Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Valentine's Day Massacre

On this Sunday morning, let's post this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Yes, our monthly look at a defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk band returns for another go around, as we have another randomly selected band to spotlight, profile, and look back on! This group didn't last too long on the local stage, but they have a bunch of familiar faces and made a lot of fans, so read on below for this month's Defunct Profile!
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The Valentine's Day Massacre

Genre: Death Metal/Hardcore

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie/London, Ontario

Members: 

Steve Rhodes (D3athcharg3r, State of Misery, Saints & Serpents), vocals
Andrew Angelic (Rattlesnake Hotel, D3athcharg3r, Sativa Rose), guitar
Adam Veale (Sativa Rose, Saints & Serpents), bass
Kyle Umgeher (Chillum), electric drums
 
Audio/Video: Though not active for an especially long time, there are a fair number of surviving videos on YouTube to check out from The Valentine's Day Massacre's run. Plans for a debut EP were never fully realized before the band dissolved, but frontman Steve Rhodes did share one demo named "Lovecraft Cthulhu" on his YouTube channel, while two cover videos can be seen from The V.D.M.'s debut show on bassist Adam Veale's dad John's YouTube channel, and a handful of others can be seen on our YouTube channel as well. Here's The Valentine's Day Massacre playing their song "Make Death Wait" at April 2012's Humane Society Battle of the Bands!



Info/Analysis: Formerly known as View To A Kill, The Valentine's Day Massacre were a deathcore band that basically succeeded members Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale's earlier classic metal outfit Sativa Rose. Debuting at what's now Coch's Corner (then called Feedback) in December 2011, The Valentine's Day Massacre became a steady sight at local metal concerts through the next summer, which saw them kick off the Ypres Metal Fest in April 2012, play at the last original Roosevelt Hotel metal night that July, and finish in the top four of both of that year's battles of the bands. Following a house show in Laird that August, The Valentine's Day Massacre moved en masse to London for college, though only a homecoming show that December and a cancer fundraiser in London in April 2013 followed before the band (sans Kyle Umgeher) was succeeded by Saints & Serpents that fall, who only played one London show themselves before dissolving in 2014.

The V.D.M. weren't even active for a year before moving & slowly descending to inactivity, but they burned bright when they were together, with Steve's brutal growling serving as a nice compliment to the others' pre-made chemistry and more diverse metal background!  They were live fan favourites, and have been missed, but be sure to check out Steve & Andrew's later London band work in D3athcharg3r & Rattlesnake Hotel to see what they've been up to since! However, note that The Valentine's Day Massacre's Facebook page was taken down after their breakup.
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! After three months of single band profiles in this series, our random selections have given us two bands for May in this series, as the first random choice doesn't have enough material or activity to fill a single post, so we've added a second band with minimal surviving info. With that said, we're looking at inactive Sault Ontario industrial metal duo Riverin (featuring Dirty Virgin alumni) and death metal quartet Skull After Betrayl (featuring Troubled Mind and Borderline Divine members), so look for that on or around May 10th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: MrJohnveale's channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly look at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring at least a 50% concentration of local metal/hard rock-relevant videos! After a packed look at David Gold's channel last month, we're keeping with another randomly selected channel with a good amount of videos this time, one that fans of classic metal and deathcore should appreciate if you regularly hit up local shows in 2010 & 2011. Read on below for videos, information, and recommendations from this month's profiled channel!

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MrJohnveale's channel (http://www.youtube.com/mrjohnveale)

Owner: John Veale, father of former Sativa Rose/Valentine's Day Massacre bassist Adam Veale

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 29th, 2010; Videos posted from then until March 2013

Channel Summary: John's channel largely focuses on videos that he shot of his son Adam's local music work in the early 2010s, including 14 live videos from Sativa Rose concerts in 2010 & 2011, two from a Valentine's Day Massacre show (when they were still known as View To A Kill) in December 2011, and two videos of Adam covering 1990s rock songs on vocals & acoustic guitar from the past year. The concert videos come from assorted local venues (including a Ratt cover at The Oddfellows Hall in January 2011), though 9 of the 16 came from shows at Foggy Notions/Feedback (now Coch's Corner.) Note that one of John's videos is of a February 2011 pre-game ceremony during a Brock University Badgers women's hockey game, and it has no direct musical connections.

Why Should You Watch: Mainly, you should watch because this is the best source for live Sativa Rose concert videos, including some of their only public footage with guest singers (like Tym Morrison and Rich Moreland), and videos of some of their earlier solo dates! John's video quality was always really good, and the View To A Kill videos maintain that trend, so fans of Adam Veale & longtime bandmate Andrew Angelic's local music work will want to check out this channel! Note however that John didn't upload any videos of Sativa Rose or View To A Kill's original songs, and there hasn't been a concert video uploaded there since since December 2011, so no videos of the renamed Valentine's Day Massacre are featured.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Sativa Rose Live Talk Dirty To Me: With over 4,600 views, this live video of Sativa Rose covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" is easily the most viewed on John's channel! Filmed at their headlining concert at GLOW on Gore Street from September 18th, 2010 (notably the last metal show at this venue to date), it was uploaded along with clips of Sativa Rose covering Dokken's "Dream Warriors" and Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" at this show. Featuring their original lineup of guitarist Andrew Angelic, bassist Adam Veale, and drummer Alex Palmer on all three, the Poison & Pantera covers also feature ex-Havadder frontman Jason Roy on guest vocals, who is a noticeable improvement given how much Sativa Rose needed a permanent singer (a'la Late & Loud.) The lighting is inconsistent, but the videos are a nice glimpse into Sativa Rose's peak months, especially at a missed local venue!



Bark At The Moon by Sativa Rose: John's last Sativa Rose videos came from their last show at The Roosevelt Hotel on November 29th, 2011, when they were among the openers for Toronto punk trio The Unbelievers. Now featuring The Hydra's Teeth's Anthony Orazietti on second guitar, this show marked their only live appearance with singer Marisa Valois & guest drummer Steven Flint (now of The Suicide Kings) in lieu of Alex Palmer, who was out of town. John's videos featured Sativa Rose covering Iron Maiden's "Aces High", Van Halen's "Panama", and (as embedded below) Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon", and while Marisa's vocals are also an improvement on Adam & Andrew's, she doesn't seem 100% comfortable on heavier material. I'd be curious to hear how they'd sound had she played with them longer, but this is the fullest Sativa Rose have ever sounded, so these videos are a good way to go out on!



