Annex Theory Lineup Change, New Videos, And More!!

On this extremely snowy Tuesday, why not stay in with a new news post? Today, we have new videos from recent Kewadin Casino events (one you'd expect, and one you wouldn't), along with a few assorted shorter stories from recent days, but first, here's a big update relating to an upcoming metal show!

There's been a big change to the lineup of this Thursday's metal concert at The Roosevelt Hotel, as headlining Winnipeg progressive death metal band Annex Theory have been forced out of the show due to weather-related road closures, which have shut down the highways where they currently are (my source is their Facebook page.) This is extremely disappointing, especially for local metalheads who enjoyed Annex Theory's show here in 2011, but hopefully we'll see them back in the area at some point soon! Never fear though, as a replacement band has already been found, that being the original crash band, Sykotyk Rampage! As confirmed in comment replies on the Facebook event page, this will be Sykotyk Rampage's first live concert appearance of 2013 & their first show at The Rosie in over 6 months, and with their addition, they'll now take the middle slot on Thursday, likely making The Bear Hunters the new headliners at the concert.

It's great to see Sykotyk Rampage back in the new year, and while they are a stylistic change from The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver, they should entertain with their varied improvised hard/alternative rock originals! Plus, if guitarist Dirk Becker's doing sound already, that'd make the choice even more fitting! Stay tuned to the SMS tomorrow or Thursday for more on this show when we preview the weekend's metal & hard rock shows!

Next up, we finally have a video from a recent Dreammaker's Theater hard rock concert, as this video of the Steve Priest version of Sweet at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino is now online! Uploaded by YouTube user yoopergraywolf43 on Friday, this is of the April Wine openers playing their song "Love Is Like Oxygen", and it's a decent video! The filmer had a good angle of the band, though the quality is very mixed, with cell phone camera dimensions and staticy audio, but at least the filmed song isn't overly heavy (if yoopergraywolf43 had filmed "Ballroom Blitz", I imagine it wouldn't have came out as well.) This version of Sweet sounds good though, and it's great to finally see any videos from the April Wine concert, so check out this new video below, and hopefully someone has more waiting to be posted!



Also in the realm of new Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino videos is something a little different. On Saturday, this video was uploaded to YouTube by Grand Rapids live entertainment act Piano Party, who specialize in solo and dueling piano concerts at corporate and private events. Such appearances make the audience the stars of the show, with almost entirely audience-requested setlists and crowd participation combined with humour and widely varying songs, and it all definitely sounds like a fun time, but where's the direct metal connection? Piano Party performers Charlie Bauman and Nick Ayoub were recently booked for an event of some kind at the Soo Kewadin, and they were filmed during their performance of the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which is very well done for an impromptu duo version! Great singing, and piano work, though some parts of the song definitely work a lot better than others (i.e. the opera part suffers, despite solid audience call & response.) Different, but fun in it's own way, so check out Piano Party's local Queen rendition below!



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

• I've deleted Sault Ontario metal project Meatplow from our inactive Sault Ontario band links. One of the more recent local projects from ex-Amethyst drummer Phil Temporao, they were active from 2009-2011, but with the deletions of their videos and almost all online pages, there's very little surviving online at present to document them. Hopefully Phil revisits the project down the road, or at least re-posts their videos, as their industrial tinged sound was a neat addition to the scene!
• A new instrumental demo song has been posted onto Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Reverbnation page! Entitled "Dreams of Winter Symphony", it's a slower and more emotional sounding track compared to some of their more recent output, but it's very well performed and still has an epic feel, so check the link above to hear it!
• An interview from last fall with ex-Woods of Ypres guitarist Joel Violette for Thunder Bay college radio station LU Radio's Iron Maple radio show was just posted online this month, so click here to give it a listen! It's largely about his New Brunswick black metal band Thrawsunblat & their upcoming 2nd album, but Joel does briefly address the reception to "Woods V" and the David Gold tribute shows last spring, and it's a solid interview overall, if patchy for audio quality!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more as the week rolls along, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: hmm & TantrymTyme

It's time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, though with a slight change. I'd originally selected the first channel we're looking at today for a one-channel profile, but since I last visited this channel, a number of videos were deleted for unannounced reasons, leaving just 3 videos of 2 distinct types, which is too small to fill a post now. Rather than stretch it too far, I randomly chose a YouTube channel with just one local metal video to fill it out, so for the 4th straight month, we're looking at 2 channels' videos, information, and reasons for subscribing! Without any further adieu, read on below for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! (Edited on October 16th, 2013)
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hmm (http://www.youtube.com/spt2112)

Owner: Former Amethyst/Meatplow drummer Phil Temporao, a.k.a. Sebastien Phily Temporao & Phily S. Tempo

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 31st, 2009; Videos posted between March & May 2011

Channel Summary: Prolific veteran local musucian Phil Temperao maintained this channel in recent years to feature media of his recent local metal projects, including the band originally known as Meatplow and a later solo project named Sebastien 6. Sadly, all of his Meatplow videos have either been deleted or privatized, including some very solid industrial metal jamming and a cover of Judas Priest's "Grinder" that all shown off Phil's uniquely gritty vocals, but now it just features solo performances under the "Sebastien 6" banner from the spring of 2011, including a drum solo and two studio original songs. All were recorded or filmed at his home studio Greentown Digital Studios.

