YouTube Channel Profile Series: werehold's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we continue our ongoing spotlight features on YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk music, in order for readers to watch some entertaining and relevant content and hopefully subscribe for possible further updates! This month's randomly selected channel will be a familiar sight for fans of local metal in the E.U.P., especially at their mid-2010s peak, so here's what you should know!
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werehold's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/werehold)

Owner: Werehold Records founder Jason Mills, who's also well known as a multi-instrumentalist in numerous Sault Michigan area bands (all now inactive) that were signed to the label, including Life's Eclipse, Moss, Swampghas, The 1,000,000,000's Who Died, and Shatterhand.

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 14th, 2011; Videos posted from that day through March 2018

Channel Summary: Launched around the time of Werehold Records & Life's Eclipse's joint revival in the spring of 2011 (after both previously being active through the late 2000s), the Werehold YouTube channel would become the primary repository for new and old material from label acts, mostly on the metal spectrum, and many attached to albums that never received a contemporary paid release. Most of the 81 current uploads on the channel came from the nine Friday the 13th new music posting events held on every Friday the 13th (except one) between April 2012 and January 2017, largely comprised of audio recordings that were typically preceded with the Werehold logo and a title card for the song. A select few videos on the channel were for amusement factor and not related to local music, like this Star Wars video game parody that attracted over 1,100 views.

Why You Should Watch: This is a must watch channel for fans of Jason Mills' local music work as both an extreme metal guitarist and as one of the last major active proponents of local extreme metal in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, despite Werehold acts not being known for playing regular public concerts. I enjoyed a whole lot of Werehold's roster, even if many of the posted songs lacked vocals, and their roster deserves a lot more eyeballs than it got in it's original run or it's 2010s revival. However, note that both Werehold Records and all of it's signed musical acts have been publically dormant since early 2018 (earlier in the case of certain bands.) Also, note that this channel was not immune to certain old video deletions.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

Swampghas - Bog (sync up version): From 2011-2015, a prominent band on the Werehold roster was Swampghas, a then-reunited death/thrash metal trio featuring Jason Mills on lead vocals & bass alongside East Branch guitarist J.R. Johnson and Drayton Fever/ex-Half A Man drummer Doug Reed. During this second run, Swampghas was very active in studio, recording for an unreleased debut album named "The Raco Tower Incident", and in a Werehold rarity, they actually recorded a music video for their instrumental song "Bog", which was released in September 2011. The black & white video features assorted footage of the guys exploring a farm at nighttime, and there is an eerie ambiance to a lot of it if you can look past the heavy riffs. You also see J.R. & Jason jamming in a field, though faces appear to be obscured on purpose. A brutal song while it lasts, you can also see behind the scenes footage from the shoot at this link, and many full songs are posted on this channel as well.



Life's Eclipse - Welcome to the Vortex: The most popular Werehold video that is definitely focused on their musical acts is of their flagship metal band Life's Eclipse's short song "Welcome To The Vortex", which was to have been the lead single for their unreleased album "The Chemicals To Make You A Better Person", and was belated posted in July 2013. Full credits aren't given, but Life's Eclipse's last stated full lineup featured Jason Mills & Joe Semasky on guitar, Jason's brother David on bass, and Casey Amo on drums. Recorded in 1996 or 1997, this archival track showcases Life's Eclipse's pounding metal attack well, particularly with the riffs, though like most songs on this channel, it is an instrumental. If you like this song, there's plenty more from Life's Eclipse to hear on here from an assortment of older albums!



The 1,000,000,000's Who Died - Horrible Laughter (9 string song): As Werehold collaborator activity died down in the late 2010s, much of their 2017-2018 output revolved around Jason's own material, such as The 1,000,000,000's Who Died, his progressive death metal solo project that was comically billed from Isle Royale. This project was the most uploaded of the Werehold roster from 2014 onward, and showcased a more technical, intense style than many of Life's Eclipse's older tracks. "Horrible Laughter" was The Billions Who Died's apparent swan song from January 2018, and it makes great use of Jason's then-new 9 string guitar, which you can see him model in this actual video from that same winter. Jason also broke this guitar out for one preceding song, "Long Walk Upright."


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around August 26th when we return to Sault Ontario for a double profile, as the first randomly selected channel we picked only had two distinct types of videos, so I randomly chose another channel with two videos much the same as each other to round things out. As such, we'll be looking at the YouTube channels of users paperclipprojectX (featuring 4 early videos from the band Haggith) and Thelilspirit (featuring a couple of notable covers from prolific local drummer T.J. Case.) Stay tuned for those then, and for more news and updates this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Slaughter), Two Inactive Band Notes, And More SMS Band Link Updates!!

While the snow continues to pile on outside, here's a new news post to check out on this Tuesday evening! We're mostly addressing updates to and removals from our band links today, but to lead off, here's a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this year!

Las Vegas glam metal veterans Slaughter will make their long awaited return to our area on Saturday, June 29th when they rock Kewadin Casino... in St. Ignace?! Best known from hit singles like "Up All Night", "Fly To The Angels", and "Real Love", this will be Slaughter's first regional concert appearance since opening for Stryper at the Sault Michigan Kewadin in 2012, and their third local gig since 2008, but now they're headlining with their high energy classic hard rock! Pasadena glam/hard rock quartet Autograph (of "Turn Up The Radio" & "Blondes In Black Cars" fame) will open with their own familiar brand of 1980s rock action, so don't bypass their set either! Clearly, the St. Ignace summer concert series did well last year, as this Kewadin branch is booking even more touring bands for 2019, though the Slaughter show appears to be indoors at the casino's on-site event center. The location may be atypical for Kewadin-booked hair metal, but how do $10 tickets sound?

