YouTube Channel Profile Series: panzertera's Channel & Orb Hearthstone

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, where we again shine the spotlight on YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts, all randomly selected as usual! This month's installment is of two channels, as the first only had three audio uploads, so a second channel that I could source two distinct videos from was added to fill things out. Here's what you should know in this all E.U.P. installment, of which the same musician coincidentally factors in both channels!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

panzertera's Channel (http://youtube.com/panzertera)

Owner: A member of defunct Sault Michigan metal band Great Bodily Harm (exact identity unclear)

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 15th, 2009; Videos uploaded in March & April 2011

Channel Summary: This is the de facto official YouTube channel for the short-lived Great Bodily Harm, who you may remember seeing at a couple of local gigs in early-mid 2011 (including that year's Lemmafest). Their only extant online footprint of note is panzertera's channel, which features audio demos of their songs "You Don't Even Know", "Cuntrol" (sic), and their most popular track, "Jaw Breaker". G.B.H. featured vocalist Kirk Labadie (ex-Hammerspace), guitarist Doug Reed (ex-Half A Man), and future Power Slug bandmates Chris Leask (ex-Highway 63) and Bob Helsten (ex-I.S.O.M.) on bass and drums respectively. It's a shame that extreme metal bands from Sault Michigan never have a long shelf life, as Great Bodily Harm's very Pro-Pain-esque take on groove metal was very much welcomed 12 years ago, and these songs are all entertainingly heavy with some hardcore touches, but follow members' other bands to see what else they've done in the E.U.P. before and since 2011!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orb Hearthstone (http://youtube.com/orb609)

Owner: Prolific local metal musician Bob Helsten, a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone, who you may recognize as a vocalist with bands like Integrated System of Machines, End of Existence, and Mugwort, and as a drummer in bands like Clownsack, Power Slug, and Great Bodily Harm, among others

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 25th, 2006; Videos uploaded from April 2012-December 2019

Channel Summary: A personal use channel, Bob has posted six videos here in the past eleven years, including a gag video of a horse-style laugh, while the other five has his own original solo metal music. In the four latter cases, he uses the songs to soundtrack video game footage that he captured, though not always naming the game (the newest one was Teiravon).

Why You Should Watch: While the channel has nothing from Bob's prior local band work, this will be worth checking out for fans of his metal vocals, as the solo material on offer is reminiscent of I.S.O.M. and End of Existence in style and approach! Odd that he would post most of his new original songs this way though, just as soundtrack fodder for gameplay footage, and not always titled with the song's name (let alone that "Dirty Dingos" was only posted as an excerpt), but gamers may feel differently!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Destination: Credited under his I.S.O.M. stage name, Bob's first upload and only song with no video game ties is "Destination", which reminds me of I.S.O.M.'s more melodic material with him not singing in a harsh/extreme style, but adding grit where needed. The song bounces along in a style not unlike something you'd hear out of Sweden, but the thin production is a drawback compared to his band work. Good stuff for fans of his vocals!

I'm not as Eco as I used to be: The most popular video here that isn't of horse laughing, this song is set to video footage from the PC MMORPG game Entropia Universe, and features guest bass from "Refuge MirrorBlack Denied" (no clue who that is). "I'm Not As Eco As I Used To Be" is more of a straight-forward metal song that has a good lively energy and less of the European influence heard elsewhere. Nice change of pace that shows that Bob (a.k.a. "Opeth of Blackwater") can just rock out without going extreme, and Entropia fans seem to like how he edited the gameplay footage too!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around July 27th for another two profile installment, as the first randomly selected channel only had two videos from two different events, so I added a single band channel to fill things out with. We're staying in Sault Michigan with YouTube user 2010abstract's channel (featuring two videos of the future Tantrym Tyme) before heading back to Ontario to look at ander101's channel (featuring three performance videos from ex-Bring The Fallen guitarist Andrew Chiarello). Look for those then, and for more news and notes on the site toon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Gianni Gagoots), New Sault Michigan Videos, And More!!

At last, here's our first news post of November 2016 that doesn't feature weekend concert previews! Below, you'll find some assorted recent news and notes, and a pair of videos that will be relevant to Sault Michigan-area readers, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for year's end!