View To A Kill covers Black Label: Prior to Sativa Rose's dissolution, Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale joined forces with State of Misery frontman Steve Rhodes and Andrew's ex-Chillum bandmate Kyle Umgeher in late 2011 as the new deathcore band View To A Kill, who John filmed at their headlining gig at Feedback (now the current Coch's Corner) on December 3rd, 2011. John's last concert videos to date, the clips are covers of Parkway Drive's "Carrion" and (as embedded below) Lamb of God's "Black Label", which are generally faithful to the originals, very brutal, and a nice precursor to their improved early-mid 2012 shows as The Valentine's Day Massacre, and Steve & Andrew's current work in the London death metal band D3athcharg3r!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Through completely random selection, we're sticking with a single Sault Ontario-area channel next month, as we're profiling former Durera guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel next! This one's loaded with CASS Cafe hard rock performances and some solo performances, so look out for this profile on or around September 22nd, and for previews of this weekend's hard rock concerts later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), Battle Of The Bands Updates, And Much More!!

The news keeps rolling in fast and furious, and we've got a lot of it to get to today, so here's what's on tap! We have some assorted shorter stories from the last little while, the latest updates for the upcoming Battle of the Bands (including a newly added band's change), preliminary word on an apparent major upcoming concert, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, but first, here's news relating to some great local press on a local band and their frontman, as it links to the new show!

The Sault Star's article on Garden of Bedlam singer Erik "Buzz" Boissineau is now online on The Sault Star's website! Written by Brian Kelly and entitled "Singer finds peace in Garden of Bedlam", the article features Buzz's thoughts on the imagery and themes of the band's new album "Everything Will Die", their studio work, their victory at 2009's Kiss Battle of the Bands and the experience opening for Kiss at The Essar Center in August 2010, and Buzz's musical journey before joining Garden of Bedlam, including brief mentions of his old bands Barfly and Sourcecode. The article also mentions that Garden of Bedlam hopes to do some touring this spring in Ontario, which would be awesome if it happens on schedule! This is a nice article with some good insights on both Buzz's music and Garden of Bedlam's local rise, and aside from spelling Kiss drummer Eric Singer's first name wrong, there's no glaring errors from what I can see. Buzz definitely is a nice guy deserving of the press, but I was hoping for either some more insight into his career or some more integration of the other members of the band for the article. Still, it's some well deserved press all around, and check out the full article at the above links!

That's not all from the article of note from Garden of Bedlam, as it also revealed their next concerts at the end, so here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! According to the above article, Garden of Bedlam will bring their metal onslaught back to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, March 10th for a headlining concert there! This will be their first local concert of 2012, their first since their CD release show on Boxing Day, and their first show at The Rockstar Bar in nine months, but at least this isn't as huge of a wait for their next show as some of them have been! Garden of Bedlam haven't confirmed this concert on their pages yet, but if The Sault Star's mentioning it, then it can't be too inaccurate. Admission will be $5, an 11:00 PM start time is listed, and I imagine this is a 19+ event, but other details (like potential openers) haven't been made public yet. Check the above links for more details! It's nice to see Garden of Bedlam back for another headlining concert, and you know it'll be a big show no matter what, so stay tuned to the SMS for more details as they come in!

The other new show mentioned in the Sault Star is not completely confirmed yet, so I won't call it yet until official word comes out, but Garden of Bedlam are also listed for a David Gold memorial show at a to-be-announced local venue on April 7th! This appears to confirm that a local tribute concert in memory of the late Woods of Ypres frontman is in the works, and I have heard rumours relating to it and possible bands to perform on it, but until something completely official is released by promoters or band-linked sources, I won't officially go into any detail. Stay tuned though, because I have a feeling this will be a can't miss event!

Next up, here's the latest updates on the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th at The Grand Theater! Two more bands have been confirmed for the lineup of this long awaited battle, including local deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre.... wait, who are they? They're actually the band formerly known as View To A Kill, who announced that they changed their name yesterday. A full reason for the name change wasn't announced, but the band said that the View To A Kill name "served them well". Maybe there was a conflict with a similarly named other band, maybe it's to better suit their material, who knows. Personally, I find that the name's a downgrade and doesn't really match their sound, but their music is still brutal, so stay tuned for more from The Valentine's Day Massacre as it comes in, including their next show next month when details come out! The other newly confirmed band is local rock quartet Wishbone (featuring local metal band alumni Glen Thomas & Steven Flint), who'll play their first local battle of the bands since the Kiss Battle finals in 2009! Not too heavy, but they're a very talented band, and they should do real well in April!

Notably, Late & Loud have yet to be confirmed for the battle despite the Facebook posts mentioning their involvement, but stay tuned if I hear anything for or against them playing. Veteran local bassist Nathan Bouliane's new band The Moves have also submitted an entry, but they've yet to be added to the lineup either as of this writing. This is shaping up to be a very cool battle of the bands, and hopefully everyone turns out to support their favourite bands and rock out! There's still openings for new bands, so click here to register to try and play at this battle, and stay tuned for more updates!

And 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 station name:

• Formerly-local internet radio station Energy Rock Radio has shut down, and has been replaced by "The Energy Rock Radio Show" on the New York internet station Hard Rock Radio Live as of January 17th, running Saturdays at 12:00 PM. A reason wasn't announced, beyond owner Ryan Kaarlela saying it was "time to move on." It sucks to see ERR as we knew it end, but hopefully Ryan makes the new show a success, and hopefully you guys continue to tune in! As a result, I've replaced it's now show-centric link on the SMS with the old ERR Facebook group, but do check out the new show!
• Local grimecore trio Shit Liver are among numerous bands playing at this year's Touch Of Death Metal & Punk Festival in Cochrane, Ontario (6 hours north of Sudbury) from June 29th to July 1st, joining notable bands like Hallows Die, Empyrean Plague, and Thekillingfield on the massive lineup. Click here for more details! This should be a great festival for Northern Ontario metal, as always, so keep an eye on it!
• According to their Facebook page, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage recorded material towards a new album called "Jonathan, Your Music Sucks" at River Front Recreation Studios on Friday! I'll note that they still have their two "Genius Mushrooms" albums to release (the first one is online but not on sale), but no matter what the future release schedule looks like, stay tuned for updates!
  

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our last feature post of January (our review of Foothill Road's second EP) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

More New Videos, The End Of The Outback, And More!!

As promised, here's our second news post of the day as we clear out our news cache! Tonight, we've got news on original recordings from two Sault Ontario death metal bands, new videos from a couple of noted area musicians, and news on a local concert venue's demise, so here's what you need to know!

Let's lead off with some updates on new material from a pair of Sault Ontario death metal bands! One is that local quartet View To A Kill posted their first demo recording of an original song onto their new Reverbnation page on Sunday, and it's of one we haven't heard live before! Entitled "The Enemy", the quality could be better, and the guitar's lower than it should be in the mix, but it's a promising deathcore number that I hope to hear live soon! Check the above links to check it out! The other news on the material front is concerning The Bear Hunters' planned demo, which they've finally been keeping fans well updated on via their Facebook page. The local melodic death metal quintet are reportedly aiming for this to be a full length release, though not slapped together like some demos. Unlike the early plans for the "Bloodthirst" EP, this should have at least 10 songs, and drums are recorded for those 10, with stringed instruments next on the docket for recording. Tentative plans are to release both this demo and official band t-shirts by the spring, so keep tabs on the sessions and plans at the above links! Fingers crossed this all works out, as you know us fans are eagerly awaiting The Bear Hunters' next big plans, so keep an eye out for updates!

