YouTube Channel Profile Series: mikelibs

Let's continue playing catch-up after blanking on this series in December via our first of two YouTube Channel Profiles in the month of February! This (otherwise) monthly series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels (as randomly selected) whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians and/or concerts, and we're dipping way back in the timeline here for videos from a very talented E.U.P. musician at the peak of his eponymous solo career, so here's what you should know!

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mikelibs (http://youtube.com/mikelibs)

Owner: Former local metal guitarist Mike Libertoski, who is known for Sault Michigan bands like Swayze Train, The Slackjawed Rats, Toast, and Galactic Alignment, and can currently be seen in the Lower Peninsula death metal bands Bleak Life and Living Dissection

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 14th, 2008; Videos uploaded from that day until February 23rd, 2009

Channel Summary: The original YouTube channel for this extremely talented musician, Mike posted 12 videos there in a four month span, most being audio recordings, primarily of original songs attached to "albums" that he worked on in the late 2000s (if these were formally released for sale, I haven't found surviving evidence). The channel also includes three acoustic performance videos & a parody of the ShamWow commercial which is not musical.

Why You Should Watch: This channel is worth a watch for fans of Mike's local music run, especially those who saw and liked his work in the late 2000s, though even with his considerable talent on display here, his abilities and professionalism have noticeably grown in the past 14 years. You can compare via his mlibz channel that he used from 2011-2012 to see how his technical skill evolved, let alone his current output! Note that neither the mikelibs nor mlibz channels feature content from his formal bands at the time, but his current bands are active on Facebook.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Mike Libertoski - Drawn & Quartered: Seven of Mike's audio uploads are original songs, all opening with a title card noting the intended album that the song was featured on, and all but one are taken from "In The Arms Of The Condemned", an instrumental album Mike says came out in August 2008. For a pure showcase of his guitar skills of the era, his nine minutes long track "Drawn & Quartered" will easily show you what Mike was all about at the time, and glimmers of the technicality he'd later use in Galactic Alignment and downstate are definitely on display within the brutal guitar work! Other songs from this album on this channel include "Winds", "Glasgow Smile", "Peine Forte Et Dure", "The Vampire of Sacramento", and "Crucifixion", though I am unsure if the full album was uploaded here.

Eight Days a Week - The Beatles[Mike Libertoski]: Fans of Mike's solo & band work are likely used to him just shredding on the guitar, but he did dabble in singing a bit in the late 2000s, releasing an album with vocals in 2007 called "The Great Movement", from which one song ("My Favourite Mistake") made it to this channel. However, featured here is Mike's vocal & guitar cover of The Beatles' "Eight Days A Week" from October 2008, and it is competently done! You'd hope so musically given his background, and while Mike's vocals are not nearly as rangy as John Lennon's were, he's not out of tune or anything and he keeps the melody going! More covers, albeit instrumental metal guitar covers, can be seen on his mlibz channel.

Mike Libertoski - Folk Jam: Mike's most popular video on this channel is one of his three actual performance videos, where Mike plays what he called "an almost bluegrassish tune (that) I've been working on". Definitely a departure, especially if you're familiar primarily with his current bands, but "In The Arms Of The Condemned" had genre variance, and regardless of sound, this is a fine display of Mike's pure guitar skill while it lasts!

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I hope you guys liked this YouTube Channel Profile, delayed as it may have been! We're back on schedule now for this series, as our next installment will hit the site on or around February 26th as usual, and our next random selection will be Sault Ontario punk band A Dire Setback's official YouTube channel, which has only three music-centric videos, but all are distinct and unique for content, so look for that in a few weeks, and for weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

It feels like too long since we last had a proper news post on the SMS, but with all of the current restrictions, things have been moving at a snail's pace once again, alas. That said, today's video-heavy post has some new stuff to talk about, including a prolific local musician's recent exposure on a big web-series, new solo performance clips, and leading off, some new original songs from an upcoming album, so here's what you should know!

Let's start with the latest from prolific local extreme metal/folk punk solo musician Chase Wigmore, who has resurfaced after a very quiet fall with two new songs for another planned album on New Year's Eve! Uploaded to his YouTube channel, these are entitled "Angry & Jealous God", and as embedded below, the 13+ minutes long "In The Name Of The Master", which are both slated to be on a new album named "Sonic Apocalypse". I won't give my thoughts on the songs yet, pending a possible review if this album actually goes on sale (all since 2020 have just been free streams), but both of these songs are metal tracks with heavily processed harsh vocals. Note that Chase's other active solo project Awokest posted the album title on their Facebook page in November, but the YouTube songs are credited under Chase's own name, and there's obviously a lot of crossover between the two acts.

As for the above image, it was posted to Chase's Facebook page in November, and while I can't confirm if it is the "Sonic Apocalypse" cover art or not, note that it's not used with either YouTube video. It will be interesting to hear how this album (free or paid) shapes out, so hear both of the first two songs above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's some new solo guitar covers from former(?) Jack Spades/Stegadeth guitarist Tiffany Stocco's YouTube channel! Her first uploads in over a year, one features Tiffany tackling The Distillers' "City of Angels" (which won't surprise fans of her old tribute band Coral Fang), but embedded below is her rendition of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself For Loving You". Both featuring Tiffany playing along with the original track in the background, these covers are well done and show solid respect to two well female rock icons, so check out Tiffany's new videos above & below!

