Inner City Surfers & Toystock Updates, And Much More!!

This was a quiet weekend regarding the SMS, but we are back with a new news post on this Monday night, so what's on tap? A lot of assorted notes, mostly regarding cleaning up our own links, but we do have some big updates for a major concert this weekend, and to kick things off, a surprise album release, so here's what you need to know!

Are you an Inner City Surfers fan? Did you think that the defunct local punk quartet only had three studio albums? Well, think again, as a fourth album was put on sale via iTunes in May! Posted at the same time as their other released CDs for sale there (as well as on Spotify and Soundcloud), the album is called "Time To Travel On", and while it's actual recording date isn't given, Spotify lists it coming out between 2002's "Laughing On The Outside" and 2007's self-titled CD, though I have never seen it referenced as an album release prior to May of this year. Even official links and posts don't reference the back story of "Time To Travel On", but it's 10 songs are not shared with other Surfers albums. My theory is that the album just didn't get released for one reason or another, was shelved indefinitely prior to recording their last album in 2007, and was released posthumously as a fan bonus this year. If so, kudos to the guys for finally sharing it! With all of that said, it is a paid album release ($9.90 on iTunes), so when might we review it?

As we didn't find out about "Time To Travel On" until just recently, it's no longer a "new" release (assuming it didn't have a limited release run at the time), so now, precedence would go to their debut self-titled album from 2000. Surprisingly, we have yet to review an Inner City Surfers album on here, which definitely has to change! Check out "Time To Travel On" via the above links for more of The Surfers' energetic punk originals, and hopefully we see them back on stage in the future!

Next up, here's some late updates concerning THIS SUNDAY'S fifth annual Toystock charity concert at the Northern Grand Gardens! As per the new Facebook event page, local Christmas-themed punk outfit The Rude-Offs have quietly dropped out of this year's Toystock for unannounced reasons. Hopefully it's as simple as a band member being unable to attend, it'd have been fun to see them back! However, guitarist Greg Simpson will still pull double duty on Sunday, as his acoustic rock duo Guitars & Tequila (listed on the event page as Tequila & Guitars) will replace them in their own Toystock debut. Greg plays in this act alongside That's Chester bandmate Gabe Tessaro, and their mellower blend of covers should be a solid attraction in their own right, especially if you've missed That's Chester in recent months! With that said, the lineup has been almost completely overhauled, with country rock cover quartet Bone Yard (now the only returning band from any prior Toystock) the only band to retain their old time. Check the image on your left for the new order!

The same picture (which is the Facebook event page's cover photo) also newly confirms that there will be cotton candy, some type of appearances from the Elf on a Shelf and (Disney?) princesses, plus a play center on site, adding to the family-friendly vibe of past years. Toystock V is shaping up to be a fun event, especially with the varied and largely different lineup from past years, and remember, entry is via Christmas Cheer donations! Stay tuned for our full preview of this year's Toystock this weekend!

Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last while, mostly focusing on updates and deletions from our "Other Local Metal Links" section on the bottom right! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name:

• The teased amalgamation of Stiffler's Mom drummer Greg Simpson's event promotion and graphic design companies Maxx Entertainment and Maxx Graphix under the Choose Maxx banner has taken place, with the former retitled under the new name on Facebook and elsewhere, and the latter deleted as planned, so our links have been updated as a result. Choose Maxx is a clunky name to me, but it tells you what to do if you need an event booked or a logo designed, so it works that way, and don't miss Toystock on Sunday!
• Project 421 bassist/Eclipse guitarist Daniel Horton launched a search to find a replacement for singer Curtis McKenzie in at least one of the bands last weekend via a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group. He noted that he's looking for someone with stage experience and a high & "fairly large" vocal range, while paid gigs will start in January. No word on which band he means (or if it's for both), but for what it's worth, neither has posted anything on Facebook since Curt's departure and it's immediate fallout. Message Daniel here or above for more details!
• We have removed local music management agency Escape Into Music from our "Other Local Metal Links" section due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only online) page in recent months. This somewhat ambitious attempt to have a local company to manage musicians and assist in their expenses never visibly got off the ground, but best of luck to Stephanie in the future!
• In another page deletion from that same section, we have removed defunct local grunge/hard rock quartet Haggith's official online store from our band links, as it's Facebook (and only online) page was also deleted in recent months. The band had still been posthumously selling some merchandise through there after dissolving, and while it's a shame that it's been taken down, message their Facebook page if you want to see if they still have merchandise or albums available!
• Also now deleted from the same link section is Pure Sonic Audio, a short-lived concert promotion agency that would have marked Autumn Roots singer Jeremy Hannah's return to putting on concerts in 2014, as he memorably did with Big Voiced Records in the mid-late 2000s. Despite ambitious plans, Pure Sonic Audio's online pages have all been taken down or repurposed for other uses (their Facebook group is now a general use group on the local music scene), but hopefully Jeremy returns to promoting down the road!
• One last change to our "Other Local Metal Links" section is to update our links to SooToday's classified sections that are relevant to local musicians, plus their entertainment page, as those received new URLs when the site received it's overhaul and new design earlier this year. Those have been updated and work as normal once again, so give them a look and make use of them if you can!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Driven, Peril, And Powerslug) & Some SMS Link Updates!!

It's time for another new post in our 15th straight day of updates at the SMS, and we're mostly gonna focus on the local Kewadin Casino branches today, as they've confirmed the upcoming concert schedules for The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace for concerts through June, via each venue's respective entertainment page! Not counting the previously announced shows in April & earlier, the new dates largely don't skew to heavier bands, but via the above links, you can read up on new dates from local solo musicians Jimmie Cowles & Perry Hatch, country rock band Bittermoon (with ex-Monkey's Uncle bassist Jim Belleau), classic rock bands Chump Change (featuring Oddfellow & Bucksaw alumni), Crossorads, and Handsome Sam & The Homewreckers, indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen (with half of Nixxon Dixxon's old lineup), new local rock quartet Toast (featuring Swayze Train & Clownsack alumni; genre confirmation forthcoming), and a yet-unknown band named Sir Charge (let me know if you have any information on them!)

As for the heavier-leaning new concerts, we'll start at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven will return on May 3rd & 4th! I believe these will be their first shows in the region of 2013 (if I missed any, my apologies), and these will also be their first shows since drummer Kurt Beard returned to their lineup, so loyal Driven fans should be sure to welcome him back later this spring! No word yet on any other regional shows (including possible returns to Sault Michigan or Timmy Lee's Pub), but hopefully we hear something on that front soon! Admission should be free for these 21+ concerts, and 10:00 PM-ish start times are to be expected. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see Driven bring their hard rocking cover sets back to the area for two more shows to kick off May, and hopefully their fans are out in full force for their first local show in too long! Stay tuned for more on Driven's next U.P. plans as I hear of it!

