An Inactive Local Hardcore Band, New Song Postings, And More Recent Updates!!

We have some more news to get to on this Monday afternoon, so what's in store? Along with a few recent news updates, we have new song postings from two wildly different local projects (from recent physical releases), and leading off, what looks like a notable local band's descent into inactivity, so here's what you need to know!

It looks like local hardcore quartet Changing Waves have either broken up or fallen inactive. This hasn't been officially confirmed on the band's online pages, but they've offered no public updates since June, or played live since July. Plus, guitarist Michael Hagerman reportedly moved to Toronto earlier this month for school, and bassist Terrence Gomes has been focusing on his punk band The Northern Tragedy recently, so the odds of them functioning at present seem low. Featuring alumni of Paraside & Good Morning Gorilla in their lineups, Changing Waves debuted as a surprise late addition at November 2010's Total Chaos show at The Oddfellows Hall, and they became a steady and increasingly popular sight at local concerts for the next year & a half, including 13 Rosie metal night appearances, sets opening for bands like Unleash The Archers, Abriosis, and Tribune, and the release of a free demo in 2011. I don't know if something happened internally last year, but Changing Waves were a fun live band with a lot of talent, and their stage presences and energy drastically improved as they went along!

I hope last summer wasn't the last we've seen of Changing Waves, but at least they hit some big heights together, and best of luck to Benjamin, Michael, Terrence, Alex, and Devan in the future! Hopefully everyone stays active in music in some form down the road!

Next up, here's the latest from Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands runner-ups Haggith! The rising local grunge quartet reportedly finished recording their second "mainline" album (and third total studio release) "Deuce" early this morning, and will reportedly release it on May 10th (one week from Friday), which is the one year anniversary of their formation! The CD booklet is all that's needed to complete before pressing copies or posting a for sale copy online, though no word yet on if the date has a linked release concert in mind. If this comes out as planned next month, I'll definitely have a Haggith CD review on the site in June, though I'm not sure as of yet on if it will be "Deuce", their second album "Apocalypse", or drummer Mike Haggith's solo album "The Present Din". In cases like this, I'll either go with the biggest or heaviest release, but time will tell! While we wait, the guys posted two more studio tracks from "Deuce" onto the band's YouTube channel in the past week!

Including the previously announced cover of Mike's solo track "To Whom This May Concern", and a newly unveiled track named "Time For A Change", both feature Curtis McKenzie on lead vocals, while bassist Caleb Cachagee does feature on the former track. "Time For A Change" is a slow building number with a lot of softer elements, but I've embedded the darker & heavier "To Whom This May Concern" below, so give it a listen, and stay tuned for more details on the release of "Deuce"!

Also, local grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore posted a handful of new songs onto their label/studio Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel in the past week! All are on the "Grindshed" split demo with C.T.W. mainman Ringsnaps Gibson's similar Tomgrindy project (which was reportedly released on Friday), and they include songs named "I Will Crucify The Whore", "You Don't Have To Want To, Because I Do", and three other songs (here, here, and here) that feature possibly offensive sexual references, so be warned if you're easily offended. If you're familiar with C.T.W. material, you'll know what to expect out of these songs, as they're generally short & full of guttural pig squeal vocal effects, but I will admit that there is some more variance on some of these, including some better guitar riffing, techno influences, and pseudo-rapping. At least their sound is getting fuller, but unless you're an established fan of goregrind music, this will be an acquired taste, though I still respect their stances and intent! Check out "I Will Crucify The Whore" below, and hear more at the above links if you want!



And finally for today, here's three recent shorter news updates from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I've moved local solo musician Neno Jovanovic to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, as his solo project (formerly known as Metallurgy) has issued no public updates since a year ago today. Neno's a talented guitarist, and he knows his way around some solid covers and originals, so hopefully he revisits his music at some point in the future!
• I apologize for how late this is, but Fred Kember of the 705 Video Magazine posted a review of the April 13th Ripcordz' concert at The Algonquin Pub onto their site two weeks ago! Featuring thoughts on both The Ripcordz & Destroilet's sets (he was late for T-Rex Manning), he highly praised the show, even citing it as proof that "there is still hope for music out there", but check the above links to give it a full look (and to hear some Ripcordz songs not played that night!)
• While a local debut remains unannounced, new hard rock cover quintet The Thrill Junkies (essentially Turner Up & Havadder's successors) finished in 5th at the Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands in Spanish on April 6th, earning a slot opening for Loverboy & Lee Aaron at the Rock N' Roar festival there on August 17th! Nice to see The Thrill Junkies repeat Havadder's success from last year, and best of luck come August! (FYI, local classic rock band Griphook also competed, but did not place.)

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Suicide Kings & The Bunchofuckingoofs), Plus New Videos!!