Also, here's some new videos from former Sault Michigan progressive metal guitarist Mike Libertoski's YouTube channel! One is a 16 second clip of him shredding on an 8 string guitar (very proficiently at that), but embedded below is this black & white clip from last week of Mike demoing his TC Electronic Ditto Loop guitar pedal. You don't see him actually use it, given how the video is framed, but you can hear it. Effective performance that shows his talent and solid gear, so give it a look below, and follow his current White Lake metal band Bleak Life to hear what he's up to nowadays!

Finally, Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith has gotten some more good exposure in the Australian YouTube series Your Music Live, as hosted by Studio Live Today's Pete Johns, with songs of his surfacing in even more episodes! We did mention episodes #76-78 on the site last month, but Pete reviewed "From The 55th Parallel" (from "Bridges") third to last in episode #79 from December 17th, calling him "a heck of a creator" and the song "very cool indeed". Also, "Take Back The Moon" from 2020's "If Ever Comes The Day" was reviewed in the most recent episode (#82) from last week, which is embedded below. In this case, Mike's segment is near the middle of the episode, so jump to the 58 minute mark or so. Pete liked the song's great mix and even a choice rhyme as it relates to Australian slang, so fans will like how Mike's music is reaching a new audience! Give these a watch below, and also check out the other talented indie musicians from around the world!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Tym Morrison), Plus New E.U.P. Metal Videos!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that the Glambition fundraiser concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (scheduled for this Saturday) has been postponed again due to the rise in regional COVID-19 cases, as per the event's Facebook group late last month. The Facebook event page confirms the date change to Monday, January 30th, but the statement confirming the postponement was not cross-posted there. Disappointing but understandable, and hopefully things quiet down in time for next month! Still, we do have some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend, plus a new videos from some familiar faces, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his second concert at Mane Street Cafe & Lounge on Queen Street East TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Monday. Apparently "back by popular demand", Tym made his debut at the Square 1 Mall cafe & hair salon spinoff on November 12th, and hopefully he delivers another skilled night of unplugged classic & hard rock hits for assembled fans TOMORROW! Yes, there will be half priced martinis and snack board specials if these interest you. An early 7:00 PM start time is in effect TOMORROW, prepare for a 19+ age limit, and there are no announced cover charges. Crucially, please use common sense to maintain social distance, wear face masks, and do not forget your vaccine passport if you want to attend this concert safely. See above for more details, and here's Tym live & in concert!

Next up, we'll head to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, where local hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard on SATURDAY NIGHT for their themed ugly sweater party! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was also only announced on Monday, this time via the band's Facebook page. Last seen via their replacement gigs at The Rapids Lounge two weeks ago, this will be Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh's first Rudyard stop since playing at Huck's (the former Joe's Bar & Grill) almost a month ago at a hunter's bash. Given the seasonal timing, SATURDAY'S concert will be in the holiday spirit, with attendees encouraged to wear ugly Christmas sweaters, and there will be prizes of some kind on offer (perhaps for the ugliest sweaters of all?) Yes, there will be drink specials too, no word on if you have to wear a sweater to get them. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect on SATURDAY, as well as a 21+ age limit and no cover.

Please be sensible and follow any public health guidelines posted at Huck's to ensure everyone's safety, especially with recent rises in COVID case counts and the new omicron variant. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

We'll stay in the E.U.P. to wrap up this post via some new videos, including new teasers over the past week from St. Ignace progressive metal band Heavy Lies The Crown, who have posted one new video on their YouTube channel each day over the past week hyping that their long-teased full length album will be released tomorrow! You can pre-save its Spotify copy on Distrokid, but the band has not confirmed if it will be available elsewhere, let alone via outlets where it'd be on sale. The teaser videos (all under a minute long) feature audio clips from the album alongside thematic imagery and text hyping the release, but I embedded today's presumed final teaser video here, as it's the longest and gleans the most information. The album will be self-titled, and it will include twelve songs, including at least three of the songs from their 2019 EP "Scatter Brain", sans "Thing #1" unless they renamed it.

I cannot 100% confirm if the "Scatter Brain" carry-overs are re-recorded or not, but the version of "Knuckle Butter" from their music video in July used the 2019 recording. The album's cover artwork is embedded above, which can be seen on Distrokid and the YouTube teasers. Could H.L.T.C.'s new album leapfrog the Room 206 vinyl re-release in line as our next album review? It does have being a mostly new album and an earlier release date on its side, but it also has to officially be sold, not just posted for streaming. We'll let you know, but stay tuned for the full release tomorrow (our coverage should be short to follow), and check out this week's teasers above & below!

Finally, here's a surprise: New guitar performance videos from former local metal guitarist Mike Libertoski! The Galactic Alignment, Slackjawed Rats, and Swayze Train alum no longer lives in Sault Ste. Marie, but he is still musically active, currently performing in the White Lake deathcore band Bleak Life. After a nine year hiatus from his YouTube channel, Mike resumed posting new videos there in the last couple of days, and while all are short, it's great to see Mike is back and hasn't lost any of his considerable guitar skill! The videos include two teasers of Bleak Life original material (one audio only, one in black & white), plus a sweep picking arpeggios demo, and two cover snippets of Archspire's "A Dark Horizontal" and, as embedded below, Necrophagist's "Stabwound". I wish these were longer, especially the Archspire clip, but Mike's still got it, and Bleak Life have brutal songs of their own, so give everything a watch above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Mike Libertoski

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again take a look at a defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk band that we randomly selected from our band links, in order to spotlight them and their work for current readers! We had originally planned to look at two solo projects today after projecting that the first wouldn't have enough for a full profile, but I underestimated it, so the planned second act will lead off a double profile next month that we'll outline in a bit. Now, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile!
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Mike Libertoski

Genre: Metal/Progressive Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Mike Libertoski (The London Gentlemen, The Slackjawed Rats), all instruments

Audio/Video: While material posted on his now-deleted Reverbnation page is now gone, Mike has posted a number of solo recordings on his MySpace and PureVolume pages, and his YouTube channel, with songs on those going towards what his MySpace page hyped as being from six solo albums released between 2006 & 2010, with names like "In The Arms Of The Condemned" & "The Great Movement" (which uniquely included vocals), though whether these actually received a paid release or not is unclear. While largely of a technical metal bent, many of his MySpace tracks take on an acoustic prog/jazz rock style, which his solo concerts were also like. Here's an example of one of his better metal solo songs, "Glasgow Smile"! (Note that he has also posted progressive metal cover videos at this link.)