Yes, tickets are that low, and you can buy them starting Friday at 9:00 AM at this link, the Sault Kewadin's in-person box office, the gift shop at the St. Ignace Kewadin, or presumably at 1-800-KEWADIN. This show has no advertised age limits, and an 8:00 PM start time, and is presented by Classic Rock: The Bear (whose 95.3 signal is easily heard in St. Ignace, but only gets fringe reception in the Soo.) It'll be very interesting to see how this show does given the non-Sault locale, but if you love the Hair Scare and 1980s glam rock, you won't wanna bypass this show, especially at this price! See the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!

Next up, we have regrettably moved local death metal project Life's Eclipse back to our inactive band links. While no public statements have been made regarding their current status, the band has not issued an update to their Facebook page since January 31st of last year, well past our one year inactivity cutoff. The flagship band of local independent label Werehold Records (both led by singer/guitarist Jason Mills), Life's Eclipse reunited in 2011 after a few years' hiatus, and had been active to varying degrees ever since as a studio project. Long-time readers may be most familiar with Life's Eclipse from their regular involvement in Werehold Records' nine Friday the 13th new music posting events from 2012-2017, often featuring songs from incomplete and unreleased albums. It should be noted that Werehold Records proper haven't updated their own Facebook page since 2017, and of their roster of metal/hard rock artists, only Moss remain in our active links.

I know that personal commitments have been at least partially to blame for the slowdown in Life's Eclipse/Werehold updates in the late 2010s, so a resumption of public activity could happen at any time pending availability and scheduling.  Life's Eclipse were a brutal, technical, and well-composed band when firing on all cylinders, and Jason & the Werehold roster had a lot of talent and ambition to go around! Despite not being known for live concerts, they flew the extreme metal flag well for the E.U.P., and hopefully we hear more from Jason, David, Joe, and Casey when the time is right!

Also, we have one more band to move to our inactive band links, namely Sault Ontario rap metal/party rock collective The Apocalypse Afterparty. While the band did publically acknowledge that "hibernation is ending" back in October, their Facebook page has quietly been taken down since, which (Destroilet aside) is historically a bad sign. In any event, the band had only posted once on Facebook in the past 15 months, and in lieu of the apparent deletion, they are now linked here via their Wix website. Active since 2014, this eclectic masked group evolved from a duo to a full live and studio band, though concerts were selective, often at private bookings or via short notice "pop-up" gigs. The Apocalypse Afterparty may best be known from their quartet appearance at the 2015 VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub (surprisingly making the finals), while they released their EP "Bufflesnort" back in April 2017.

Whether or not you previously knew of X, Z, x, z, and company's real identities, The A.A. made their mark in the mid-2010s! With a unique stage presence, creative hybrid sound, gender-equal lineup, and imaginative back story, it's a shame that The Apocalypse Afterparty didn't play live more often, but hopefully we see Paul, Amanda, Sara, Sven, Rito, and former band members back out there down the line, masked or otherwise!

Finally, CBC Music closed it's artist page service on November 20th, due to the decrease in traffic and attention to band pages there compared to other social media services (you can read more on the decision at this link.)  This didn't receive the advance notice that PureVolume's closure had, so I unfortunately was unable to back up anything there from local artists, but much like PureVolume, I did recognize how little CBC Music (formerly CBC Radio 2) was used by local musicians in recent years. It was a useful and informative service in it's day, and I'll miss having it around! As of this month, we had only linked four local bands (all defunct) to CBC Music pages, so changes to our links are thankfully minimal, especially as only one didn't have an online band page elsewhere. With all of that said, I changed our links for defunct punk bands The 12 Gauge Ready and Glunk! to their MySpace pages, while replacing Burn The Past (previously known as Downshift) with their Bandcamp page.

The only removal was 2007-2012 local/Oil Springs metal band Sue Inside, who don't have a known online page outside of CBC. It's unfortunate to lose one of the oldest local death metal bands from our links, but hopefully Shane, Adam, and Jeff are still musically active out of town! Hopefully this all clears up the recent link changes, and in lieu of the CBC Music page deletions, maybe they'll bring their FM station here sooner or later? That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next. Thanks everyone!

A New Album Release, New Videos, And Much More!!

A quiet start to the month has been noticeable so far, but we have a full news post for you guys on this Wednesday, so what's here to check out? Some assorted recent news and notes, new videos from each side of the border, and leading off, a long awaited new album, so here's what you should know!

After an almost three year wait, local acoustic punk project Telephone & Address have finally released their fifth official album "Monster", courtesy of their Bandcamp page on Saturday! Frontman Christopher Shoust first announced this album on their Facebook page back in March 2015, but monetary concerns were partially cited for it's delayed release, and the later-recorded "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been..." would go on sale first in late 2016. Presumably released through Harmisntus Productions again, "Monster" features 13 songs, including the previously unveiled "I Can Bleed", and the album resembles "Are You Now..." in musical style, including full instrumentation and drums. That said, I believe this was recorded well before new drummer Jackson Reed signed on, and while no credits are given on Bandcamp, Chris did hint at productional involvement from AlgomA's Jamie Vincent back in 2015, so keep that in mind just in case.

No word yet on a physical release of "Monster", with or without their usual cardboard casing, but Telephone & Address next play live at The New A on March 18th, so check there in case CDs are on sale. Bandcamp copies of "Monster" are on sale for $10, while physical copies of their prior albums tended to go for $15. It's great to finally see this album released, and between this and Mike McCleary's "Weight of the Truth", our next two album reviews are set, but in what order? And will the long-delayed "Early Tapes" be next, or a full album with Jackson drumming? Buy "Monster" at the above links, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's the latest from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, starting with a few new tour dates of theirs in Southern Ontario! Confirmation of their spring tour dates (including a hoped local return) are still forthcoming, but the guys will join Toronto grindcore project Truth of All Death for shows in St. Catharine's and Hamilton later this month, albeit missing that band's other three shows on this run. Great to see the guys keeping busy, so look for them this month in Southern Ontario via the gigs listed on their Facebook page! To tease their February shows (including four with Cruel Bloom, starting tomorrow in Owen Sound), Shit Liver posted this video to their Facebook page yesterday featuring the 16 second intro to an original song from a recent jam session. Tinted in a bluish monochrome, the guys lampshaded the clip's "horrible audio quality", but given their extreme sound and the opening's heavy focus on Matt's drumming, it's not bad at all for what it is. Give Shit Liver's new video a look below!