Next, we'll travel north for the only new metal shows in May & June at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as Charlevoix classic metal standouts Peril will return to the region for local shows on June 7th & 8th! These will be the band's first Sault Michigan concerts of 2013, and they come over 3 months after their first regional dates of the year at the St. Ignace Kewadin, so either way, we're due for Jeff, James, and Brooks to rock the area with some hard hitting covers! I'd expect 21+ age limits, no cover charge, and 10:00 PM start times to be in effect for Peril's June dates here as well, and like with Driven, check the above links for more information! Peril always deliver a solid weekend of metal classics when they make their way north for some U.P. action, so don't miss their next regional shows in June, and keep an eye out for local-related updates from Peril as they roll in!

Finally for the newly announced Kewadin Casino gigs, we'll head back down to St. Ignace for Powerslug's next Northern Pines Lounge dates, as the Sault Michigan hard rock trio are scheduled to return there on June 21st & 22nd! Their first St. Ignace dates in 5 months, these join the guys' upcoming Sault Kewadin gigs on March 22nd & 23rd, along with whatever shows we hear about in between via personal Facebook pages (they really need online pages to promote their shows.) Still, with members of Toast & Kilacel in their lineup, the talent is there for a solid night of hard rock covers (and perhaps originals?), so don't miss out on Powerslug's St. Ignace Kewadin dates in June, especially with this much advance word! Like the above shows, expect a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and 10:00 PM-ish start times for both shows. Powerslug have the talent and veteran success to ensure a great show, so circle the June 21st weekend on your calendars, and stay tuned for Powerslug updates as they come in!

Finally for today, here's some assorted updates to links on the site, namely what's been added & replaced. In terms of additions, I've added links to local graphic design company Maxx Graphix (who have done work with and for metal/hard rock bands & shows) and inactive music management agency Escape Into Music into our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" section, while I also added The Sault Metal Scene's Twitter account into the new section listing SMS accounts on other music/social media websites. Me and Twitter have a love/hate relationship, and it's not widely used among local metal bands anyway, hence why I've phased out updating it frequently, but feel free to tag and follow, as I still log in to check for occasional Twitter-exclusive news! Finally, I replaced the link for the yet-released Woods of Ypres tribute album "A Heart of Gold", as it's Facebook page was quietly deleted for unknown reasons in the past few months, but it's Facebook group is still alive & well. If we find more links to add, remove, or change, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

Two Inactive Local Bands, New Grunge/Alternative Covers, And Some Deleted Links!!

Let's keep our recent busy stretch going at the SMS with another news post, but what's on the docket this time around? Along with some link deletions from the site, we also have new covers from a pair of inactive & linked grunge/alternative bands, but first, we have some bands to consider as now likely inactive, so here's what you need to know!

I've opted to move two linked Sault Ontario metal bands to our inactive band links, those being local hardcore/death metal acts March Into Regression & With Blood Builds Character. Neither has issued a public update since last summer, and most of their personnel have been busy in other projects lately (Ray Cowan & Christopher Neveau in Unbound, Josh Stephney in The Bear Hunters & Giwakwa, Jeremy Hannah with solo indie material, and Tyler St. Amour in Social Suicide), so both bands seem to be on the backburner, or worse. As you may remember, March Into Regression (formerly Bring The Misery in mid-2011) was relaunched by drummer Travis St. Amour last June with a new larger lineup & a looser jam feel for shows in Laird & at The Rosie, but they were essentially succeeded by With Blood Builds Character in July, who featured the same lineup (minus Josh & Travis), though all of March Into Regression's last members played in some form at W.B.B.C.'s only gig last August in Laird. Note that M.I.R.'s return last year coincided with Travis' return home from college last spring, but I've heard nothing about a similar resurrection of either of these bands in 2013 (at least, not yet.)

Despite the informal nature of their shows, I thought both March Into Regression & With Blood Builds Character had a lot of promise (their originals proved that), and I hoped that one of the bands would last longer than they did locally, but at least most of the guys are keeping active in the local scene. Best of luck to Jeremy, Josh, Ray, Christopher, Dan, Tyler, Travis, and other ex-members in the future, and here's hoping we see more from them all shortly!

Next up, a pair of inactive projects from local musician Dann Pichette have some new audio uploads to check out via his YouTube channel on Friday! One is a cover of The Beatles' "I'm Not Sleeping", which is credited to his old grunge band No Arrow (though Dann played all instruments on the track), and while I'm not a scholar of Beatles material, Dann did seem to put in a good sound and effort on this cover, even if it's not that heavy! The vocals are somewhat punk-inspired & listless, but it gives it vibe similar to that of Dann's later SBD work. Check out his "I'm Not Sleeping" cover below!



Also, Dann also uploaded this cover of Syd Barrett's "Octopus" (credited to his most recent local band project, alternative/grunge trio SBD) onto YouTube as well! Featuring bassist Brad Griffith on drums in place of Shane Triplett, this is in line with many of SBD's live covers (lots of early Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett songs), and it shows more originality and a closer link to their sound than The Beatles one arguably did, so I like it more on that basis alone! Check out SBD's new/old Syd Barrett cover below!



Finally for today, here's some notes on deleted links leading from our recent layout changes. One deleted page was that of Andrea Gosselin Photography (who did lots of local concert photography and the photos for Garden of Bedlam's latest album), as her website is currently unavailable. No word on why this happened, but with no indications of it being temporary (or replacement pages), I've deleted it from our links... at least for now. The other deletions are inactive local metal-relevant message boards, as the forums for both defunct hard rock band Renderware & the former regional music webzine Northern Rocks Magazine have been taken down by their respective hosts. No reason was publicized for Renderware's forum, but the Northern Rocks forum was a casualty of the migration of old Forumer-hosted boards to the newer Yuku platform, similarly to why the old Sault Music Scene forums were taken down. It can be saved & completely migrated if requested by March 21st, but seeing as the magazine hasn't been produced since mid-2009, the odds are extremely slim. (I really wish the magazine was still around though, it had great content and a great purpose!)

With these closures, we're down to 5 active local metal-relevant message boards that I know of (Woods of Ypres & Gates of Winter's forums, Freq's Music Planet, SooNet Musician Central, and the 705 Video Magazine forums), but the 705VM boards are currently down (possibly due to spam issues), and only Freq's Music Planet has been otherwise maintained in the past year. This seems odd to see the dropoff, but maybe social media is diminishing the need for forums? I think there's still a place for message boards (even if my own attempts failed), and hopefully more will pop up soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Haggith), New Material From Them, And Much More!!