Info/Analysis: A prolific local guitarist & instructor who you may recognize from bands like Swayze Train & Toast, Mike Libertoski (who played under the eponym Mikell early on) worked on his own solo project from 2006 until at least 2011. Surviving information on his solo work isn't in high supply, especially with MySpace's layout changes and his Reverbnation page being deleted, but his mostly instrumental work got a good reception during it's heyday. Mike woudld switch focus to his technical death metal project Galactic Alignment in 2011, which is also inactive at present, though Mike remains active as a guitarist with the cover rock band The London Gentlemen. I wish Mike would revisit his solo material, as he is an excellent and technically sound guitarist that deserves a lot more attention than he gets (if only he could play on this side of the border easily), and his genre knowledge and technicality set him apart well! Hopefully we see more original work from him, Galactic Alignment or not, in the future!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next up in this series, we'll have a double profile, with the previously promised profile of Gates of Winter frontman Lee Maines' inactive solo project leading off no matter what, but assuming that there isn't enough to sustain a full profile, we'll fill things out with the randomly selected defunct local metal band When They Fall, who (I believe) featured some familiar faces, so look for these on or around September 10th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon as well! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: mlibz, Candianchic29, and Tyler Gibson's Channels

For the first time in 8 months, we're looking at 3 separate YouTube channels in this month's YouTube Channel Profile installment! As the first channel we selected only had 3 similar videos, and the second had one total, it led to this situation, but there's some solid stuff within, so no worries! As usual, this monthly feature post looks at 1-3 YouTube channels (all randomly selected) to profile their content, information, and reasons to subscribe, and this month's profiles cover a lot of bases, so read on below for each of these 3 mini-profiles!
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mlibz's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/mlibz)

Owner: Toast/Galactic Alignment guitarist Mike Libertoski, who's also known from past work in bands like Swayze Train and The Slackjawed Rats, among other projects

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 20th, 2011; Videos uploaded on January 18th, 2012

Channel Summary: The most recent active YouTube channel from this very talented Sault Michigan metal guitarist, this follows an earlier channel that featured a mix of audio & video recordings from the late 2000s. The new account was 100% focused on live performance videos of him playing along with progressive metal songs circa January 2012, including The Faceless' "Legions of the Serpent", a portion of Beneath the Massacre's "Lithium Overdose", and his most popular cover, Animals As Leaders' "The Price of Everything & The Value of Nothing", which is embedded below. I've always found Mike Libertoski to be one of the more talented local metal guitarists of recent memory, and these covers (despite some rough patches) show his skill at progressive metal & more complicated structures! If you like Mike's videos on this channel, check out his Galactic Alignment work, but note that this channel hasn't been actively used since the featured videos were uploaded.


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Canadianchic29's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/canadianchic29)

Owner: YouTube user Canadianchic29 (real name unknown, but she may have been 29 at the time of the channel's creation)

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 3rd, 2006; Only video posted on December 18th, 2009

Channel Summary: Though Canadianchic29 launched this channel almost 7 years ago, she only uploaded one video there, that being of Sault Ontario metal cover trio Caveman Morrison covering Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" at The Rockstar Bar in December 2009. Featuring the band's 2009-2010 lineup (including singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, then-bassist Rick "Styles" White, and his former Frightlight bandmate Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on drums), this is a well played cover with a solid heavy bite & nice melodic chorus vocals, but the video is tilted sideways on three separate occasions, including for most of the video's first minute, and I'm not sure why. That aside, this is a nice quality video from early in Caveman Morrison's local resurgence, and the deep red lighting & Christmas tree help give this a nice Christmas ambiance if you come across it during the holiday season! (Note again though that Canadianchic29 hasn't visibly used this channel since at least 2010.)


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Tyler Gibson (http://www.youtube.com/tyler44gibson)

Owner: Former T.E.N. guitarist/programmer Tyler Gibson

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 17th, 2010; Videos uploaded between May 2011 & May 2013

Channel Summary: Effectively the official YouTube channel for the defunct 2011 comedy metal band T.E.N., Tyler Gibson (who may be a relative of Crucify the Whore's Ringsnaps Gibson) posted three demo original tracks there, two during their run, and one (a solo guitar track named "It's Your Mother, But Better") coming posthumously in May of this year. The included songs (including an unfinished intro named "Yeah") don't retain much of the earlier comedy influences, with only the most popular video "My Movie" (which is embedded below) featuring vocals from singer Eric Welker, but parts of these songs were likely on some demo discs distributed in 2011. There is something to these demos, particularly in terms of Tyler's guitar work, but the unfinished nature of them leaves a lot of questions as to what could have been. Hopefully Tyler revisits his music in the future, and he does still use his YouTube channel, so subscribe just in case!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we'll return to a single channel model, as through completely random selection, I've chosen former Sue Inside frontman Shane Lipsit-Fraser's YouTube channel for our November 2013 profile! Though all of his videos are from after the band's relocation to Southern Ontario, there's some solid performances within, so watch out for this profile on or around November 22nd, and stay tuned for a packed new news post later today! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 4)