Also today, here's a new-ish instrumental track from Sault Michigan metal project Life's Eclipse, courtesy of their label Werehold Records' YouTube channel! Uploaded last week, this is a partial revision of "Evil Star" from their unreleased 1998 album "Deeper In The Woods", though now featuring frontman Jason Mills playing his new 8 string guitar. Very solid performance, and the new guitar slides in nicely to the original, so fans of hard hitting groove-inspired metal should take to this one! Give Life's Eclipse's new/old song a listen below, and stay tuned for more from the Werehold camp!



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

• Hamilton, Ontario punk/grunge trio Doors & Fours have been added to the previously announced Archelon concert at The Rockstar Bar on March 10th, as per the official Facebook event page on Sunday. This will be a makeup date of sorts for Doors & Fours, who were forced to drop out of a headlining Algonquin Pub concert in November (also to have featured Jack Spades opening) due to their tour vehicle breaking down, so don't miss their long awaited local debut next month!
• The Gore Street Cafe will host their third annual Fishbowl Festival of Community, Food, Arts, and Culture from February 20th-March 5th (again during the Pisces stretch of the astrological calendar), and there are lots of varied events announced for it already that you can read up on a the Facebook event page! At press time, no events have been announced that visibly include hard rock or punk acts, but if you want to organize or play on one, contact the venue at gorestreetcafe@gmail.com. Best of luck for year #3!
• Musical acts are being sought for the Walk for ALS on Saturday, June 2nd at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion. I have no idea if organizers would be interested in heavier or original acts, but fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease is a a great charitable cause to support. If you're interested in more details, message co-organizer Brigitte Labby at blabby@als.ca or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (The Final Friday!!)

(Updated on October 17th) Before we get too deep into this post, just a late notice heads-up on a band switch for concerts this weekend, as Traverse City, Michigan metal trio Scarkazm will replace sister band Peril TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT for their shows at The Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace. "Unforeseen circumstances" regarding Peril drummer Brooks Elliott were cited for the switch, as per Scarkazm's Facebook page, though seeing as both bands share a 2/3rds identical lineup, Scarkazm can slide in very easily. Don't miss Scarkazm's metal and hard rock covers TONIGHT & TOMORROW in St. Ignace, and hopefully all is well with Brooks!

Now, today's post is otherwise devoted to the ninth installment of Sault Michigan-area independent label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th music posting event, but unfortunately, this will also be the last installment. After 5½ years of delivering new label music on each Friday the 13th (save for November 2015), this is indeed "the final Friday", with Werehold owner Jason Mills confirming that in a personal conversation last month, noting that the events didn't take off like he thought they would. I find the news disappointing, as this was always a welcome and positive blast of metal on the supposedly unlucky day, but if it has to end, what better time than in October for the Halloween season? In fact, they're going out with a bang, as a record-tying nine new songs were posted today for the occasion! One song comes from Brimley artist Leonard LeBlanc's electronic solo project Palaver, entitled "You'll See Her Eyes, If You're Hungry", in his first Friday the 13th song since March 2015.

While not overly heavy, this song has a nice rhythm and 1980s-retro feel, so give it a listen if you're a fan of electronic instrumental music! On the metal side of things, four of this year's initial songs are actually from a debuting group named Shatterhand, so what is there to say about them? This is a new project from the aforementioned Jason Mills on guitar alongside Manton, Michigan-based singer/guitarist Timothy Simon Birdsall and Lansing-based multi-instrumentalist Mitchell Wells, who mans a solo project there under the name Mitch Michelle (or Barph Blahgo). As the band's only 1/3rd local, and don't have an online page yet, they won't be immediate additions to our band links, but it's great to see some new blood on the Werehold roster! Both the band and today's songs are all named after old NES video games, including songs named "Abadox", "Phantom Fighter", "Vice Project Doom", and "Nightshade", so how did they sound?

While these songs don't yet have vocals (which won't be a shock compared to usual Friday the 13th output), Shatterhand have promise, and I like the hybrid of groove metal with more of a progressive and electronic element, which has to be influenced by Mitch's own solo career, which is quite eclectic and varied. Unfortunately, all of the Shatterhand songs were quietly deleted for unannounced reasons a few days later, (very unusual for the label to do that) but hopefully they resurface, as I liked where Shatterhand were going!

Also, reports of the demise of Jason's solo project The 1,000,000,000's Who Died are premature, as they also returned for the final Friday the 13th event! We originally removed them from our band links in June when it was discovered that their Facebook page was taken down, but the page was quietly restored in recent months, so the page must have been automatically deactivated in a Destroiletesque fashion. Yes, The 1,000,000,000's Who Died are back in our active Sault Michigan band links! Last heard on the May 2016 installment, the Soo/Isle Royale project is featured with new songs named "Conquer the Rest" &, as embedded below, "Glass Coffin", which are both short, though this is par for the course with this act. An included bass solo adds some zest to the song, which both harbouring a technical aggressive attack and programmed blast beat drums for good measure, so give The Billions Who Died's new songs a listen as well!



Finally, I thought it was appropriate to come full circle with Werehold Records' Friday the 13th saga, by ending with the very first band we started our coverage of this event with, namely local metal project Life's Eclipse! They're featured in two songs from today's upload spree, including, "Houses" from the "The Dark Kingdom" album, and as embedded below, "A.C.L.D." from "Deeper In The Woods". The former again features Mitch as a guest musician, albeit here on a mellotron keyboard, and the song is a massive departure for Life's Eclipse, taking on a quiet, reserved sound that is honestly more reminiscent of medieval folk, but it's nice to see Jason and company spread their wings! As for "A.C.L.D.", that delivers more brutal instrumental metal action that existing fans will take to, and hopefully some of these albums will see a paid release at some point! Give Life's Eclipse's newest songs a listen above & below!



