Fatality/Immersed Concert Review!!

Hey guys, I'm back from yesterday's Fatality/Immersed all ages metal show at The Roosevelt Hotel, and here's my review of it! But first, a few notes from the show itself. It was incredibly hot yesterday, and we could all feel it. I personally despise summer, but I stuck it out for the good of metal! Sadly, the crowd wasn't as large as I was hoping, though that could be for a number of reasons. The show itself didn't start until well after 4:30 PM, which is late given the 3:00 PM door opening time, but when it started, it was brutal (in a good way!)

The opening band was local hardcore quintet As It Stands, and you could tell it was hot when two band members went shirtless for the set AND sat down on the edge of the stage for one song! Luckily, the heat didn't sap their energy too much, and their music was full throttle yesterday afternoon! If you just heard the songs without the banter in between, you'd assume the status quo, and luckily, they've consistently impressed since their return last summer! Their set, though shorter than usual, did include popular originals like "Everything Terrible", "One Less Than Wayne Gretzky", and "Rise Above", along with their "Stay Together For The Kids" cover and an untitled new original that shows some promise! I can't complain too much about the band's individual performance (aside from my hopes they'll include guitar solos at some point), but I will say that Justin Pregent's rapport with the crowd is definitely getting a lot better and funnier, and the band as a whole continues to deliver very heavy and catchy metalcore that deserves the fanbase they've attained!

The next band was supposed to be Desbarats death metal quintet For All That Is Lost, but they did not show up to the show yesterday. As such, the other bands all got slightly extended sets. I haven't heard why they didn't make the trip to The Rosie yesterday, and at last word, neither did promoters, judging by the most recent post on the band's Facebook page. I won't pass judgement yet on their absence, as I haven't officially heard why they couldn't make it yet, but I will say it isn't right to no-show without any advance word, which promoters did not appear to have.

So instead, The Bear Hunters were next, and if you were in the mood for death metal, they had more than enough for you guys! Unleashing a set full of originals like "Dominate", "Karma", and fittingly (given the temperature) "Collapse The Sun", The Bear Hunters also delivered a brutal set that was improved from their last set with the current lineup that I saw! Josh Stephney's now ingrained himself as a full fledged Bear Hunter with the talent to boot, and the rest of the band was on form, though I have to ask why Johnny Belanger had beer bottle labels stuck to his face? Covers also returned to their main set, including Amon Amarth's "Guardians of Asgaard" and "Master of Puppets" with Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland guesting on vocals again, both of which pleased the crowd! I think Nik Deubel's microphone was a bit low, but that's my only real issue with their set, which packed a concise amount of death metal in with few issues, and we moshed and rocked out easily! Can't wait to see them again!

Then we came to the out of town headlining bands, and first, we had Ottawa blackened death metal quintet Immersed! They didn't really look like a death metal band, but they sure sounded like it, and they proceeded to melt all of our faces! Mark Phillips surprised me with his ability to flip a vocal switch from black metal shrieks to death metal growls throughout their set, and his energy level was really high as well, even singing WHILE headbanging at parts! Aaron Homma and Steph Meloche's guitar work was shredtastic, very heavy, and thanks to Aaron's various facial expressions, had the necessary intensity level! Matt Milford's bass work was impressive too, though he was kinda hidden on the side, and Stef Kushneriuk? Wow, he was fast on the drums, they should give him some drum solo time! Their set felt short, but mark my words: They may have stolen the show from Fatality with their brutal and extreme set of black/death metal originals, and I'm sure fans left the show last night ready to hear much more from Immersed!

And of course, headlining was Toronto thrash quartet Fatality, for what was sure to be a thrashtastic ending to this brutal (yet hot) metal show! They delivered on that promise with lots of fast, intense, and well played original songs that were sure to excite any thrash metal fan in attendance, myself included! I admitted not being high on Spencer LeVon's vocals going in, but that was based on the studio songs. Live, his voice was rawer and had more of an edge, so I actually preferred his singing live, and he sounded a bit like if Bon Scott fronted a thrash band! He and Eytan Gordan also kept things very heavy on the guitar, with bassist Adam Zlotnik and drummer Andrew Suarez keeping up exceptionally on each song! It was an old school thrash assault, fueled with alcohol, and it produced some big pits and lots of great speed metal goodness! I really enjoyed how they got the whole crowd chanting on "T.F.E.S.", good sign! Awesome conclusion to the night, and it's proof that we need more thrash locally, cause Fatality brought it and brought it hard and fast! If you weren't there, you missed out!

Great concert, though the heat kinda sapped my energy, and the crowd could have been bigger. Hopefully it will be next time out, cause Rich Moreland is doing awesome work booking all these metal shows! Still sucks that F.A.T.I.L. couldn't make it, hopefully they'll be back up here in some form sooner or later! I did get lots of photos (100, to be exact), and you can check them out at this location or our Facebook page! And yes, I got videos of each band, so here's As It Stands' cover of Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids", The Bear Hunters' original "Render This Void", Immersed's song "Transparent Monstrosities", and Fatality thrashing us with their song "Uncivilization"!