For the third time (and first since July 2012), Eckerman, Michigan independent label/studio Werehold Records have uploaded a bunch of new songs from their artist roster to their YouTube channel yesterday in honour of Friday the 13th! This has become a recent trend for this very entertaining label, and 7 songs have went up to YouTube to mark the day, so what should you know? In terms of exclusions, there's no new tracks from The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, Drayton Fever, East Branch, Moss, the still un-revealed Awaken Eidolon, or any projects involving Power Slug drummer Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone), though Werehold head Jason Mills told me in a Facebook conversation that Bob was never fully affiliated with the label. For non-metal and non-local uploads yesterday, two of the songs ("Exponential" & "Pow-Wow Nightmare") came from Brimley techno project Palaver, which are both darker electronic tracks that fans of their other work should like (particularly "Pow-Wow Nightmare"), so check them out via the above links!

Another upload came from (surprisingly) an Australian metal project named Atrophyac, and they're extremely good! Tristan Close is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist, as displayed on the song "Mass Control", and though I don't know the extent of his connections with Werehold, give Atrophyac's music a listen at their SoundCloud page, as he's got a great thing going! Now to the local metal uploads (in alphabetical order), starting with... Galactic Alignment?! At least for yesterday, the Mike Libertoski-led technical death metal project is under the Werehold banner, and their newest song "Abort the Export" was uploaded by Werehold for Friday the 13th! Also uploaded to Mike's SoundCloud page last week, this is his first Galactic Alignment song posting in 4 months, and it lives up to past expectations for the Toast guitarist's solo work! Very fast, technical, and heavy, and Mike's considerable talents are on full display once again! Hopefully we hear more Galactic Alignment songs soon (perhaps with vocals), but give "Abort the Export" a listen below!



We couldn't go on without looking at label flagship band Life's Eclipse's newest song, so next is the Eckerman metal quartet's newest demo "Face of Horror"! Projected to be on an album named "The Dark Kingdom", the description only credits guitarists Jason Mills & Joe Semasky for the track (no sign of David Mills or Casey Amo), but aside from missing David's vocals, it sounds full and very brutal! Well paced and full of crushing riffs, this continues the promise that Life's Eclipse have constantly shown, and it'd be nice to hear a lot more from them! Give "Face of Horror" a listen below!



Also from Friday the 13th, we have a recent solo track from Mike Libertoski's former Swayze Train bandmate Scott Savoie! As you may remember, the former Insipid Brutality guitarist has recorded a number of original metal tracks for his SoundCloud page in the past year, and yesterday's upload ("Resorting to Pyre") was one of three that Scott posted in May. A thrash metal original with vocals, it's blistering and very heavy, and Scott's vocals are effective! Thrash metal fans would be well served to check out this song, but Scott has songs of numerous genres on SoundCloud, so listen to "Resorting to Pyre" below and more above



Finally, Strongs "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas ended their long absence of activity with a new song upload of their own for Friday the 13th, courtesy of their song "Beneath the Whitmarsh"! A very short track (coming in at just under 2 minutes), this song is expected to be on their long gestating debut CD "The Raco Tower Incident". It's an instrumental (at least in this version), but it delivers heavy metal goods and a raw edge for what we do get, and I really like Doug Reed's drumming on this one! Check out "Beneath the Whitmarsh" below, and hopefully we hear more from Swampghas soon!



That's all for this latest Friday the 13th event from Werehold Records, and compared to the 15 month wait from the previous installment, the next one could be a lot sooner than you think, as the next Friday the 13th will fall in December of this year! Christmas season tie-in too, perhaps? Time will tell, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site hopefully tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Shit Liver/Royal Red Brigade Concert Preview, The Third Sewer Swampstravaganza, And Much More!!

Hard to believe that yesterday was the first day with no posts on the SMS since February 25th, but we have a packed post today to start hopefully another long run, so what's on tap? We have some recent feature post updates, some assorted updates from the last little while, Woods of Ypres tribute album updates, and the return of a massive all ages concert, but first, we have a concert preview for tomorrow night, so here's what you need to know!

In a relatively light weekend for local metal/hard rock concerts, there is one show of note going down TOMORROW NIGHT, as two heavier-leaning local acts will open for two Western Canada punk bands at The Oddfellows Hall, those being Regina punk quartet The Royal Red Brigade & Edmonton surf punk trio The Rhubarbs! You may recognize The Royal Red Brigade as one of the opening acts at last summer's Weak Ends show, and their classic rock-inspired sound should be fun to have back in town, while The Rhubarbs' energetic and more modern punk stylings should attract a good response too, so don't miss out! As for the local openers, one is local grindcore/death metal trio Shit Liver (replacing new local punk band Crawfather) for their first show in 3 months, and though their sound is a sharp contrast from the rest of the lineup, they'll give a solid metal injection into the proceedings, especially as they haven't played live much lately, so don't miss them! The other opening band is local grunge/lo-fi solo project Telephone & Address in their second gig of the year, and hopefully Chris' acoustic outsider take on alternative hard rock finds a bigger audience tomorrow!

Promoted by AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent's all ages promotion company,  this show will start at 8:00 PM tomorrow with a $5 cover charge and again, it's ALL AGES! For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Though this concert is admittedly more of a punk-leaning gig, there's some very solid music to go around, including local bands with heavy stuff, so don't miss out on a good old fashioned all ages punk/metal show at The Oddfellows Hall tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Shit Liver playing "(Friendly Old) Uncle Joe" there in 2011!