Why Should You Watch: I'd give Phil's YouTube channel a look to see his recent solo material, which is definitely much different from his Amethyst days, but still well performed, and I hope he revisits his music again in the future! That said, I honestly preferred the Meaplow videos, as they were more aggressive and had a unique electronic angle, and hopefully Phil makes them available again down the road! As well, note that I don't think Phil's used this channel in over a year, in case that changes your mind on subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

drumzsolo.wmv: The earliest of Phil's surviving videos is also his only surviving live video, and it's a drum solo filmed circa March 2011 which appears to be a studio cut named titled "drum grooves/warmupz". Uploaded in a old movie-style sepia filter, it's just over a minute of Phil executing a very nice drum solo, if not blisteringly paced, and it shows his talent nicely! Note though that many of his deleted videos featured him on an electronic drum kit, rather than the more standard one in this video.



SEBASTIEN 6,,,RAIN: Phil's other surviving videos are studio recordings from his Sebastien 6 solo project, including songs named "Evil Drivin'" and (as embedded below) "Rain", which his his most viewed upload of the three. Compared to his Meatplow work, these songs (though heavy) are much softer and more varied in tone, with clean vocals and a bit more repetition in the song structures. I leaned more towards the Meatplow material, but Phil's musical range is at work here, and he can sing cleanly well (though the style used on "evil Drivin'" didn't gel to me.) Each features photo slideshows of Phil, musical instruments, and photos relating to the songs' lyrics, with plenty of effects, while "Rain" also features Phil's brother (and fellow Amethyst alum) Jose "Wales" Temperao on guest guitar, which he impresses on!


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TantrymTyme (http://www.youtube.com/user/tantrumzone)

Owner: A member of Sault Michigan metal band Tantrym Tyme from during their brief tenure as Tantrum following their name change from Abstract (identity otherwise unclear)

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 4th, 2012; Only video posted that same day

Channel Summary: This is/was the official YouTube channel for Tantrum/Tantrym Tyme, but since they updated the page to reflect their current name, there's been no major updates. As such, the channel's only video is of Tantrum playing at a talent show at Sault Area Middle School circa the spring of 2012, seemingly filmed in the school gym from the bleachers, and it has them covering The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know", and Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets"! Featuring singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy (guitarist Quinton Jacobson hadn't joined yet), the guys' talents for their young ages are on full display (though Jacob's singing is very quiet compared to the heavy covers), and it bridges somewhat from the Abstract era to their slightly heavier current work! Having the sound guy behind the band seems odd though. Note that for more recent & updated Tantrym Tyme videos, check out Jacob's YouTube channel!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, and I apologize again for the late addition this month, I literally only found out about the spt2112 deletions yesterday. So, what's coming up in this series next month? Well, the first channel I randomly selected didn't have three distinct local metal videos, but for the first time since July, we'll be looking at 3 different channels, as the second one we picked didn't have 2! The chosen channels for next month are Woods of Ypres' official VEVO YouTube channel (featuring their last music video), reneepaigefecteau's channel (featuring a Three Days Grace concert video from 2008), and ex-Sense of Truth drummer Ryan Haryett's channel (featuring an S.O.T. video from 2009), so watch out for this on or around February 22nd!  That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including lots of videos from the Sebastian Bach concert on Sunday! Thanks everyone!

A New David Gold Article, New Page Designs, And A Now-Inactive Local Band!!

Let's get another news post up at the SMS, so here's what's on tap for this Wednesday! We've got a great new Sault Star article with local connections, a band's likely descent into inactivity, details on a relaunched local site with metal aspects, and an acknowledgement of recent Facebook changes, so here's what you need to know!

A new article on late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold has made The Sault Star! Entitled "Solid Gold" and written by Jeffery Ougler, I presume it's in yesterday's paper, but you can click here for the online version. The article largely features comments from David's mom Esther Gold, though Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland (who's promoting Saturday night's Ypres Metal Fest) is also briefly interviewed. In the article, Esther talks about the time between David's last text to her and when she heard about his passing, how the family is adjusting, her efforts to keep the Woods of Ypres name alive, opening her home to bands to stay at for concerts David was connected with, his songwriting ability, and much more, so definitely give the article a read for some nice and heartfelt comments! I still feel really bad for her, and I can't imagine how hard it would be to lose a child right before Christmas, it just seems unfair. Jeffery also gives deserved plugs to the planned "A Heart of Gold" Woods of Ypres tribute CD (though it's title & complete track listing aren't given) and both David Gold memorial concerts (specifically the Ypres Metal Fest this weekend at The Canadian), which is awesome to see, as every bit of press helps!

It's also briefly noted that Bossy's Pub N' Grub (seconds from The Canadian) now has tickets for the Ypres Metal Fest, which has not been mentioned elsewhere in terms of ticket locations, but keep that in mind! This is a great article, and though they credit Toronto as Woods of Ypres' home base despite having formally relocated here in 2008, it's well researched, very long, and gives some awesome press to all the David Gold tributes on the horizon! Check it all out at the above links (or read yesterday's paper), and stay tuned for more on all of the above topics soon!