New local improv hard rock/funk quintet Gianni Gagoots will cap off 2016 as one of the featured performers at Six, Two, Oh.'s Holiday Funk Show at The New American Pub on Friday, December 30th! Last seen opening for Castle in September, this will be Gianni Gagoots' third local concert appearance, and their second with their current lineup, and they'll be on an eclectic & wildly varying bill that will call to mind the three-act hybrid shows that Six, Two, Oh. put on in the summer, just on a bigger scope. The advertised headliners are Montreal jazz/funk trio The OM Sound, while the other local opening acts are rapper Mikey Thomas, the debut of a new local rock band named Bizotic (public information forthcoming, but this may be their Facebook page), local comedian Shane McGuigan, and the turntable stylings of DJ Seith. If you liked the Debutaunt show that Mikey and Shane opened in August, definitely keep this one in mind, as there's a little something for everyone!

This show has a $5 cover charge, you must be 19 or older to attend, and there is an advertised 9:00 PM start time in effect. This show definitely has an intriguing lineup, and while it largely doesn't lean to metal and hard rock, Gianni Gagoots will help cover that with their funk and punk-inspired instrumental jams, and it's anyone's guess how Bizotic will sound at this point, but we'll let you know if public information on them is revealed! Circle this show at The New A for your New Year's weekend plans!

Next up, here's a new original hard rock song from the YouTube channel of prolific Sault Michigan metal artist Bob Helsten, a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone! The I.S.O.M. and Power Slug alum is an avid fan of the Entropia Universe MMORPG video games, and he recorded the song "I'm Not As Eco As I Used To Be" for hopeful usage in the game & related ventures, featuring fellow game user "Refuge MirrorBlack Denied" on guest bass. Even if you're not familiar with the game (like myself), the song has a fun hard-driving sound that will appeal to fans of the newest I.S.O.M. album, but if you prefer his harsh vocal work, you may be disappointed. Check it out below!



Also, here's a short new video to hype up TONIGHT'S Bret Michaels concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! It's just of Bret reminding fans in the Soo that the show is coming up tonight, and that it will be "an unbelievable party" that will "rock your world", and while it's not that substantive, it's cool to see a major artist film a video specifically tailored to us like this! Give it a look below, and remember, tickets are still available, so get yours A.S.A.P. if you haven't already!



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 venue name:

• In their first album recording update in over five months, Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie revealed on their Facebook page that the local death metal quintet only have 4 songs left to finish recording vocals & lead guitar for their upcoming second album "The Dead Testament", and he cited "finishing touches" for the delay in it's release. Mitch spoke very highly of the recording quality of this album compared to "Eternal Hibernation", noting also that it's "a rebirth" of the band. Sounds good to me, so stay tuned for continued updates!
• We surprisingly haven't mentioned this on the site yet, but the late-notice replacements for one-off Me First & The Gimme Gimmes tribute Hey, What About Us?! at last week's Halloween Party at The Algonquin Pub were a Misfits tribute named The Black Mirrors, whose lineup featured Fitswitch alums J.D. Pearce, Jason Bourcier, Andrew MacDonald, and Chris Thompson. Very cool, hopefully they had a good turnout, and I wonder if this might lead to a full Fitswitch reunion down the road?
• Downtown banquet hall and occasional concert venue The Verdi Hall (later Bucci's Verdi Hall) has quietly changed it's name to The Bridge View Banquet Hall. A reason for the name change isn't available online, but to be fair, I don't believe the Queen Street West location has an active online page anymore. The change was also noted in recent local radio ads. If we hear of any public concerts there in the future, we'll let you know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates next week as we plow into November! Thanks efvveryone!

A New Album Release, LemmaFest Fallout, And More From Sault Michigan!

Before we touch on fallout from the Heart concert this past weekend, we have an all-Sault Michigan post on this Tuesday morning, including some fallout and updates from this past weekend's LemmaFest, some assorted recent notes, and first, news on a recent album release, so here's what you need to know!

Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock artist Kenneth Sutton (a.k.a. SweetKenny) released his ninth solo album "This End Up" last week, and our sincere apologies for being late to the party on this one! Self-described as a "heavy rock, beer drinking, bar band, high energy, fun album", this album features 10 songs (including instrumentals and tracks with vocals), with Ken promising freestyle playing and something for everyone to enjoy within! Like on most of his past records, Ken handles all instruments and vocals, with no credited guest input. Copies of "This End Up!" can now be bought on Bandcamp for $12, and while physical copies are likely in the works through CDBaby, he has yet to post sale copies there. In any event, you can stream all 10 tracks at this link, which also includes brief info on the songs' themes. Everything sounds good for this newest album (with SweetKenny's next CD "Amazonian" already in the planning stages), but when can you expect a review of "This End Up!" on the site?

Perhaps as soon as next month if all goes according to plan, as our review of Mike Haggith's newest solo CD is still in the works for this week(end), though I'll note that we have yet to review either "Ink" or "Cracks In The Wall" from his recent repertoire either. The latter is a bit old now for a "new" review, but I plan to listen to both of his 2014 albums to pick the heaviest for our next SweetKenny review, and we'll let you know when that's determined! Pick up "This End Up!" and more SweetKenny albums above!

Next up, here's some early fallout from the fourth annual LemmaFest, which was successfully held this past Saturday outside of the Dondee Lanes! While we await some extra lineup and sound confirmation from Nightmare Grin and Mr. Fister (plus the usual giant photo album), the first known concert video from this year's installment is now online courtesy of local alternative hard rock trio Plastic, so what should you know? Obviously, the tarp over the stage from 2012 didn't make a comeback, but aside from that, the staging was similar to past years. The video below was filmed by attendee Christy Nealen (and publically shared by Plastic yesterday from her personal Facebook page), and it's of their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song", so how does their new lineup sound? The audio quality could be a bit cleaner from the video, but the guys have a good handle on this classic, with Zac Crook's vocals fitting nicely, and Aaron DePalma fills Paul Burns' shoes well on drums! Check out the full performance below, and hopefully more videos turn up!



Also in the realm of LemmaFest videos, local filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah released his short documentary about LemmaFest and the late Mike Lemma at Saturday's event, but he finally gave the OK for fans unable to attend to check out the final product on YouTube, as per his post on the LemmaFest 2014 event page! Originally uploaded to his YouTube channel in April (albeit in a still unlisted form), this was produced as part of a course project at Lake Superior State University over the past year. Along with host bumpers & narration from Wayne, remarks from Mike Lemma's friends (including LemmaFest founder Scott Green) are included where they remember Mike and their time hanging out with him, their reactions to his sudden passing in 2010, and the inception and organization of LemmaFest the following year and beyond. Assorted clips of some bands from last year's event and scattered other gigs are featured along with numerous event photos, and for reference, Scofflaw's Barney Gravelle contributed a music piece named "Lex" for the film as well.

This documentary short is great to see why LemmaFest is such a well anticipated event, and it does a great job of selling it to prospective attendees, so kudos to Wayne on a job well done! It'd have been nice to get more remarks on Mike or the festival itself from the band members, but that's all I'd have recommended. I urge fans of LemmaFest to give the documentary a look below, and stay tuned for more on this annual event!



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

• Due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page in recent months, I've replaced defunct local funk/hard rock band Clownsack's link on the SMS with their still-active MySpace page, which still features songs, videos, and photos of theirs from their mid-late 2000s heyday. They were a unique and entertaining band, hopefully they reunite at some point down the road!
• I've deleted defunct Pickford metal band Dust N' Bones from our local band links, as their Reverbnation page has been converted into a repository for the members of Theatre of Night's collective music ideas that aren't guaranteed to make it to official T.O.N. material. This isn't a Dust N' Bones evolution or officially a new band, just an apparent space for stuff they're working on in general, but there's some promising ideas, so give the new Harrison/Giles material a listen via the above link!
• Power Slug/Nose Dive drummer Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone) has made his long awaited return to metal singing, albeit in a non-local project. The band is Astrogenta (a self-described "internet band" largely based out of the Ukraine), who actually added Orb to their lineup last October, and they're currently working on an album named "Distance Does Not Matter", which you can hear samples of (with vocals) at this link. Hopefully he finds some big success with Astrogenta, so keep an eye on them!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow morning (featuring Heart videos), and I'll see you guys at The Canadian TONIGHT for Anciients, Havok, Wretched, Black Wizard, and The Revolution! ALL AGES, $20, don't miss this awesome metal lineup! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Brendan Christie & Orb

