LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Caym), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

As we continue to clear out a recent collection of somewhat behind local news and notes, here's a packed news post for your Saturday morning, including some assorted notes, a new studio track, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, but first, here's a brand new addition to our band links courtesy of a band who finally have an online page!

We have a new local metal band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, as at last, Them have a Facebook page! Not to be confused with the 1960s rock band with Van Morrison, the local Them (who generally spell their name in all capitals) were launched last year, debuting at house party events over the winter, and while early reports had them being a punk band, they identify as playing a hybrid of thrash, grind, death, crust, and tech metal. Possibly the successors to the defunct Social Suicide, their lineup features two members from that band, including Heavy North Entertainment owner Tyler St. Amour (formerly of Bring The Misery) on vocals & lead guitar, and current Infamous drummer Anthony Boudreau, with Revolution bassist Rainey Vincent rounding out their lineup. As well, former Strange Coyotes frontman Chase Wigmore is listed as providing "live vocals only", and our first report on Them from last year indicated that The Pixo Control's Keeghan Rosso was once in the band

Though Them made their non-house party debut at last month's Benighted concert, the Montreal Metal Shows YouTube channel didn't film them, so where can we get our first video of Them? The band's Facebook page shared this video from the Benighted concert's private pre-show house party, as filmed by attendee Joey Lacelle, and it's of their cover of Sons of Butcher's "Fuck The Shit", albeit sans Chase. It's a dark video with Anthony largely not in frame, but it's a lively rendition of this short song, and it'll be interesting to hear more from Them to come! Stay tuned for more on their next shows, and see more above and below!



Next up, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning one of two venue-less concerts coming up in the next few months, as the teased Caym-headlined concert on Friday, May 15th will now take place at The Oddfellows Hall! As announced on the Facebook event page yesterday, this will be Caym's third local appearance after two prior Canadian Nightclub sets as an opening band, and their extreme metal originals should find another solid audience next month! Local support will still include local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters (in their first announced set since their 2nd place battle of the bands finish), and as both have opened for Caym locally, they should fit in nicely! More local openers are to be announced, and while the show was originally announced to be promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, he revealed yesterday that he's handed over the reigns to Heavy North Entertainment so he can focus on Jack Spades' first ever Oddfellows Hall set.

J.D. hasn't played a show there with any of his bands in four years, so this is a long time coming in & of itself! Given that Heavy North Entertainment are now promoting this show, one can assume some Blood Shed Productions acts will be added as openers, but who might we see? Stay tuned here and at the above links to find out! Admission prices and start times are to be announced, but given the venue, this would be an ALL AGES concert! Sounds like a solid concert to me, so stay tuned for much more on it as it comes in!

Also today, the last song from local alternative/hard rock quartet Haggith's retracted EP "XIV" is now online courtesy of their YouTube channel! Joining "Red" & "Road Rash" (the other songs recorded with Daniel Horton before he left the band), the last track for the EP is "Anthem", which means that "Public Enemy", "These Four Walls", "Wasted", "By The Hand", "Runnin' From Love", "Metal Cage", and "Punch" will not be on the CD (whether we'll see them in future recordings or concerts is still up in the air.) Though co-wrote by Daniel, frontman Curtis McKenzie is given sole guitar credit for the track (maybe Daniel left before recording his parts?), while Jordan Leach does provide bass on the song. Pending a possible review of the EP, we'll hold comment on the studio version of "Anthem" for now, but check it out below, click here for pre-order info on this and "Apocalypse II", and all hail Haggith!



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

• The aforementioned Bear Hunters will also be among the openers for the Menstrual Munchies-headlined concert (venue to be announced) on June 25th in the highest local slot of 9:00 PM, as per updates to the Facebook event page in recent days. Guitarist Mitch Sirie revealed there that the band plans to debut a new song at the show, but might we hear it before at the Caym concert? In any event, stay tuned for more on both shows!
• Local death metal duo Brutally Fatal's new release "The D.P.E.P." was quietly released last month, as per their Facebook page! Though not acknowledged as out beforehand, the guys revealed on March 20th that it was on sale for anyone interested, and that they were jamming in preparation for their set at the to-be-announced Dank Fest 2. Contact them at the above links if you're interested in a copy now that we know it's on sale!
• Local progressive rock quartet Mannapool have been added as the last band to the Zaum concert at The Rednecks Saloon on May 11th, marking their debut at this venue and first set since their third place run at the VM Radio Battle! They'll add a lot to this already diverse concert, so make sure to stay late, as they're after the out of town bands, presumably due to their own scheduling. Stay tuned for more updates, and our source is the Facebook event page on Wednesday!

