This Month's Poll On Your Favourite New Bands Of 2016!!

After a few months' hiatus due to declining vote totals, our monthly polls are back! Well, for at least a few months, as I promised to bring them back for our "favourite _____ of the year" polls, as has been an annual tradition around here, so we'll kick off the (temporary?) return of our polls with this question: What was your favourite new local metal, hard rock, or punk band of 2016? Last year saw a sizable number of new additions to our full coverage, even if many are still going without an online page or website, and it's always interesting to see which new band comes out with the most year-end support! With that said, to be included as a choice, the band had to both debut publically AND play their first show in the 2016 calendar year. This excludes bands like Exploring Detritus (the former Kaepora Gaebora launched in 2015), Stoned Ape Evolution (who played live as early as 2014), and Kraken Mara (who have yet to play live at all), but you can vote for "Other"!!

And as usual, I ask that readers and performers not stuff the vote or launch public campaigns to drive up the tallies in favour of any specific band, as I don't intend for these polls to be popularity contests, and I hope to see something or a representative sample reflected in the totals. Now, here are your final 12 choices in the poll (plus "Other"!)

A Dire Setback: Launching alongside their own promotion agency Live705 last fall, punk quartet A Dire Setback immediately made a big impression with their self-promoted Oddfellows Hall concert in November, which they've followed with more big sets since, the next coming this Saturday! With A Fall From Innocence and State of Misery alumni within, are your A.D.S your favourite new band?

The Band Camp Rejects: A surprise debuting band at The Rednecks Saloon's relaunch party in the spring, this online page-less quartet succeeded Under The Influence to become a fan favourite sight at Toystock, Ride For ARCH, and even a solo concert or two later in the year. Featuring alumni of Mourning Wood, Havadder, and The Issues, have The Band Camp Rejects outshone other 2016 newcomers?

Bizotic: The latest to debut on stage among this month's choices, this creative quartet brought a trumpet & keytar to the fray when they opened for The OM Sound at The New American Pub on December 30th. Bizotic's experimental but heavy sound is brought to life by alumni of No Arrow, Gates of Winter, and Sounds From The Green Room, but is one show enough to put them over here?

Electric Church: This modern tribute to classic rock (Jimi Hendrix in particular) first entered our radar when they opened for The Pixo Control at last year's Sky's The Limit mental health fundraiser, and later returned to the public stage at Live705's inaugural concert. Though Electric Church are also sans a known online page, they have made positive waves since debuting, but are you among them?

Gianni Gagoots: Another very creative new band, Gianni Gagoots debuted at The New American Pub last summer when their instrumental punk and funk rock jams opened for Cocaine Moustache, and they've since followed up with more creative, conga-infused concerts that always promise something new! Featuring Redefined, Rising Tide, and Sailor's Tongue alumni, will the Gagoots win your vote?

Heavy Head: This sporadically seen quartet are definitely something of a local supergroup, with Suicide Kings, Haggith, and Winkstinger alumni uniting to play hard and pop rock covers and originals at a handful of notable concerts in early-mid 2016. Despite a mixed reception to their VM Radio Battle of the Bands set, they have loads of potential, but were they your #1 new band?

The Karstens: One of last year's more promising new heavier bands in the Sault Michigan area, online page-less quartet The Karstens were notably seen at last year's Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser and Downtown Days, plus a well received Back Bay Grill set in between. Their Buckethead-influenced covers and unique approach are served well, but would you vote for them?

Nameus/Soundcheck: Listed under two names due to their January name change to Soundcheck, this Mourning Wood side project reunited Carbon Black's Travis Sharpe and Terry Eaton last fall in a new classic/hard rock cover act that notably pays tribute to the 1980s. No online pages or media yet from this band (or the similar new side-act The Jukebox Junkies), but did they impress you the most?

Project 906: Arguably the most visible of last year's freshman hard rock crop in Sault Michigan, Ten Kings successors Project 906 have delivered a blend of hard rock and blues to fans across the E.U.P. since debuting last March, playing many rarely covered venues in the process. Their chemistry and talents are very clear, but were they your favourite new local hard rock band of the year?