It's the 10th of the month, so it's now time once again for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! As always, this monthly feature series takes a look at one or two defunct or inactive metal/hard rock projects from the Twin Saults and surrounding areas, in order to profile them and their work for current readers and fans, and like all previous installments, the bands were randomly selected. This month's post features two artists for the fourth straight month (due to the first not having much surviving information), but these are both two talented inactive solo projects from each side of the border, so read on below for this month's profiles!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brendan Christie

Genre: Thrash Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Brendan Christie (The Hydra's Teeth, Late & Loud), all instruments

Info/Analysis: After leaving his brief 2008 position as Stillbroke's bassist, talented local musician Brendan Christie launched a solo metal project circa July 2009, where he began work on original guitar-heavy material that was at one point supposed to be featured on a debut solo album named "The Clock Is Ticking". Original compositions continued to be posted & deleted from his MySpace page through 2011, though less so as his band work became more successful, and his last postings there in late 2012 were to promote his current band The Hydra's Teeth. Though his Late & Loud tenure was better known, Brendan first entered the SMS' general radar for his impressive guitar talents in 2009, and it's a shame most of his solo material isn't public anymore! His videos (though largely classical renditions) show his skills nicely, and his only remaining full song "Set Fire To Freedom" has a heavy & dramatic feel that wouldn't be out of place live, so give his older solo work a listen above, and here's Brendan's "bet you can't play this" original video!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orb

Genre: Metal/Easy Listening

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten (Power Slug, I.S.O.M.), all instruments

Info/Analysis: Launched during his tenures as End of Existence's frontman & Elipzis' drummer, prolific local musician Bob Helsten launched his own solo project in January 2011 as an outlet for his lighter original material, releasing two songs to his MySpace page ("Final Day" & "Dawn of a Dying Day", with only the latter containing harsh vocals.) Updates did not follow there, but in April 2012, a solo version of the End of Existence song "12-21-12" was posted on YouTube as part of Werehold Records' second Friday the 13th posting event, and while his solo project has likely been defunct since, you can currently see him live as Power Slug's drummer. Orb described this project as sounding like "a dark & gloomy autumn day", which does make sense, as his full solo songs retain a slower & lighter instrumental feel, though the vocals remain reminscent of his metal singing work. Though I prefer his I.S.O.M. and E.O.E. past, Orb's solo material is an interesting & pleasant change of pace, so give his songs a listen above, and here's "Dawn of a Dying Day"!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Now, what's in store for April's installment? Believe it or not, we'll be looking at two bands again for a fifth straight month, as the first band we randomly chose don't have enough surviving information (or lasted long enough.) Also, because we're straddling the end and beginning of our current & next 1-1-1-1-1 schedules for each side of the border's bands, we'll be looking at two Sault Ontario bands next month for the first time since 2010. With that said, I've randomly chosen 2009 metal band (and Winkstinger predecessors) Operation: Killdozer & 2004 hard rock quartet Batteries Not Included (featuring future Free Beer members), so watch out for those profiles around April 10th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Telephone & Address), Gates Of Winter's New Demo, And Sault Michigan Updates!!

41 days into our posting streak, today's updates are thankfully more positive than yesterday's mostly were, so what's on tap as we start another week? Today, we have our first major Sault Michigan updates since April Fools Day, courtesy of a new video and some recent shorter items, but first, we have a long awaited new song posting from one of the area's biggest metal bands, and first, a different sort of LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in a couple of weeks, so here's what you need to know!