Next up, The Sewer Swampstravaganza will return to The Oddfellows Hall on Wednesday, August 21st for a third installment! As you may remember, this is the annual all ages concert event promoted & headlined by local classical/punk standouts RedD Monkey, which saw 11 & 10 bands respectively rock The Oddfellows Hall in April 2011 & July 2012, and it'll be great to have another go-around of this all-day onslaught of local talent! Official lineup details are not yet known, but it's a safe assumption that RedD Monkey will again headline the event, in what will be their first announced local date since December, so it'll be fun to hear their new material and their fast & creative older hits! In case you're curious about possible performers, members of The Bear Hunters & Winkstinger (the only other bands who played at both of the past installments) have already expressed interest in playing again in August, while each year saw a radically different lineup. The 2011 show had all metal/hard rock acts (except RedD Monkey & The Tenagens), but last year's event was only half heavy, with punk, folk, rap, blues, and indie rock also well represented. As soon as more concrete lineup info comes out, we'll have it here!

Doors will open at 2:00 PM on August 21st for this concert, which has a $5 entry fee and NO age limits. For more details (and to inquire on if your band can get on the lineup), visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an awesome event, so don't miss it come August, and stay tuned as usual for more on the show and the scheduled performers, including confirmed metal bands!

Thirdly today, here's the latest from the long awaited Woods of Ypres/David Gold tribute CD! Now titled just "Heart of Gold: A Tribute to Woods of Ypres" (no "A" at the start), the announced cover artwork has been edited to render the main title in the Woods of Ypres logo font, as you can see on the right. It looks a little funny to me, but it does distinguish it from official Woods albums, so it works out! It's hoped that CDs will be available to be mailed by June 1st, with digital download links possible any day now, as per postings on the album's Facebook group, but if you want to pre-order anything before public sales begin, send $10 for the mp3 copy (or $20 for it and the physical album) to pkuhr@comcast.net as a Paypal gift with e-mail and/or physical addresses in the notes section. I can't wait for this album to be finished and released, but while we wait, a few more covers from the album were posted on YouTube by their respective performers, including covers of "Allure of the Earth", "Crossing The 45th Parallel", "A Meeting Place & Time", and "Adora Vivos", so check them out above, and stay tuned for tribute album updates!

Also, here's three assorted news and notes from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Valentine's Day Massacre drummer Kyle Umgeher is apparently looking to join a new band, as per a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group the other night. He's very talented, so give him a shout at this location or at the above links if you're interested in jamming with Kyle! (Also, no word on if this means anything negative for The Valentine's Day Massacre's status.)
• Toast guitarist Mike Libertoski was recently interviewed by Mayur Agarwal of the website Metal Wani about his Galactic Alignment solo project, so click here to read the whole interview! In it, Mike talks about his technical death metal work's originality, influences, songwriting, gear, and future, though the only allusions to his local band work relate to the possibility of expanding Galactic Alignment to a full band. Very nice article all the same, so give it a look above!
• Former Blind Baby frontman Tadd Gravelle is looking for a good guitar player in the Eastern U.P. to work on new original material with, though no word on if he has a full new band in the works yet or not. If you're interested, give Tadd a shout on Facebook at this location, and give Blind Baby's originals a look at the above link! My source is personal Facebook conversations.

Finally for today, here's some more recent updates to our Defunct Local Band Profiles to make them more accurate & up-to-date! Firstly, I updated our Creatures of the Night profile to note alumni Keith Gagnon & Ryan Gray's more prominent band Free Beer's name change (more or less) to Sarah's Valley upon their 2013 return, while I made a similar change to our Losing Ground & Weed profiles. On the former, I replaced Stealing Kisses with members Kevin D'Orazio & Nick Kainula's current band With Blood Build Character, while on the latter, I added references to members Bob Helsten & Tony Rogers' current band Toast. On our No Arrow profile, I added former bassist Dean Scheepmaker to their lineup, as I confirmed a few weeks back that he was a band member for more than just replacement sets. I also made similar Toast-promoting edits to our profile on Shift, while I lastly added a reference to Absolute frontman Donny Newell's current band Full Throttle on their profile. Stay tuned on Friday as we profile Faithless Sin & Cherubic Red, the newest bands inducted into this monthly series!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles tomorrow, and for more news (including Rotaryfest Second Stage updates) hopefully by the weekend! Thanks everyone!

Recent Sault Michigan Updates, Including Band Breakups, Songs, Page Deletions, And More!!

While I'm out at The Algonquin Pub with The Ripcordz and local metal openers, I have a special auto-post for you Sault Michigan/Eastern U.P. readers on our 48th straight day of SMS posts, so what do we have today? Along with some recent assorted news, we have two likely band breakups and two other familiar hard rock band page deletions, but first, let's start with some more upbeat news courtesy of new material from a regional solo artist, that being Dafter solo musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, who posted a couple of new original songs onto his YouTube channel in the past couple of weeks! One is "I'm Lost Without You" from his most recent EP "Doo Hickey", but the other is a brand new track named "Burn Notice" (title inspired by the show), and the song comes complete with an epic action movie-style graphic! A hard rock instrumental, it's not blisteringly fast, but it's well performed and has a nice groove to it's riffs (though no word on if it will be on an album of the same name or his announced next disc "Perception".) Check out "Burn Notice" below, and stay tuned for more SweetKenny updates!