That's all for now, but our next post will have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for an Oddfellows Hall show and the complete Hempefest schedule, including some band changes, and maybe more! Stay tuned!

Fatality/Immersed Concert Preview, Plus More Assorted News!!

Hey guys, it's time for some more news and notes! Today's post is a touch shorter than yesterday's news post, but there's some great stuff to talk about today in the local scene, including the old local work of a prolific local guitarist and a new video from a major 2007 concert, but first, it's time to preview a huge concert taking place TOMORROW.... afternoon?

Yes, at the special early start time of 3:00 PM, two touring Ontario metal bands will join three Algoma District metal outfits for another brutal Dismembertainment concert at The Roosevelt Hotel, but this time, it's ALL AGES! Remember, this show was moved to The Rosie from The Canadian Nightclub earlier this week, and it's starting very early due to the previously scheduled karaoke night tomorrow. The headliners are Toronto thrash quartet Fatality, in the latest stop on their Western Annihilation Tour! Old school thrash fans will be right at home with Fatality tomorrow evening, with plenty of brutal and moshworthy original songs to set The Rosie on fire! I enjoy their music, but hopefully the vocals stand out more than the studio tracks suggested to me. Ottawa blackened death metal band Immersed are also along for the show, with their own brand of relentless and technical brutality to help melt everyone's faces! Awesome band in their own right, I'm looking forward to them as well! Opening the show are two local bands & one from Desbarats, starting with The Bear Hunters, whose melodic death metal stylings will fit in perfectly with a band like Immersed, so watch out for them in the middle of the show!

For All That Is Lost will return to the Soo for their second show here in four days as well tomorrow, for what should be a brutal set of original death metal, and the lineup is rounded out by prominent local hardcore quintet As It Stands, who'll be sure to lay the heaviness down well with their ever improving and popular metalcore sounds! Awesome lineup, but what else should you know? Admission is $5 for 19+ attendees with ID, but if you're 18 or younger (remember, it's all ages), the admission jumps to $7, and if you're caught drinking or drunk, you'll be evicted from the show with NO refund. Doors open at a special 3:00 PM start time, and all minors are expected to be out of The Rosie by 9:00 PM, which will be after the concert ends anyway. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great show, and the all ages environment is something I don't see often enough lately, especially in a bar, so hopefully a huge crowd turns out tomorrow to mosh away Sunday! I'll absolutely be there, and hopefully you guys will be there too! Check all of the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a music video for Fatality's song "Thrash Fuck Eat Sleep" (or "T.F.E.S."!)



Next up, how about a new video from a major local concert? We're heading all the way back to June 20th, 2007 today for Kiss' first show in the Sault Ste. Marie, which took place at a special outdoor stage at Kewadin Casino! Tons of videos from this show are on YouTube, and many are of their song "All American Man", because we were graced with the first ever performance of this song at their first local show! Well, this new video comes from YouTube user Norm Huizenga, who attended this concert and filmed "All American Man" as well, and you can now see his take at his YouTube channel! It's not of the complete song, starting a bit late, but it's not a total loss, as enough other videos have the start of it. The video quality is very fuzzy, almost like he had a bad focus setting on his camera, but the audio is pretty good, and it's clearer than some other performances of this song online! Nice to see some more Kiss video footage trickle in, even if it's over 4 years after the fact, and hopefully someone has some more Kiss videos from either of their local shows to post down the road! For now though, here's Kiss playing "All American Man" at Kewadin Casino in 2007!



And finally, do you remember in my belated 4th anniversary post when I made a brief reference to a "new discovery" on PureVolume? I kinda spoke too soon, but I'll explain. When I was browsing PureVolume after launching our PureVolume page, I came across a solo project from a Sault Michigan solo guitarist named "Mikell". Little was posted there for bio information, but I could gather that Mikell had band experience, was largely active in May & June 2006 under this name, and had four original songs posted: three well recorded jazz influenced metal songs from a demo named "Ultra-Sound", and one from a death metal demo that had vocals! I initially had no clue who Mikell was, but after some trial and error, plus lots of searching, I believe I've found that this was actually an early solo project from prolific local guitarist Mike Libertoski, from bands like Swayze Train, Galactic Alignment, and The Slackjawed Rats! Looks like this predated most of his more recognizable music work locally, and I think the longer hair and glasses threw me off originally as to his identity. If I'm right on Mikell & Mike Libertoski being one & the same, than this is some good early solo work from him, you can see the talent already!

Definitely check out the four Mikell songs at this location, especially the "Ultra-Sound" demos, which have a nice jazzy influence and some progressive and heavy flourishes similar to his later solo work! The death metal song, "Smash My Fingers With A Brick", isn't as good for audio quality, but it shows that side of him really well! Mike's work is better now than it was in 2006, but give the Mikell songs some love, as he was a great musician then too!