In a definite change from what we tend to hear from shows not involving Tym Morrison, we have an SMS-fitting acoustic show to announce tonight, as the Chris Shoust-led grunge/lo-fi solo project Telephone & Address will headline an ALL AGES gig at The Royal Canadian Legion at 96 Great Northern Road on April 27th! This is the first time that we've hyped a concert at the Legion since the original Turner Up played there in May 2010, and it's the first time I can recall Chris playing a live concert under the Telephone & Address handle. Chris' acoustic work definitely fits for SMS coverage, as it's all influenced by grunge and alternative hard rock, despite the one-man nature of much of his recent musical output, and though there is an outsider feel to much of it, these all sound like the seeds of heavy full-band material! Telephone & Address will be supported by local solo musician Jake Rydall, who has his own softer material that you can check out at this location, and he has talent himself! Admission will be $5 for this show (the second to be promoted by AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent through his new all ages promotion agency), and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details!

We don't get a varied array of acoustic metal/hard rock shows here, and though I imagine Telephone & Address would be an acquired taste for some, I can appreciate Chris' solo work! He's very artistic and accomplished in various fields, and his music reminds me of Daniel Johnston crossed with Nirvana in some ways. Plus, I imagine this is rare to see him playing live, so keep this show in mind in two weeks, and stay tuned for any possible updates!

Next up, local progressive death metal standouts Gates of Winter posted a new demo original onto their YouTube channel yesterday! Their first sign of life in almost five months (and their first new media posting in over a year), this is of a newly unveiled original song named "Prometheus", which is expected to be a part of their long gestating second EP (and third total release) "Perihelion", though it's unclear if they're still planning to change the name like what was said last fall. Featuring the song's lyrics on the video, this shows more signs of their more technical and death-metal influenced current sound, along with minimal clean vocals, and some orchestral and ethnic flourishes, though I can't confirm yet if they're using programmed drums or have found a new drummer for the recordings. I still hope to review "Perihelion" when it's released (hopefully sooner rather than later), so I won't go in-depth on my thoughts yet, but fans shouldn't be disappointed!

The long wait for band news, updates, and (of course) a return to the stage for the first time since 2008 has been excruciating at times, but hopefully this helps, so check out "Prometheus" below, and stay tuned for more Gates of Winter news as it creeps in!

We'll transition to the Sault Michigan area for the rest of today's post, including our first video glimpse of newer local hard rock quintet Full Throttle! Lake Street Studio owner Taylor Brugman was in attendance for their concert at The Bird (a.k.a. Golanka's Bar) on March 16th, and posted this video of Full Throttle covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither" onto the studio's YouTube channel a week later, so what do we know from it? Well, it does confirm later lineup information on them that I had found, so their current lineup does indeed feature Absolute singer Donny Newell, guitarists Jason Lamoreaux and Steve Pevarnic (of Steve's Music Center fame), Powerslug guitarist Chris Gurnoe on bass, and (I assume) Mark Gillotte on drums, but let me know if I have anything wrong! The video's well lit, but Jason & Chris are often hid behind speakers or other band members at this angle.

As for the song, it's pretty well performed, but Donny does sing some chorus lyrics at the wrong points, and the guys do seem somewhat stiff on stage. Good first video though, and hopefully there's more to come, so check out Full Throttle's cover of "Slither" below!



Finally for today, here's three recent shorter news items from across the river, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:

• Barring a new sign of life by Friday, we'll be moving Powerslug/Toast drummer Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten's solo project to our inactive Sault Michigan band links then due to a year's inactivity. Reminiscent of his singing work with I.S.O.M & End of Existence, Orb's solo material has seen no new public updates since his solo version of "12-21-12" was featured in Werehold Records' Friday The 13th new music posting event, but hopefully Bob returns to singing locally in the future, as he's got a great voice!
• Cheboygan rock radio station Real Rock 105.1 FM (which picks up here on better radios) has changed it's name to Rock 105, complete with a major rebranding that saw it's main Traverse City signal switch from 95.5 FM to 105.1 FM as well. The playlist (leaning towards modern rock) will remain the same, so this isn't a major change from what we knew, but check the above links for the new look Rock 105!
• Local classical metal trio Theatre of Night have proved that they still play full on metal, posting a new instrumental named "A Wintery Mix" onto their Reverbnation page on Thursday, and it has a darker symphonic metal feel with some solid tempo changes and instrumentation, so give it a look at the above links, and stay tuned for news on their next album projects!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days, including our preview of Wednesday's second night of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug) And Some New Videos!!