Next up, here's a couple of new videos, starting with the latest solo track from local guitarist Mike Cliffe! Oddly titled "Accordion Allotments For Calimari", this was posted onto his YouTube channel on Wednesday along with what Mike called a "disjointed video montage" set to the song, featuring everything from chains, fire, and a blue running man to boating footage, a digitally added helicopter, and various other computer generated effects, among other elements. This is actually one of Mike's heavier songs in a while, with a slow hard charging riff and some nice experimental touches and styles thrown in, so definitely give it a look below!



Also in new videos, here's a light little drumming video from As It Stands drummer John Mignacca! Uploaded onto the band's YouTube channel on Wednesday, this is of John playing an electric drum set at a local music store (not sure which one), as filmed on what looks like a cell phone camera. It sounds like he's playing along with a demo track programmed in the drumkit, and it shows off his drumming skills well, but the backing audio isn't really "heavy". Still, it shows off John's drum talents nicely, so give it a look below!



And finally, here's a note on the closure of a local concert venue. According to a news release to SooToday and other local news outlets on Thursday, demolition of The Outback will begin shortly to make way for the second phase of the construction at Sault College, who had operated The Outback as the campus pub and restaurant since 1994. Reportedly, The Outback will be demolished to make way for a new Student Health & Wellness Center that will be completed by the end of the 2012-2013 school year. The new building's focus appears to be on academic labs, a gym, and fitness rooms, with no outward mention made of a possible replacement for The Outback either in the main campus or in a future new building. The Student Life Center that was operating out of The Outback was moved into the main campus, so click here for details on it's new locations. The Outback was never a frequent sight for local metal concerts, but the occasional show featuring a heavier band popped up here and there, at events like the Tyler Yuke Memorial Nights and others, with bands like Caveman Morrison, Late & Loud, and Sykotyk Rampage among the acts playing there in recent years.

I liked The Outback's inviting atmosphere and student involvement when I was a student there in the late 2000s, and we'll miss it for sure, but hopefully an alternate spot for events and concerts is made or moved at some point in the future for Sault College students & general fans alike! As a result, I've deleted The Outback from our Sault Ontario venue listings, but if and when new metal shows of any kind hit Sault College, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

That's all for tonight, but I'll see you guys at Bossy's & The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW for Tym Morrison and Sneaky Pete! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Bear Hunters & Turner Up), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

Let's get back to some big news today, and we're loaded with some cool stories tonight, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next few days, including the continuation of a local concert series and another band's rise from the ashes, plus some new videos, details on a new local band, and more, so here's what you need to know!

There will indeed be a Roosevelt Hotel metal night THIS THURSDAY, continuing the bi-weekly schedule under new promoter Stephane Vincent, making this the 40th Rosie metal night overall and third under it's current form! Three local bands are signed for this week, including metal night mainstays The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver in their 10th appearance together at a Thursday metal concert at The Roosevelt Hotel! It's always good to see them share the stage again, and you know their proficient yet different takes on the genre of death metal will always be welcome to mosh to, so don't miss them! However, the opening band is a debuting local metal trio of sorts (the first band to debut at a Rosie metal night since Bring The Misery), and they're named General Striker, but what should you know about them? From what I understand, they're essentially Late & Loud minus singer/guitarist Brendan Christie (I take it he's unavailable on Thursday), so the other three members have formed this potentially one-off band to play this week. They have no band pages yet, so thanks to guitarist Jonathan Tiberi for the General Striker details! Will they have different material or a different sound than Late & Loud? There's only one way to find out, and that's to head to The Rosie in two nights! There's no cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Sounds like a solid night of metal as we've come to expect from the Rosie metal nights, so for some melodic & grimy death metal, plus your first (and only?) glimpse of General Striker, be at The Rosie THIS THURSDAY! Also for motivation to go: This is apparently the last Rosie metal night until 2012, as indicated on the Facebook event page linked above, meaning that the next Thursday of the bi-weekly schedule (December 22nd) is off. A reason for that isn't known, but I assume it's related to holiday commitments of some type, though I'll note that Christmas week is usually quite busy for concerts, so it strikes me as sort of odd. Stay tuned for more on this Thursday's metal night when we preview this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts!

Also for new concerts, it's the rebirth of Turner Up, whose new formation will debut THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at Feedback! As you may remember, the original Turner Up morphed into what is now Full Circle in March, officially changing their name in May, but longtime members Robert Brown & Scott McLurg have relaunched a new version of Turner Up with a much heavier sound than Full Circle currently employ, and they'll make their debut/return after seven months on Saturday night! Along with Robert on guitar and Scott on drums, the new Turner Up will see the return of frontwoman Krista Marshall (who last sang with the old Turner Up in February), along with new additions Jason Roy (Havadder) on second guitar and Travis Sharpe (Carbon Black) on bass, which should make for a very talented new lineup! A 9:00 PM start time is listed for their return (they'll likely start later than that though), you must be 19 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and thanks to Scott for details on the new lineup!

It's great to finally see Turner Up back on an event marquee for a concert, and I know fans of their 2009-2011 run will be happy to see a return to heavier fare, so get ready to "turn 'er up" on Saturday night at Feedback! If I hear of any changes or updates, I'll let you guys know when we preview this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts on Thursday!

Next up, here's another new video of Sault Ontario deathcore band View To A Kill from bassist Adam Veale's dad John, who posted this video onto his YouTube channel yesterday. Also filmed at their headlining show at Feedback this past Saturday, it's of View To A Kill covering the Lamb of God song "Black Label", and they sound fairly good here, just like on the video of their Parkway Drive cover, but the lighting still seems off. Not a whole lot to add different, it's a solid cover and I prefer Lamb of God, so I approve! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from View To A Kill as it all comes in!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! This week's notable for a lot of beginnings & ends in the local scene (the debuts of the new Turner Up & General Striker, and the final local shows from Splitshot, for example), but also new this weekend is the debut of Caveman Morrison's new lineup after a five month hiatus! I decided to focus this week's classic video on them this week, more specifically on new members, Redundant bandmates, and brothers James & Rick White. Before James re-entered the local music scene last year, he & Rick (along with his former Disciples of Rock bandmate Jamie Labreche) took part in a jam at a birthday party at The Sinton Tavern in Thessalon circa June 2009. The song they're jamming here was later named "Thin Air", as that's where the song came from that night, but it has a nice groove and great bass work from James! Rick's guitar playing flows nicely too, and Jamie shows his drum chops well, so it's a solid jam that would be interesting to see morphed into a fuller song! This video was uploaded onto Facebook by Jamie Labreche on June 22nd, 2009, and you can view the original video at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=136058755760, though I did make some minor colour saturation edits after uploading the video to YouTube.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to the White brothers and Jamie Labreche, as they did all the work with this video, I'm just sharing it with a wider audience like it deserves! It's a solid performance, so definitely give it a look below, and stay tuned for more on the return of Caveman Morrison this weekend!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on Thursday, our next Defunct Local Band Profiles on Saturday, and much more news and notes to come! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Anyone want some more videos? The month of December has been good for them so far, and I've got a bunch to share today, so here's what's on tap! Today, we've got tons of videos from a pair of concerts this past weekend, new jam videos from a notable band from across the river, and a new solo cover from a notable local hard rock guitarist, so here's what you need to know!