Next up, I wanted to note a band that we're now considering to be inactive on the SMS, that being the Sault Ontario metal band once known as Meatplow. While we're not past the year's inactivity threshold that we count on the SMS, their Facebook page was deleted within the last few months, and with no real band updates for many months as it is, I'm comfortable in saying that they've probably went inactive. As such, I've replaced their link on here with their Facebook group, and they're now in our inactive Sault Ontario band links. Meatplow were a newer project from former Amethyst drummer Phil Temperao and assorted other members that had been active off and on from roughly 2009-2011, and though a name change and recorded material were hinted at in early 2011 videos on Phil's YouTube channel, nothing was ever publically announced to expand on said news. Info on Meatplow was always lacking, but their videos shown a lot of promise, especially on their industrial-tinged earlier videos, and Phil impressed me with his singing and drumming, so hopefully he, Dennis, and Mike will reactivate the project down the road, or at least stay in music. Check out more from the band once known as Meatplow at the above links!

Thirdly, the 705 Video Magazine is finally back online, and if you've missed the old Sault Music Scene website, then you'll like this! In it's last forms, the 705VM was just a general forum with a connected Facebook page, but now, they have a full website again, and along with sections on local extreme sports and general news/reviews, it has a full music section with profiles & reviews on bands local and non-local alike, just like The Sault Music Scene used to have! Profiles on the Ypres Metal Fest, Frightlight, The Harsh Heads, As It Stands, and Destroilet are featured, among many others, so click the above links to check them out! Note that they mostly featured very basic bio information and don't appear to be newly written with analysis of the bands, but maybe with time. There's even some interviews with a metal relevance, though none are with a local band. A store is also coming soon, and despite the focus back on an old Sault Music Scene-esque style, the 705VM forum is back too! It's newly relaunched with a new layout, format, and sub-boards, so you'll need to re-register, but at least it's not locked to non-members like some of their older forums were! That said, the old metal-centric board from there is gone, but there's still music-centered ones to talk bands and shows with!

With the changes, I've edited the link in our local metal message boards section to reflect the new forum URL, and because it's now separate from the 705VM website itself, I've added that to our "Other Local Metal Links". It's great to see the 705 Video Magazine go back to the future for their new look and focus beyond Facebook, and I hope this takes off like the original Sault Music Scene did! Same for the forum, as it's seen so many looks, names, and states lately, and I hope this current form lasts for the long term. Check it all out, and stay tuned for more local metal plugs from the 705VM as they come in!

And finally, just a note on something I'm sure that all of you guys are more than aware of by now, but most (if not all) Facebook pages have been upgraded to the new "Timeline" format, presumably to achieve consistency with the Timeline profiles that Facebook has been rolling out to personal Facebook accounts. Yes, this is mandatory, just like the MySpace & YouTube profile changes. As such, the timeline features a new two-column layout with a large cover photo, new placements for subsections and mentions/postings, and there's an emphasis on creating a timeline for whatever your page is for, so while it's not easy to see every single thing you've ever posted, you can go back & add things (like a discography or important events) if you so chose, which would help to connect the dots and accentuate your history and happenings. Nothing's being directly deleted from your pages with the change, but you may want to edit them to re-accentuate or promote certain aspects of it. I don't find that the Timeline profile is perfect, but it's not terrible, and I've tried to make the SMS' Facebook page look nice with the new format, including a cover photo of our logo with numerous local band members inside it. It's an adjustment, but hopefully you guys can take on your band pages and make them look great!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for news, concert previews, and feature posts shortly! Thanks everyone!

Lots Of Assorted News And Notes From The Last While!!

This is our 25th post of the month already, and at this rate, we could approach last month's post record at this rate! Today's post is largely comprised of older stories that got pushed aside in recent weeks, but is well worth discussing! This includes a cool SMS concept logo, the latest from Lion Ride & Beyond The Surface, some new pages, and kicking things off, a new video! Here's what you need to know!

Veteran local musician Phil Temperao has uploaded a solo song onto his YouTube channel! Unlike the older jam session videos that usually featured him and Dennis Porter, this is a solo song that bears little resemblance to the older Meatplow (or whatever they'll be called next) videos. This is just a song named "Rain" under the project name "Sebastien 6". It features Phil on all instruments save for the lead guitar, which is actually provided by his brother Jose (a.k.a. Jose Wailz), who you may recall as Phil's old Amethyst bandmate! Compared to the more aggressive and industrial tinged songs from the full band, "Rain" is a lighter track that is still hard rocking, and shows off Phil's singing range. The guitar work's solid, but the song can be a bit repetitive, and if you prefer the material from the live videos with Dennis contributing, "Rain" may be slightly underwhelming in tone. It's a solid track though, and it's accompanied with some good shots of Phil and outdoor nature pictures. Recorded at Greentown Digital Studios this year, there's apparently more coming from this solo project, so keep an eye out! Check the above links for more, and here's "Rain"!



Next up, here's some long overdue news on young Pickford hard rockers Beyond The Surface. Firstly, they've announced that lead guitarist Eli Reilly is now be their full time singer going forward in addition to playing guitar, replacing Danielle Petingalo in the band's vocalist position. No reasons have been posted for Danielle's departure, but in all fairness, she hasn't been a credited member of the band since before I heard about them, so it just took a while for official confirmation. I don't know how Eli sounds vocally, but he can't sound too bad! With that said, the band have announced their next live gig, which will be part of a "spring concert" at Pickford High School on May 17th with the school band. I don't know enough about it to call it on the SMS yet as a "public concert", but keep it in mind, especially if you live in Pickford or attend Pickford High! They're a promising young band, and I am curious to hear how they sound in their current incarnation! Stay tuned for more updates at their Facebook page, and I'll try to stay more on top of them in the future!