It's time for our first news post of September, and today, we have some intriguing recent news to get to, including new songs from a local metal band, the latest material and updates from a newer local act, and much more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

New local grunge band Haggith will make their Sault Ste. Marie concert debut next week at The Roosevelt Hotel! The trio featuring local solo musician Mike Haggith alongside Havadder & 20 Pack of Marshmallows alumni will be one of two local opening bands at a punk concert at The Rosie on September 13th (one week from Thursday), in what will be their first proper concert outside of the outdoor Goulais River/Wawa sets they played last month. This show will be headlined by Vancouver pop punk trio Halfway To Hollywood, who have energetic sound that, though definitely not metal, should pull in some interested fans next Thursday! The other local openers will be local punk notables Redundant, who'll be nice to see back on stage following their exit from the Skull Fist show last month, and they'll fit in well with their punk originals and covers! Note that this show is being promoted by Frightlight/T-Rex Manning frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce, so despite the Thursday timing, it's not the next Rosie metal night, but if I hear anything on the status of that series, I'll let you guys know! There will be a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, with doors opening at 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

It's great to see J.D. bringing another punk show to The Rosie to help fill in the Thursday gaps, and if you liked the Die Mannequin & Shotgun Dolls shows, this might be up your alley! I'll admit that I'm not high on Halfway To Hollywood, but that's jut out of my personal preferences. Pop punk fans should enjoy them, and Redundant are always entertaining, but how about Haggith? Well, we're not quite done with them for today!

Beyond their forthcoming local concert debut, Haggith have been hard at work on recording sessions towards their debut CD, as we alluded to in our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post (below this one), but as it turns out, they don't just have one new album in the works... they have three! As it turns out, their debut album will be the aforementioned "Dragon Joy Ride", with an album named "Deuce" second and the album titled "Apocalypse" third. This may seem very sudden & ambitious for a band to be working on three albums after only a few months together, but if you're at all familiar with Mike Haggith's solo output, you'll know that this is par for the course. Just to put it in perspective, he has more recorded albums than Sykotyk Rampage, so the quick early pace doesn't surprise me! With that said, the band Haggith have posted a bunch of new photos and videos from recent recording sessions on their Facebook page, including this lyric writing video and this clip of Mike doing some vocal demos (implying that he'll contribute some singing on future recordings), but those are all Facebook exclusives and sadly unembeddable. However, their newest YouTube channel (do they need so many?) has some videos we can share here, including a pile of studio recordings and some re-uploads from another channel, but to spread everything out, let's start with their newest live video!

Shot during the same sessions as their acoustic version of "I Am", this is of Haggith members Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton playing an unplugged version of their song "Livin' It On The Run", as uploaded to their new YouTube channel on Sunday. Similarly to "I Am", there's some grungy alt-rock promise here, and some nice gritty vocals, but I'm curious to hear this in it's full electric glory (and with better lighting.) Check it out below, and stay tuned for much more from Haggith in our next news post!



Next up, here's the latest material from local metal duo AlterWhite! The band featuring local musicians Mike Matthews & Kevin McCarthy are continuing with recent activity with two more song uploads to their YouTube channel from this past weekend, those being tracks named "Taking Back My Life" and "Watch With Eyes Closed". Both are extending on their earlier promise, with the former sounding more like a high tempo thrash number and the latter sounding slower and more introspective while retaining a heavy essence. The overly Hetfield-esque vocals don't work well on "Watch With Eyes Closed", but they do fit better on "Taking Back My Life", which might be one of my favourite tracks of theirs! If they can tone down the singing a bit and get a full band, they'll have a good shot at attracting some big notice around town, but for now, check out "Taking Back My Life" below, and check the above links for the latest videos and updates from AlterWhite!



And finally, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while. As always, these are in alphabetical order by band, company, or venue name:

• Local old school hardcore quintet Destroilet appear to be re-emerging from their hiatus! Their Facebook page was recently updated with new band logos, which confirms recent personal Facebook postings by band members alluding to new developments & band work. Fingers crossed that we see them back soon, as it's been way too long since their last show and their quiet EP release last spring, so stay tuned for more updates as they come in!
• Are you or your band looking for a manager? Sault Ontario resident Stephanie Desjardins has started a managing company named Escape Into Music, and she's hoping to sign on with local bands to manage them, assist in production and booking, manage expenses, and the like that comes with expanding as a musical act. This could be beneficial for local artists without experience in non-musical aspects of being in a band, so contact Stephanie at this location for more info!
• Local concert venue/Algoma University campus bar The Speak Easy has launched new online pages on both Facebook and Twitter, so like or become a fan of each to keep in the loop on events there! Though slower in recent months for metal/hard rock shows, The Speak Easy is always a possibility for some metal, so follow the above pages just in case, and I've replaced our link for it in our local concert venue links section with their Facebook page!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site shortly! Thanks everyone!

Two New Local Metal Bands, New Tym Morrison Material, And More!!

It's time for a new news post at the SMS, including lots of notable updates, but first, just letting you guys know that I don't think there's a Rooosevelt Hotel metal night tonight, despite today being next on the recent bi-weekly schedule. Nothing official has came out about the 48th and next installment of the Thursday metal concert series, so I doubt there's anything imminent, but I've heard rumblings about a show on August 2nd, so stay tuned for updates! Now, today's post features updates to one of our monthly series, new material from a prominent musician, and leading things off, two new local metal bands, so here's what you need to know!

Our first new band is a local progressive hardcore outfit named With Blood Builds Character, and you may recognize their lineup as featuring four members of March Into Regression! This new band features Like Father Like Son frontman/sometimes concert promoter Jeremy Hannah on vocals, guitarists Ray Cowan (ex-State of Misery) and Christopher Neveau, and Social Suicide bassist Tyler St. Amour (no drummer has been announced yet), and they will play their first show under this band name as the last confirmed band at the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem in Laird on August 4th! They'll take the 6:00 PM slot, but they forgot the "With" in their name on the Facebook event page. This all said, what does this new band's formation mean in terms of the status of March Into Regression? M.I.R. drummer Travis St. Amour (who, along with Josh Stephney, is not visibly in this new band) commented on the event page above that the two bands "have no affiliation", and he has been looking on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this month for singers & guitarists to work with, so it sounds like the four members of W.B.B.C. broke off and started a more formal new band for some reason or another. That said, M.I.R.'s Facebook page hasn't been updated since July 9th, so I can't say for certain if they are completely gone, or what M.I.R.'s next steps are, but I'll keep you posted!

With Blood Builds Character do have promise judging by the Jeremy-sung songs that they did when I saw March Into Regression, and hopefully they can last locally and inject some creative heavy metal into some upcoming concerts! Stay tuned for updates on both With Blood Builds Character and March Into Regression as it all rolls in, as well as the Laird show next month!