Stegadeth: Belated successors to local punk/metal favourites T-Rex Manning (and Pools of Booze), this power trio debuted at last fall's Live705 local show, and have since became a promising sight in the local scene with their hard hitting covers and one original! Also featuring Jack Spades and Stereo North alumni, fans have taken to Stegadeth in recent months, but are you among them in this poll?

The 3 Day Millionaires: Debuting in early 2016 as a Havadder side project, The 3 Day Millionaires have since carved out a nice spot for themselves in the cover bands circuit locally with their classic & hard rock renditions reliably getting a solid reception! With Turner Up, Lucky 13, Boxcar Junction, and Sneaky Pete alumni, you know the talent's there, but do The Millionaires have your vote?

Twistory: Last year's new entry in the two man metal band sweepstakes, Twistory united former Pillory bandmates Josh Amendola and Robert Sartini into a hard hitting minimalist death metal outfit, notably playing at last year's two Metal Massacre house parties before opening for Foam in June. Twistory haven't been seen since, and don't have an online page, but did you enjoy them the most?

Other: Did we miss a band you'd rather vote for? Perhaps your favourite new band of 2016 was a non-metal or hard rock band? Was there a debuting band that we forgot entirely? Would you count the former Kaepora Gaebora despite their public launch coming in 2015? If, for whatever readon, your preferred choice isn't listed above, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY!! You guys have until February 18th (as usual) to cast your ballots, and hopefully the return of our polls can get higher results after our polls' hiatus, which the vote total drop indicated was very much needed. The poll widget is in the top left of the SMS main page, so vote A.S.A.P., and stay tuned for more news and concert previews soon! Thanks everyone!

News On Toronto's David Gold Memorial Show, Site Updates, And More!!

Let's keep the news rolling on this Sunday morning, so here's what's on tap! We've got updates to one of our monthly feature series, notes on a couple of band deletions from our local band listings and what led to that, a new video from a prominent local guitarist, and leading things off, some details on an upcoming tribute show for a missed local metal musician, so here's what you need to know!

Today, I wanted to start with news on the other David Gold tribute show coming up in April, and though it is in Toronto, it's definitely worth some extra coverage given his untimely passing in December. An event page for what is being called "A Memorial Concert For David Gold" has been posted online, and the event will take place at The Annex Wreckroom in Toronto on Thursday, April 5th. David played at this venue with both Woods of Ypres & Gates of Winter in 2008 & 2009, so it's a fitting spot for the Toronto memorial! This event will serve as both a memorial concert and the CD release show for "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", which will be played over the speakers for attendees (and presumably be on sale too, but that's not confirmed.) The lineup isn't final yet, but the show will be headlined by Chicago doom metal mainstays Novembers Doom, and also joining them will be Kittie, Hallows Die, and Gypsy Chief Goliath (all of whom will be at the Ypres Metal Fest in Sault Ontario two days later.) The other bands currently confirmed for the Toronto memorial are all Ontario black metal outfits, including Toronto's Eclipse Eternal, North Bay's Empyrean Plague, Pagan Ritual from Oshawa, and Panzerfaust from Mississauga. More artists are to be announced, and a "surprise performance" may happen as well.

This may be 7 hours away, but it's shaping up to be an awesome tribute to David Gold's memory, so here's some extra details! Admission is strictly by donation, and all proceeds will go towards both David's final expenses and (this is news to me) a David Gold Music Scholarship that's being started in his memory for music students at Sault College! Now that's a nice and fitting gesture by his family! For more details and information on how you can attend or contribute, visit the official Facebook event page! This all sounds good to me, and though I doubt I can hit this event (given the distance and my night classes on Thursdays), I hope a huge local contingent can make it to this show & the local memorial that Saturday and pay a fitting tribute to David! I'm a bit surprised that no bands have been announced for the Toronto gig featuring ex-Woods of Ypres members (be they recent lineups or older), but maybe some will factor into the implied surprise performance in Toronto. I've also heard that some bands at both of the memorial concerts plan to cover Woods of Ypres material in their setlists, which would be awesome, but we'll have to see what's in store come April! Stay tuned for much more on the David Gold & Woods of Ypres fronts soon, and keep an eye out for the initial release of "Woods V" TOMORROW!