That's all for the Friday the 13th new music events from Werehold Records, which were fun while they lasted, but hopefully everyone stays musically active and keeps new material rolling when available on YouTube or other platforms! For what it's worth, the next Friday the 13th is in April, but unless there's a reversal of plans, don't expect anything special in six months, though stay tuned for more news here as it rolls in! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: David Mills, LudwigVaanArthans, and meshayeah's Channels

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This regular feature series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels (three this month) whose posted content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk artists and concerts, in order to spotlight them for readers and potential new subscribers, and we have three channels today as the first two randomly selected channels only had one SMS-relevant video each. There's some talented metal acts in this month's selections, so here's what you need to know on this month's channels!
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David Mills (http://www.youtube.com/davidowen55)

Owner: Life's Eclipse singer/bassist David Owen Mills, also previously known as the frontman of Moss

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 4th, 2011; Both videos posted the following month

Channel Summary: Though most Werehold Records-related media is posted online by his brother & bandmate Jason Mills, one of David's two YouTube uploads is of a Life's Eclipse original, specifically their song "Undefeated", from their album "Shadow Over Superior". One of the first songs that I ever heard from this Sault Michigan metal band (well before their 2011 relaunch), this is admittedly redundant given that Werehold's YouTube channel uploaded the same song on the same day, but it's still a crushing song with catchy riffs from Jason and Joe Semasky, and it's a shame that the original version with vocals was deleted from MySpace! However, David hasn't visibly updated his channel in at least two years, and his only other video is of his friend getting tased at an army base. For more from Life's Eclipse, check the above links!


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LudwigVaanArthans' Channel (http://www.youtube.com/ludwigvaanarthans)

Owner: YouTube user Ludwig Vaan Arthans (real identity unknown, if that's a pseudonym, though I believe he's from Romania)

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 25th, 2008; Videos posted in May 2012 & July 2013

Channel Summary: Ludwig's first of two videos is of defunct local/Toronto blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres' song "Don't Open The Wounds/Skywide Armspread", from 2009's "Woods IV: The Green Album". Posted five months after frontman David Gold's sudden passing in December 2011, this is an underrated song from their first true doom release, with a solid chugging progression, solid rhythm from bassist & drummer Shane & Evan Madden, and suitably dark lyrics! Though there are far more substantive channels to hear Woods of Ypres songs through, this song is still worth listening to for fans of their doom period, despite the wrong band lineup in the photo (Bryan Belleau was the lead guitarist on "Woods IV", not Joel Violette.) While Ludwig still actively uses his channel, his only other video is of a song by Finnish death metal band Synestesia.


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

Owner: YouTube user and former Sault Ste. Marie resident Michelle Moran

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 1st, 2009; Videos posted in July & September 2013

Channel Summary: Two of Michelle's three videos come from a private house party festival in nearby Garden River from August 2013 named Anti-Capitalist Tacofest, which was headlined by local grindcore trio Shit Liver in their final live concert appearance before moving to St. Catharine's that fall. Both of Michelle's clips from the show are of Shit Liver's set, including their song "Helen Kellers", and as embedded below, three quick originals, starting with their own self-titled song. Though the vertical camera angle isn't a major issue, the staticy audio & bassist Mike Kyle being obscured for much of the video don't help, but these are an interesting look at Shit Liver's last set as a purely local band! Michelle didn't film other acts that night (such as AlgomA, James Watterworth, and the late Sabrina Pelchat), with her only other video being of Pennsylvania hardcore punk band Rodent Lord at that year's Spiderfest in Meyersburg.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we have randomly chosen former Bad Side guitarist and The Bear DJ Jason Mapes' YouTube channel to profile next, which features dozens of videos from the 2000s Sault Michigan hard rock band and his later solo career. That should be interesting, so look for that on or around July 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril & Scarkazm), A New Band, And Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 11!!)

Three of our last five posts had at least half Sault Michigan content, and we're doubling down with a fully American post on this Friday the 13th! Hopefully the date's not a bad omen. Below, you'll find the newest content from a local metal label, and some video discoveries of a newer local band, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for mid-2017!

Following up on their first gigs of 2017 TONIGHT & TOMORROW in St. Ignace, comment replies on this photo of veteran Traverse City classic metal trio Peril have confirmed some new gigs from both them and their sister metal band Scarkazm for later this year! Typically, I don't condense separate new show announcements into one paragraph, but given Peril & Scarkazm's shared band members and the fact that only one weekend from each was confirmed (in the same post, no less), a combined feature in this instance was appropriate. First, Scarkazm will hit the E.U.P. for the first time this year with rare stops at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, May 21st & Saturday, May 22nd, so keep those in mind for some hard hitting metal action! Meanwhile, Peril will play at the Soo Kewadin for the first times this year on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th.

If you can't make Peril's St. Ignace shows this weekend or in March, here are your presumable next chances, so circle mid-June on your calendars! Both Scarkazm & Peril's May/June weekends have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges, as usual. It's great to see both of Jeff & Adam's bands powering into 2017 with some more gigs for Yooper fans, so check the above links for full details on these and other currently announced dates in our area!

Next up, you may be familiar from our coverage of some recent multi-band events in the Sault Michigan area that bands without an online presence have been a fairly common sight, so unless you see them live, find a fan video, or find personal account references, they'll be something of a mystery. One such band was The Karstens, who played the Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser concert in Brimley last May, and other than my assumption that they were a family band (given the name), I had nothing on them. However, a fan named Bubby Frasier got a hold of me online over the last few days, noting positive word of mouth and concert appearances through August of last year for The Karstens, and asked if I had any extra info on them. Between the two of us, we tracked down videos on two YouTube channels of them, and some personal Facebook postings, so here's what I've got. As it turns out, The Karstens are very much a fit for our coverage, and they'd be in our links if they had an online page!