Today's other new band to add to the SMS listings is the Sault Michigan metal project Denaturant! Currently, the band only has one member, that being former Hammerspace guitarist Justin Smith, but he's currently on the hunt for additional musicians to complete a full lineup that would "take a specific journey through music." Denaturant was actually launched last July, but Justin has only recently returned to actively updating the band's Facebook & Reverbnation pages towards a proper launch. Plans are for Denaturant to play all original music and to bring back "the raw energy and skill that it deserves", but more musicians are needed to further those goals, so message Justin at this location if you wanna try out! Aside from a video of a brief original sample from last fall, there's no previews yet of Denaturant's sound, but that video has promise, and I liked Justin's work with Hammerspace, so hopefully he can get this new band even further off the ground and bring some more active original metal to Sault Michigan! Check them out at the above links, and both Denaturant and With Blood Builds Character are now in our active band links on the SMS!

Next up, here's some news from local metal musician Tym Morrison! Though best known recently for his solo acoustic cover gigs and his sets with his band Caveman Morrison, long time fans are bound to remember his original music as well, which led to the release of his debut album "Solo Project" in the mid-2000s. Samples of 9 songs for a planned "next album" have been streamable on his official website for some time now, but in recent months, all we've heard from Tym in terms of solo material has been newer compositions, mostly of a softer or comedic nature. However, he's been posting a bunch of new solo original recordings onto his YouTube channel over the last couple of days, including new versions of the planned album tracks "Dungeons & Dragons" & "Lay It On The Line", new takes of his songs "Someday", "The After Life", and the 9/11 tribute song from his website, and two newly posted originals entitled "His Sacrifice" and "Termination of Exystance", so click each link to check them out! Apparently, Tym is working again on his second CD according to recent posts on his personal Facebook page, and if these new songs are any indication of what to expect, I think things are in good hands!

Under the premise that these will be on an album coming out, I'll hold detailed thoughts for a future review, but these songs do cover a wide range of topics and sounds, and if you like heavy metal, most of these will fill that void! I'll share "Dungeons & Dragons" below (featuring some very good singing on Tym's part), but check the above links for more, and stay tuned for updates on Tym's second CD and future original compositions!



And finally for today, here's the rest of the recent updates to our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series posts to make them more current and accurate! On the Algoma University Battle profile, I added a trivia note on Creedon & The Animal Detectives drummer Terrence Gomes' future battle appearance as Changing Waves' bassist at the Battle For The Blood last month, while the Sault College/Scotties Tournament Battle's profile saw updates to reflect first place winners Blackwater's inactive status, third place act Sykotyk Rampage's current album count, and the current solo projects for Blackwater frontman Cody McMillan & Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan. Finally for this batch of updates, the Downtown Showdown profile now refers to third place winners The Tenagens' recent reemergence in the local scene and guest Bring The Fallen bassist Mike Kyle's almost-return to a battle when his current band Shit Liver were listed to play at the Battle For The Blood at one point. Things aren't completely up to date with these profiles though, as these were part of edits I made so long ago that there's stuff I missed (i.e. With Blood Builds Character's formation), so stay tuned in the near future for more updates and fact changes to this and our other monthly feature series at the SMS!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for previews of this weekend's Rotaryfest Second Stage TONIGHT! Thanks everyone!

Two "New" Local Hard Rock Bands, David Gold Tribute Album Updates, And More!!

Here's one more news post before TONIGHT'S 3 Inches of Blood show! So here, we have news on two new additions to our local band links, including a hard rock band we alluded to last week and an old school metal band from the late 1990s, plus updates on a locally relevant tribute album, updates to one of our feature series, and much more, so here's what you need to know!

Remember that 2008-2009 CASS Cafe band The Diego Experience that we mentioned in our first CASS Cafe metal video showcase? Well, they're still alive & active under a new name, and they have a Facebook group to go along with it! Apparently, they changed their name to Durera at some point between the fall of 2010 and last summer (unsure of an exact date), and though I don't know what prompted the name change, Durera does mean "shall last" in French, so that could be it's origin. Their lineup still includes the members from half of their YouTube videos (though with less visible instrument switching), including Mike "Diego" Brown & Keegan Gjos on vocals, A.J. Biron (Vendetta) & Brent Hurley on guitar, Column Ruins bassist Ben Eppert, and Brent's brother Ty on drums. They've lessened their ties to simply CASS Cafe events since 2010, and are apparently working on original material, but updates to their page are very scattered. With members divided between Sault Ontario, Echo Bay, and Desbarats for residence, they definitely fall within our coverage range, and luckily, they cover enough hard rock material to warrant SMS coverage based on their YouTube videos, so we've added them to our active band links!

The name change would explain why finding online pages for this band was so difficult, but thanks to A.J. for letting me know about them! Durera's old videos were a mixed bag for quality, but they could rock well when given the right cover, and on Def Leppard and Blue Oyster Cult material, there was definitely talent present that I hope carried over on a greater stage for any originals! Check out Durera at the above links!

Next up, here's our other new band addition, that being the defunct local "noise rock" trio BeeFMouTH! We've previously had them in our band links in the past, but after ruling that their YouTube channel didn't count as a band page, we hadn't featured them in recent months. That changes now though, as I just recently came across two posthumous band pages for them that were launched in December, including a Facebook page and a Tumblr page! The latter mostly links live concert videos from their 1997-2001 run, but there's some more interesting stuff on their Facebook page! It indicates that the members had the stage names "Bwaad", "MoDez", and "Neunen", but I'm unsure of their full identities (I believe 2 members were Kevin Campbell & Boyd Rendell though), and a bunch of photos give us some glimpses into their active local tenure, including stickers, the "BeeFMouTH head", and some cool retro concert posters, so click here to see them all! Nice to see the posters especially, from shows at venues at Koolies N' Cues and the Club Princess, with old local punk bands like Downshift and Bankshot, and I'm very curious about the Thessalon hardcore band Foul Play that are on most of the posters. I wonder how they sounded?

It's nice to see another posthumous band page like this, and BeeFMouTh are definitely a good candidate for some looks back! Their material reminds me of a doomier Winkstinger in some respects, but their sound is hard to pin down. High pitched yelling vocals, hard and slow riffs, but with a punk attitude at the same time... you'll have to hear them, but they're definitely metal! Click here and check the above links to give BeeFMoutH a listen or look, and they too are now in our Sault Ontario band links!

Also today, here's the latest news on the upcoming David Gold/Woods of Ypres tribute album! Among the most recent updates on "A Heart of Gold: A Tribute To Woods of Ypres" (whose recordings are still in progress) are another updated song listing for the album, which you can check out at this link, though it's missing some later or space-constrained additions. So far, the album now includes 20 tracks, including eight of the bands from the David Gold memorial concerts from the spring, including local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters for their cover of the second half of "Kiss My Ashes Goodbye", which is awesome to hear! I just hope they work on some improvements from their live version of it if this does make the final cut. I won't get to in depth yet about the track listing, as it's changed a lot since initial plans began, but one change I will note is that Gypsy Chief Goliath are now doing "Suicide Cargoload" in place of Rob Cranny following his sudden passing earlier in the year. The album will also apparently feature paragraphs from the contributing bands with rememberances of David Gold and Woods of Ypres, and ideas for an album cover are being bandied about, with this one by British artist Steve Cowan getting a lot of positive responses, though a final choice hasn't been made yet.