Next up, Trail's End guitarist Chris Hubbard posted another Van Halen cover onto his YouTube channel on Friday, and like his last video, this is of a section of a new Van Halen song from their new album "A Different Kind of Truth". This time, he covered the intro of "China Town", and covers it pretty well, though I'd like to see him tackle a full song from the new CD soon as well. His talents are impressive, and he definitely loves Van Halen, so give his cover of the intro of "China Town" a look below!



Now, I wanted to address a couple band deletions from our local band listings on the SMS. As I've alluded to on the site in May, Facebook has slowly been changing all groups on the site to the new group format, which is designed for smaller circles of people, rather than the old format that was basically a Facebook pages predecessor. As such, while wall posts, photos, and biographies are retained, all group members that weren't administrators are removed (but can rejoin) and the groups basically all look the same, barring continued use. Our old inactive Facebook group has already been changed over, for example, but not all have. As such, a couple of local hard rock bands whose primary online pages were Facebook groups now lack enough information to really warrant a link on the SMS (no offense to the members.) One is The White Knights (featuring Frightlight & Fingerbone alumni) and the other is the Stillbroke-predecessor quartet The Jesters. The former is a closed group that had minimal info to begin with, and the latter has been reduced to just a photo and one sentence of information, so not a lot is lost by removing them from our links, but the member's newer bands have had much more success! I just thought you guys should know what happened, and if your band's Facebook group still hasn't been converted, make sure you save info and media there just in case!

And finally for today, here's some updates to our Defunct Local Band Profiles to make their more accurate and current. Due to photo links changing thanks to the Facebook group change-overs, I've restored one to the AtrophiA profile and replaced another on the M7K profile (the latter now has a newer photo of guitarist Mike Vincent from an old Bear Hunters gig.) I also edited The White Knights' profile to allude to missing info, now that their Facebook group has been crippled even further from the Facebook group changes. The rest of the new edits aren't Facebook group related, I promise! On the Renderware profile, I added a reference to ex-bassist Wayne Watkins' current work in the partly-local indie rock act The Small Town Rivals, while the Out Of The Mouth Of Babes profile now has a reference to former singer Josh McNally's current work in the blues rock band The Moves. I also edited the State of Misery profile to note frontman Steve Rhodes' current band's name change from View To A Kill to The Valentine's Day Massacre. Finally, I added references to the Bring The Fallen profile to note bassist Nolan Rainville's current work in the stoner rock trio Giwakwa. Hopefully things are up to date with this series again, so check the above links for the updated profiles, and stay tuned for our Paraside defunct profile next month!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news as the week rolls along, including updates on the "Woods V" release tomorrow and much more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Monkey's Uncle), Guitarist Departures, And More!!

It's official: I'm back home tomorrow! Before that though, we have some big news today, including some notes relating to some local band pages, a new video, and two disappointing guitarist departures, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

As you may recall, I discussed some new Monkey's Uncle concerts at Kewadin Casino in yesterday's post, which will feature new singer/guitarist Donny Newell in their new quartet lineup. Well, Donny sent me an e-mail yesterday with some more show news, so here's what you should know! Monkey's Uncle will play at The Bird (a.k.a. Golanka's Bar) next weekend for shows on May 13th and 14th, in what I believe are the first shows with the band's new lineup! Donny said they may be playing there on an additional upcoming weekend, but I'll wait for more confirmation before saying it's a go. These shows should have 21+ age limits and 10:00 PM-ish start times, and there's no announced cover charge. Though these are the first Monkey's Uncle shows we've heard of from The Bird since the Jager days, I do believe they played there often during their period of not updating their MySpace page, for what that's worth. Also, The Bird's Facebook page has nothing on the shows yet, but I'll keep you posted if something comes up! Sounds good to me, hopefully the new lineup delivers at The Bird this month as well! Stay tuned for more Monkey's Uncle news as I hear it!

