LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (For All That Is Lost), A Band Breakup, And New Concert Videos!!

Before we get to the news, I wanna offer my condolences to the family and friends of former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, who passed away today at the age of 71. Jon was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968 & featured heavily on their albums during his tenure with the band, along with stints with respected acts like Whitesnake, and a respected career as a composer. I've always enjoyed & respected Deep Purple and their musical contributions, and Jon was a huge part of that, especially in their early years, and his loss is definitely being felt by many. R.I.P.! Now, to today's local metal news, as we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month in the Sault Ontario area, a band breakup, and a couple of new local concert videos, so here's what you need to know, and also check out our latest all-Woods of Ypres/David Gold post below this one!

After last month's successful F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird, local death metal quartet For All That Is Lost will host and headline another similar event named "A F.A.T.I.L. Requiem" at 436 Neebish Road in Laird (which I believe is a band member's home) on Saturday, August 4th! This time however, the concert will be shorter and a bit tighter organized due to noise complaints, but much metal will be had at this concert! For All That Is Lost are listed to headline and open the show at 5:00 & 10:00 PM respectively on August 4th, with four other local bands joining in. Those include local death metal bands The Valentine's Day Massacre at 9:00 PM, The Bear Hunters at 8:00 PM, and Crimson Crusade at 7:00 PM (all of whom played last month's F.A.T.I.I.L. Gathering), but the 6:00 PM slot is currently open (though I have heard tentative news on that slot, which I'll have for you guys soon!) There will be a $10 admission charge for this show, it will be an all ages event, and it all starts at 4:00 PM that day with bands to follow. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Hopefully this is another great F.A.T.I.L. event, and even with plans to make this smaller, hopefully the quality's just as good, so stay tuned for updates, and hopefully I can make the trip out to Laird for this one!

Next up, this might be somewhat of a broken record statement, but local death metal band State of Misery have disbanded once again. Drummer Nick Kainula confirmed the news via e-mail correspondence the other day, saying that they were "completely done", though he and bassist Kevin D'Orazio are working on a new project. Like their previous breakups, the writing was on the wall once again, thanks to their return set at the West of Hell concert two months ago not going well, half of the band's current primary projects (The Valentine's Day Massacre & March Into Regression), and imminent out of town school plans for a member, so I'm not surprised to see them end again. I was hoping that this second return would lead to local prominence akin to their early 2011 run, but who knows what exactly happened behind the scenes, and hopefully their current paths are the best for them individually. Best of luck to Steve, Ray, Kevin, and Nick in the future, and if they come back for a third time ever in the future, you know we'll cover it here!

We'll close this post with new videos, starting with a new "music video" for an out of town metal band, featuring footage from a local concert! Sudbury improv/comedy death metal trio 85 Pound Poutine's set-closing song "Bacon Fuck" (as titled/suggested by an attendee) was filmed at their co-headlining appearance at the Hallows Die show at The Canadian Nightclub on June 29th, and it's been posted onto the band's YouTube channel, complete with song lyrics! Filmed at the side of the stage by another attendee, the video quality is very washed out, but everything is heard well enough, and if you have trouble deciphering Gravy Smith's death growls, the added lyrics help (and though I know this is how their other videos look, why paste the words over the middle of the video?) Nice stuff, and amusing, so check out 85 Pound Poutine in the Soo below!



Finally, here's a new video from our newest addition to our band links, young local hard rock/metal quartet Ashes To Dust! An attendee of their set at the second Sewer Swampstravaganza filmed them covering System of a Down's "Aerials" on Friday, and the results were posted onto their YouTube channel after their set. Quality's pretty good for the camera, and the guys sound good here, but I dunno if this is the best song for Noah Morden vocally, as parts of it are a bit above where his range can go. It's nice to see another video of them in action, especially at a non-Superior Heights performance, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more Ashes To Dust updates as they come in!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Haggith & For All That Is Lost), A New Local Band, And More!!

Hey guys, it's time for another news post, and we've got some big stuff to get to, so here's what's on tap! Along with some thoughts on the 2008 David Gold interview we posted on here yesterday, we've also got LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for shows this month in the area, but first, here's a brand new local band connected to one of the new shows!

