Bear Hunters CD Release Party Review!!

Hey guys, it's finally time for our review of Saturday night's Bear Hunters CD release show at The Canadian Nightclub! I was at Toystock all day yesterday, hence the delay, but better late than never, and our Toystock review will follow either tonight or tomorrow! There was an OK turnout on Saturday, though honestly less people than I was expecting, but fans made their presence felt by night's end! As for the Bear Hunters' merchandise, shirts weren't ready, and there was no sign of the mini-posters or stickers from the planned prize draw, but both their new CD "Eternal Hibernation" and the previously released "Collapse The Sun" single seemed to sell briskly! If you're wondering, we will go over the contents and surprises of each CD in a coming news post, but now, to the bands!

Opening on Saturday was local grunge/hard rock quartet Haggith (replacing Destroilet), who had their fourth different bassist in four shows, as the guys unveiled Jordan Leach as the newest "candidate" for the bassist position (so it looks like Caleb Cachagee's return at Sault Band-O-Rama didn't last.) Jordan has been actively looking to join or start a new band recently, so if this sticks, it's big for him! He sounded good, but he needs to work on his stage presence, as he was very stiff and mostly looked off to the side. As for the band as a whole, their set included 6 songs from their upcoming CD "XIV" and two from "Dragon Joy Ride", plus "Hands of Death" from "Apocalypse II", and set-bookending covers of Jethro Tull and Jimi Hendrix, the latter after calls for an encore. Aside from "Locomotive Breath", no real surprises, but the guys sounded good and heavy, keeping with their recent shows! Curtis McKenzie did strain his voice on high notes, and Daniel Horton seemed too serious for much of their set, but solid work all around!

Second was Brampton deathcore quintet Livid & The Bloodthirsty in their local concert debut, and despite a slow early crowd response, the guys made some fans with their energetic hybrid sound! Playing a number of original songs like "Gear Up" and "Senseless Debauchery", their mix of modern hardcore with death metal vocals was fun and well worth checking out, with singer Matt Chepetto a visible ball of energy throughout, including entering the crowd on multiple occasions! I did notice that fan response did start to turn once L.A.T.B. covered Lamb of God's "Laid to Rest" (and opened a second mic to the fans), and by set's end, fans were eating everything up! Joe Baldasio & Sandy Thompson were impressive on guitar in their own right, and while a bass mishap brought an early standstill to their set, the guys filled time well and left a good impression! Hopefully we'll see them up north again!

And of course, your headliners were local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, as it was their CD release show, after all! Playing for an extended length with two sets, their first was comprised of the entire "Eternal Hibernation" album in exact song order, while the shorter second set featured newer songs to be included on their next album "The Dead Testament" (like "The Omen" and "I Fear No God"), and more expected additions. With the lengthy album recording and release process finally at it's end, the guys seemed renewed and happy to just play for a change, and fans responded in kind! Even if there was no new CD, seeing Josh Stephney back with the band for just the third time since he moved to Brampton was great enough, as his rhythm guitar is a missing element from most of The Bear Hunters' recent shows, so we got to hear them as intended on Saturday! The guys all sounded tight, especially Justin Lam on bass, though Nik Deubel's vocals were sometimes hard to hear. Great set, and make sure to buy your copies of their CDs A.S.A.P.!

Very solid concert, and congratulations go out to The Bear Hunters on finally getting this CD out! We'll cover it in greater detail in the coming days, and our review of it will be this month too! Donna Hopper and the SooToday/Local2 crew were on hand for an article/Tuned episode, so be sure to look out for them in short order as well! Our photos from the show can now be seen at our Facebook page, as can our videos, so here's Haggith playing "No Cure For Insanity", Livid & The Bloodthirsty playing "This Scene's Too Preteen", and The Bear Hunters playing their CD's opener "Dominate"!




That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Toystock review, this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, and more news and updates very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Faps), A New EP Release, And More!!