Visibly a quartet (though occasionally seen as a three-piece), I can't confirm the band's full lineup or instrument roles, but one personal Facebook posting suggested that two band members were named Paul LeBlanc and Raymond Kavo. Neither are familiar from our past coverage of the E.U.P., but the band looks relatively young. YouTube users Wabaanimkii and racosun have uploaded 3 and 2 videos respectively from both a jam session and concerts in Brimley and Sault Ste. Marie between April & August 2016, so how do they sound? Musically, I'd call them experimental or alternative metal, and if you like Buckethead, you'll definitely want to take notice, as they cover The Deli Creeps' "Bend Up", "Shadows", and (as embedded below) "Can I Have A Ride" in three videos, plus Buckethead's "The Way To Heaven". That video segues into a cover of Flipper's "Sacrifice", which is covered in full at this link too. Huge kudos to The Karstens for playing some stuff you don't typically see covered in the area, especially in Sault Michigan!

In case you missed The Karstens at Bay Mills Bands Together, their Back Bay Grill & Games show, or Downtown Days in August (apologies for missing the latter two for coverage here), then look for well played if avant garde covers, with the singer/drummer's distinctive deep voice and strong guitar among The Karstens' highlights! They could be a little more animated on stage, but assuming they're still active (I've read nothing new referencing them since August), they have a bright future! Check out much more from The Karstens above & below, and hopefully more turns up! Thanks again to Bubby for his help in getting the above information!



Finally for today, it is Friday the 13th, which means that local independent metal label Werehold Records is back for their eighth Friday the 13th new music posting event! However, this year's only features two new songs for a second straight 13th, and in this case, both songs come from the same band, Werehold's flagship metal project Life's Eclipse. Both dated to the late 1990s, presumably for their initial inception and original recording dates, the songs are entitled "Perihelion" (no relation to the long-gestating Gates of Winter album), and as embedded below, "Pathway". The former is a little drum heavy and scratchy in sound, but "Pathway" is a ripping, fast-paced number that groove metal fans will appreciate, and if there are ever plans to complete these songs with vocals, that will be a highlight! It's just a shame that the Friday the 13th new music events are continuing their steady decline in number that followed their nine song event in June 2014, including skipping November 2015 entirely.

Werehold Records has been a reliable sight for original metal action in the E.U.P., if not live concert acts, and I hope that Jason and company can beef up activity and content in the near future, especially with another Friday the 13th coming up in October! It will be the Halloween season, so there's no better month to go big. Check out "Pathway" below, and see more from Werehold Records above!



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

Bay Mills Band Together Preview, Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 10), And More!!

Before we get to this all-Sault Michigan post, we have a concert cancellation to take note of, as local classic/hard rockers Mourning Wood are not playing at The Park Grille tonight. Frontman Terry Eaton confirmed the news on drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier today, saying that bands at the venue "are on hold until further notice." He, the band, and/or the venue haven't elaborated since, but hopefully this is a temporary measure, as the venue seemed to be well received, and don't miss Mourning Wood at Rednecks TOMORROW! Now, today's post has one last concert preview, a label's long awaited resurgence, and a new cover video, so here's what you need to know!

A number if local musicians will join forces for a great cause THIS SUNDAY NIGHT when they take part in Bay Mills Bands Together! at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley! This benefit show is in support of Maryssa Kronemeyer, an area high schooler who was seriously injured after being hit by a car in March. To that end, all proceeds will go to her and her family & the related medical costs, so definitely consider coming out to support the cause! In a unique format, Sunday's bands will be playing on two stages at Pickles, one acoustic and one for plugged in bands, so who all is scheduled? The main stage will feature headlining local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 at 12:00 AM, with a mysterious band named The Whole Shabang (replacing or renamed from Brainstorm) playing at 11:00 PM, and online page-less metal quartet Stoned Ape Evolution hitting the stage at 10:00 PM. The remaining main stage bands will include the family band The Karstons at 9:00 PM and Broke On Sunday frontman Mark Bowen at 8:00 PM.

The acoustic stage will be headlined by Train Wreck alum Mitchell Willis and Brenda (last name not given) at 9:45, preceded by Infathom frontman Dillion Semasky with a solo (rap?) set at 8:40 PM, Ken Jahnke at 7:30 PM, Mitchell & Brenda again at 6:50 PM, and country/pop artist Caitlin LeBlanc opening at 6:00 PM. Door prizes and a 50/50 draw will also take place on Sunday to be drawn during the show, which has a $5 minimum cover, and this is presumably still a 21+ event. Though there's a lot of unknowns regarding the lineup, this should be a great event for Marissa and her family, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Next up, Sault Michigan independent record label Werehold Records has re-emerged for their seventh Friday the 13th music posting event! After mass artist "downtime" scuttled the November 13th plans, the label is back for their first Friday the 13th music since March of last year, but compared to past installments, this latest event is fairly lean. Label acts Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, East Branch, Moss, Palaver, and Swampghas are all not featured, but we do have 2 songs to take note of,  including this new song from Werehold's flagship metal band Life's Eclipse! We were actually this close to moving them to our inactive band links if there was no Friday the 13th postings, so it's great to see that they're still active! Entitled "When The Night Falls", it's planned to be the first song on their album "The Dark Kingdom", and it has a nice dramatic opening and a melodic groove metal base, though in this form at least, it's an instrumental. A little repetitive, but it's very heavy, and the opening sets the tone well for the planned album, so give Life's Eclipse's newest song a look!



The other new Friday the 13th song from Werehold Records comes from label owner/Life's Eclipse mainman Jason Mills' solo side project The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, whose song is called "Beneath The Black". A short 1:50 number, it has a crushing riff at it's peak, but parts do sound artificial, and I'm not sure what the description comment of "stupid chorus" means when the song is an instrumental. It's a strong song while it lasts though, so give it a look below, and hopefully we see more from Werehold Records by the next Friday the 13th in January 2017!



