums "The Curse Was The Cure" and "I Hate My Life & I Want To Die", so click the above links to check them out! Both were released through the former Rotten Records in mid-2009 before Mike moved to Sault Ste. Marie, so while they're not overly familiar to Saultites, there's still some solid stuff there! I have yet to hear either in full, but there's some varied hard rock and alternative material in both albums, as you've hopefully come to expect from his local work. I've embedded the longer of the two albums ("The Curse Was The Cure") below to check out, but visit the above links for more, buy them at this location if you like what you hear, and stay tuned hopefully for more uploads of Mike's back catalog!



Also in the realm of new videos is the latest solo guitar cover from Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy, who posted this clip of him covering Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" onto his YouTube channel yesterday! He knows the song pretty well, but his playing sounds a bit reserved compared to the original recording, and there's a lot of stretches in the original song with minimal to no guitar work, so I wouldn't say it's the best song to showcase Alex's skills with. Very good though, so give it a look below!



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

• Former Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie is looking for a drummer for his new local metal project, implying that Josh Hatherley is not in this new band. Having double kick experience is a must, and liking or being influenced by hair metal and bands like Iron Maiden, Dokken, and Skull Fist would help as well. If you're at all interested in trying out, message Brendan at this location or find his post from yesterday on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group!
• Don't sound the bell for Dismembertainment's death yet! Owner Rich Moreland posted on their Facebook page today to let fans know that he's working on ways to possibly put on local metal concerts in the Soo despite his move to Alberta last month, and he may also get into concert promotion out west as well. I'm curious to see how Dismembertainment could put on shows from afar like this, but if I hear anything positive or negative on their future, I'll let you guys know!
• Though not local anymore, Energy Rock Radio is back! The online hard rock/metal station (which was based out of Sault Ontario from 2008-2011) had been shut down since January, with owner Ryan Kaarlela hosting some radio shows in the interim out of his current British Columbia home base, but a new Facebook page has been launched with more updates to come, so check the above links for updates, and click here to stream the new Energy Rock Radio!

 That's all for today, but stay tuned for hopefully more news and updates this weekend, and I hope to see you guys at the Zombie Walk (or at least the afterparty!) Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), The End Of Dismembertainment, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, but of course, remember to never forget the tragic events 11 years ago today, and please pay your respects for the sacrifices that have been made for our freedoms if you can! On the SMS front, we have news on a new Sault Michigan metal band's new name & latest lineup news, the likely end of a local concert promoting agency, and a new video from a notable Eastern U.P. hard rock band (along with a strangely high amount of talk relating to Sault Michigan-area musicians named Alex), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this coming weekend across the river and updates relating to their lineup, so here's what you need to know!

Kinross hard rockers Banned will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY at Todd's Tavern in nearby Moran, Michigan! One weekend after a packed weekend in Gould City and at the Sault Riverview Music Festival (more on that in a bit), the Traynors & company will rock the former Bullwinkle's on Saturday night (yes, the date is 100% confirmed this time) for what should be an entertaining night of hard rock covers & originals! Admission should be free with a 21+ age limit, and an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM is advertised on their Facebook page. Todd's Tavern is quickly becoming a favourite stop for Banned's widely varying Eastern U.P. gigs, so take a drive down to Moran (20 minutes from St. Ignace, an hour from the Soo) on Saturday to rock out! Also in Banned news, I can confirm why guitarist Alex Schrovenwever was absent from their Rock Till You Drop battle set last month, as it looks like he moved to Marquette for college last month, as per postings on his personal Facebook page. I don't know what this means for his Banned status, but he is still listed in their lineup, and enough local bands have stayed active with a member out of town for an extended period for us to not assume the worst. Best of luck to Alex in Marquette though, and hopefully we'll see him back on stage with Banned sooner or later!