Thirdly, here's a pair of new Facebook pages from some local metal bands! One isn't really "new", but I only discovered it a few weeks ago, so I gotta mention it. Sault Michigan hard rockers Intrepid (one of the many Guitar Studio rock camp bands) have had a Facebook page since August of 2009, and believe it or not, we've never mentioned it here! The page tells us some interesting details on the band from late 2009-2010, including a number of very brief and often ill-detailed statuses about their next shows, which ranged from local bars to talent shows to the Kewadin Festival! I'd have covered these for sure if I knew about them, but many were ambiguous and only hinted towards potential shows or gigs with no listed venue or date. The page also includes a bunch of live photos, though sadly, no concert video footage. Intrepid haven't updated this page since after a December talent show performance, but if you wanna get caught up on Intrepid, click here! The other news is that Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night have a Facebook page of their own, and though it only features synched news from their primary Reverbnation page, do check it out, as you'll still find out about their latest news!

Fourthly, do you want some new photos? How's about some new Lion Ride photos? Some professional quality photographs from around the time of their local show earlier this month at The Rockstar Bar are now online, including an extensive slideshow from photographer Jesse Nelson on his blog Family Tree Land! Loads of photos from before and after their concert, including the show itself, are included there, which are great quality but sadly unavailable in high resolution on the page itself. To view in larger and better resolution, click here to go straight to the original Flickr feed, you'll thank me later! Look out for cameos by members of some prominent local bands and a band member's mother in the front row, for example! The other photos will be coming soon from prominent local photographer Curt O'Neil, who's done some outstanding past work with Lion Ride concert pictures! This time around, he just did a formal photo shoot with the band, I think their first of this type with the current lineup. Though the fruits of this labour aren't visible yet, Curt did post one preview picture, and it's on your left, but click here for full resolution! Nice work, I can't wait to see more, so stay tuned for when they come online!

Finally, here's a cool little custom item I've been holding onto for a while! If you know me well, you'll know that I enjoy the art of logos, be they for sports, companies, or whatever, and I try to utilize appropriate designs in SMS artwork, logos, and page layouts. I'm not a professional, but I do what I can. That said, Destroilet drummer Matt Waples, who is a VERY talented graphic designer with Sonigraphix Design Solutions, sent me a concept for a new SMS logo last month based around the one we debuted in December. I thought now was a good time to share his work with you guys, as he deserves all the credit in the world for the work he does! I'm a fan of logo concepts on sites like Icethetics, so why not inject some of that here? If I remember correctly, I told Matt that this looked great, but it felt more like a Japanese action movie logo than a metal website logo, not that that's a bad thing. I find the M a bit fat and the flipped second S makes it look like "SMZ", but that aside, it's a damn good concept, and I appreciate Matt going out of his way to make this on his own free will! What do you guys think of it? Feedback is welcome, especially with the work Matt puts in! Check out his portfolio too at this location, outstanding work on logos and posters, and I added Sonigraphix to our Other Local Metal Links too!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!!

Anyone in the market for some new local metal videos? I've got some for you today, including another Sewer Swampstravaganja video, a brand new music video, and the latest from Meatplow, and our latest weekly classic video, so let's get things rolling! And before anyone asks, yes I'm aware of the Woods of Ypres tour vlogs from Toronto, but I'm gonna feature it/them when completely uploaded in a Woods of Ypres-centric post. Stay tuned for that! Now, it's time for some new videos!

It's only fair to go in alphabetical order for the videos I didn't newly post, so let's start with Frightlight! You may remember yesterday when I mentioned Chantal Hopper's videos of As It Stands' set from Saturday's Sewer Swampstravaganja show at The Oddfellows Hall, but she has one more on her YouTube channel from Frightlight's set! It's just 1:25 long, but it features some good moshing footage from the floor! Like her As It Stands videos, the audio is VERY scratchy, but at least I can make out the song! Now before you freak out over the video's title, I want to note that this is NOT of Frightlight covering Limp Bizkit. I assume Chantal got this song confused with what sounded like a Limp Bizkit song, but I am 100% positive that this is of Frightlight playing their original "World War Z", which capped off their set. No worries though, I appreciate her posting it online, I just hope she corrects that before someone wrongfully assumes Frightlight are covering that band! Check it out below, and more at the above links!



Next up, here's a video that got a rather low key debut online, but should be seen! Last year, you may remember when Garden of Bedlam posted their music video for "The Truth Shall Set You Free", as produced by CML Productions and filmed by former Amethyst frontman Rick Dellavedova at a December 2009 concert. Well, the latest CML-produced music video of a Garden of Bedlam original is now online! It was quietly uploaded onto the band's YouTube channel yesterday, which is odd given the lack of promotion or advertising for it. Despite my own assumption of a new album track for pre-promotion, this is of their song "Shallow" from their 2009 debut EP, which is now available on iTunes and Amazon! Like their first video, this is largely in black & white and has a similar video quality, but the main difference (beyond the song) is that it lifts footage from multiple Foggy Notions concerts AND from their jam room! There's also some minimal colour use as well. Though similar in feel to the previous video, this stands on it's own and it supports a great song, so give it a look below, and click here for more Garden of Bedlam videos!