Well guys, last night's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands is in the books, and I have a recap (not a review, per say) coming tomorrow. Why tomorrow? Because the videos I filmed are taking forever to upload, but don't worry, it'll be a good one, and you can check out the videos from earlier bands last night and the results at our Facebook page if you wanna until then. So to keep things rolling here (and because of a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), we've got a post with some recent news today, including new videos, so here's what you need to know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Powerslug are playing at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) TONIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, but guitarist Chris Gurnoe only just announced the show this morning on his personal Facebook page. This has become a common occurrence with the band formerly known as River Witch for about a year now, since their former Facebook page fell into disuse, as I've only tended to hear about their non-Kewadin shows late or on short notice. I'm doing my best to keep on top of things though, so bear with me! This will be Powerslug's second straight Saturday night concert at The Bird, and though I've yet to hear media of them in action, members' pasts in their predecessor band Blind Baby indicate a solid sound, so don't miss them TONIGHT! Admission should be free, you must be 21 to attend, and there's likely a start time of 10:00 PM. For what little I can gather about this concert, get more at the above links! Hopefully Powerslug knock it out of the park again this weekend, and go check them out tonight for some hard rocking across the river!

Now to some new videos, starting with a new song from prolific local solo guitarist (and judge at last night's battle) Mike Cliffe! Entitled "Nose Hair Sweater", it was uploaded to his YouTube channel last Wednesday, and it's definitely one of Mike's harder rocking and more upbeat instrumental tracks! Employing lots of time signatures and some interesting vocal samples & visualizations, Mike did note that it was "quite unfinished", but complimented how fun it was to play. It's a really cool track as it is, and has lots of creative heavy parts, so check it out below!




Also in new songs is a new solo track from Wearwithal frontman and veteran Sault Michigan singer/drummer Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten! The former voice of bands like I.S.O.M. and End of Existence posted a new original solo song named "Destination" onto his YouTube channel on Tuesday, and it's pretty catchy! Completely clean sung, it's got a nice groove to it with solid melodic vocals, and if this is the direction is solo material is going now, I definitely wanna hear more (though with some harsh singing too, of course.) Very nice, so check it out below, and hear more from Orb's recent band work at the above links!



Finally for today, I'm sharing this last because it doesn't work in the United States, so it has a limited view range. Two weeks ago, former Swayze Train guitarist Scott Savoie uploaded a video of him covering the Devildriver song "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" onto his YouTube channel, but it was blocked in the United States shortly after on copyright grounds by WMG (probably because the original song was in the background.) That said, it was not blocked in Canada, creating the odd scenario of a video by a Sault Michigan guitarist that only Sault Ontario metalheads can watch without an IP switching tool. If you can see it, you'll get a very proficient and well played cover, and Scott's on high form here, but maybe he should redo it without the backing track for American fans? Check out Scott's newest solo guitar cover below if your country allows it!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for my recap of last night's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and also, tune in to CBC Radio One (89.5 FM in the Twin Saults area) at 5:00 PM TODAY to hear Garden of Bedlam's song "New Rain" on the CBC Radio One program "Bandwidth", which is all about Ontario music! Not sure if they're just being played or if anything else will come up, but listen in at 5:00! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 2)

As promised, here's the second half of our look at the Friday the 13th song uploads by Eckerman, Michigan label/studio Werehold Records from their roster of local bands and artists! As uploaded to their YouTube channel on Friday, we already mentioned the posted material from Life's Eclipse, East Branch, The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, and Palaver, but four more songs by four more local metal-relevant acts remain to share on here (and there's vocals to hear on most!) For the sake of fairness, we'll go in alphabetical order by band/artist name for the remaining videos. Read on below for all you need to know, and check out the first half of our look at the Friday the 13th uploads at this location, and check out the post below this one for the latest David Gold/Woods of Ypres stories!