Did you miss the Helix concert at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night? If so, then good news, as 9 videos from the concert are now on YouTube! They were uploaded last night by YouTube user dtwalker79, and they amount to about 25 minutes of the Kitchener metal legends' headlining set over the weekend. The videos include Helix playing "Wild In The Streets", "Heavy Metal Love", a solo from bassist Daryl Gray, guitarist Kaleb Duck's solo (in two parts; click here & here to see them), "Good To The Last Drop", a solo from drummer Greg "Fritz" Hinz, "Rock You", and "Dream On", so click on each video link above to see the footage! Things sound pretty good, though Brian Vollmer's singing doesn't come off very loudly on the videos, and the band seems to have a good sound and chemistry as I'd expect from most of their classic lineup! There's also a lot of people in the way on the earlier videos, but dtwalker79 did get closer to the stage by the end of the cycle. Solid stuff, and kudos to him for getting all of these videos from the show! I bet it was huge, but if you missed it, this is the next best thing! Check the above links for more, and here's Helix playing "Wild In The Streets" at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday!



Also for videos from concerts this past weekend is some new video footage of local deathcore quartet View To A Kill from their headlining slot at Feedback on Saturday night! Also uploaded onto YouTube yesterday, this is the first posted video of V2AK from John Veale, who frequently films videos of his son Adam's other band Sativa Rose. In this case, he shot View To A Kill covering the Parkway Drive song "Carrion", and the guys sound good here (Steve Rhodes sounds particularly brutal), though the lighting doesn't seem as active as it was at the Shit Liver show last weekend. Still, it's a solid performance, and hopefully John has some more videos in store for fans of Adam's local bands! Check out their cover of "Carrion" below!



Next up, here's even more new videos from Brimley hard rockers Half A Man, who have uploaded three new jam session videos onto their YouTube channel! All uploaded last night, two of the new videos are in the "drum cam" position, so we only see drummer Mikey Bishop in frame, but they give us glimpses of an untitled new song (that sounds very heavy) and a new track named "Goodbye" that was written in memoriam of the late Michael Lemma, the beloved Dondee Lanes employee who suddenly passed away last summer & later saw LemmaFest launched in his honour. Great cause for a song, it's a fitting tribute, though the lyrics have repetitive moments. Mikey's drumming is as solid as ever too, so definitely check the above videos out, but I'm gonna embed the third new video here, which is of the three active members of Half A Man (Denny Breslin's still absent) playing "Goodbye" on a camera with everyone in view! Audio's slightly scratchy on this camera, but you can see Erik Rintamaki trying a guitar solo, lyrics and captions, and more, so give Half A Man's new videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for more news on them as it comes in!



And finally, Sneaky Pete guitarist Mario Carlucci uploaded a new solo guitar cover video onto his YouTube channel on Thursday, where he covered the intro of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! I'm admittedly not a huge Pink Floyd fan, but the intro is well played here, though it sounds very quiet compared to other videos I've been listening to lately, so have the volume dial on hand. Nice work overall, so give Mario's rendition of "Wish You Were Here" a look below!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (View To A Kill), New Videos, And More!!

I wasn't preparing to have a new post today, but with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to share for TONIGHT, I had to get something up, so today, we also have new videos from a pair of notable local bands and some more assorted news updates, so here's all that you need to know! (EDITED: 9:26 PM)

Remember on Thursday when I alluded to a likely cancelled concert at Feedback for TONIGHT featuring Espanola metal band Fifth Column and locals View To A Kill? Well, the show's still on, and the reason the old event page was deleted is likely because Fifth Column couldn't make it tonight (not sure why), but View To A Kill are still on for tonight for a set of brutal deathcore in their Feedback debut! That said, they'll now be joined by local death metal trio Shit Liver, replacing Fifth Column's original replacements Winkstinger on the lineup, as they had something come up. A lot of shuffling, but Shit Liver are a quality replacement, and kudos to them for stepping in! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only officially confirmed by promoters last night. No matter which second band is announced, this should be a solid lineup of metal, I just hope that a good crowd shows up, as the Helix show might steal some fans. However, there is NO COVER tonight at Feedback, but you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time looks likely. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be another great metal concert at Feedback, and hopefully Rich has some more great Dismembertainment shows in the works for the bar! Shit Liver and View To A Kill should have lots of great metal in store, so hopefully you guys can make it out! For a preview, here's View To A Kill covering Throwdown's "Venom & Tears" at The Roosevelt Hotel last month!



Now to some new videos, and first, wanna hear a sample of a new Gates of Winter song? Frontman Lee Maines posted a 52 second video of him playing the guitar riff of a new song tentatively named "Wormhole Mechanics" onto his YouTube channel on Thursday, and I tell you what, it sounds very cool! Progressive and very technical, it sounds like it will be a great piece to one of the songs on next year's "Perihelion" CD! Not a whole lot else to say yet, but give Lee's new sample video a look below!



Also for new videos, another video of the new look Sativa Rose's set at The Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday is now online! Also filmed by bassist Adam Veale's dad John, he uploaded this to his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's of Sativa Rose covering Van Halen's "Panama"! As someone who prefers DLR to Sammy (I await your letters), I approve of the song choice, but how did they sound? Music's good, and Marisa's voice fits for intensity, but she doesn't hit the higher notes too much. Good stuff all around though, especially with Andrew Angelic's guitar work, and you know they'll only get better from here! Check out the full video of Sativa Rose covering "Panama" below, and I'll let you guys know if any more Sativa Rose videos from Tuesday show up online!



And finally for today, here's three shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or venue name:

• Local hard rockers Borderline Divine (formerly Stillbroke) have added bassist Jake Hache to their lineup, replacing now-guitarist Mitch Sirie. Jake, who was quietly added to their Facebook page's lineup recently, is the band's fifth bassist (that I know of) since their launch in the spring of 2008. I'm not familiar with him musically, but the guys in Borderline Divine have a history of snagging talented musicians for their lineups, so hopefully he works out for the long term! Stay tuned for updates!
• Feedback (the former Foggy Notions) is now booking bands for January 2012, so click here or message Rich Moreland on Facebook for details! Jump on this if you're in a band, cause Feedback is definitely a bar that supports local music and talent of all walks, not just metal!
• On Thursday, Late & Loud guitarist Jonathan Tiberi posted on the SMS' Facebook page asking if any local bands were interested in playing a Christmas themed metal show in town, which would include playing Christmas songs (likely in a metal fashion.) Intriguing idea, but if you want it to go down, contact Jon at this location for details!
  