On this 56th straight day of SMS updates, we're staying busy with more recent news and notes, and while we're taking a break from Woods of Ypres/Juno talk to cover some other recent items, we'll touch on the latest fallout from that huge story from this weekend in our next full news post! Today though, we have new videos from a handful of local artists, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend and this summer, so here's what you need to know (and check out this month's YouTube Channel Profiles in the post below this one!)

Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands finalists The Suicide Kings will play at The Roosevelt Hotel for the first time this weekend! A full weekend with shows on Friday & Saturday, these will be the band's first non-battle appearances in over a month, and their first double weekend engagement since their first Docks gigs in February, so I'm sure fans of theirs will be itching to hear their full live concert sets again! Of course, if they perform well or win at the Rockstar Bar Battle finals THIS WEDNESDAY, they should be amped up and bringing their A-game to The Rosie this weekend, but we'll have to see what happens at the finals first! If you're up for some Suicide Kings action on Friday & Saturday, then both shows have 19+ age limits, 10:00 PM start times, and no cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! As the battle finals haven't happened yet, I won't give any in-depth thoughts on their next shows until we preview these gigs on Thursday, but hopefully The Suicide Kings have a successful weekend of hard rocking originals and covers at The Rosie, and don't miss them in the Rockstar Bar Battle Finals on Wednesday!

Also in new concerts, a venue has finally been confirmed for the other newly announced show from local punk/metal promoter/singer J.D. Pearce, so now, we can properly promote The Bunchofuckingoofs' concert in Sault Ontario on Monday, August 13th! This infamous Toronto hardcore punk quartet will headline what should be a brutal concert at The Algonquin Pub (downstairs from The Rockstar Bar), and their brutal and catchy sounds should be welcomed by local metalheads and punk fans this summer! At least two local opening bands will play support, including resurgent hardcore/punk quintet Destroilet (in likely their first gig there since opening for The Ripcordz) and local grindcore trio Shit Liver, in their own Algonquin Pub debut! It's good to see both bands playing more, as neither has been that visible in the past few months, so don't miss some brutal local action before The BFGs rock The Gonq! Admission prices and start times have yet to be confirmed, but I believe this will be a 19+ event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be another intense concert of metal and punk action, and kudos to J.D. for yet another major concert in town this summer! Hopefully The BFGs and the local openers deliver a great night of action, so don't miss this show on August 13th, and for more on J.D.'s upcoming concerts, check out our post full of the rest from Saturday!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with footage of two eliminated bands from The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Semifinals!  One comes from local punk band The Northern Tragedy's third place set on April 10th of them playing the song "3 2 4" (courtesy of their YouTube channel), and while it's filmed well from a good angle with talent clearly present, their energy, crowd engagement, and enthusiasm needs major work for future concerts. The other videos are from local stoner/death metal quartet Giwakwa's second place set last week, and they capture their full four song set across two videos, including their opening songs "Stoned To Death" & "Winter's Hunger" and (as embedded below) "Endless Bummer" and "Iron Lung"! Uploaded by YouTube user Zaphradoo yesterday, and as filmed from a far angle to the right of the stage, these offer a unique angle of Giwakwa's set, but drummer Chris Thompson is often blocked from view by guitarist Chris Page as a result. This was a good & very heavy performance, but I'd like to see them take more of a Crowbar or funeral doom influence, as at times, it often sounds like a slightly slowed down Bring The Fallen. If you're gonna go the doom/stoner route, go all the way with it!

Still, I enjoyed their set, it's great seeing Nolan and Josh back together on stage after two years, and hopefully we'll see Giwakwa back on stage soon with a longer set! Check out the second half of their battle set below, and don't miss Josh Stephney in Wednesday's finals anyway with his other band The Bear Hunters!



Finally for today, local grind/horror rap label Blood Shed Productions have uploaded two songs from their upcoming Crucify The Whore/Tomgrindy split demo "Grindshed" onto their YouTube channel! The C.T.W. track is called "I Like Shepard's Pie", while the Tomgrindy song is called "Tongue Tearing Taco" (a likely sexual reference.) Postings on the bands' Facebook pages linked above imply that the demo will be released on Friday, though it's unclear it will be just a demo or more professionally packaged (copies do cost $5 on request when released.) "I Like Shepard's Pie" shows more development of C.T.W.'s sound despite it's length, though it still feels incomplete lyrically and musically, and the pig squeal vocals do take a back seat to actual death growls! The Tomgrindy song, however, is longer and fuller sounding insturmentally, though the vocals are a mix of assorted noises with few discernible words. On both, images of the demo's likely artwork and assorted logos are featured, but as some feature pictures that some may find disturbing or offensive, I'll only embed the audio here of "I Like Shepard's Pie". If you're up for some more surprisingly prolific material from Blood Shed's grindcore artists, check the above links, and hear C.T.W.'s new song below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned TOMORROW for our preview of Wednesday's final round of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, plus more news (including more Woods of Ypres/Juno Awards fallout) as it comes in! Thanks everyone!