Next up, here's some disappointing news relating to the departures of guitarists from two local death metal bands. Firstly, State of Misery have parted ways with lead guitarist Ray Cowan. Ray was the band's lead guitar player since their inception late last year, playing with them at all of their shows through this month. This is the news that I hinted towards in yesterday's post, but now I have some actual information I can tell guys about. Through e-mail correspondence with drummer Nick Kainula, I was told that Ray left for personal reasons, although what those all could be wasn‘t known. As such, the band are indeed taking a break for a few months to regroup, write new material, and find a replacement guitarist. Band pages have yet to be updated to reflect Ray's departure, and though nowhere is a guitarist search promoted, give them a shout at this location if you're at all interested, cause you never know! This is disappointing to hear, especially given Ray's talent, which was crystal clear at their shows, but hopefully his reasons for leaving are truly for the best right now. It'll be odd not seeing State of Misery around for a few months, but they'll be back in full force soon, I hope. And, of course, best of luck to Ray, hopefully he pops up in a new band soon!

As well, The Bear Hunters have parted ways with rhythm guitarist Mike Vincent. Mike has played with The Bear Hunters at every concert since their inception, after replacing Andres Duchesne in the band last fall. The split is completely amicable, and as Mike personally stated on drummer Johnny Belanger’s personal Facebook page yesterday, he’s leaving due to his own family commitments & his own schedule. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t want to hold the band back either. That said, The Bear Hunters are now actively searching for a new rhythm guitarist. Prospective guitarists must be show ready with their own gear, have some lead guitar ability, and be able to play in Drop A tuning. Send your serious inquiries via e-mail to either Johnny’s page linked above or guitarist Mitch Sirie’s Facebook page, and leave your phone number for call backs. The aim was to have some tryouts later today, so keep that in mind. This news is unexpected & disappointing, but I’ve been a friend of Mike’s since high school, and I know that he has a lot on his plate personally. If this is what‘s best for him, I‘ll be supportive! Besides, he’s still in Skull After Betrayal and his own solo project, so don’t forget about them! Best of luck all around, hopefully The Bear Hunters (and State of Misery) bounce back soon!

Now that the bad news concerning guitarist exits is out of the way, let's revert to good news, as we have a new concert video to share! A new video of As It Stands from last month's Dead & Divine concert at The Oddfellows Hall was posted on YouTube on Tuesday! This was posted by YouTube user Micaela Hurley, who's posted scattered concert videos on her channel, including one of Bring The Fallen from last year. This new As It Stands video features clips from many of the songs that the band played at the show last month, though some informal chitchat with guitarist Garrett Masters is included at the beginning. It would have been nice to see video of full songs, but still, this is some of the best quality video I've seen of As It Stands since their return last year, and the audio holds it's own too! Good stuff, and the band look in top form during their set, so definitely check out this new As It Stands video out below!



And finally, here's some news for those of you who use or visit Facebook groups used by local bands. Facebook recently announced that they are planning to archive all groups made in the "old" format and convert them to the new format. The old groups, which were bascially predecessors to Facebook pages, are still used by bands like Caveman Morrison & Sense of Truth, click on their names to check them out. However, Facebook's changing all their old groups to make them all follow the new format, which is designed for use in smaller circles and social groups. An example of a group in the new format is State of Misery's group, if you want an idea of what your old groups will look like eventually. With the changes, the "recent news" section, info box, and assorted minor aspects will be removed upon upgrading, but you'll get some new additions to your page, like synchronized chat with members. You'll also lose all of your group members, and you'll have to add new ones as a result afterwards. So, if you run a Facebook group, what do you need to do?

If your group is actively used, you can upgrade right now at the top of your group's main page, and if you don't, it will eventually be archived into the new format regardless. The upgrade option is only visible to admins of pages that have enough recent activity for it to be a good candidate for conversion (unlike our old Facebook group.) In case you're worried, NO GROUPS ARE BEING DELETED, just archived! Facebook also stresses that if you want to promote a business (like a band), they recommend a page, not a group, so make note of that. This news is somewhat inconvenient, as there's no way out of it, but I can understand Facebook wanting a more united group format across the site, so we have to make due. Click here for more information, and make the right choice for your Facebook presence if you use an old group!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the launch of the SMS March Mayhem tournament finals later today! The polls close at around 6:00 PM tonight to ensure that a full week of voting took place. Who are the final two bands? Find out tonight! Thanks everyone!