Next up, we have two band breakups/descents into inactivity to note across the river, starting with the news that young Sault Michigan hardcore band The Eleventh Hour have apparently parted ways. A reason wasn't announced, but their Facebook page (and only online page, sadly) was recently deleted, which usually indicates that a band broke up. Featuring Hoist The Sails & Chained Memories alumni, their early demos showed promise, but I've found that newer extreme metal bands in Sault Michigan have often struggled to get off the ground. Hopefully the guys all stay active in music, and best of luck to Sean, Cathy, Cody, Josh, Joe, and their other former bandmates in the future! The other likely defunct band is Elements of Madness, a Sault Michigan/Newberry hard rock project that was active from June 2011 through last April, and they'll have hit a year since their last Facebook page update on Thursday, so it's very likely they've fallen inactive too. Their YouTube samples had glimmers of promise, but I don't think they ever were able to get off the ground beyond those clips. Like with The Eleventh Hour, I wish Cody, Tyler, Joe, Kyle, and Landon nothing but the best going forward, and hopefully they get in new bands down the road!

Also today, here's notes on two defunct Sault Michigan hard rock bands that now have no surviving online pages, those being the early 2010s Nixxon Dixxon-successor bands Splitshot & Trail's End. Both had their Facebook pages deleted for unknown reasons at some point in recent months, though both haven't been active in a year or more anyway, so that's likely linked. As you may remember, Splitshot saw Nixxon Dixxon's Chris Hubbard & Kyle Beaumont joining forces with their dads and singer Dave Menard for covers-centric shows all over the Eastern U.P. from late 2010 until the end of the next year, later adding Nixxon Dixxon bandmate Jake LaLonde on drums after he returned from the Musicians Institute in California. After Chris, Kyle, and Jake launched Trail's End in the fall of 2011, Splitshot disbanded by the end of the year, and Trail's End (who had some original material) played live a handful of times in early 2012 before quietly parting ways, with Chris joining Dave from Splitshot in 415E, and Kyle & Jake joining forces with Fallen Heroes in The London Gentlemen.

These page deletions haven't meant a loss of major info, and aside from Trail's End's song "Run" (which was deleted from their YouTube channel for unknown reasons too), they had no media, but these (and The Eleventh Hour) still contribute to a pet peeve of mine, which is broken up bands deleting any trace of their existence. Fans still wanna read up on & check out defunct bands, and I wish old pages would be left alone so that we didn't rely mainly on memories for our old band remembrances. Still, I know their current bands have already accomplished a lot more than Splitshot & Trail's End did, and hopefully they see much more success soon, but maybe down the road, "Run" or some videos of either band will finally surface!

Finally for today, here's four shorter recent stories from the Sault Michigan area, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or artist name:

• Toast guitarist Mike Libertoski is looking for a singer to provide vocals for at least three of his solo technical/progressive metal original songs ("Information", "Matter", and "Particles"), all of which are streamable on his Soundcloud page. If you're interested, send vocal samples or a message to Mike at this location, and hopefully he finds someone who can match his noticeable talents!
• Local classical metal standouts Theatre of Night have posted a new song named "Winter" onto their Reverbnation page, which may be a reworked variant of the deleted "A Wintery Mix", but it has a very heavy symphonic metal feel that fans of their earlier original work should appreciate! Check it out at the above links, and look for more Theatre of Night originals soon!
• After a few months of quiet activity, Eckerman studio/label Werehold Records revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that they may find some new material to share online during "spring cleaning", and it may not have to wait for another Friday the 13th posting spree in September to get unveiled. Might we finally hear Awaken Eidolon in these plans, among their diverse metal/techno roster of Michigan artists? I'll keep you guys posted!

That's all for now, but stay tuned later today for my review of the Ripcordz concert! Thanks everyone!

Trapt/Hinder Fallout, New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

The news keeps coming in, and our streak of consecutive days with new posts will run until at least the end of the month, as tomorrow (day 34) will see our review of SweetKenny's new album, so keep an eye out for that! Today though, we have some more recent news and notes, including a few new videos, but first, here's some fallout from a major concert that took place last weekend!

Waiting for any videos or news articles from this past Sunday's Trapt/Hinder concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino? I've finally got some to share, including a rare Kewadin Casino hard rock concert review on SooToday! Oddly not from usual concert reviewer/photographer Donna Hopper, the review heaps praise on the three bands (including fan-friendly openers Acidic), though it mostly focuses on Hinder's headlining set and how well recieved it was by attendees, especially during "Lips of an Angel" and "Get Stoned". I've never been high on Hinder myself, but it shows that their sound has a large appeal, and if fans left happy, that's what matters! 11 photos were also included in the article linked above, mostly of Hinder, but there are three from Trapt's set and one of Acidic frontman Mike Gossard as well. As for videos, I've only found two YouTube channels with any, including two Hinder videos from YouTube user suffacation2 (who had previously posted videos from local Papa Roach, Buckcherry, and Billy Talent shows), so click here to check out two videos of Hinder's biggest hits mentioned above!

The other new videos are courtesy of YouTube user Autumn Beard, in what are her first local concert videos, and including videos of the same Hinder songs above (plus "Better Than Me" and "Get Me Away From You"), and two Trapt videos of their songs "Headstrong" and "Sound Off"! These videos are alright too, and centered well, though the videos have an odd blur effect when the camera moves, and people's heads do sometimes get in the way. Check out Trapt playing "Sound Off" below, and see more from the show at the above links!