That's all for now, but if there's no news posts today, stay tuned tomorrow for our latest Defunct Local Band Profile on Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, and then I'll see you guys at The Rosie as 4/5ths of that band open for Fatality & Immersed! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Shit Liver, Titans Eve, And Fatality) And New Dayglo Abortions Videos!!

Hey metalheads, we have some big news to share with you guys tonight from the realm of Dismembertainment! Yes, the prominent local metal booking agency is hard at work bringing us more brutal metal shows, and as such, we have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS tonight! Aside from the first one (we're going in chronological order), the lineups are NOT fully confirmed aside from out of town headliners, so keep that in mind, but the shows were announced on their Facebook page. Event pages are forthcoming once booker Rich Moreland gets his computer working. They're coming though! Afterwards, we have brand new videos from a major recent Dismembertainment show, and yes, our Foothill Road CD review is still on for tonight, but first, here's the new shows!

Firstly, it's the 21st Roosevelt Hotel metal night taking place THIS THURSDAY! Hyped as being Rich Moreland's fiancee April Fogal's birthday show, three local bands are confirmed for this Thursday, including Shit Liver, in their record third straight Thursday metal night appearance! Nice to see them back again, they're fitting in well at The Rosie, so get ready for a night of drunken grimecore from this aggressive local trio! New local death metal band Bring The Misery will make their second ever live appearance on Thursday as well, where they'll be looking to answer a few questions, like how will they sound without Dan Souliere on guitar? (no word on a replacement yet.) Also, will they have improved from their debut earlier this month? Will they still have no shoes on? We'll find out on Thursday! The other confirmed band is local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger, in just their third ever Thursday night Rosie concert, and first in over five months! Their fast and aggressive music will be a welcome sight, hopefully they get lots of pits going! I should note that The Bear Hunters announced that they'd be on this show in three separate postings on their Facebook page, but they were not confirmed by Dismembertainment yesterday, so don't get your hopes up.

As is usually the case for all locals-Rosie concerts, there is no cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and everything starts at 9:30 PM or later. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a fun night of metal, maybe I can make it out! I'll keep you posted if updates come in!

Now to the other shows that Rich officially confirmed on the Dismembertainment Facebook page, and first, we have a show conveniently taking place on July 4th (our fourth anniversary!) It's just a coincidence, but it's an awesome coincidence, as Vancouver thrash metal band Titans Eve are hitting The Roosevelt Hotel for a Monday night of metal mayhem! I've been aware of this show for a while now, but Dismembertainment only just announced the show yesterday. Local openers, a likely cover charge, and a start time are not known yet (or at least public), but the 19+ age limit is probably a guarantee, as this is a bar. I am really high on Titans Eve, they have a nice brutal thrash sound with modern and groove influences, and they'll be sure to rock the stage on July 4th! You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be there on July 4th to rock out with Titans Eve for our fourth anniversary (which I have more news on coming up.) Stay tuned for updates on the Titans Eve show as they come in! I can't wait for this one!

The other newly announced show breaks new ground for Dismembertainment, as it's the first time since officially launching that they've ever held a concert at The Canadian Nightclub! This show, which will take place on Sunday, July 10th, has two out of town headliners, those being Toronto "heavy thrashfuck metal" quartet Fatality and Ottawa blackened death metal quintet Immersed! Interesting mix here, but both bring exciting brands of metal to the table, including everything from old school thrash metal to relentless modern death metal, so everyone should find something to like. Fatality's vocals need to grow on me, but both bands are really talented, and I live right near The Canadian, so I'll be here for this show for sure! As with the Titans Eve show, there's no details as yet on local openers, cover charges, and start times, but a 19+ age limit is to be expected. Sounds like a brutally heavy time though, I hope to see you guys there, and stay tuned for updates!

And finally, sticking with the Dismembertainment theme, here's some new videos from this past Thursday's Dayglo Abortions concert! Veteran local musician Kevin Campbell (of BeeFMoutH & Nullified Youth fame) was in attendance at The Rosie for this awesome concert, and he got some videos of his own, as uploaded to the BeeFMoutH YouTube channel! Filmed with his own camera from behind the floor (probably the safest close spot), he got three videos, those being of The Dayglo Abortions playing their songs "My Girl" & "Dog Farts", "Argh Fuck Kill", and "Inside My Head" & "Used To Be In Love"! Nice quality, you hear the crossover thrash sounds of The Dayglo Abortions well, and the crowd activity is welcome to see from this angle as well! Audio's nice and clear too, Kevin got some good footage here! Hopefully there's more floating around! Because it's the longest of the three videos, I embedded the video with "My Girl" & "Dog Farts" from Thursday night below, but check out all of the videos that Kevin shot at the above links, and stay tuned tomorrow or Wednesday for more Dayglo Abortions show news!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of Foothill Road's 1994 debut EP "Seventy" later tonight! Thanks everyone!