That's all for now, but in case I can't make it out tonight, best of luck to Helix, the bands at Feedback, Tym Morrison, and Powerslug for some great times and songs at their respective shows! I'll be back with more news over the next few days, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!

Assorted News And Updates!!

Here's one more post for the opening day of December before we have two posts tomorrow (One being our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post, the other with weekend concert previews), but first, I want to note that if you saw an event page for a concert on Saturday night at Feedback featuring Espanola metal band Fifth Column and locals View To A Kill, don't get your hopes up. The event page for the show was deleted yesterday, so it appears to be off now, but if I hear anything to the contrary, I'll let you guys know! Now, to the news and assorted videos of the day, starting with some updates to a concert later this month!

There's been a few changes to the Green Christmas Bash at Feedback near the end of the month, as confirmed at this new Facebook event page (the old one was deleted), starting with a date change, as the show will now take place on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas itself. A reason for the date change was not announced, but December 24th does fall on a Saturday this year, so that could be related. That said, the lineup for the concert has been confirmed, though not without a band change, as local metal quintet Sativa Rose have dropped out of this show. According to promoters, they're off because frontwoman Marisa Valois will be out of town with family when this show takes place. Disappointing, but hey, family calls! Replacing them on the bill is a new folk/acoustic trio named Ye Olde Mold Pickers, who I believe share at least one member with the local band The Night Owl Meme Makers. They're actually the listed headliners for this concert, with local classical/punk trio RedD Monkey, local metal quartet View To A Kill (yes, they were Andrew Angelic's new band from the original event page), and "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage opening the festivities in that order. Admission remains $2, it's still 19+, and it all starts at 10:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Check the above links for more details!

Sounds like an entertaining and diverse night of music, and hopefully the promoters will be sure to bring more Green Christmas shows to Feedback in future years! If you wanna enjoy some live music over Christmas weekend, this show could very well do the trick! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, if you're still uncertain on whether to buy Theatre of Night's remastered "Christmas Night" album (that we just reviewed yesterday), then this could be some incentive, as the band has uploaded their version of the Christmas classic "Carol of the Bells" onto their new YouTube channel! They launched the channel on Tuesday, but this song was only just posted yesterday. The video features various shots of the album artwork, band members, and other monochromed Christmas-relevant photos, with only minimal colour use. Decent effects, and they fit with the mood of the song, so if you want to get into the Christmas spirit and preview the full "Christmas Night" album, check out Theatre of Night's rendition of "Carol of the Bells" below!



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

• Apparently, Wishbone bassist (and former Silver Dream drummer) Steven Flint filled in on drums for Sativa Rose at their concert on Tuesday when they opened for The Unbelievers, as Alex Palmer was absent. Hopefully things went well, Steven should have been a solid fill-in! If I hear anything new on Sativa Rose's new lineup, I'll have it here!
  
• I updated our GarageBand Profile of defunct local hard rock trio Sin Stereo to update the video references, specifically because the video of their successors Stiffler's Mom covering "Enjoy The Show" is now on YouTube. Not a huge change, but I thought I'd mention it!
• Russell Garwood of Zero Tolerance Magazine posted this Woods of Ypres article last month which features exclusive comments from frontman David Gold about the upcoming "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", including comments alluding to what this album would mean to the band's legacy if it ended up being their last album. I sure hope it's not, but it's an interesting read nonetheless, so click here to see what David has to say!

And finally, here's this week's classic video! With a relatively thin weekend for metal concerts (despite the return of Helix), I won't tie in this week's video with a performing band, so we'll dip into the archives for this week, and I've chosen a video from the recently-inactive local grunge trio No Arrow! We haven't heard much from them since their one-off show at what is now Feedback in February, but there's plenty of old videos and music of theirs online, including this video of them playing their original song "Delayed Reaction" when they opened for Montreal punk legends The Ripcordz at The Speak Easy on August 5th, 2007! At this performance, frontman Dann Pichette and drummer Joe Falco were joined by guest bassist Dean Scheepmaker (now of the Manitoba band The Aral Sea), and they definitely rocked on one of their heaviest songs here, though the audio quality is kinda scratchy and the first minute of the song wasn't captured. Dann's got some great screaming here too, helps make me miss No Arrow all the more!

This video was uploaded onto Facebook by Dann a couple days after this concert, and you can view the original video at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=4026989126. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to No Arrow, they did all the work here, I'm just sharing this video with a larger audience like it deserves! With that said, give No Arrow's 2007 performance of "Delayed Reaction" a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post at midnight sharp! And also, on a sort of personal note, tune into Rock 101 (at this location or at 101.3 FM in the Twin Saults area) tomorrow morning at 8:10 AM during "Scott & Brian In The Morning", as I'm gonna be interviewed on air about the SMS! I don't know how I'll do, but be kind if I slip up, as I've never been part of a live interview like this before. Check it out if you're up, and stay tuned for more news over the next while! Thanks everyone!

Rosie Metal Night #39 Review!!

Finally, I have a review of a Roosevelt Hotel metal night after missing four months worth of them! Yes, I was at last night's 39th Roosevelt Hotel metal night (thanks to having no morning classes today), which was also the first I've seen since Stephane Vincent took over for now-Feedback owner Rich Moreland as the booker for the now-biweekly Thursday concert series (I confirmed the current schedule with Stephane last night.) As such, there was a few differences from the Dismembertainment-promoted metal nights that ended last month, such as the absence of the strip lighting on the stage (they're now at Feedback, I believe), but overall, things remain familiar to past metal nights. The attendance was fairly low too, and I don't think it ever passed 50 people last night, but it's early for the new booking crew, give it time! Now, let's talk about the bands who rocked The Rosie last night in this concert review!

Opening last night's show was local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, and I don't know if they do this at each Rosie concert they play, but the guitarist positions were set up on the floor in front of the stage. Interesting setup, and it does give them more room to rock, but it left the guitarists in poor lighting for their set. The music, however, was really good, and Late & Loud continue to show their talents well! Slightly more varied set overall than their last show that I saw, including originals like "Live For Excess" and "Love Letter Lockdown" and covers from bands like Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Cream! The crowd seemed to enjoy them, as did I, and it was good to see Benn Garside return to singing for a song last night! The guitars were on fire, the members made the most of their singing voices, and they had lots of energy to go around, but I think they were a bit less animated then at the Skull Fist show. Brendan Christie's singing voice in particular sounded a bit strained from last time, but the guys were on fire as usual last night! It's a shame more people couldn't enjoy their classic metal onslaught, but they gave us another solid set that makes the anticipation for their upcoming demo grow larger! Hopefully they're back on stage soon!