Progress on this album is ongoing, and I hope it lives up to David's memory and music as well as his talent and legacy deserves! Stay tuned for much more on this album as it comes in, as well as a great find concerning their last show from June 2011, so keep an eye out!

Fourth today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or event name:

• Sault Michigan music/tribute festival LemmaFest got an online commercial of sorts from Blueberry Video last month, so click here to check it out! It just has descriptive info on the bands and general events, with drumming for backing music. Nothing over the top, but effective, and I'm sorry it's so late!
• According to a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group earlier today by drummer Travis St. Amour, local hardcore/death metal band March Into Regression are apparently looking for a new singer & guitarist. If anyone left their latest lineup, I haven't heard about it, but this could just be for loose jamming and what have you. If you're interested, e-mail Travis A.S.A.P. at this location!
• On June 17th, Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie launched a new Facebook page for a progressive metal project named The Sorrow Fields, but few updates have came since. Whether this is a renaming of his April Eyes material or something new isn't known yet, but if this Facebook page gains any extra use and updates, I'll let you guys know!

And finally, here's two more updates to our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series entries, but first, remember that both of these were in have already been updated to reflect Bring The Misery's renaming to March Into Regression and recent lineups in the section for current bands from battle alumni, as Bring The Fallen played at both. For our YMCA Battle of the Bands profile, I've added references to 4th place band Operation: Killdozer's ties with their successors Winkstinger, including how Jesse & Jonas' current band saw later battle success at last month's Battle For The Blood, and how they reworked the Operation: Killdozer song "Pieces of You" into what's now "Where'd We Go Wrong". For our Kiss Battle of the Bands Profile, I've replaced Trail's End, The Southern Fried Band, The Business Suit Trappers, Asylum Country, Havadder, and The Wild Turkeys with newer bands in the section for battle alumni's current projects, with their replacements being The London Gentlemen, Skeyes of Seven, Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, Sailor's Tongue, Barrie rock band Angels of Fire, and March Into Regression. I also briefly noted for the competitors' current statuses that winners Garden of Bedlam are playing at this year's Rotaryfest, and noted Sykotyk Rampage's updated album count and Huckster's likely inactivity. There's more updates to come, so keep an eye out!

That's all for tonight, but I'll see you guys at The Rosie very soon for 3 INCHES OF BLOOD! Thanks everyone!

Rosie Metal Night #47 Review!!

It's time for my review of last night's 47th Rosie metal night, which got me thinking: We're nearing the 50th, which would be on August 16th if the current schedule holds up. Will anything special happen on that date? I have no idea, but it'd be a fitting day for something big! For now though, what happened at last night's show? Read on to find out, and check our our first of four CASS Cafe video showcases from this morning in the post below this one!

First, let's talk about March Into Regression, who were playing their second live concert since their name changes from Bring The Misery & Unleash The Blackened Sky, and their first Sault Ontario show since June of last year! Believe it or not, there was even more lineup ambiguity last night, so I'll address everything I noticed as we go. First, their bassist last night was Tyler St. Amour, who quietly returned to his former band to replace Dan Souliere at some point after their return gig in Laird. Not sure why Dan left, but it's odd that in both of M.I.R.'s incarnations, he left after their first gig. Either way, it was good to see Tyler on stage again with his brother and old bandmates, even if he only played three songs. For reasons unclear to me, he didn't play on two songs with the rest of the band, or their set-ending jam covers, but when he was playing, he sounded good! As for the vocalist position, singers Josh Stephney & Jeremy Hannah actually traded lead vocals for the first six songs of their set, each doing three songs, rather than performing together. That's not something you see every day, but it gave the band distinct flavours! With Josh singing, it reminded me of an old Bring The Fallen set, which included two BTF covers as well as Black Dahlia Murder & Lamb of God renditions, and his growling was nice to hear again over a year after Bring The Fallen's last show!

When Jeremy sang, their set included some newer original material and more of a hardcore sound, with Jeremy breaking out some higher pitched clean singing and effective harsh vocals that contrasted well with Josh's songs. Years after I last saw Jeremy do metal live, it was nice to see him front a heavy band again, and hopefully I'll get a video the next time around! The rest of the members were effective, with Christopher Neveau fitting in well on rhythm guitar, Ray Cowan's lead guitar work standing out as usual, and Travis St. Amour returning to the Rosie stage with lots of fast and dynamic drumming! In fact, he was the only person to play on every song last night, including the last three covers, which took on an informal jam session feel, with him & Josh joined by former guitarist Daeson Lesage for some loose & incomplete covers of Bring The Fallen, Metallica, and Megadeth material (Josh's Bear Hunters bandmate Nik Deubel even joined in for the Metallica cover!) On the whole, March Into Regression's set was a mixed bag, with the music quality & chemistry improved from last year's Bring The Misery sets, but the informality & minimal fuller lineup performances dragged down the quality a bit. Hopefully for their next concert, things will be tightened up to compliment the members' musical talents!

Next up last night were local hardcore quartet Changing Waves, who delivered a much better set than the disappointingly small crowd number on the floor would indicate! Where'd everyone go? Though their set was abbreviated due to a broken guitar string, they pumped through some heavy originals like "Kiss My Ass Again", "Tital", and my new favourite "Scum City", along with some well recieved Austrian Death Machine and System of a Down covers, and they sounded about as good as they ever do! Benjamin Kallonen's yelling and developing clean vocals meshed well on their varied original material, and I'm liking the increased inclusion of backing vocals from Mike Hagerman and Terrence Gomes, which helped add a new layer on the vocals, especially on Mike's part! Changing Waves' development and heaviness is definitely helping them make more of a local name, and I enjoyed their set before it was abbreviated, but aside from the exclusion of "Jung Jung", I can't complain too much. Hopefully next time, there's more people up front though!

Finally last night was local death metal/hardcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre, in the first time I've seen them in 2 months, and though Kyle Umgeher's beard was absent, their deathcore onslaught was not! The guys busted out an energetic set of original material and select covers for their fans, who thankfully added some life to the floor, and they rocked the Rosie with songs like "Make Death Wait", "Vampiric", and "Let It All Bleed Out" in their headlining set! The talent was there, as Andrew Angelic ripped some nice shredding riffs & solos (when they weren't looking for his pick), and Adam Veale's bass work stood out once again, but Steve Rhodes didn't really show as much stage presence as I'm used to, mostly pacing left to right on the stage. Also, and this is a point I've never really thought about before, but I'd like to see the guys play a bit less breakdowns. I'm not against them, but I wouldn't say they're always needed for a band of their intensity. Still, they had a great and very heavy set that ended the night well without too many caveats, and don't miss them next week at the second Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall!