Thirdly, here's the latest video footage of the band (formerly?) known as Meatplow! Singer/drummer Phil Temporao uploaded a short new jam session video from a "private rehearsal" onto his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's of a teaser of a song named "Skeletonz Song"! The band looks a bit different here, with Dennis Porter on drums, Phil only singing, and for the first time, Mike Thiffault on guitar in the actual video! (If I have his name wrong, let me know.) From what we hear on this video, the band does sound a bit lighter than we're used to, with a simple and bouncy guitar melody, but Phil's vocals are still aggressive and rangy. I'll be interested to hear a full version of this song! The video and description for it also point out some new band details, like plans to release a DVD, and a mention that they are "the next upcoming 'Hottest Band' yet with no name", implying that they have dropped the Meatplow moniker. I'm for a change if it's true, as Meatplow suggests they'd sound like The Stone Temple Pilots, which isn't accurate. I'll keep you posted with updates on (formerly?) Meatplow as it comes in, but check out the new video below, and more at the above links!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! I decided to flip back to Sault Michigan for this week, especially considering the well hyped Half A Man concert on Saturday night, and wouldn't you know it, that's the band we're focusing on for this week's video! This comes from Half A Man's debut performance on July 17th of last year in Brimley at last year's Superior Whitefish Festival, and it's of the band playing their original "Drunk" to cap off their set! This video's unique in a few respects, in that it's of their first show, and of the lineup, which was shuffled from later incarnations. Then-drummer Doug Reed was absent, so bassist Gary Croad filled in for this set, and guitarist Denny Breslin handled the bass. So how did "3/8ths A Man" sound? Not bad, you honestly can't tell that two members are on different instruments, and the song has a heavy groove and a catchy quality that is making it a live favourite! Good stuff, and the video quality is awesome too! The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1493561548534 and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! This deserves to see a wider audience, and all credit goes to Half A Man & the original filmer! With that said, here's "Drunk"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!

News From Destroilet, Half A Man, Meatplow, And A New Festival!

Get ready, guys, for this is a triple post Saturday! We'll start today with a new news post featuring some new scattered updates. we'll have some more news and the latest March Mayhem updates this afternoon (YOU HAVE UNTIL 2:15 TO VOTE!!), and then tonight, our review of Woods of Ypres' debut EP "Against The Seasons: Cold Winter Songs From The Dead Summer Heat"! This is a big day, hope you guys come back frequently today! Now, to the news, as we have new pages, new songs, new concert details, new videos, and kicking things off, a new concert event! Here's what you need to know!

On June 25th, a special concert event will take place at Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan named LemmaFest, and apologies to everyone if I'm missing or misstating anything here. The event is being held in memory of Michael Lemma, a Dondee employee who tragically passed away on July 2nd of last year at just 38 years of age. He was a funny, well liked, and respected guy that was frequently seen at area concerts, and his loss was definitely felt in the Sault Michigan area last summer. From this sprung the first annual LemmaFest, which will be held on June 25th at the Dondee, and it will be an all day concert, with bands playing from 12:00 PM to 2:00 AM! Other events like a 50/50 draw, prizes, special bowling deals, horseshoes, and beach volleyball are also planned. I'm not aware of an admission price yet, I'll keep you all posted on that. I never knew Mike, but from everything I've seen and heard, I can tell he deserves all the love and respect that people are giving him, and this is a great way to honour his memory one year later! As for bands, a full schedule and official announcements on most bands aren't out yet, but I have seen visible interest and preliminary confirmation from hard rock acts Half A Man, Scofflaw, and River Witch, along with other area bands The Hixx and Fallen Heroes, so make note of their likely involvement!

I can't speculate too much on other possible bands, but as word trickles in, I'll let you guys know! This sounds like a great event for a great purpose, and I will absolutely keep you guys posted as more official word comes in! For more details, visit the official Facebook page, event page, and fan page in Mike's memory!

Next up, are you guys craving a new local metal or hard rock album already? This isn't quite that, but it'll do until it comes out, as Destroilet have posted unmastered mixes of every song from their upcoming debut EP onto their MySpace page! Their originals "Hypocrite" and "My Life" along with their cover of The Billy Bastards' "Mile 58" are now available to stream on there along with the previously posted tracks, so now you can hear the whole EP before it's release! Of course, things won't be 100% the same though from the final copy, as these are unmastered mixes. That's why I'm not rushing to review it immediately, there are changes and improvements to come before the CD pressing begins, but Destroilet have moved at a rapid pace to get this material out there! The EP only clocks in at around 13 minutes long, which isn't as short on the whole as six Detroit songs, for example, but it will still will fly by, especially with only one song exceeding 3 minutes in length! What do I think of the new songs? Again, I'll hold complete thoughts until the EP actually comes out, but if you enjoyed the first three demos for the EP, your opinion will be the same on the latest three! Check the above links for more details, and remember to vote for them to make The Warped Tour's Montreal stop at this location!