Following them last night were the returning Thessalon death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, who hadn't been seen in the Sault in 3 months. Myself, this was the first time I'd seen F.A.T.I.L. since guitarist Allen Piche left the band, and since frontman Tyler Sperry cut his hair shorter, so things looked a bit different from my first F.A.T.I.L. show, but how'd they sound? Honestly, I think they sounded a bit better when I saw them in May, but they still rocked the house! Tyler's stange presence is improving and his vocals remained very brutal, but his on-stage confidence level still seems like it could be boosted. Ben Deslauriers' bass work was a standout last night, he has real skill that should be recognized more, and Brook Moreau had some solid and heavy riffs throughout, but he needs to add some more guitar solos in. Their originals could use them, and he can pull them off, their cover of Lamb of God's "Ruin" was proof. Kameron Nicholson's drumming was nice and proficient too, he kept up with the brutality nicely! I think F.A.T.I.L. need a second guitarist on some songs too, Allen's absence was felt occasionally, but overall, they still delivered a brutal set of death metal, and they attracted the biggest crowds and most activity of the night, and that speaks for itself!

Headlining last night, in their Roosevelt Hotel debut, was local death metal/hardcore quartet View To A Kill! It's good to see the guys back at The Rosie after months away from metal nights with their other bands,and I'm glad to say they sounded on form from their debut earlier this month! Along with their original "Let It All Bleed Out", View To A Kill punched in a slightly shorter set of covers ranging from Pantera and Sepultura to Throwdown and Parkway Drive songs, and they sounded together and brutal throughout! I'm impressed with frontman Steve Rhodes' continued integration of clean singing into his repetoire, though I think he overdid them a bit, especially on "Venom & Tears". Still, it's a nice step up from his State of/Bring the Misery work! Andrew Angelic was predictably on fire on guitar, and both Adam Veale and Kyle Umgeher rocked out as well as you'd expect from their debut last night! I'd like to see them throw in some heavier bands, maybe a true death metal cover for a change, but overall, they seem to be improving and gaining in chemistry from their debut, and hopefully View To A Kill can continue to gain a local foothold from here!

Overall, it was a nice (if underattended) metal night, and hopefully when the 40th takes place on December 8th, an even bigger crowd will show up to take in our local metal talent! The promoter switch and after-effects haven't changed too much for the Thursday nighters, so hopefully there'll be even more metal to come! I did get photos, so click here or visit our official Facebook page to check them out, where you can also find this concert's "Tag Yourself!" photo. And I did get videos, so here's Late & Loud playing their original "Whispers of the Damned", F.A.T.I.L.'s original "The Return of Dionysus", and View To A Kill covering Throwdown's "Venom & Tears"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, including the identity of our next CD review (it IS of a brand new album) and more! Thanks everyone!

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

It's time to preview this weekend's slate of metal and hard rock concerts! That said, I'll remind you guys before we get to them that Caveman Morrison's shows this weekend at The Rosie are NOT taking place, as they were double booked with Spyder's Web already scheduled, so Caveman Morrison's new lineup will debut next month at The Rosie, and I'll have more on that very soon! That said, there's at least four heavy concerts going down in the twin Saults over the next few days, so let's begin with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and stay tuned at the end of the post for updates of some of our monthly feature posts! According to both bands' Facebook pages, local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger and grime/death metal trio Shit Liver will be rocking Feedback THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! The venue has yet to confirm this concert, but with both bands saying it's on, there must be truth to it. This will be the first time that Winkstinger has rocked a local stage in four months (last seen at the 25th Rosie metal night in July), and it's great to see them finally back for another night of face ripping originals! Shit Liver are also good to see back for their first show at the former Foggy Notions since opening for Napalm Death, and you know their crusty mix of punk & death metal covers & originals will be sure to turn heads as usual on Saturday night! An 11:00 PM start time is listed for this show, you must be 19 to attend, and I'd bring at least $5 for a cover just in case. For more details, click here! It seems like forever since we've seen Winkstinger, so definitely consider seeing them at Feedback on Saturday, especially with Shit Liver's punk and death metal sounds joining in for a night of brutality this weekend! Hopefully I can make it out, I'm overdue for a metal show at Feedback! Stay tuned for updates if they come in, and for a preview, here's Winkstinger playing their song "Where'd We Go Wrong" at what is now Feedback last year! Now to the previously announced shows for the weekend, and first, it's TONIGHT'S Roosevelt Hotel metal night! After a week's absence, the Thursday concert series returns for it's second show since the relaunch on November 10th, but 39th overall, and promoters have secured a varied and talented lineup for tonight's show! Headlining tonight (in their metal night debut & second show overall) are local deathcore quartet View To A Kill, whose familiar and heavy sounds and members will be sure to rock the stage tonight in their Rosie debut! Joining them tomorrow are Thessalon death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, in their first local concert in three months. It's always good to see F.A.T.I.L. back in town, so don't miss their brual and dark death metal stylings tonight! Opening tonight's show will be classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who'll have lots of proficienty and energetic covers and originals in store for fans, including songs from their to-be-released demo, so be their early to check them out! As usual for the all local/Algoma lineups, there will be no cover charge, a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Note that a Facebook post implied that Late & Loud would be playing with Sativa Rose & T. Rex Manning tonight, but that's not correct, and the official lineup is cited above, so don't get confused! Whether they're now bi-weekly, not rigidly scheduled, or otherwise, it's nice to see metal nights back at The Rosie, and hopefully the success levels continue for them tonight! I've had to miss the later Dismembertainment-promoted ones and the relaunch due to school (Friday morning classes don't help), but with LSSU's Thanksgiving break ongoing, I can hit this one for sure! I'll hopefully see you guys there, and for a preview, here's View To A Kill playing their original "Let It All Bleed Out" at their debut show at The Canadian earlier this month! Finally for new shows that I know about, Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle will return to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tomorrow night & Saturday night! Two weeks after they last rocked Kewadin Casino's bar, look for this talented veteran quartet to deliver a weekend full of high impact covers (and possibly originals?) over the next two nights! I haven't heard too much unique about these weekend shows, but the music will rock, so keep that in mind! A start time of 9:00 PM or later can be expected, there's no cover charge listed for either night, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, click here! Barring any unadvertised shows or late bookings, these could be Monkey's Uncle's last Sault Michigan shows of 2011, so keep that in mind when debating your concert plans this weekend! They're a talented band, don't miss them for some great times across the river at Kewadin Casino! For a preview, here's Monkey's Uncle covering Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" at a concert in 2007! And finally, here's some updates to some of our monthly feature posts to make them more accurate & current! Starting with the Defunct Local Band Profiles, I've restored the images on the Lower S.E.S. & Life's Eclipse profiles, as the links for them got screwed up somehow on MySpace's end, so there's no more vague person silhouettes on either! Also, I edited the State of Misery profile to add references to members Steve Rhodes & Ray Cowan's new bands View To A Kill & Social Suicide (I'll have more on State of Misery's status themselves soon too, hopefully.) And for our YouTube Channel Profiles, I've added references to new Sault Michigan trio Trail's End to our profile of Cami Hubbard, a.k.a. myangels1266's channel, seeing as her son Chris is in Trail's End now. Finally, I've added a reference to how Foggy Notions is now Feedback in our profile of Garden of Bedlam's YouTube channel, seeing as it played a big part in their posted music videos. Hopefully things are all updated now, so click the above links to get caught up! That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at The Rosie TONIGHT, and stay tuned for my review and more news and notes very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (View To A Kill), More Rosie Metal Night News Coverage, And Lots More!!