Overall, last night's show was pretty good, though maybe not as long or tight as some Thursday nighters I've seen. I took a bunch of photos, so click here to check them out or visit our Facebook page! As for videos, here's March Into Regression (with Josh Stephney on vocals) covering The Black Dahlia Murder's "Deathmask Divine", Changing Waves playing their song "Distance", and finally, The Valentine's Day Massacre's original "Vampiric"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for some overdue news stories tomorrow, including some major new shows! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

After a day full of new unveilings and what have you for our 5th anniversary, we're back on the news grind today starting with previews of this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts! However, note that our 3 Inches of Blood preview will likely be on Sunday, as it's too early to preview it just yet, but get your tickets A.S.A.P. for $10 so you don't miss this huge show! Also, if I'm missing any shows this weekend (i.e. anything late notice), I'll get them up as soon as I hear of them, so hopefully I'll miss nothing! Now, to the previews, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Kinross hard rockers Banned are returning to the local stage TONIGHT for an outdoor show in Rudyard! I apologize for the short notice, the show was only announced on Tuesday afternoon, and I couldn't fit it in to any of our posts since without it seeming tacked on. Tonight's show will see the guys return to the Rudyard Township Park for their "Music In The Park" concert series, which also saw the live debut of Banned last July, so what better place to play at under the summer sun? Also of note for this show: Banned have recently confirmed that former bassist Alex Schrovenwever (who had been guesting at many of their shows this year) has returned to Banned full time as their second guitarist, making them a quintet. Nice to see him back, and he definitely fits in well on guitar from what I've seen! However, their Facebook page now only credits Mike Straw as an occasional vocalist, which isn't surprising, given that I've only seen him sing once in any live Banned videos. I think he needs a fairer deal, as while he can sing, why have him in the band if he doesn't sing lead much? Either way, Banned are rocking the Rudyard park this evening, so don't miss them, no matter who's singing!

Admission is free, the show starts at 7:00 PM tonight, and it's definitely an all ages event. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a fun show, and hopefully some of you can see all 4 or 5 guys rock the park in Rudyard tonight with their diverse brand of hard rock! For a preview, here's Banned's then-trio lineup covering Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" at last year's Music In The Park show!



Now to previously announced shows, starting with TONIGHT'S 47th Roosevelt Hotel metal night! The fourth to be booked by Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie (and first since March that one of his bands aren't playing on), a quality lineup of hardcore and death metal bands will descend upon The Roosevelt Hotel tonight to melt faces before the heat does, including headliners The Valentine's Day Massacre! Making their third Rosie metal night appearance and first in almost 4 months, this talented quartet will bring their well recieved blend of hardcore and death metal back to the stage tonight, so don't miss them! Joining them are local hardcore standouts Changing Waves, who will make their 13th Rosie metal night appearance tonight, a number only three other bands have surpassed! Their recent resurgence in the local scene is definitely welcomed, and their diverse mix of hardcore and other genres won't come amiss tonight either? The opening band will be local death metal sextet March Into Regression in their second show since their return & renaming and first Sault Ontario concert since June of last year when they were Bring The Misery, and if you missed the F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird, you won't wanna miss their current lineup tonight!

In case the lack of lineup updates on their Facebook page has thrown you for a loop, here's all of the changes... I think. From their last full lineup last summer, only guitarist Ray Cowan & drummer Travis St. Amour are back, with the new band now enlisting two singers to replace now-VDM singer Steve Rhodes, those being Bear Hunters guitarist Josh Stephney on harsh vocals & Like Father Like Son frontman/local metal concert booker Jeremy Hannah on clean vocals. This returns both to metal singing, after prominent stints with Bring The Fallen & Lorax in past years. As well, Christopher Neveau has replaced Daeson Lesage on guitar, and original rhythm guitarist Dan Souliere has rejoined his former band on bass to replace Tyler St. Amour (I think?), so hopefully that addresses their current lineup! Though no public reasoning for the lineup changes has came out, I heard good things from March Into Regression's return in Laird last month (with 3 ex-Bring The Fallen members, how could you not?), so don't be late for their set tonight! Admission is FREE for this 19+ concert, and a start time of 9:00 PM or later has been announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be an entertaining metal concert, and there's plenty of quality death metal and hardcore to go around tonight, so don't miss the mayhem, and in one case, the Sault Ste. Marie return after over a year! For a preview, here's The Valentine's Day Massacre playing "My Sweet Delilah" at The Rosie in February, and I hope to see you guys there!



And finally, local metal trio Caveman Morrison will return to the live concert stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel! After over a month off from live concerts, Tym Morrison and company will rock The Rosie for one night only (no word on why they're not playing Saturday) for their first of 5 concerts in the next 5 weeks, in what may also be the debut of their new bassist! Since the departure of James White last month, band pages have yet to 100% confirm their new bassist, or if a temporary replacement will be joining in, but if I hear anything on the bassist front, you know you'll hear it here! Also, while we're on the subject, just a note that Caveman Morrison's scheduled concerts next weekend at The Rosie have been postponed three weeks to August 3rd & 4th, as per those shows' Facebook event page. A reason for the postponement hasn't been announced, but hopefully it's as simple as a scheduling error. Still, that leaves us with a Caveman Morrison concert weekend every second week for the next month, and that works! As for tomorrow's concert, they'll bring their metal & hard rock covers to The Rosie at 10:00 PM tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no cover charge. For more details, visit this concert's Facebook event page!

It's always good to see Caveman Morrison rocking the local stage, and hopefully they have lots of great music in store for their fans at The Roosevelt Hotel tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" at what's now Coch's Corner in 2010!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for an all-Sault Michigan post later tonight featuring tons of new local concerts in St. Ignace! Thanks everyone!

Skeyes Of Seven's Debut, Local Band Lineup Changes/Notes, And This Month's CD Review!!

Alright, let's get back to some Sault Ontario stories today! In this post, we have the identity of our next CD review, a pile of lineup notes for a few local bands (including some lingering questions about just who is in one band), and leading things off, when you can see a new local band for the first time, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 4:29 PM)

A new local hard rock band will make their long awaited debut next month, as Skeyes of Seven have been confirmed as the third local opening band for Toronto metal legends Anvil's headlining concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 25th! They were quietly added to the Facebook event page's lineup within the last few days, and they should be the first band playing that night, before Anvil, Frightlight, and Garden of Bedlam. In case you've forgotten, Skeyes of Seven is the new band featuring former Sense of Truth bandmates Cory Murchison & Ron Baxter on vocals and guitar alongside Half Past guitarist Alain Fletcher and former Tripod the Dog/Genghis Khan bassist Mike Mannarino, and it'll be awesome to see the guys finally hitting the stage! Notably, this will be Cory & Ron's first live concert since they opened for Lion Ride in May 2010 at The Canadian, so it's been a very long time coming for them especially (and what better way to return than by opening for Anvil?!) Note however that they have yet to confirm who their new drummer is (founding drummer Chris Thompson left this spring), but you'd have to imagine one will be announced within the next month. Stay tuned for more on Skeyes of Seven as I hear it!