Thirdly today, have you been wondering what's been up with the local metal band Meatplow? Honestly, so have I, especially given their long break from real band news. Guitarist Dennis Porter frequently posted links to the same videos I shown you early last year on his personal Facebook page, which sounded promising, but nothing new has popped up until this month! Five very short HD videos of recent jam sessions were uploaded by singer/drummer Phil Temporao (ex-Amethyst) onto his YouTube channel over the past week, and they do show and tell us some more! They tell us that they were recorded in what is now called GreenTown Digital Recordz, which appears to be Phil's name for their recording studio, but nothing implying the name Meatplow is thrown about in the videos. Same members though! The new videos are a heavy groove metal improv section, a clip of a cover of Alice In Chains' "Them Bones", a bass solo with drum accompaniment, a drum solo, and a short guitar riff, so click each link to check them out!

Again, guitarist Mike Thiffault (I think that's his last name) isn't in any of these videos, but they again show the unique promise that Meatplow had from last year! Phil's vocals are heavy and suit their original improv songs, the songs still retain a groove/industrial feel, and everything fits as well as I'd expect! I wonder what we'll hear next from Meatplow (if this is in fact still their name) and GreenTown Digital Recordz? Check the above links for more, and here's a clip of Phil and Dennis jamming out some improv groove metal!



Finally, here's some new Half A Man news! The Brimley hard rock quartet have been keeping busy recently with lots of scattered updates and developments, including a ton of new logo concepts (judge for yourself at their Facebook page), but there's some other interesting news to share! For one, the band was talking about doing some touring and possibly taking part in a self-organized local concert featuring them, Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way (featuring Saultite Zak Stelmaszek), and a major headlining band from their own contacts. They threw Skid Row out there as a possibility, but this is talk at the moment. It'd be cool if it happened though, so click the above links to join this conversation! As well, their April 16th headlining concert at The Merchant's Bar (poster on the left) has been bolstered with the addition of a new band making their live debut as openers! Originally hyped as a "secret" opening band, I can now confirm that they are called Great Bodily Harm! The band will feature former Hammerspace singer Kirk Labadie, former Half A Man drummer Doug Reed on guitar, River Witch guitarist Chris Leask on bass, and End of Existence frontman Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten on drums! How's that for a supergroup of sorts? No word on them beyond the members, but if I hear more, I'll let you know! Check out the above links for all of this Half A Man news, and more!

That's all for now, but stay tuned this afternoon for our second of three posts today, as we hopefully cover some more news, as well as unveil the results of the first four March Mayhem opening round matches, and start the voting for the next four! Remember, you have until 2:15 PM TODAY to vote, so if you want to help swing the results the other way, or secure victory for the current leaders, you still have time! VOTE TODAY, and I'll see you guys real soon!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (40 Sons), Plus New Videos And Show Updates!!

So how about The Super Bowl? Oh wait, this isn't a sports blog, it's a metal blog! Lots of news and updates to get to today, ranging from videos to show updates to just plain interesting stuff! And we'll start with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

A little over six weeks after they last rocked Sault Ontario, Hamilton's own 40 Sons will be returning to the area for a concert on March 4th! This time, they won't be in Coch's Corner like they were in their last couple of local visits. Nope, when they hit the Sault next month, they'll be invading The Speakeasy at Algoma University! A start time of 8:00 PM is given on their MySpace page. Now The Speakeasy have yet to confirm this show, but bear in mind, they are having some issues that have resulted in the bar's closure since Wednesday, so patience will be a virtue! Once I find out details on ticket prices, age restrictions, any additional bands, and whatever all else, you'll find them here! Great to see 40 Sons back so soon, they're a solid band, check some of their stuff out at this location! I might hit this show, we'll have to see!

Now to a trio of announcements concerning upcoming concerts: One with a new band, one that needs bands, and one that needs a venue. We'll start with the show with a new band, and it's the concert on May 6th featuring Derelict at Foggy Notions! I can now confirm that there will be at least one opener, and it's North Bay experimental metal band Thekillingfield! You may recognize them as one of the opening acts for the April 12th, 2009 Cattle Decapitation concert at The Oddfellows Hall! This is shaping up to be one brutal show that death metal fans won't want to miss, I'll keep you posted on anything else I hear from this show! That includes possible additional bands, but I won't say anything that's not confirmed. You'll see if something new's added! Oh, and check Thekillingfield out on MySpace!

Now to the show that needs bands, and we'll start with a personal admission: I'm not as in tune with Sault Michigan as I'd like to be. I don't have a lot of the connections and sites that I have from the Sault Ontario side of things, so I miss stuff here and there across the river. So when I see something new in Sault Michigan being advertised, I don't hesitate to discuss it. That was the case today when I saw this on one of my breaks: Lake Superior State University are holding a Battle of the Bands next month! It will be March 20th at 6:00 PM, running until midnight! No rules or major details are listed on the poster, like exactly where the battle will be held, fan or band fees, rules, prizes, and so on, but contact info is given for this info! E-mail Jacob Winn at jwinn@lssu.edu or Tracy Merony at tmerony@lssu.edu if you are at all interested in attending or playing this battle! Judging from the LSSU stamp on the right, you have until March 12th to enter. Note that the poster doesn't say it's restricted to only bands with an LSSU student in the lineup, but keep it in the back of your head just in case. If I hear anything more on this battle, I'll be sure to share it, especially if metal bands make it on!