Before TONIGHT'S IDNS-headlined concert at The Oddfellows Hall, we have a stacked news post for this Saturday morning, including a new EP release and related band page, a new video, and more, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Mortlach, Saskatchewan noise/punk duo The Faps will hit Sault Ontario THIS MONDAY NIGHT at The New American Pub for the latest Jamie Vincent/Oh! Right Arm! Promotions concert! Apologies for the short notice, we actually heard about this show late last month, but early marketing hyped the hip hop content of the show over anything else, which we'll touch on in a second. The Faps' aggressive alternative sound will appeal to fans of grunge, punk, and noise rock, but is very hard to pin down into specific genres, so check out their entertaining original songs at the above links! The local openers (Conika and Mikey Thomas) are both rappers, which is slightly odd given The Faps' sound, but both have developing profiles and were among the Das Bunkerfest performers, so they fit that way! Also, I believe Mikey is a cousin of former Haggith bassist Caleb Cachagee, so there's an extra link! This 19+ concert goes down Monday night at 9:00 PM, and there is a $5 cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Definitely a unique concert to help ring in the fall with, so if you love rap music, or are intrigued by the creative and varied sound of The Faps, be at The New A on Monday night! Not an optimal day for a show either, so hopefully there's a decent turnout. For a preview, here's The Faps' live music video for their song "Trophy Wives"!



Next up, we have a new album release to announce, connected to the launch of this band's first online page (finally), as local indie/punk quintet Northwest have finally launched a Bandcamp page, with their self-titled debut EP for sale there as well! Officially released on Tuesday, this EP features 4 original songs ("Young & Wild", "Time", "Stars Don't Fall", and "I Got You"), all featuring their current lineup of singer/guitarist Wayne Watkins, guitarists Mike Yakasovich & Greg Callaghan, bassist Mike Smykacz, and drummer Clint Wilson. Unlike the recent Bandcamp trend of local artists releasing albums on a "name your price" model, Northwest are asking a $2 minimum for this digital EP, whose prospects for a physical CD release remain unknown. It's great to finally have an online page for this talented local punk band (who are now in our active local band links), and I do recommend giving their new EP a look, but when can you expect a review of it on the site? Perhaps this month, but Telephone & Address' new CD is also possible. In any event, stay tuned in the near future for that and much more from Northwest as we hear it!

Also today, if you've missed local alternative/grunge quartet Haggith's first gigs with new bassist James White, then don't worry, as a video from their set at last month's Late & Loud farewell concert at The Rockstar Bar is now online! Another surprisingly delayed upload from For The Music Inside's coverage of the show, this video of the guys playing "Leon The Janitor" was only just uploaded on Tuesday to F.T.M.I.'s YouTube channel. Like their other videos from this show, this is very nicely filmed in wide screen & close to the stage, though the very warm lighting does throw off the colour. It looks slightly odd seeing James with Haggith yet, but his bass work is great here, and I'm very curious to see where things go from here with the current lineup, so give this new Haggith video a look below!



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

• In a note related to the recent break being taken by local hard rockers Beaumont Avenue, we can now confirm that their ongoing Urawk live karaoke series at The Rednecks Saloon will now feature Asylum Country's T.J. Case on drums in place of the Hamilton-bound Ben Boudreau. Just as a reminder, T.J. is not replacing Ben with the former Suicide Kings, who will play again when Ben is available and back home. For a partial fix, go see Urawk's live band karaoke on Thursday nights!
• Local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore are featured on a massive free compilation release from Bizarre Murders Productions called "Heavy Music For Life" among 88 other bands from around the world. Impressive, so check everything out if you want at the above links, as there's bound to be some songs you might like on this set, and don't miss C.T.W. TODAY at The Oddfellows Hall, as they're opening at 5:00 PM!
• Brampton death metal quintet Livid & The Bloodthirsty have been added as the co-headlining band for The Bear Hunters' CD release show at The Algonquin Pub on October 18th, as per the Facebook event page on Thursday. Solid addition with a varied and brutal sound, so don't miss them next month, and stay tuned for the reveal of the (presumably local) opening band!

That's all for today, but I hope to see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall TONIGHT for IDNS, Bring The Fight, Catharcyst, and four local bands! Should be a good show, don't miss it! Thanks everyone!