With that said, Alex Schrovenwever was definitely absent for Banned's Sault Riverview Music Festival sets this past weekend, but they kept at it to rock City Hall as part of this new local music festival, and we have video footage of Banned in action during their set on Friday night! This is of most of their still-local members (singer Mike Straw is absent) playing a brand new original song named "Cocaine Riot", as filmed by Ashley Traynor and uploaded to her YouTube channel on Sunday, but how does it look & sound? It has a nice classic hard rock sound, and it's melody & groove are better to me than on their other available originals, but it's not a shredding metal track. Lead guitarist Alex Traynor provides vocals here and uses them to maximum effectiveness with some extra grit & nicely ranged falsetto parts late, and everything comes out well here! You can tell it's later in the day though by the brightness of the video, and some extra lighting would have been nice, as well as the crowd reaction after the song ended. Check out Banned's newest original below, and go check them out in Moran on Saturday night!



Next up, I wanted to note on here (if you guys hadn't already heard) that Sault Ontario concert promoting agency Dismembertainment is more or less defunct now. The company ran by local promoter/guitarist Rich Moreland hasn't put on a show since May, and while I won't go into major details on what's happened since, Rich left town this past weekend for work opportunities in Alberta. He's of course well known for booking all kinds of metal & punk concerts in Sault Ontario since bringing Behemoth here in 2005, featuring notable bands like Kittie, The Dayglo Abortions, Napalm Death, Cattle Decapitation, Novembers Doom, Fuck The Facts, Wolven Ancestry, and Beyond Within, just to name a few. In the last couple years, he ramped up on bookings, including starting the Roosevelt Hotel metal nights in November 2010 & promoting 37 installments of that series, formally launching Dismembertainment in March 2011, briefly owning what's now Coch's Corner under the Feedback name late last year, and helping organize the massive Ypres Metal Fest in memory of the late David Gold this past April. Also, you're bound to remember him as a musician too, including a notable stint as a guitarist in Time of Ruin in the late 2000s, and many guest vocal appearances with assorted local bands.

It is disappointing to see Rich move, as he did wonders for the scene in the 7 years that he promoted local concerts! I know the response and turnout for some could be hit & miss, but he went above and beyond to give us tons of brutal metal concerts, and a Dismembertainment/Rich-promoted concert tended to be the heaviest event going down on any given week! I know I'm grateful for all he's done, and hopefully more locals can pick up the slack to ensure more major bands stop here for more than just sleep. That said, I hope Alberta works out for him, as Rich is a nice guy and has the talent & drive to go far if he has the opportunities available for him, so best of luck to him out west, and hopefully this won't be the last we'll hear from him in metal!

Finally for today, here's the latest updates from the new Sault Michigan hardcore band Angelic Genocide... or, what used to be them. Last week, they changed their name to The Eleventh Hour (Lamb of God reference?), and though a reason wasn't announced for the change, they did refer to the Angelic Genocide name as their "last idea at a band name", for what that's worth. I actually like the new name better, so hopefully it sticks for them, and hopefully they'll update their logos & Facebook page URL soon to match it! Also in recent news, The Eleventh Hour appear to have quietly parted ways with bassist Alex Boyer, as per his removal from their lineup on Facebook. Again, a reason for this hasn't been announced, but Alex does still list himself as a band member (on vocals, no less) on his personal Facebook page, though that might be an old posting to begin with. Still, if he is indeed gone, best of luck to Alex in the future! The Eleventh Hour do list the bass spot as vacant now, so if you live in the Sault Michigan area, it's worth giving the guys a shout if you wanna try out, so visit the above links! Finally for Eleventh Hour updates, the band indicated on Wednesday that they're working on a new original song named "The Weeping Angels", so stay tuned for updates on that and more from The Eleventh Hour as it all comes in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including some news on upcoming album releases, hopefully our "Yooper Bars" book review, weekend concert previews, and more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Fuck The Facts), Rosie Metal Night Updates, And Much More!!

As promised, here's a stacked news post with recent news and notes relating to the local metal scene, so what's in this post? Today, we've got a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a big metal show later this month, an update for another show by the same promoter, what lies ahead for a notable concert series, news on an upcoming concert festival, and another popular music site's recent upgrades, so here's what you need to know!