Yes, a new SMS-coverable band has launched, and they are a new alternative/grunge outfit named Haggith! As the name may imply, their lineup features prolific local solo artist Mike Haggith, making this the first Sault Ste. Marie-based band he's joined since relocating here in 2010. However, he'll be drumming for this band, rather than playing guitar or bass as in his other projects, but he has the chops to drum from what I know! Haggith's current lineup is rounded out by former Havadder bassist Daniel Horton on vocals & lead guitar, and ex-20 Pack of Marshmallows guitarist Curtis McKenzie (last seen in a Wawa-based solo project) on rhythm guitar. I believe this band is one & the same as the band that Daniel was seen looking for musicians for on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last month, but the search for a bassist is still ongoing. Haggith apparently formed on May 11th and just launched a Facebook page yesterday, where the guys have already indicated plans to record and release "basement EPs", though what form and availability those will take on isn't clear yet. That said, the aims to play a grunge-centric style of music is clear on their influences & descriptions, so Haggith should be able to fill a local niche for grunge fans!

A Reverbnation page is also in the works, but for now, I've added Haggith's Facebook page to our active Sault Ontario band links. Since No Arrow fell inactive, I know grunge fans have been craving more than just the occasional live cover, and hopefully Haggith can fill the void well and succeed in the area! The talent's there, but when can you see Haggith live? Apparently, this coming Sunday, so here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Their Facebook page is already hyping a debut concert on June 10th at The Canadian Nightclub, where they've hinted they'll also be circulating some form of a demo CD. As far as I can tell, this is definitely an official concert (despite the lack of a bassist), and though full details weren't revealed, a 9:00 PM-ish start time, cover charge of $5 or less, and a 19+ age limit wouldn't surprise me. Check the above links for more details! This news has definitely hit the site suddenly, but I'm definitely curious to hear Haggith live, and see these guys churn out some heavier live material (or live work in general), so keep their planned debut on Sunday at The Canadian in mind!

Also in new concerts.... well, this isn't really "new", but I only recently got enough information to really consider it a concert. Since early last month, some of you guys may have been aware of "A F.A.T.I.L. Gathering", a multi-band event on June 22nd to be headlined by Desbarats death metal band For All That Is Lost at 436 Neebish Road West in Laird (which I think is a band member's home.) Now, Laird is just within our current local range (emphasis on "current"), but I was reluctant to officially call it on here because it looked like a house party, and I tend to shy away from covering those as "concerts" on here (they're only so public, after all.) That said, the guys in F.A.T.I.L. are promoting and supplanting this event to the gills, and to not cover it in full on here would be a continued disservice, so here's all that you should know! Aside from For All That Is Lost headlining, no less than FIVE Sault Ontario metal bands will open this gathering, including local death metal bands The Valentine's Day Massacre, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver, local metal quartet Borderline Divine (in just their third local concert) and the recently returned local hardcore band Changing Waves, which makes for quite a solid lineup of area metal talent!

Aside from 6 bands running from 5:00 PM onward on June 22nd, there will also be food & drinks, a fire, 50/50 draws with prizes, and more, so this definitely will have an interesting mix of concert madness, activities, and even camping if you so choose (they even recommend bringing a tent.) Admission will be $10 at the door, and it is an ALL AGES EVENT. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a unique and interesting night of metal and good times, and it seems similar to the events that F.A.T.I.L. headlined in Thessalon last year, but this show is definitely a lot closer to home. Fingers crossed that I can attend, and keep tuned to the above links for updates!

And finally for today, here's some thoughts on the first of two archive David Gold/Woods of Ypres magazine interviews that I posted on here earlier today, that being his fall 2008 Metal Maniacs magazine interview with Agalloch bassist Jason William Walton. It's nice seeing an interview with a friend and fellow musician, maybe it helped David open up more in the discussion! I was probably most interested with David's opinions on why he was no longer focusing on black metal and the lessons he learned from the genre, especially when you remember that Woods of Ypres' move to a full doom metal sound wasn't as clear then as it would be in 2009. The criticism of the Toronto metal scene is also interesting, I wonder if other musicians would vouch for David's 2008 opinions? I also found it odd that, when discussing his move to South Korea, he never included mentions that he worked as a teacher there, yet he freely mentioned his educational work in later interviews, including his 2010 stint in Kuwait. Not counting future lineup changes & the like, the only real error is that Necramyth's then-upcoming album "Pagans in the East" was renamed "Slaughter of the Seoul" the following year, though I don't know if we ever heard why.

Overall, it's a solid interview from early in Woods of Ypres' local run, and it's definitely worth checking out either at this location or in the post immediately below this one! The other archive David Gold interview that I found (from the May 2009 issue of Windsor Arts & Music Monthly magazine) is definitely gonna be transcribed and posted on the site too, but not right away, just to spread them out and avoid any possible bias. For now, check out this first interview below, and stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!