Finally, here's the latest solo guitar cover from ex-Elipzis bassist Ryan Harrison's YouTube channel, this time a cover of The Beatles' "The Ballad of John & Yoko", albeit with completely different lyrics and the new title "The Ballad of Rocky & Lil" (perhaps this is a reference to friends of his?) Resembling an old webcam with the washed out colour and low framerate, the song itself is well done and is well suited to Ryan's vocal range, so give it a look below!



That's all for today, but we'll see you at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for Project 421's return to the stage! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 9)

As we just celebrated Friday the 13th for the second of three times this year, Sault Michigan-area independent record label Werehold Records partook in a new music posting event for a seventh straight occurrence of this unlucky day! Fresh off of last month's Friday the 13th event (yes, two in two months), the label uploaded four new songs onto their YouTube channel on Friday, resulting in another abbreviated spread of new music, but hopefully the studio repairs are coming along! However, this month's uploads do not include new material from label acts Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, East Branch, or Moss, though the latter were featured last month. Longtime fans and followers of Werehold Records should take to this month's uploads though, so here's what we got in alphabetical order!

We'll start with label owner Jason Mills' solo side project The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, whose new song is entitled "Faith Eraser". Hinted at being included on an album named "Warskematik", this instrumental clocks in at just under 2 minutes, but it delivers the metal goods with a melodic and crushing riff and a solid groove throughout! Not as artificial sounding as some of their prior tracks, so give "Faith Eraser" a listen below!



Next up is "For the Burning" from Jason's main band Life's Eclipse, which he said was "one of the original 5" (as in, the first songs that they wrote/recorded?) In any event, it's likely planned for their "Shadow Over Superior" album. Though also an instrumental, this has a catchy aggressive bite to it that is just dying for some harsh vocals to round it out! Great drum track too, so check it out below!



Also among today's tracks is "Explosions at the Ice Factory" by Brimley electronic artist Leonard LeBlanc's Palaver solo project, which has a catchy techno beat, but admittedly doesn't have the "video game music" vibe of some of their earlier songs. Quality work for electronic fans though! We'll close with "Born Frownin'", the first new song in nine months from Strongs backwoods metal trio Swampghas, so how does it sound? A demo from their planned "Raco Tower Incident" album, it's also an instrumental, and it has more of a lower groove to it without much of a varied melody. Grimy and effective, give it a listen below as well!



The next Friday the 13th on the calendar will strike in November (which will also be it's only occurence in the next 14 months), so might we see a bigger splash of new Werehold material in the fall? I'm very curious to find out, but be sure to check out all of their work at the above links to tide yourselves over until then! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and features in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 8)

Yesterday was the first Friday the 13th in 8 months, so it's once again time to look at another new music event from Sault Michigan-area metal label Werehold Records, in their sixth straight Friday the 13th with new song uploads to their YouTube channel, and first of three for 2015! It should be noted that for this installment of the Friday the 13th Werehold postings, there are just four new songs, with label head Jason Mills credited to Scholomance Studio currently being "torn up", which impaired their larger plans for today (source here in a comment thread.) The next Friday the 13th is actually next month, so might things be fully realized then? For now though, we'll look at yesterday's songs, which don't include new material from Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, East Branch, or Swampghas, but Werehold loyalists should like what we got, so here's the new songs in alphabetical artist order!

We'll start with Jason's solo metal project The 1,000,000,000s Who Died (remember, they weren't really from Isle Royale), whose new song is called "Allegiance to Nothing". An instrumental that morphs from dramatic horror movie music to crushing epic metal in short order, it's a solid track with great guitar work, but it's not that long, and it does sound a bit too processed at times. Give their new track a listen below!



Flagship Werehold metal band Life's Eclipse are next with their song "Cell Differential", to be included on their long gestating album "Invasion". It's not new (originally written in 2005), but it's still a strong addition to their original material, with a more melodic take on their usual brutality and a nice catchy feel that would go great for driving in a fast car! However, it too is an instrumental at present. Check out Life's Eclipse's newest posted song below!



Also from Friday the 13th is the newest song from Strongs/Eckerman hard rock band Moss, entitled "The Bright Lights of Anywhere"! Apparently recorded in less than 45 minutes (though it's the longest of yesterday's songs), it's also an instrumental, but takes on more of a mainstream hard rock sound, albeit with a dark edge that would still lend itself well to aggressive vocals. I can picture a vocal melody in my head for it, which is probably a good sign for it's composition! Strong work from Moss, so give it a listen below!



The last new song is "Snake Eyes" from Brimley electronic project Palaver, which isn't metal, but it again harbours the "dark video game music" sound that they've done well in the past, with the latter hald reminding me of music from a movie fight scene. Strong work if you're into techno genres, so check it out too! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news over the weekend, and keep watch for more new music from Werehold Records on Friday, March 13th! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 7)

As promised, our second half of our feature on Sault Michigan area label Werehold Records' newest Friday the 13th new music is now up on the site! Though this is the fifth time that Werehold have posted new music from their affiliated artists on Friday the 13th, this is just the second where we can't fit everything into one post of a reasonable length, so we saved the last four alphabetically for this second post. As a result, visit yesterday's post to hear new music from The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, the long awaited Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, and East Branch! Moving further down the alphabet, let's first look at the newest song from Werehold's flagship band, Eckerman metal quartet Life's Eclipse, which is entitled "Firebreather", so what should you know? To be featured on an upcoming album named "Invasion", this is an instrumental metal track that has a nice heavy riff and solid groove & melody, plus extra guitar effects and keyboard parts for good measure, and it lives up to Life's Eclipse's past standards! Give "Firebreather" a listen below!



Next is Life's Eclipse frontman/Werehold owner Jason Mills' regional hard rock band Moss, whose Friday the 13th song is a rough version of their original "Trilobite". A mid-paced rocker, it's suitably heavy and has a solid rhythm, but it's also an instrumental. I will say that it's not as rough as the YouTube description implies, and fans of Moss and local hard rock should definitely take to this track, so check it out below!