Another huge metal concert from Dismembertainment is now scheduled for May 23rd at The Canadian Nightclub, and it will be headlined by the return of Fuck The Facts! Exactly one year & two weeks after they last rocked Sault Ste. Marie, the Juno nominated death/grindcore metal band from Ottawa will be sure to deliver a brutal and intense set of original songs, including material from their new albums "Die Miserable" and "Misery", to their local fans on May 23rd! They melted the faces of all last year, now it's time for more brutality! There will be four opening bands, including local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam, grimecore trio Shit Liver (the only returning band from last year's Fuck The Facts show), death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, and Desbarats' own white masked metallers For All That Is Lost, which should add up to a huge lineup of metal talent! Of the opening bands, all are returning to The Canadian for the first time since the Ypres Metal Fest, except for F.A.T.I.L., who were last seen there at Dead In The Van in March. Doors open at 8:30 PM on May 23rd, there will be a $10 cover charge, and like Dismembertainment's other recent concerts, it will be an ALL AGES event! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This sounds like another huge concert, and kudos for Rich bringing Fuck The Facts back to Sault Ontario! It's good to see Dismembertainment back in the swing of things for booking local shows, and hopefully this string of all ages Canadian Nightclub gigs continues to be a success! I would say that Garden of Bedlam don't seem to fit in terms of genre with the other bands, but knowing their success and local following, they'll only help this show for attendance and collective talent, so don't miss them on May 23rd! Before we move to another topic, I'll also note another recent update for a Dismembertainment show, as a new headlining band has been added to next Sunday's Canadian Nightclub show featuring Tribune and returning local bands State of Misery & Borderline Divine. The new headliners are Vancouver metal band West of Hell, who are fronted by Zimmers Hole singer Chris Valagao, which is an awesome sign in itself! I'm really digging the West of Hell material I've heard, and if you like classic speed & thrash metal with modern influences, you'll absolutely enjoy these guys! With their addition, the cover charge is now $10, but the raise is worth it, so hopefully I'll see you guys at The Canadian on May 13th for this 4 band onslaught! Check the above links for more on Dismembertainment's next two shows!

Next up, here's the latest updates relating to the Roosevelt Hotel metal nights! According to a new post on the Thursday concert series' Facebook page last week, The Roosevelt Hotel has brought on Bear Hunters & Borderline Divine guitarist Mitch Sirie to help promote, book, and schedule future installments of the series. Though not mentioned there, current promoter Stephane Vincent is apparently moving to Toronto this summer (my source is his personal Facebook page), so I assume Mitch will take on primary promoting duties after that. Solid choice, as Mitch has played at Rosie metal nights a record 18 times with The Bear Hunters, and he's recently been ramping up on local concert bookings, so hopefully he can help sustain the series for many more installments to come! That said, is the May 10th Die Mannequin-headlined show at The Rosie being considered the 44th Rosie metal night? Not officially, as the metal nights' Facebook page says that the next metal night will actually come on May 24th, though performers and a future schedule have yet to be publicized. I had my doubts, as next Thursday's show has a different promoter, a heavy punk concentration, and a need for tickets, but it had metal night veterans and was next on the old "every 4 weeks" schedule, so you can see why some would be confused.

No matter what, The Rosie's Thursday metal nights appear to be in good hands, and though it looks like we'll be on our third promoter in under a year for the series in a few months, Mitch should be an excellent promoter to keep metal rocking The Rosie in 2012! Stay tuned for more updates on metal nights at The Roosevelt Hotel as they roll in!