And finally for concert updates, here's something I haven't had in a while: A band looking to play here, but needing a venue! New Brunswick experimental hard rockers Cop Shades are looking for a Northern Ontario stop on their upcoming summer tour with bands to be announced. According to their MySpace page, they're hoping for it to be in Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie on August 8th before heading to Thunder Bay. Seeing as this is The Sault Metal Scene, I'll do my part to help get the word out for a Cop Shades show in the Soo! If you'd like to book or host Cop Shades on August 8th at a local venue, contact them at this location! Unique sound, no guitars and kinda experimental and sludgy, but heavy at the same time! We'll have to see where they'll be heading!

Finally for today, it's video time! A pair of local metal bands have released some new videos, and we'll start with Meatplow! Finally, we have real video of these guys in action, coming from the account of singer/drummer Phil Temporao (a.k.a. Phily S. Tempo from Amethyst!) These are older jam videos, not sure how representative they are of the band today, but if it's any indication, we're in for something special! The clips feature guitarist Dennis Porter and Phil on an electric drumkit (bassist Mike Thiffault isn't present...if the last name's wrong, my apologies!) The first clip is just a random jam of stuff off the top of their heads, and it actually sounds really good considering it's improvised! Phil doesn't have a bad singing voice either, the song has a cool industrial vibe! Maybe it's not James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, but it works! The other clip is their cover of Judas Priest's "Grinder", which I don't think suits their industrial vibe as much, but I really like Phil's vocal range, I'm surprised he could hit that falsetto! Both are good clips, check out the improv jam clip immediately below, or visit Phil's YouTube channel! (The song really kicks in after about 2:30)



Also, we have new video footage of Sykotyk Rampage from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts/Sault College Battle of the Bands! As it turns out, bands received the video footage of their sets afterwards, so guitarist Dirk Becker took the band's video, re-mastered it with effects, and created some unique live clips from the shows! Nice work! He's done two so far, "Called In Dead" and "Drinking on the Weekend", and says he'll make one for "Treating You Bad" soon as well! Nice work, always great to see pro-shot video of any local band! Check out their performance of "Called In Dead" from last Wednesday at The Heartstop Lounge immediately below! And of course, check out both the new clips (and some old) at Sykotyk Rampage's YouTube channel!



More news to come soon, including stuff on Sense of Truth and Woods of Ypres, and hopefully updates on Algoma Hope4Haiti, and much more! Stay tuned!

Assorted News On Meatplow, Energy Rock Radio, Lion Ride, And More!!

Last post of January, let us waste no time, for we have a bunch of assorted stories to get to! Let's start with a new studio-quality song from a new local band!

Meatplow, the Sault Ontario hard rock band I've profiled on the SMS in recent months, have posted a new video that unveils a bunch of photos and info about the band! It's nice to get more info on these guys! It is accompanied by The Stone Temple Pilots' song that the band are named after, I wonder if it's an indication of their sound? Aside from that, it's a picture slideshow, followed by credits at the end, including the band's members first names (Dennis, Phil, and Mike; I'm fairly certain of last names, but won't make guesses I can't back up), and it says that their first album will be titled "World Disease"! Hey, if all goes according to plan, I'll be there to pick it up! I'd embed the video here, but Facebook annoyingly doesn't have this feature, so click here to check it out! And before you say I missed a second video on their page, it's the same as the first, just missing the credits. Now we wait for new material! (And excuse my first posts about Meatplow tonight, I made a couple dumb mistakes. I'm only human!)

Next up, Energy Rock Radio's official relaunch is TOMORROW! Yes, the local internet hard rock radio station is now all fancy and new, with a bunch of new features, especially on their website! Besides the new layout and design, the site now features a request form for song requests! As well, Energy Rock Radio now has airplay 24/7 (ensuring that even without DJs, you'll get music!), a new on-air staff lineup, 20% off deals for merchandise in February, and lots more! Owner Ryan McQueen also announced that Energy Rock Radio will be broadcasting LIVE from Foggy Notions on February 27th during the Garden of Bedlam/Papa Fogals Chair concert! Very slick look, and of course, the radio portion is as good as ever! Click here to check out the new site, listen to ERR live, and lots more! I know I don't talk about Energy Rock Radio as much as I should, but I'll work on that! Take a listen!

Remember when I talked about Sault Michigan's own Mikey Bishop and the bands he's drummed in? Well, it looks like his current band are making their way up here! Mikey wrote on the SMS' MySpace page's wall tonight and mentioned that Summon, the Lansing black metal band he's currently drumming for, will be in Sault Michigan THIS WEEK to drop off some Summon CDs at Grooves Music! He hopes to meet with some local bands this week to possibly get local openers for a Summon concert in the area! He's hoping to get two local bands to open, and he says another touring metal band will join Summon at this show! Day, venue, and information unknown at present. Anyone interested in playing at a black metal concert in Sault Michigan, or helping Mikey get a medium sized venue for it? E-mail Mikey at his MySpace page to show your interest! And of course, head to Grooves Music to pick up a Summon CD, black metal fans will find a lot to like! I'll keep you guys posted as I hear more!

Two more stories to cap this post with: One, Stillbroke's concert February 11th in Toronto has been cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances". The event page was deleted and everything. Sucks to see it called off, I bet it'd have been a big show! The other story is that SooToday's own Donna Hopper conducted a professional photo shoot with Lion Ride last month! She remarked that this is the first photo shoot that she's done in a proper photo studio, so the lighting inside was an issue, but the photos turned out real nice! 27 shots have been posted on her photography page on Facebook, all in black and white, ranging from band poses to solo shots! Nice work, can't wait to see more! Click here to check out the full album!