We'll start with a new song from the Eckerman/Strongs metal quartet Moss, in what amounts to their first new song posting since the deletion of their old PureVolume page! The recently reactivated band featuring the Mills brothers of Life's Eclipse fame made this original song tentatively named "Call Me Nothing" for the Friday uploads, and though it's not complete (it's an instrumental demo), it has promise as a hard rock number! It's a bit slower paced and not as blistering as some of the new Werehold songs, but I like it's sound well enough, and hopefully a complete version makes it online at some point! Check out Moss' new song "Call Me Nothing" below, and the next three tracks have vocals, I promise!



Next up, one of the new songs on Friday came from veteran local musician Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten! The former I.S.O.M. singer and ex-Clownsack/Elipzis drummer has been quiet on the local scene since leaving End of Existence in February, and while his solo project's MySpace page hasn't seen a recent update, this song is credited to him alone, so it's good to see him still doing music, and allied with Werehold Records! That said, this song is actually a solo rendition of an earlier End of Existence song named "12.21.12" from their debut album that came out in February (yes, the review's coming soon), and with this being written by Orb, a solo cover does make sense! The backing music sounds very simplistic and artificial compared to the End of Existence version of this track, which alludes to the Mayan apocalypse theories on December 21st, but Orb's singing voice is on brutal form from what I'm used to, and hopefully we hear more from his solo work soon! Check out Orb's new solo version of "12.21.12" below!



Our second last song from the Werehold Records Friday the 13th spree is a short new song from Strongs metal trio Swampghas (featuring members of other Werehold bands), and it's a solid metal number named "Struggle"! Presumably to be on their debut album "The Raco Tower Incident" (whose pretty cool album cover was posted onto their Facebook page yesterday), this is a dirty and straight forward metal track with some nice aggressive singing, and it lives up to their earlier posted originals well! I'm curious to hear more from Swampghas, but if you're in for some quick and heavy aggression, give "Struggle" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from Swampghas as it comes in!



Finally, this is a song called "Minion" by a newer local metal act named Wearwithal. This band features the aforementioned Bob Helsten on vocals & drums, along with Swampghas/ex-Half A Man drummer Doug Reed (also of Drayton Fever) on guitar, but fans may recognize the two musicians as former bandmates in the short lived local metal band Great Bodily Harm! When shared on Werehold's Facebook page, Wearwithal were described as "the half of Great Bodily Harm that decided to continue on" (ex-GBH members Kirk Labadie & Chris Leask are not a part of Wearwithal), but it's good to see Bob & Doug still making music together! "Minion" keeps on the same groove metal path as Great Bodily Harm's originals did, though maybe with less of a hardcore influence, and the vocals flow really well with the very heavy riffing! Solid first track from Wearwithal, and hopefully we hear more from them soon, so check out their song "Minion" below!



I hope you guys enjoyed the songs and postings from Werehold Records' Friday the 13th blitz of new material! I needed two posts to do the wide array of bands' and songs justice, and hopefully these acts are gaining some more fans and attention as a result! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news, last month's poll results & this month's new poll, and much more shortly! Thanks everyone!

News From Orb Hearthstone, Soo Stories, And Woods Of Ypres!!

34 posts in 28 days...wow, we're just two posts away from breaking our record for busiest month ever at the SMS, which says a lot when the summer months are our busiest! Thanks to all of you guys for sticking by through this busy March! Today, we have a bunch of new Woods of Ypres stories, but first, we'll cover some older stories, including the latest on a new book and some new pages from a local solo artist, so let's begin today's post!

End of Existence frontman/Great Bodily Harm drummer Bob Helsten, a.ka.. Orb Hearthstone, has created two new solo internet pages! We previously heard his new softer metal material on his MySpace page, but the Orb solo project is now on a music site I've previously never heard of called MusicFast, so check this new page out at this location! The only real "new" element is the addition of artists that influenced him, and there's a ton of good bands listed, but otherwise, there's nothing too different from his MySpace page. Still, give it a look, there's some solid solo material on there! As well, Orb has now launched a YouTube channel featuring five End of Existence videos, so become a fan of that as well! It strikes me as a bit redundant when the End of Existence channel has all of the same videos, but maybe Orb will post some solo or Great Bodily Harm material on there in the future! Check out all of the above links for more from Orb's solo work!