Here's some more news for your Sunday, and we've got some big stories today, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, more awesome news coverage on a popular element of the scene, a local band's bassist search, and some more assorted news stories from the last little while, so here's what you guys need to know! After a one week absence, the relaunched Roosevelt Hotel metal nights are back THIS THURSDAY! I'm not sure whether they're now bi-weekly or not (hopefully I'll hear more about the scheduling for them soon) but this will be the second Thursday metal night under booker Stephane Vincent and the 39th overall. Three Algoma District bands have been signed for this Thursday, including, in the metal night debut, View To A Kill! The new local metal band featuring Sativa Rose, State of Misery, and Chillum alumni will play just their second local concert this Thursday, so look for some solid deathcore sounds from this rising new quartet! Joining them will be Thessalon death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, in their first metal night appearance in three months! Nice to see them back, so prepare yourself for some brutal face melting sounds in their local return! Rounding out the lineup is classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who'll continue a busy and very heavy autumn with some high energy originals and covers that fans will surely enjoy! As usual for the metal nights with all local/Algoma bands, there will be a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a start time of around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nice to see a varied and high impact lineup of bands for this Thursday, and as some possible added incentive to go, Late & Loud's Facebook page has hinted towards possibly releasing a 9 song demo soon! Might we see it on Thursday? I have no idea, but if I hear anything, I'll let you guys know! And because I'm on the American Thanksgiving break this weekend and have no Friday classes, I can actually hit the next metal night! I'll hopefully see you guys there! That said, the return of Roosevelt Hotel metal nights continues to attract attention from local media, as The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler was in attendance for the relaunch on November 10th, and he has another article in the paper to show for it! Entitled "Bang Your Head - Heavy Metal Night back with a vengeance at The Rosie", the article (which was posted on Friday) features Jeffery's thoughts from Shit Liver's set, the environment and attendees, and interview snippets from Stephane and Bear Hunters members Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger, who also featured in a short video embedded with the online portion of the interview! It's short and Jeffery's voice comes off very low, but on the whole, the article and video are very complimentary and open towards our metal scene, The Rosie, and the metal nights! Now, sadly, the errors & omissions I pointed out when I covered his last Rosie metal night article were included without changes again this time around, but a couple of new things should have been fixed as well, like where it's said that The Bear Hunters have been gigging for two years (they only played their first show last year.) The lack of footage of the other bands or any direct references to Redundant is noticeable too, but overall, it's awesome to see local news media giving the scene some long overdue press coverage! Check the above links for more, and thanks to Jeffrey for plugging the SMS in the article too, that was nice of him! Here's hoping there's more major press coverage of the scene to come! Thirdly today, it looks official that local hard rockers Half Past have parted ways with bassist Arthur Lacasse for a second time. The band still lists him on their lineup on their Facebook page, but Arthur put the word out on the local "Musicians Wanted" Facebook group that they're looking for a new bassist. A public reason for the split hasn't been made, but I know that this is a 100% amicable decision similar to when Arthur originally left last year. Arthur had been a member of the band as rhythm guitarist or bassist for most of their existence, (save for Ryan Disano's brief tenure last year), last appearing with them at Hempfest in August, with Harley Syrette filling in temporarily at their concert at The Rockstar Bar last month. It's a shame to see Arthur leave again, as he is a talented musician on both guitar and bass, but I know that he's making the best decisions for him right now, and best of luck to Arthur in whatever comes next! So with that said, if you play bass, consider trying out for Half Past, they could use another talented bass player so we can see them on a local stage again! Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates! Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or artist name:

• Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence have posted a new black and white version of their "Sun Is Gone" music video onto their YouTube channel last week, so click here to check it out! It's no different from the original, just in greyscale. Maybe it's to make it look darker? I don't know, but it's a solid song, so check the above links for both versions of the video!
• Local guitarist Jordan Koski is apparently starting a new local metal band! He's looking for a singer & bassist to round out the lineup, and I believe he has a drummer already. If you're interested in trying out, click here for more details! This could be very interesting, so I'll keep you guys posted if I hear more on Jordan's new band!
• Local punk trio Redundant have been added to the lineup for November 29th's Unbelievers-headlined punk show (also featuring the return of classic metallers Sativa Rose & the debut of the potentially-metal T. Rex Manning.) Nice addition, hopefully this show is a big hit! Stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but if there's no new news posts in the interim, stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on Garden of Bedlam guitarist Josh Belleau's old YouTube channel on Tuesday! Thanks everyone!

Skull Fist Concert Review!!

Things may be slowing down a tad for news in the local scene, but concerts do keep rolling along, and there was a heavy one last night at The Canadian Nightclub, so here's my review of it! Before I get to the bands, let me just say that the latest renovations at The Canadian following the July flood were honestly not too drastic. Unlike the 2009 renovations, things look mostly the same as they've looked since then. Maybe a bit darker in colour, and I didn't see as many TVs mounted on the walls, but if you enjoyed The Canadian's look from 2009 through this summer, you'll have nothing to fear, and besides, it's nice to be back there for a concert! Now, how about the bands? (UPDATED: Tuesday, 9:00 PM)

Opening last night's show was new local deathcore quartet View To A Kill, replacing the still-active Sativa Rose on the lineup. This new band featured State of Misery singer Steve Rhodes, Sativa Rose bandmates Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale on guitar and bass, and Andrew's old Chillum bandmate (I think) Kyle Umgeher on drums. After taking this booking on a few days notice, how'd they do? Pretty good, and for a comparison point, they definitely outdid the first show from Steve's short-lived band Bring The Misery in June! A couple of songs definitely sounded like they needed an extra guitar, but overall, they definitely had more chemistry and togetherness than you may have expected! With covers of songs from bands like Sepultura, Pantera, Lamb of God, and Parkway Drive in their setlist, they had some really heavy moments, and the members shown their talents well! Though Steve didn't move around much, his death metal vocals were as good as I remembered them, Andrew's guitar playing was excellent, as was Adam's clear and audible bass work, and the electric drum kit that Kyle was using was a unique touch you don't see enough locally! Solid first show from View To A Kill, and hopefully the guys can balance all their bands to ensure that we see this new quartet often in the coming months!