Next up, here's a new video from new stoner/sludge metal trio AlgomA! This is of their set-opening original song "Fell Down A Well", complete with the projected video that was synched up with it at 180 Projects last weekend. Uploaded to their YouTube channel this morning, the video footage used is from the 1926 German silent movie "Faust", and the sample intro comes from a Charles Manson interview. Featuring Kevin "Marty Chase" Campbell on lead vocals, this recording (which is from a jam session and not their concert last Sunday) sounds pretty good, and it captures the vocals and individual performances clearer, which is good to have! I'd be curious to see their other songs with the videos synched up too, but for now, this works, so check out AlgomA's quality doom metal sounds below!



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

• Sault Ontario music store Colosimo's Music has started a brand new Facebook page, so become a fan of it at this location for updates! Remember, this store opened last summer, and is located at 173 Spring Street (the original location of Case's Music before they moved.)
• Remember when a band named K.I.C.K. was scheduled for Toystock at The Canadian Nightclub in November, but later dropped out? As it turns out, they're an acoustic rock trio featuring Cowboys & Indians/Shore drummer Aaron Dunn that have been active since last summer, and they've been seen at a number of recent unplugged gigs. I know they're not metal, but I wanted to acknowledge the answer to a lingering question from our Toystock coverage, so now we know!
• Toast guitarist Mike Libertoski has uploaded a new 7 minute original instrumental named "Information" to his SoundCloud page on Tuesday, and it's an awesome sounding technical compositon with plenty of time changes and brutal solos and riffs, so check it out at the above links, and stay tuned for more from his solo work (and perhaps his most recent bands?)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow in our likely last post of the month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), Recent Sault Star Hard Rock Interviews, And Much More!!

As promised, here's our first news post of February 2013, so what's on tap? Today, we have a lot of assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, along with a new solo original song, and some catching up on hard rock band interviews from a major local news source, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT (and check out this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post below this one!)

There are indeed heavier concerts this weekend in the Sault Ste. Marie area, courtesy of Sault Michigan hard rock trio Powerslug! Their second announced concert weekend of the year, the band featuring I.S.O.M., Kilacel, and River Witch alumni are playing at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) TONIGHT, following a first concert either yesterday or Thursday. When drummer Bob Helsten announced the shows on his personal Facebook page on Thursday, he indicated the first show was that night, but bands in the area generally play Friday first instead of Thursday, so I'm not sure if there's scheduling differences at play, or if it was just a typo. Regardless, I missed the show until now, and I profusely apologize as a result! They could really use an online page to update show information though. As for tonight's gig, Powerslug will bring their hard rock covers to the stage at 10:00 PM, a cover charge wasn't announced, and you must be 21 to attend. If any more details pop up, I'll add them here! These should be good concerts from this talented trio, and with no online media either, take my word for it, and go occupy The Bird for some hard rock this weekend!

Next up, if you're a Sault Star subscriber, you may have noticed an interview last month with Sweet's Steve Priest in advance of their show with April Wine at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino next weekend! That alone was worth mentioning, but today, it's just part of a catch-up I wanna do for other recent Kewadin Casino hard rock performer interviews held with The Sault Star since the beginning of last year, so what'd I miss? All conducted & wrote by The Sault Star's Jeffrey Ougler, the recent SMS-suited articles included interviews with Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson (prior to their Kewadin show in August) and members of both of Stryper's opening bands last February (Slaughter bassist Dana Strum & Lynch Mob guitarist George Lynch), so click each link above to give them a look! I apologize for the late notice on most of these, but I'm not a Sault Star subscriber, so I miss a lot of their quality articles as a result.

If you're not familiar with Jeffery's concert preview articles/interviews, these all feature general discussions with the band member(s) on their history and recent events, along with promotion of the Kewadin concert, and they're all informative and deserve a look, even late! Check them all out above, and don't miss Sweet with April Wine on February 9th at the Soo Kewadin!

Also today, here's the newest solo track from Alterwhite mainman Mike Matthews! Entitled "Erase Me (Please)", he posted it onto the AlterWhite YouTube channel on Thursday, Mike recorded this for his "album "Something Left Inside", but how is it? The music's good, especially the heavy second half, but Mike really overdoes the clean vocals on the soft first half, and he should have done the first few minutes in a more reserved and less exaggerated style. The second half makes up for it though, so check out "Erase Me (Please)" below!



Finally for today, here's SIX assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, as we've had a bunch of these in the last few days! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or band name:

• Former Skull After Betryal bassist Adam Brett is currently looking to join or form a new local metal/hard rock band, though he aims to play guitar this time around. I know he's been working hard to improve his skills recently, so give him a shout at this location or find his Musicians Wanted Facebook group posting from yesterday for more details!
• Prolific Sault Michigan guitarist Mike Libertoski is back with a new original demo! His first publically available new song since 2011,  this blistering & short technical metal demo is full of promise and shows a skill evolution from his other early 2010s work, so give it a listen at his SoundCloud page, and his solo project is now back in our active Sault Michigan metal band links! (Note that this is credited to himself, not his Galactic Alignment project.)
• Valentine's Day Massacre frontman Steve Rhodes has joined a new band, that being the London, Ontario death/thrash metal band D3athcharg3r! Early reviews are very good, and congratulations to him on this big opportunity! However, he was quick to point out on his personal Facebook page last month that The V.D.M. (who all still live in London) remain alive, and he'll be with them as long as they want him, so fingers crossed we see both of his bands up here soon!
• Last night, Sault Ontario hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings revealed on their Facebook page that they were working on their own debut EP, which should be "ready to go" by the end of the month. Nothing else is publically known yet, but keep an eye out to see how this progresses!
• Also last night, new Sault Ontario metal project Unbound revealed that they plan to make their live debut in March, though extra details (i.e. location, lineup changes, Justin Fratpietro tributes) have yet to be posted. I'm very curious to see how Unbound shapes up after all that's happened, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
• Has Jason Ladouceur rejoined Winkstinger? Nothing official has been publicized, but Jason plugged a Thursday night Winkstinger show on "the 11th" at The Rosie in a recent MSN status, which (barring a typo) would likely refer to April 11th. If true, this would mark the band's first show since July, and Jason's return to the band following his exit in May, with Anthony Orazietti replacing him on rhythm guitar last summer. If I here any concrete confirmations or denials, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news at some point this week, as our cache of news slowly grows! Thanks everyone!