As for the Anvil show, tickets are still available at The Rad Zone at Wellington Square Mall, Music Depot on Gore Street, and The Canadian Nightclub's front desk for just $20, which is a huge value for the band's you'll be seeing! There's also some tickets available at The Rad Zone, Music Depot, and The Roosevelt Hotel for the 3 Inches of Blood show on July 9th for $10, so pick them up A.S.A.P. before they're gone! Check the above links for more details on both of these J.D. Pearce-promoted concerts, and click here for SooToday's brief article on the 3IOB show! No mention of the local openers specifically, but some press is better than none at all!

Next up, here's some lineup notes concerning the recently relaunched band March Into Regression. First, from what I've seen, I think the previously referenced Josh & Jeremy might be Bear Hunters guitarist/ex-Bring The Fallen singer Josh Stephney and Like Father Like Son/ex-Lorax frontman Jeremy Hannah. Nothing 100% official has confirmed them as being in the band, but Jeremy posted mobile photos onto Facebook of most of March Into Regression outdoors at what looks like the F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird that they returned at. If they are actually band members, I don't know if they're both singing, or if one is on guitar, or some combination, but it'd be nice to see them singing in a metal band again after so long! The other lineup news is another question mark, as though March Into Regression's Facebook page doesn't list him as a band member anymore, bassist Tyler St. Amour is featured alone in their current profile picture. Plus, he was tagged in this photo last month with guitarists Ray Cowan & Christopher Neveau that is credited to M.I.R., despite recent implications that Dan Souliere was now their bassist. So, how much of this is right, now wrong, or always wrong?

Personally, unless they update their Facebook lineup, I'll believe their current lineup when I see it, which could come next Thursday night when they play their first Sault Ste. Marie gig in over a year at the next Rosie metal night! Hopefully I'll see you guys there, and stay tuned for more M.I.R. news! Leading from bands that have involved Tyler St. Amour, here's some more concrete lineup news concerning his other band, local metal act Social Suicide! Apparently, they've reverted to their original lineup for the most part, as Anthony Boudreau has returned on guitar and Keeghan Rosso is back on drums, indicating that Ray Cowan, Andres Duchesne, and Storm Perry are all out of the band. A reason for these lineup changes has not been announced, but hopefully the new/old lineup works well in the future, and best of luck to the former members! Tyler is still fronting the band, though he's swapped the bass for the guitar, and according to a Facebook page posting last week, they have a new bassist to go along with new originals and plans for future shows. The new bassist has not been revealed yet, but hopefully the guys got someone that fits their sound well, and stay tuned for more Social Suicide news as it comes in!

And finally, I'd like to confirm that this month's CD review at The Sault Metal Scene will be The Harsh Heads' only CD "First Hated, Then Forgotten"! I've opted to pick this archive review for two reasons: Nothing new has came out this month for local metal/hard rock bands in terms of official packaged albums (the week ahead has nothing likely either), and Harsh Heads' members Aaron Gibbs and John Conway return to the stage with their current band The Billy Bastards on Saturday night when they open for Maximum RNR, so it neatly ties in with that show! As you may remember, The Harsh Heads were a prominent old school hardcore/punk band in the early 1990s, and their two unreleased 1994 demos later got a posthumous CD release in 2005, which is what we'll review this month! How has it held up 18 years after it's recording? We'll know by Saturday, so keep an eye out for this month's CD review, and as for next month? Barring a delay for when it comes out, I hope to look at Theatre of Night's second album "The Dawn's Early Light" given it's planned July 1st release. If we review it next month, it'll be our third Sault Michigan CD review in four months, which will be interesting, so watch out for that hopefully, and our review of "First Hated, Then Forgotten" this week!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on RedStone Riot TOMORROW, along with much more news! Thanks everyone!

March Into Regression Updates, A New Solo Recording, And This Week's Classic Video!!

Time for some more news on the site, and after a day full of Sault Michigan news and this month's YouTube Channel Profiles from this afternoon (in the post below this one), we have some more overdue news from Sault Ontario to get to! Tonight, we have this week's classic video (overdue, I know, but I wasn't in town half the week) and a new audio upload from a local musician, but first, here's some more big news relating to a recently reunited local metal band!

In case you guys didn't see my late notice post on our Facebook page yesterday, local death metal band March Into Regression made their return to the stage last night at the F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird! As such, it was the band's first concert since their name change from Unleash The Blackened Sky and their first official live show since the Shaw TV-filmed 21st Rosie metal night last June, when they were known as Bring The Misery. It's great to see them back after such a long hiatus, and hopefully they can build on their slow start last summer and show their real potential! As such, they've also been announced as the third band at next Thursday's 47th Roosevelt Hotel metal night, where they'll open for The Valentine's Day Massacre (featuring their former singer Steve Rhodes) and local hardcore quartet Changing Waves. My source is that show's Facebook event page. Nice addition, and I definitely intend to head to The Rosie next Thursday to check out their first Sault Ontario show in over a year! That said, how does their lineup look? Their Facebook page still only lists guitarist Ray Cowan and drummer Travis St. Amour (both holdovers from last year's lineups) as being in their incarnation, but some other recent Facebook postings have indicated other members!

According to a comment on the Facebook event page wall for their next show, the band's new second guitarist is named Christopher Neveau, and I'm not familiar with him musically at all, but hopefully he's got the chops to hang with the rest of the guys in March Into Regression! Former guitarist Dan Souliere (who played at their first show last June before initially leaving) is back in the band as well, though he's now M.I.R.'s bassist, and from what I know, he'll do just fine in that role! Christopher also credited "Josh" and "Jeremy" as band members, but I don't have 100% confirmation if they're in, who they are, or what they play. Bear Hunters guitarist Josh Stephney would make the most sense for the former, given his singing past with Dan and Travis in Bring The Fallen, but I've seen nothing concrete crediting him or anyone named Jeremy as being in March Into Regression. I'll keep you guys posted as I hear more, but I'm not entirely surprised the lineup isn't updated yet, as Unleash The Blackened Sky were slow to announce lineup changes last summer too. Even still, I'm curious to hear how M.I.R. sound after a year's absence and retooling, so stay tuned for updates on their lineup and more as they come in, and don't miss them at The Rosie next Thursday!

Next up, here's a new audio track from ex-Sneaky Pete guitarist Mario Carlucci! Entitled "The Fury", it was uploaded to his YouTube channel earlier today, and it's a solid instrumental composition! Heavier without being too fast, it's got a nice melodic pacing and his talent is well used, though the backing drum track is way over done. It sounds like he put in double the hits than a song of this style needs, but it's nice to see Mario keeping busy while we wait for his next band project, so check out "The Fury" below! (Also, on an ironic note, did anyone notice that this guitar-driven song shares the same name with the old local band The Fury, who had no guitarists? Just thought that was worth mentioning!)