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

A Battle Of The Bands Cancellation, Banned & Brutally Fatal Updates, And Much More!!

Before we likely cap off the month with weekend concert previews and our next CD review, here's some news for this Wednesday afternoon! Along with a new video from a talented regional band, the latest from a rising young death metal project, and much more, we'll lead off with some disappointing news regarding an upcoming concert event, so here's what you should know!

The Twin City Sounds Battle of the Bands scheduled for February 20th at The Rednecks Saloon has officially been postponed. Co-promoter & judge Terry Eaton revealed on the Facebook event page on Monday that they're postponing the battle due to the event's proximity to the VM Radio Battle at The Canadian, which begins just under two weeks later on March 4th, saying that "two battles around the same time just doesn't work for anyone." Bands that registered to compete in next month's battle will be able to get their entry fees back by contacting Terry or Steven Flint on Facebook, so if you registered to play, message them A.S.A.P.! This is disappointing, especially as it's the second Sault Ontario battle in four months to be called off (following November's scrapped Rock For Dimes battle), but it's officially just postponed, so hopefully we see a rescheduled date for later in the year! Also, remember that while an official band lineup wasn't announced for next month, there are a few bands who had signed up to compete in both battles, so be sure to see them in March!

I'll note as well that VM Radio Battle promoter J.D. Pearce had suggested that the winning band of each battle should face off in a head to head finals after the fact, and that'd be cool to see brought up again when the first battle is rescheduled! Stay tuned for updates on both when we hear them!

Next up, here's a new video from Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock standouts Banned, as per their YouTube channel on Monday! Their first uploaded video in four months, this is of the guys covering Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)" earlier this month at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino. Filmed by Eric Cairns at Third Cinema Productions (who's filmed them in the past), this is a well filmed and performed cover, though Alex Traynor's vocal range doesn't hold up on the falsettos. I'm not a huge Fall Out Boy fan, but Banned's skill helps a lot on this performance! Also, for reference, the band is playing as a trio here with Wayne Lawrence on bass, so the recent photos of the band as a quartet in Engadine likely indicate that Jim Pentland was only back as a guest that night. Check out Banned's new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!



Also, here's the latest updates from Sault Ontario death metal duo Brutally Fatal, all from their Facebook page over the past month, and our apologies for the delay! Three weeks ago, the band revealed the cover for their first demo EP with their current lineup and name spelling, which will be called "The D.P.E.P.", though we won't share it here due to potentially offensive content. No word on what the title stands for, but an NSFW story about the concept can be read at this link. Austin & Tyler have been working in studio on "The D.P.E.P." this month, even revealing 25 potential song titles for new originals on Saturday, including such eclectic titles as "Ocean of Blood" & "Bulgarian Beetles". The first song for the EP was uploaded to their new Bandcamp page and the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Stomp Your Feet", so how does it sound?

Sonically similar to Tyler Gibson's other duo project Rotopsy's song "Cops 'N Moms", this song is a short death metal number with repetitive shouted lyrics (largely of the song's title), though there is some late growling vocals too. It's consistently heavy and engaging for Blood Shed loyalists, but we'll have to see how the rest of the songs evolve. We won't embed the full YouTube video here due to the cover art being included, but stream the full song at this link, and stay tuned for more from Brutally Fatal & the Blood Shed!

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

• According to their official Facebook page, Sault Michigan nightclub and occasional concert venue The Back Door (which was recently sold to new owners) re-opened for an "encore presentation" of their usual Friday night party last week, and will apparently be permanently re-opened soon under their new management. Great news for regulars, but will bands be a part of the new owners' plans? We'll let you guys know if we hear anything!
• Sault Ontario music store Music Depot's Facebook page revealed on Sunday that they are "temporarily closed" and hope to be back soon. This announcement follows rumours of the Gore Street store's closure in December, though there were later assurances that Music Depot was just sold to new owners. Hopefully the temporary closure is just that, as I know many musicians enjoy going there, and we'll let you know when/if it re-opens!
• The fifth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza all ages concert will indeed move from The Oddfellows Hall for this year, as it will apparently be held at The Canadian Nightclub for this year's installment on May 9th. A reason for the venue change wasn't announced, but The Canadian is a quality location, and hopefully there's a great turnout this year! Our source is promoter Steve Mozarowski on the Facebook event page yesterday, and stay tuned for more on the lineup!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, this month's CD review, and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!