Also in recent news, here's the latest updates concerning Sault Michigan concert festival LemmaFest! Tickets are now on sale for the second annual Michael Lemma tribute festival outside of Dondee Lanes on June 23rd, and they are $10 once again in advance, though note that purchases at the door will be $15 this year. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Dondee, Grooves Music, and The Merchant's Bar, where you can also make pre-orders for LemmaFest 2012 t-shirts for $12 ($15 for sizes 3X and up) and mugs at some locations, so visit the Facebook event page for more details! They've also recently confirmed that minors can't be in the bar after 8:00 PM, there will be drink & bowling specials, raffles, and food by donation, which should add up to a great festival in Mike's memory! As well, while the band lineup has yet to be altered, I can confirm that Brimley metallers Half A Man will be performing as a trio in their opening set at LemmaFest next month, as per their Facebook page. While specifics weren't given, I assume that singer Dillion Semasky won't be a part (despite his set with Infathom later that evening), which makes the most sense given that he won't be on their debut EP. If we hear anything more as to his band status, I'll have it here, but Half A Man should rock no matter what! Check the above links for more details, including how you can suggest what covers "3/8ths A Man" should do!

And finally for today, here's yet another music website that recently overhauled it's look! We've had to deal with Facebook, YouTube, and Reverbnation upgrades recently, and now, it's the old CBC Radio 3 music site. In February, CBC launched a new digital music service called CBC Music, and though it was treated as a new site, it essentially saw the imports of all the artists who had band pages on the old CBC Radio 3 page, which is now just for information and streams related to that radio station. CBC Music is now the home of band pages for Canadian bands & artists that previously signed up on CBC Radio 3, but how does the new site compare? For bands on there, the pages are nicely laid out with an effective use of tabs, and the music player's solid, but the experience is definitely better for bands who actively use CBC more for band needs, and I'd like to see more colours beyond grey. There's also a really diverse selection of streaming genre-specific radio stations, though metal & hard rock are lumped together and not given as much attention. Though not the widest used music site for local bands, it's a good and well run site that bands should look into! After all, if Frightlight, Woods of Ypres, and Sykotyk Rampage use it (among many others), then CBC Music must have done something right! Check out the new CBC Music at the above links!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a special all video auto-post this evening while I'm rocking out at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion for the FREE ALL AGES metal show! Thanks everyone!

Tons Of Woods Of Ypres & David Gold Updates And News!!

Almost a week after we last devoted a post on the SMS to local blackened doom metal standouts Woods of Ypres & their late frontman David Gold, we're giving him and the band the total spotlight again today, for a stacked post including lineup details on both of the upcoming tribute concerts in Ontario, your first taste of "Keeper of the Ledger" and where you can hear the album officially right now, details on a very cool album project, and more, so here's all that you need to know!

More official details are now out for April 7th's Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian Nightclub, which is (of course) in David Gold's memory, as promoters have finally launched a Facebook event page for it! First, I'll note the new lineup additions, specifically for the local openers, as local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam (who were previously confirmed via The Sault Star), local death metal outfits The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver (themselves playing for the first time in 2012), and local punk trio Redundant have been officially confirmed as opening bands! Note some very fitting choices among the openers, as The Bear Hunters were the last band to open for Woods of Ypres at a local concert, while Redundant frontman Justin Langlois was a very good friend of David's, so they'll surely add a lot to this event! Dismembertainment also confirmed the previously reported news that Woods of Ypres members Joel Violette & Rae Amitay will do a special acoustic set at the Ypres Metal Fest, though where it will be slotted on April 7th isn't currently known. More acts could possibly be announced, though that's not a guarantee, and even if none are, there's 10 high profile and talented bands (including 6 out of town acts) gathering at The Canadian on April 7th for this amazing cause!

Similarly to the Toronto tribute show (which I'll have more on a bit), all proceeds from the Ypres Metal Fest will go to both the Gold family for David's final expenses and to the planned David Gold Music Scholarship at Sault College, which sounds like an awesome gesture! Ticket prices have yet to be announced, but they'll reportedly go on sale by the end of the week in some form. Check the above links for the rest of the current details! As I said earlier this month when I first mentioned this concert, Rich Moreland is outdoing himself with this quality of a concert event, and it'll be awesome to see a Dismembertainment-promoted show again, and at The Canadian for a change! David deserves the tribute and honours, and hopefully this is one of the biggest metal shows the Soo has ever seen!