That's all for now, but tomorrow, it's CD review time! We'll finally get to the review of Detroit's new album "Brace For Impact"! Also look out for my profiles of two bands (The Sexual Vigilantes and Papa Fogals Chair) from out of town with local members, a review of Wednesday's Sykotyk Rampage-featured Battle of the Bands, and much more! Thanks everyone, CD review TOMORROW!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), Caveman Morrison VIP Night Preview, And Two New Local Bands!

Well, my exams are finally done, so let's update you guys on some new stuff! And we'll start with some Garden of Bedlam news!

On Monday, SooToday posted a press release from Garden of Bedlam concerning the Kiss concert cancellation. As we all should know, Garden of Bedlam were to back up Kiss at the show due to their victory at the Kiss Battle of the Bands! The band expressed disappointment, but hope that when the show is rescheduled, they'll still be the openers. It also features comments from drummer Derek Turner. Now we have already heard a lot of what it says through band pages, but the last part of the article is well worth mentioning:

"Garden of Bedlam will take the stage at Foggy Notions on Boxing Day, and are currently working on new material for a full-length album to be released summer of 2010."

Hear that? Garden of Bedlam at Foggies on December 26th! The band haven't officially announced it as of 3:33 PM Wednesday, but the band has teased it a bit on Facebook too. And really, if it's in the official press release on SooToday, it must be true! So there, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! I still don't know full details though, but when the band announce them, I'll let you guys know! And make sure to read the news release from SooToday at this location!

Now, we have a concert tonight to preview, so here's what you need to know! I've heard the buzz for it all over the net and with people I've talked to, and finally, after over 20 months of waiting, Foggy Notions is back! Though the grand opening isn't until Friday (Sense of Truth are headlining!), you don't have to wait until then to experience the newly remodeled Foggy Notions! TONIGHT is the V.I.P. night, and headlining are none other than Caveman Morrison! Coming off last night's Kiss afterparty-makeup concert at The Rockstar Bar, they'll be headlining what should be a special night for those of you who loved Foggy Notions and were eagerly anticipating it's return! The concert/V.I.P. night is at 11:00 PM tonight, and tickets cost $10! Technically, tickets shouldn't even be available today, but with some cancellations, there were some available tonight, so ACT NOW if you want one! Call 575-0152 A.S.A.P. if you want to be a part of V.I.P. Night!

I won't go, though it'd be great to see Caveman Morrison again, I'm going to let people who experienced Foggy Notions in it's heyday have this one to themselves, I won't steal a ticket from someone who really really wants it. And if you guys can't make it tonight, no worries, Caveman Morrison will be back at Foggies on January 2nd, and it will be open to the public for Sense of Truth on Friday night! If you are going, you'll be in for a good concert, Caveman Morrison deliver some great covers, and you'll have fun! Check out videos and audio from the band and frotnman Tym Morrison's solo project at this location!

And my other big news today? NEW LOCAL BANDS! I came across two in recent days, and now it's time to profile them and add them to the band listings! The first is a band known as Meatplow! I can't completely confirm the band's lineup, but I believe at least one band member used to be in Amethyst, which, if I'm right, is awesome to hear! The band's Facebook page has some details about Meatplow's plans, including apparent recording sessions for an album to be released next year, and plans for the band to "break the Soo open" in February or March! No audio or video to speak of yet either, but their page says that Meatplow are "are a great band ready to rock" and "If you like the head bopping mixed with head banging then you will love our music." Sounds good to me, we'll have to see what they sound like! And when I hear more details on Meatplow, I'll let you guys know!

The other new band go by the name of Losing Ground, and you may recognize members of this band from another local group of a completely different genre! Frontman Kevin Koprash, bassist Kevin D'Orazio, and drummer Nick Kainula are also from local pop rock band Stealing Kisses, who you may have seen at a pair of shows with Bring The Fallen and assorted other bands from this past May! Well, it looks like the Stealing Kisses guys have gone metal, and joining them is lead guitarist Jonathan Tiberi, who definitely has some huge talent! Though he lived in the St. Catharines/Niagara area for a while, he's a Saultite, and he's uploaded some pretty good solo material onto his MySpace page! He's also done some stuff with fellow local guitarist Brendan Christie too! Sounds good, but how are the band? Well, if you ignore the bad quality audio, you can find out by clicking here, because they've uploaded a video from a jam session! Kevin Koprash is absent, but the song is solid enough, we'll have to see how they sound in full and live! As I hear more about Losing Ground, I'll be sure to share with everyone!

That's all I have for today, stay tuned to The Sault Metal Scene over the next while for my previews of this weekend's shows and the Foggy Notions grand opening, and much more! I won't be in town this weekend, I'm going to Detroit again, so I'll miss the fun at Foggy's, Rock of Ages, Free Refill, and Tym Morrison's solo shows, but I WILL BE BACK MONDAY! I will try and update the SMS where time permits in Detroit too. Oh, and thanks to the continuing support of our Facebook page, everyone! We're nearing 400 members, which is incredible, keep it up! Thanks eveyone!