Brimley electronic project Palaver also contributed a new song this year, named "3636", and while it's not a metal song, it is dark and has the vibe of a boss theme in a 16 bit video game, for what that's worth. As far as electronic music goes, Palaver deliver the goods, so check out their new Friday the 13th song above! Finally for this latest Friday the 13th is the newest song from Strongs "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas, and it's entitled "The Starving Rust". To be featured on their long gestating debut album "The Raco Tower Incident", this song is similar to some of the other songs from Friday, but it has a slower and more straightforward sound with less frills (and no vocals again either.) Existing Swampghas fans will have little to complain about, and Jason, J.R., and Doug are in usual form, so give their newest song a listen below!



Although this is the only Friday the 13th of 2014, Werehold fans may want to buckle their seats, as there are three Friday the 13ths next year, including two consecutive in February and March, so if Werehold Records keeps up the tradition, 2015 will be the biggest year yet! Look out then and before for more news and material from Werehold Records, and stay tuned for more local metal and hard rock news and notes soon as well! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Internet Radio Station, New Videos, And The Suicide Kings + Karaoke?

I'm back from St. Joseph Island a day earlier than expected, so we have a new news post for you guys today covering stuff missed over the break! In this post, we have new videos from both sides of the border, an intriguing new live karaoke project from some familiar faces, and first, news concerning a new addition to our local radio roster that you might find intriguing, so read on below for what you need to know, and make sure to read our Jack Spades EP review and 5150DOA YouTube Channel Profile that both went up as auto-posts over the last few days!

If you've been following SooToday recently, you may have noticed that two of their recent polls related to music, specifically one poll about if you'd listen to a local internet radio station, and a follow-up relating to readers' musical preferences (country & rock ran away with almost 60% of the votes combined.) Well, the polls weren't just hypothetical, as SooToday's Facebook page has revealed that their parent company Village Media is currently developing an online streaming radio station called VM Radio! Plans are for it to have a local focus and planned airtime for local original music, so if you're interested in submitting your own music for consideration on this station, drop them off at 642 Queen Street East (or via the mailing address on Facebook), or e-mail digital copies to arts@sootoday.com. No word on a launch date, programming details, or anything similar yet, but we'll keep you posted, especially in regards to possible hard rock/metal inclusion!

This won't be the first internet radio station founded in the Soo (Energy Rock Radio launched here before moving to British Columbia), but a local news-backed station that could serve as an alternative to the current FM stations would be a nice addition! Myself, I'd like to see a variety for everyone so that it attracts as wide an audience as possible, but keep an eye out for how VM Radio shapes up in the coming months!

Next up, while not technically a new local band in the traditional sense, all 4 members of local hard rock band The Suicide Kings (Mike Gaetano, Steven Flint, Mitch Sirie, and Ben Boudreau) have announced a new live music project named URawk that will serve as the hosts of Sault Ontario's first ever karaoke night with a live backing band rather than pre-recorded tracks! Covering genres from metal to country, they have a wide setlist ready for fans to come on stage and sing along with, while you can also request songs for the guys to learn in advance of one of their live appearances, and cash prizes are also planned. Current plans involve Urawk hosting live karaoke nights at The Rednecks Saloon (the former Nicolet Tavern) each Thursday at 10:00 PM for the foreseeable future, though no word yet on if we'll see them at other venues or on other days. Their debut night will be on Thursday, June 26th, and their wide ranging setlist (which has a number of metal songs, but doesn't emphasize them) is sure to grow, especially if URawk takes off!

No word yet on what roles Mike will serve with URawk, especially as the emphasis is on karaoke singers to sing with the band, but Mike is a guitar player too, so he could take on that role if need be. I've heard of the live band karaoke concept in bigger cities, and I'm very curious to see how well it goes, as this could be a way for many local music fans to let out their inner rock star without the band commitment, or maybe test the waters to get involved in a band further! You should know how talented The Suicide Kings are, and hopefully they bring the same intensity and focus to URawk, so keep their debut in mind next month!

We'll close today with new videos, including a new preview video relating to Sault Michigan-area label Werehold Records' next Friday the 13th music posting spree next month, this time courtesy of label owner & Life's Eclipse frontman Jason Mills! Posted to the label's YouTube channel on Friday, this is a 39 second clip of Jason playing guitar for a new Life's Eclipse original that will be unveiled on June 13th, playing overtop backing programmed drums. Short, but it's a nice tease for the new material to come, so give it a look!



Finally, Pillory/Crimson Crusade guitarist Robert Sartini posted another solo guitar cover onto his YouTube channel on Wednesday! This time, he covered Dying Fetus' "Your Treachery Will Die With You", and though you can barely hear his guitar over the original backing track, he definitely knows this brutal death metal track well, and it shows in the clip! Check it out below, and stay tuned for more from his channel and band work!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, plus this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 5)

As you should remember, yesterday was Friday the 13th, and to mark the occasion, Eckerman, Michigan metal label/studio Werehold Records went on another song uploading spree on their YouTube channel! Last seen in July, this is the fourth time that Werehold Records dedicated this "unlucky" day to new music from their talented artist roster, so I found it appropriate to spotlight the material once again for you guys! In terms of exclusions, there's no new tracks from The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, Awaken Eidolon, East Branch, or Moss, nor did we get any from some of the featured artists from the September 13th installment, such as local guitarists Mike Libertoski & Scott Savoie. Actually, only 4 artists were featured yesterday, including Brimley techno project Palaver, whose new track is entitled "Jotunn" (Icelandic for "giant"), and it's a chaotic (if short) electronic number that keeps with their dark techno sound nicely, so give it a look at this link! Now, to the new songs from Werehold metal projects, and as before, they're in alphabetical order by band name!