In other tribute-show related news, the "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" release show/David Gold memorial concert at The Annex Wreckroom in Toronto on April 5th has seen some more updates, including more additions to that show's lineup, including Toronto-based solo artist Morgan Rider (best known as frontman of the Celtic metal band Bolero), Toronto progressive metal band Sixes & Sevens, and Ottawa classical/folk project Musk Ox, who notably guested on "You Are Here With Me (In This Sequence Of Dreams" on 2009's "Woods IV: The Green Album", with more bands to be announced. Sounds good to me, and hopefully the Toronto tribute goes off without a hitch, so stay tuned for updates on that as well! Two more notes before we jump to the next topic, one being that a new shipment of Woods of Ypres shirts is now on sale! David's mother and brother are modeling the new shirts, which are basic but classy, in photos on the David Gold's Legacy Facebook page, and if you're interested in details on pricing, shipping, and sizes, e-mail davidypresgold@gmail.com! And, I wanted to note this eerie article by Michigan blogger M. James Homme on his blog Homme Alone, where he encountered some very weird connections and similarities to David and Woods of Ypres after discovering them recently. Check it out at this location, it's definitely an interesting read!

Also in Woods of Ypres updates, an official tribute album in David Gold's memory has officially been started, as bands have already begun signing up to contribute covers of Woods of Ypres material to the project! The CD is being produced through Hamilton label Northern Storm Records and Sudbury's Archaic North Entertainment (ran by Wolven Ancestry frontman & Ypres Metal Fest participant Mark "Lord Defiler" Howitt), and a Facebook group for the project can be accessed at this location, where bands can still sign up and show interest to cover some of David's songs! Among other postings there, organizers are seeking input on the name of the album ("A Heart Of Gold: In Memory Of David Gold" is winning at the moment), and more details are to be announced, but who's tentatively lined up to contribute a Woods of Ypres cover? Many of the bands playing the Sault Ste. Marie and/or Toronto tribute shows are planning to contribute, including Kittie, Novembers Doom, Panzerfaust, Pagan Ritual, Eclipse Eternal, Empyrean Plague, and Gypsy Chief Goliath (among others), but this is all tentative as of right now, and bands could drop out or be added. For the record, no local bands have signed up yet to possibly contribute a cover, but if any have plans, I don't know of them yet. Check the above links to inquire about participation or get caught up on the details!

This sounds like another great tribute to David's memory, and I can't wait to see and hear the final product, but until then, a couple of covers and videos that could hint at what we'll hear are online! Click here to hear Gypsy Chief Goliath frontman Alex Petrovich cover "Shards of Love", and here to hear them cover "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)", and though they're not lined up to cover this song on the album, check out Calgary metal band Gales of Avalon's cover of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground" at this location! Both are good in their own ways, so check them out, and stay tuned for updates on this tribute CD!

And finally, while we knew that Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" had been on official sale in Europe for a couple of weeks, Earache Records' news blog has confirmed that the album is now available on iTunes! The physical release in North America is still slated for April, but if you want to buy this album right now on iTunes, you can do so at this location! It goes for about $12.50 Canadian with $1.50 for individual tracks, but you may need to do some trickery with the nation your iTunes account is linked with to buy it right now. Note that the iTunes release omits "Kiss My Ashes Goodbye" as a physical album exclusive, but it is revealed there that the two "Kiss My Ashes Goodbye" tracks are now combined as one for the official release. Nice to see "(Part 1)" remain on the CD! As for the last remaining song to be released, "Keeper of the Ledger", is it online to stream yet? Why yes, yes it is! YouTube user yasen4fun uploaded the 6 minute-long track to his YouTube channel yesterday, officially making the whole album (aside from the vinyl-only producer's mix of "Finality") available for online streaming. How is the track? I'll hold full thoughts until early next month, let's just say that much. For now though, here's Woods of Ypres' new song "Keeper of the Ledger"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's review of Sykotyk Rampage's 27th album "Karrs" TOMORROW and maybe another news post at some point in the next few days! Thanks everyone!