R.I.P. Ben Kemp-Reynolds (1990-2025)

The Sault Metal Scene would like to offer its deepest condolences to the family and friends of former local rock guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds, who suddenly passed away earlier today at the age of 35, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. Local readers may be best familiar with Ben's music work while attending Central Algoma Secondary School in the late 2000s, where he performed in CASS Cafe bands like The Diego Experience, The Dedbeats, and most notably, the 2008-2009 blues rock quartet The Glass Statues. Joining future Late & Loud bandmates Benn Garside and Josh Hatherley, The Glass Statues would play their first non-CASS gig at the YMCA Battle of the Bands at The Grand Theater in March 2009 (where they finished in third place), and they later played out in Thessalon, and were among the openers for The Road Hammers at Rotaryfest Stage 1 that July. The Glass Statues disbanded due to Ben's relocation to British Columbia for university the following month. 

Ben kept at it musically out west, where (as "Benny Blitz"), he joined Victoria glam metal band The Lust Boys in early 2010, though a planned homecoming gig with them in March 2012 at the former Canadian Nightclub did not take place due to their tour van breaking down 5 hours outside of town. The local openers, Late & Loud among them, played on though. Alas, Ben never got to bring any of his B.C. bands home for concerts, but he remained in The Lust Boys until they broke up in 2014, and he stayed musically active in the Vancouver area, where he and fellow Lust Boys alum Jayme Black formed the old school metal band Rebel Priest later that year. It's with Rebel Priest where Benny found the most success, releasing two studio albums and some other EPs and singles, and touring as far away as Japan on multiple occasions! Rebel Priest last played live at The Cobalt in Vancouver on November 21st. 

As "Benny Burn", he was also a guitarist in the Vancouver speed metal band Roadrash from 2017-2020, while Ben notably also worked as a bartender and live DJ. It was too easy to miss out on what Benny was up to in B.C. over the years, but he accomplished a lot as a musician there, and while our interactions were brief before he moved, he was always a good guy, and it's a shame to lose him so suddenly, especially just days after Christmas. If you haven't heard his three main bands since he moved, do check out The Lust Boys, Rebel Priest, and Roadrash, as there's some solid classic metal of varying flavours therein, and it'd be neat to see their original music get some well deserved Ontario and Michigan hits. I don't know if any services are planned yet in the Soo or Central Algoma, but we'll let you know when more comes out. Check on your friends, and please reach out if you're struggling. R.I.P. Benny!

CASS Cafe Metal Video Showcase (Part 3)

It's now time for our third of four CASS Cafe metal video showcases! After two solidly entertaining installments on Friday & Sunday, we've got a few more videos from Central Algoma Secondary School's student concert series to share, including a solo performance and three sets from collections of local musicians (including some familiar faces), so check these out below!

First, we'll head back to Durera guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel for these next videos, which come from CASS Cafe sets circa December 2009, and the first one features three future members of For All That Is Lost (guitarist Brook Moreau, ex-guitarist Allen Piche, and drummer Kameron Nicholson) covering Lamb of God's "Laid To Rest"! For this performance, they were joined by fellow CASS alum Nathan Hache on vocals (I have no idea if he has any other band experience), and though his growling is patchy, he has the right aggression for the cover. The F.A.T.I.L. guys sound pretty good, though the song started a bit rough. Interesting rendition, but imagine how they'd sound now covering "Laid To Rest"? Check out this performance below, and free Randy Blythe!



The other video from A.J.'s channel that we're sharing today features five notable musicians covering Megadeth's "Peace Sells"! The performers here include Allen once again (this time on drums) alongside future F.A.T.I.L. bandmate Tyler Sperry on vocals, Christopher Neveau (now of local death metal band March Into Regression) & A.J. on guitar, and Column Ruins bassist Travis Garside, but unlike the above video, this isn't of the highest musical quality. The video description mentions that the guys only practiced this the day before, and it sounds like it, with a number of flubs & timing issues, plus monotone singing (Tyler should have growled here), but the guitar isn't bad! This definitely does not capture these guys at their best, but there is some good stuff here & there, so if you want to check it out, do so below!



Finally, we have a pair of linked videos that are actually on two YouTube channels, those being the ones for CASS alumni Ben Kemp-Reynolds (of The Lust Boys & various local bands) and Ken Coventry, but there's no difference in the quality between the two. The first of these videos is of Benny Blitz himself joined by drummer Mike Christie (he of the drum solo we shared on Sunday) and bassist Will Hurley (likely a relation to Brent & Ty from Durera) for a joke-inspired "metal riffing extravaganza" named "The Andy Song". The lighting's poor (aside from the strobe effects), the audio's muffled occasionally, and the camera angle is odd, but this May 2008 CASS Cafe performance isn't bad, and there's a great liberal use of galloping guitar riffs throughout, so check out "The Andy Song" below!



The other video from this May 2008 CASS Cafe performance is a Metallica medley by just Ben & Mike (though Will introduced them and helped on vocals & bass briefly at different points.) Here, they played portions of "The Four Horsemen", "Motorbreath", "Fade To Black", and "Orion" (at least), and they seemed to know the different parts well, though it'd have been nice to have had Will on bass for more of the medley. The same camera issues from "The Andy Song" apply here as well, but if you can get past those, you'll find some solid Metallica jamming, so check out this video below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned later today for this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews, including the Sewer Swampstravaganza's return, and much more! And yes, our last CASS Cafe video post is coming soon as well, hopefully over the weekend! Thanks everyone!