One of the songs is from Swampghas drummer Doug Reed's solo project Drayton Fever, and while it's not a new track, it is an unreleased instrumental demo from his planned debut CD "The Longest Summer", as originally recorded way back in 2005. Entitled "Fleshwork", it's a solid and hard-charging metal number that would be cool to see with a higher recording quality and with vocals, and I really like the guitar work on this one especially! Hopefully we get some more news from Drayton Fever in 2014, and check out "Fleshwork" below!



Also among the "new tracks" is "Dreams & Nightmares" by Werehold's flagship band Life' Eclipse! From their album "Shadow Over Superior" (and one of the first 5 songs that guitarist Jason Mills wrote way back in 1995), "Dreams & Nightmares" stacks up with Life's Eclipse's other studio work with great instrumentation and a catchy groove, but it comes across as short to me, and like "Fleshwork", this version's an instrumental. I like where it's going for sure, so check out this "new" Life's Eclipse demo below!



Finally for this newest Friday the 13th, Strongs "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas (featuring the aforementioned Jason Mills & Doug Reed) were the main focus yesterday, as four instrumentals from a 2006 demo were posted onto YouTube as well! Entitled "Bog", "Eckerman", "Struggle", and "Killbilly", these were recorded solely by Doug and guitarist/East Branch mainman J.R. Johnson with the intent of reforming the then-defunct Swampghas, though Jason noted that these songs were recorded in 2 hours while "whiskey drunk". Compared to newer Swampghas material, the production quality and songwriting isn't as refined as we've been accustomed to, but it's a nice look at some early work from this talented regional metal band, and hopefully their still-forthcoming "Raco Tower Incident" CD delivers even harder! Check out the first song "Bog" below, and hear more at the above links!



The next Friday the 13th comes our way in June, so keep an eye out then for more original U.P. metal from Werehold Records, unless some more stuff makes it's way to the public in the interim! That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at The Canadian Nightclub in Sault Ontario TONIGHT for Bam Margera as Fuckface Unstoppable! $25 at the door, 19+, 7:00 PM! 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!

New Sault Michigan Video Uploads, Including New Werehold Records Tracks!!

To keep news from falling too behind given some recent delays, I've got another new post for today, but of course, check out some big concert updates and band dissolutions/inactivity descents in the post below this one! Tonight's post is another all-Sault Michigan area installment, mostly concerning new song postings from a local label, but at the end, we have a live hair metal cover from a recent community event across the river, so read on below for what you need to know! We'll start with the latest from prolific Eckerman label/studio Werehold Records, as owner/performer Jason Mills has uploaded a handful of new songs from three Werehold-signed bands onto their YouTube channel on Saturday as part of what's being called "spring cleaning", and these constitute the first YouTube uploads of new songs from the label in almost a year! Now, with no Friday the 13th coming until September to tie in an upload spree with, it's great to see some songs come before that, so here's what got posted this weekend!

Two of the songs come from (arguably) the label's flagship band, local metal quartet Life's Eclipse, as the tracks "Aphelion" & "Welcome To The Vortex" were uploaded on Saturday! Both were written circa 1996 or 1997, and are/will be included on the band's album "The Chemicals To Make You A Better Person", though note that they were uploaded as instrumental tracks. Each has a lot of melodic groove metal intensity and catchy riffing, though "Welcome To The Vortex" (the album's opener) is a fast and short number, while "Aphelion" is slower but longer. As usual, I'm impressed the quality and talent on both tracks, and I'd love to see Life's Eclipse expand further locally if possible! Also, as a side note, an aphelion is the point in the Earth's orbit when it's furthest from the Sun, which is the opposite of a perihelion (which Sault Ontario progressive death metal notables Gates of Winter are calling their long awaited new EP.) It's definitely a coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning! As it's the longer of the two, I've embedded "Aphelion" below, so give it a listen, and keep an eye out for more Life's Eclipse updates!



Also among the new videos are samples of two new songs from Strongs hard rock quintet Moss (featuring Jason & David Mills from Life's Eclipse), as uploaded in one video on Saturday! Neither are titled yet, but they're the first audio clips posted featuring returning bassist Terry Carrick, and neither clip is longer than a minute. The first one has a better groove and aggression than the second one, which seems to be a bit more dramatic, but each clip is heavy and well played, and like the video says, hopefully something will get finished before the guys are in nursing homes! Check out both clips below!



The other new Werehold upload is Swampghas guitarist J.R. Johnson's East Branch solo project's demo "Paradox Confliction", which Jason (also of Swampghas) said was the first East Branch song he had heard. Like the other new videos, it's instrumental, but it's a much slower and more deliberately paced track than Swampghas are known for, though it's unquestionably heavy! I think it'd get repetitive if any longer, but it's solid, so give East Branch's new demo a listen below as well!

Finally for today, this live performance video comes from the Music In The Park event in Brimley, Michigan last Thursday (the Fourth of July), which featured numerous regional musical performers, with sound provided by Half A Man frontman Erik Rintamaki's new live sound company/recording studio Superior Sound Company. Most (if not all) of the performers were acoustic, so this didn't seem ripe for metal performances, but looks can be deceiving, as this video (one of 9 uploaded to Erik's YouTube channel on Friday) features musicians Steve & Skip (identities not clearer beyond that) covering Tesla's version of "Signs" at the event! It's definitely the Tesla version, not the original by The Five Man Electrical Band, as the vocal style definitely recalls the hair metal cover. It's well done and has a good harshness to it while retaining the unplugged qualities, and I like the colour filter that Erik put on the video, where it's black and white except for red things (a'la the girl's coat in Schindler's List.)

Note that the second song in the video is (I think) an original with a lot of lyrics about putting jeans on, which is alright for what it is, but the lyrics can get a bit repetitive. Check out that and Steve & Skip's cover of "Signs" below, don't miss Tesla themselves when they return to the Soo on July 27th, and stay tuned in case I'm missing any more heavier covers from Brimley last week!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more Sault Ontario news shortly, plus this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Sneaky Pete! Thanks everyone!