Second on the bill last night was local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in just the second time I've ever seen them live. How'd they compare to their set at The Sewer Swampstravaganja in April? They were much better, I'll say that much! Maybe it's just the better audio in The Canadian, but I found they were heavier, more varied, and had more energy than they did this spring, so those are definitely good signs! Vocally, Late & Loud are still limited, with most band members sharing vocal duties, but I did find that guitarist Brendan Christie has the best vocal range of the band's members, even unleashing some falsetto vocals on their original "Live For Excess"! They had a lot of newer originals to share last night, all of which have levels of promise going for them, and their covers (like of "Paranoid" & "The Trooper") were well played too, but the vocals didn't gel as well on those. Brendan and Jonathan Tiberi shredded some awesome riffs and solos, Josh Hatherly impressed on drums (and guitar, when he and Jon switched for a few songs), and Benn Garside's bass work was solid and proficient throughout! Keep an eye on Late & Loud, they're going places for sure, and hopefully we see more shows from them in the near future!

And finally, your headliners last night were Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist, 15 months after last rocking The Canadian! Their lineup is a lot different since we last saw them, with only frontman Jackie Slaughter remaining in the band on the same instrument as last year, but luckily their fast paced old school metal assault was intact! The band unleashed a very entertaining set of original songs that harkened back to fast paced speed metal of the early 1980s, and the small but devoted crowd ate it up! Jackie's high pitched singing seemed to mix power and thrash metal at it's finest, and both he and guitarist Johnny "Exciter" Nesta had some awesome trade-off guitar moments and shredtastic solos throughout their set! New bassist Casey Slade was also a standout, and though their smoke machine didn't come with them this year, their stage setup and energy kept us moving and even starting some moshpits here and there! I had to leave a bit early from their set because, being Sunday night, it was a school night for me, but the metal was felt by everyone, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Skull Fist onslaught just like last year! Can't beat a slice of fast-paced classic metal like this, and hopefully Skull Fist return to Sault Ste. Marie very soon!

Awesome night of metal, and hopefully you guys didn't miss it! I got a bunch of photos last night, so click here to check them out, or visit our official Facebook page! I got a "Tag Yourself!" crowd shot as well, so click here to give it a look! Just as an aside, we had an issue earlier today relating to a fan of our Facebook page needlessly labelling the people in that photo & in what many percieved as an insulting manner. I blocked the user, and remember, though I completely accept freedom of expression on SMS pages, insults, hate speech, and "trolling" (if you want to call it that) shouldn't be tolerated. We're here to promote & support the scene, not nitpick it or criticize those who support it. And yes, I have videos, so here's View To A Kill's first original "Let It All Bleed Out", Late & Loud's song "Live For Excess", and Skull Fist's new song "Tear Down The Wall"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news in the next few days, including big news from Gates of Winter, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and more, including our next Defunct Local Band Profile on Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bear Hunters), A New Local Band, And The Skull Fist Concert Preview!!

News has sure slowed down since Halloween wrapped up, but I have some big stories today to share with everyone! So today, we have a new local band, a preview of a big metal concert tomorrow night, and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!

Roosevelt Hotel metal nights are officially back! After a three week absence following a promoter switch, the Thursday night metal shows at the Korah Road bar are back this Thursday for your headbanging needs! This will be the 38th metal night at The Rosie, but the first from new booker (and Rosie manager) Stephane Vincent, and he's secured a solid lineup of local talent for Thursday night, so here's who to look out for! The announced headliners will be local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, in their first local concert since the Napalm Death show and their record-tying 16th Rosie metal night appearance, so they'll fit in extremely well on Thursday! Backing them up are local punk trio Redundant (fresh off of a pair of Halloween weekend concerts of their own) and local grime/death metal outfit Shit Liver, themselves rocking a Rosie metal night for a record-tying 16th time! Sounds like a good first lineup for the new metal nights, and it's good to see an all local lineup again for a change! Admission will be free as usual, you must be 19 to attend, and an 11:00 PM start time is announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

It's great to see Thursday metal nights continuing, and though I don't know if they'll remain weekly or have any future adjustments, things seem on par with the Dismembertanment-promoted Thursday nighters! Also, here's a neat little fact: The first Roosevelt Hotel metal night (which featured Breaking The Fourth Wall & local openers) was on November 11th, 2010, almost exactly one year before the day they'll relaunch! Good timing, huh? Stay tuned for more on the metal nights' return as the week goes on!

Now to a concert preview, and in an otherwise quiet weekend on the local metal scene, we'll end the weekend strong tomorrow night, as Skull Fist are making their long awaited return to Sault Ontario! The always-entertaining Toronto heavy metal quartet will bring their old school sound back to The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night, 15 months after last rocking Saultites to the core! This time however, they're touring in support of their new album "Head Of The Pack", and they'll look to end their cross-Canada tour in style here in the Soo! Unlike last year though, this concert will feature local openers instead of touring acts, including local classic metal quartet Late & Loud! After a busy stretch of late-October concerts, this talented outfit will be sure to deliver a great night of metal in what could be their first ever show at The Canadian! Fellow classic metallers Sativa Rose were initially announced to join them tomorrow in their debut with new singer Marisa Valois, but they have dropped out of the show due to personal reasons. Disappointing, hopefully nothing bad happened! That said, they have been replaced by a new band named View To A Kill, and I'll have more on them in a second.

And of course, this is the first metal concert to take place at The Canadian since the major flooding that devastated the Pim Street bar in July, so tomorrow's a great opportunity to see the renovations & how things look now at The Canadian! Admission will be $3 for this concert, everything starts at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds good to me, and the metal will surely flow with the best of them tomorrow night, so I'll absolutely be there! I live right near The Canadian, how could I not go? For a preview, here's some awesome pro-shot footage of Skull Fist from earlier this year from the Metal Assault festival in Germany!



And now, let's mention the new local metal band named View To A Kill that are replacing Sativa Rose tomorrow night. If you're bummed that Sativa Rose aren't playing, it might be some solace to know that guitarist Andrew Angelic and bassist Adam Veale are in this new band, and that alone is promising! Whether this is Andrew's new band that was hyped for the Green Christmas Bash at Feedback or not isn't known yet. The other members of View To A Kill are State of Misery's own Steve Rhodes on vocals, as well as Kyle Umgeher on drums. I'm not familiar with Kyle at all musically, but it's nice to see Steve back out on a local stage for the first time since June! I have no clue if the existence of View To A Kill means anything "final" for Sativa Rose or State of Misery, but if I hear anything on their statuses, you'll be sure to find it here! Other details on View To A Kill are minimal so far (zombie Pokemon photo on their Facebook page aside), but they appear to play a form of hardcore metal, and have influences similar to those of their other bands. Their lineup sure sounds promising, and hopefully they deliver where Bring The Misery fell short tomorrow night! I'll have news on them (and the members' other bands) as I get it, but for now, check out View To A Kill at the above links!

That's all for now, but I'll see you guys at the Skull Fist show tomorrow night, and stay tuned my review of it, our next Defunct Local Band Profile, and much more this coming week! Thanks everyone!