Mike Libertoski & Late And Loud Updates, Plus This Week's Classic Video!!

Let's keep the news rolling on this Thursday morning, and for the record, weekend hard rock/metal concert previews are coming either tonight or early tomorrow. For now, we have this week's classic video, a local concert's venue search, and a lot of updates related to posted media by a prominent local guitarist, so here's what you need to know!

Swayze Train & Galactic Alignment guitarist Mike Libertoski has created a new YouTube channel, and unlike his inactive solo project's YouTube channel, this one is so far solely devoted to solo covers of metal tracks! Three videos have been uploaded there, all posted last month, and they include Mike's covers of Animals As Leaders' "The Price Of Everything & The Value Of Nothing", a short cover of Beneath The Massacre's "Lithium Overdose", and (as embedded below) his cover of The Faceless' "Legions Of The Serpent"! Mike's talent is on full display, and he seems to have a firm grasp on these songs, but I'd have turned down the original song from the recordings, as it can drown out Mike's playing at times, especially on the Animals As Leaders cover. Still, these show Mike's excellent guitar skills well, and you can check out all of Mike's newest videos at the above links, or check out his Faceless cover below!



Also in Mike Libertoski news, I recently came across some new media from his Galactic Alignment tech-metal solo project, but not from official band pages. Mike's old Slackjawed Rats bandmate Jared Lucas (who now lives in Big Rapids, Michigan while attending Ferris State University) has his own SoundCloud page, where he's revealed that he's an aspiring producer & sound engineer. His page has a number of tracks that he's produced, but there are a couple of tracks that Jared uploaded with local metal ties, the most recent of which being a recently remixed version of Galactic Alignment's original "Radiated Infinite Oblivion"! Jared supplies some bass on this track & produced it, and it sounds very brutal, with some nice progressive and technical elements! The other local metal-related video there is a song called "Deluxe 3" from December 2010 that Mike & Jared recorded with Mike's Swayze Train bandmate Scott Savoie (pictured.) Here, Scott played most instruments, with Mike handling lead guitar & drum programming, and Jared on (really good) death metal singing. I don't know how far that band arrangement ever got, but they have good chemistry & are extremely heavy, so check out that and the new Galactic Alignment song at the above links, and stay tuned for more from Mike's projects!

We'll close today with topics related to Sault Ontario classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who will of course rock Coch's Corner THIS SATURDAY! As you may remember, it was confirmed last month that Late & Loud would be opening for Victoria, British Columbia sleaze metal quintet The Lust Boys in Sault Ontario on March 30th, and though posters for their "Tour Before Dishonour 2012" say they're playing at The Canadian Nightclub, that doesn't appear to be final at present. No venue is absolutely confirmed yet for this show, and while I did send guitarist Brendan Christie some venue contacts, any press will help, so I'm spreading the word once again to help secure a Lust Boys date here on March 30th! Remember, The Lust Boys have a great old school mix of punk and hair metal, and former Saultite Ben Kemp-Reynolds (a.k.a. Benny Blitz) is their guitarist, and an ex-bandmate of Late & Loud's Benn Garside & Josh Hatherly from The Glass Statues, so along with their quality sleaze sounds, they have local ties too! It'll be awesome to see them here, but if you can help secure a venue or booking for this show (at The Canadian or elsewhere), give Brendan a shout at this location, and fingers crossed this show goes down! For now, I've removed it from our concert listings due to the venue uncertainty, but if anything new is announced, I'll have it here!

And finally, here's this week's classic video! For the second time in three weeks, we're tying in the current upload with Late & Loud, but only this time is it thanks to a concert (go see them on Saturday night!) As you may remember last January, one of our first classic video postings was of Late & Loud guitarist Jonathan Tiberi's short-lived local metal band Losing Ground (featuring State of Misery alumni Kevin D'Orazio & Nick Kainula) from 2009, and while that video was a cover of Pentagram's "Forever My Queen", they had one more video worth uploading from Facebook! This time, however, it was an instrumental original named "The Wizard's Pipe", and it honestly sounds better than the Pentagram cover! It's got nice speed and pacing, and it has a good classic sound going for it, though I'm curious to hear vocals with it, and the excess video effects can be detracting. Similarly to the first video of Losing Ground, this is from a late 2009 jam session sans guitarist Kevin Koprash, and Jonathan posted this onto his personal Facebook page on December 17th, 2009 at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=1309568737634. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to the ex-members of Losing Ground, I'm just sharing this video with a wider audience like it deserves!

I know this wasn't the most accomplished band from Jon, Kevin, or Nick's musical resumes, but "The Wizard's Pipe" has a lot of promise, and it'd be interesting to see it expanded on, so give it a listen for some catchy instrumental classic metal below, and stay tuned for more from Late & Loud and related projects as it comes in!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews either tonight or tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!