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With LemmaFest and the F.A.T.I.L. Gathering going down this week, it made sense to focus on one of the bands playing at either event for this week, and we actually found ourselves drifting back to March Into Regression again for a connected video this time around (more specifically, drummer Travis St. Amour.) Years before re-entering the local scene, Travis was gaining a strong local name as the drummer for the young local metal band Fountain of Betrayal during their late 2000s run, alongside his brother/sometimes bandmate Tyler (now of Social Suicide) on vocals & bass, and guitarists Chris West and one I can't 100% verify (first name possibly Ryan?) They peaked with a victory at the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands, but this classic video comes from a later set from Fountain of Betrayal at a December 21st, 2008 Case's Music event with other bands formed and linked to Case's Music's Rock Camp. Two videos were filmed during their set by attendee Kelly Godson, and while one was of their cover of "The 12 Days of Christmas" (fitting given when this event took place), this video is of F.O.B. covering The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", and for their ages then, it doesn't sound too bad!

Originally posted at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=105153910261, it's a bit rough around the edges, and the higher tuning makes the song sound jollier than it probably should, but given how young the guys were back in 2008, you can't be too harsh. The guys (especially the St. Amour brothers) have grown a lot as musicians since the Fountain of Betrayal days, but this is still worth checking out for a nice rendition of a hard rock classic, so check it out below, and keep an eye out for Travis & Tyler's current bands!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including hopefully some LemmaFest fallout, and this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile later this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Turner Up), A Local Band's Return, Battle For The Blood Updates, And More!!

Here's another news post for this Friday afternoon, but are you wondering where my review of yesterday's 45th Roosevelt Hotel metal night is? I was there, and it's definitely coming, but my Changing Waves video is out of sync for who knows what reason (blame my camera), so I've gotta edit it and re-sync the audio. It's noticeable, especially for the vocals, and you can see for yourself by clicking here until I replace the video. So until then, we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND, a local band's return under a new name, a prominent out of town band's search for a new local date, an upcoming battle of the bands' new updates, and more, so read on below for all of the new stories! (Updated on Sunday at 2:57 PM)

I apologize for the short notice on these concerts, but Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet Turner Up will hit the stage for two more shows TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT! These new dates, which will see them return to The Nicolet Tavern once again following their shows there last month, were only announced yesterday, so I again am sorry for the late word. Keep the weekend's shows in mind though, as if you wanna hear Turner Up rock some solid covers with a bit of a harder edge than most of the band's Havadder work, then don't miss them at The Nic tonight or tomorrow! They may be sans bassist Travis Sharpe this weekend according to their Facebook page, but that info was oddly put on the "About" section there, so I can't attest to if that refers to this weekend or not, or which member's playing bass instead. If anyone knows for certain, let me know! Admission should be free, both of these gigs should be 19+, and a 10:30 PM start time is advertised. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! These should both be solid concerts from Turner Up, as always, so don't miss their classic hard rock attack tonight or tomorrow! For a preview, here's the old Turner Up covering a Guns N' Roses classic at The Rockstar Bar last year!



Next up, do you guys remember the short lived Sault Ontario death metal band Bring The Misery, last known as Unleash The Blackened Sky? Well, they're back..... sort of! Their Facebook page has been reactivated to reflect the band's return (having last done any real band updates last July), although there's a lot of differences. They've changed their name to March Into Regression (no word on why they dumped the U.T.B.S. name), and their current lineup now only includes guitarist Ray Cowan & drummer Travis St. Amour, indicating that 2011 members Steve Rhodes, Daeson Lesage, and Travis's brother Tyler haven't been retained. Note that Ray's other group Social Suicide's Facebook page hinted that Ray was doing a "different band", though it's not clear how linked the two are otherwise. However, recent postings indicate that March Into Regression plan to write new original material and play shows once again, hopefully including some touring. While I thought that Bring The Misery's two concerts last June were works in progress, I'm glad to see Ray & Travis keep the band alive, and the new name is definitely an improvement! They're back in our active Sault Ontario band links, and stay tuned for updates from March Into Regression as I hear them!

Thirdly, here's the latest updates on the Battle for the Blood! The recently announced battle of the bands to find a second local opening band for 3 Inches Of Blood's show at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 9th will apparently be moving to a later date than the original placement for it this coming Tuesday. The move was necessitated due to scheduling conflicts with Desbarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, as guitarist Brook Moreau has to work on Tuesday night, according to postings on the Facebook event page. Originally, F.A.T.I.L. just dropped out of the battle, but I'm glad to see that they're looking into rescheduling for a few reasons. F.A.T.I.L. deserve the opportunity (and singer Tyler Sperry suggested the battle concept early on), you need at least 4 bands for a good battle (none recently in the Soo have had less), and if it's postponed, it gives more time to advertise and get the word out, so this can only benefit the battle itself! Stay tuned to the SMS for more details on the Battle For The Blood & when it will take place as I hear of it!

Also today, a prominent Northern Ontario metal band are looking to come back to Sault Ste. Marie for another concert, but they need help and/or contacts to make it happen! Empyrean Plague frontman "Builder" Mike Burge contacted the SMS' Facebook page earlier this week asking if I could help the North Bay black metal standouts get a concert booked for the Soo, presumably later this year. I forwarded him some contact information, but I don't believe they have anything firm set up yet, so I thought I'd spread the word on here! As you may remember, Empyrean Plague headlined the 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night last September, and were among the featured out of town bands at the Ypres Metal Fest in April, so they're certainly no strangers to Sault Ste. Marie! Their brutal black metal stylings fit in very well at local shows, and it's be great to see the guys back here, so if you can help Empyrean Plague get a new local booking later this year, contact Mike at this location or the band at the above links! Let's get some more Northern Ontario black metal up here!

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

• New local grunge band Haggith posted an acoustic version of their original song "Rage Train" onto their Facebook page yesterday! I can't embed it here, as it's a Facebook video, but it's a nice different take on the song, so give it a look at the above links, and remember to see Haggith's debut at The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday!
• Mike Gaetano from Docks Riverfront Grill (and a former metal booker at The Other Place) is looking for a guitarist and bassist for a current band project that he's a part of that primarily plays 1990s alternative rock covers. If anyone out there is interested in trying out for this band, message Mike at this location or through his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last night!
• YouTube user Toxic Doll has uploaded 8 videos from the David Gold memorial concert in Toronto on April 5th at this location, including all 7 songs from Chicago doom metal headliners Novembers Doom's set (including their cover of Woods of Ypres' "Wet Leather") and frontman Paul Kuhr's guest spot with Musk Ox covering "You Are Here With Me", so give them a look at the above links! Fuzzy video quality, but the audio's very good!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of last night's Rosie metal night later tonight! Thanks everyone!