Next up, here's the latest on "Soo Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook", the new book on concerts at the old Sault Memorial Gardens by Wawa author Duane Roy! Firstly, if you haven't picked up a copy yet and you don't want to order a copy through PayPal, then good news! "Soo Stories" is now in stock at The Rad Zone at Wellington Square Mall! Duane posted on The Rad Zone's Facebook page on Friday to announce this news. I assume "Soo Stories" will be in the Hole In The Wall section, and I believe the cost of the book will be $25 as the standard online price is. I'm absolutely gonna have to head down to The Rad Zone to pick up this book, and yes, I want to review it on the SMS! We're gonna have a book review spree once my exams are done, as I still have to review Paolo Colasacco's "Going Underground" on here too, so watch out for that as well! Also, a couple new sites have "Soo Stories" articles, including The Algoma News out of Wawa, which has a short article about the book, some of it's contents, and some more of the information Duane still wants to hear about old Gardens concerts. Not bad, click here to give it a look! As well, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles gave a brief look at the book, which is good exposure but not too in-depth. Click here to read it, and check out all of the above links for all the info you need on "Soo Stories", including online purchasing links!

Now for a bunch of Woods of Ypres updates to round this post out with, starting with a video I didn't talk about when I first mentioned videos by this uploader last week. I shown you two "Wood of Ypres" videos by YouTube user xes1978 on Wednesday, but the latest of the three slipped me by, so here's what you should know! It's of the band playing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", and it's a good performance of the song! As it's the same quality and camera as xes1978's other videos, I can't change my critiques too much, as it's still good quality with a dark red ambiance, and not enough variance in camera angles (Joel Violette is still not captured), but it's a good video all around! Check it out below!



Now to some more Woods of Ypres updates, starting with some new concert reviews and related notes! Firstly, Hellbound.ca's Natalie Zed reviewed another Woods of Ypres concert, specifically their show on March 13th in Toronto, and you can check it out at this location! You may remember her Woods of Ypres CD and concert reviews from last year as well. Woods of Ypres were the second band of four on this concert, so it's not too in-depth compared to some other concert reviews we've seen, but she does praise Woods of Ypres' abbreviated set, even more so due to a broken guitar string and David's wish to not hold up the show. Nice photos too, and the other bands sound brutal! Check the above links for more on this review! Also, Atanamar Sunyata from Metal Injection has more Woods of Ypres stuff for us courtesy of his own concert review from their concert on March 16th in New York City, which you can read by clicking here! I have to say, Atanamar is very well spoken, and he leaves a lot of praise for Woods of Ypres' set in this review, saying that they slay in person and that they played an incredible set! Definitely read this review, and his videos that I shown you on here are also embedded there to check out!

Finally for today, here's some new Woods of Ypres interviews & articles, starting with an article with... Joel Violette? Yeah, it's not just David getting some press for the band! Joel was interviewed by the New Brunswick website HereNB about his work in Woods of Ypres, including how he joined the band, his work with David Gold in Thrawsunblat, the experience of playing live, and more! Short but a good read, click here to check it out! Also, Ken Kelley from The Music Nerd Chronicles posted an article on Woods of Ypres on March 18th, featuring some insights from David Gold about the Earache Records signing, the band's plans for the next six months, and more! Not too long, but it shares some more good details about "Woods V", so click here to read it! Finally, Hungarian metal site KronosMortus interviewed David recently as well, click here to check out that interview! The interview was posted in Hungarian but translated to English afterwards, so scroll down to the bottom for the English translation. If you can get past the stilted translations, you'll find some good band discussions and questions that other interviews haven't asked, so give it a look! Check out all of the above links for more from Woods of Ypres!

That's all for now, but knowing this month, we'll have more very soon, as we're on pace for 37 posts this month if things keep on the way they've been going! Stay tuned!

Two New Local Bands & Some New Local Videos!!

A day after we launched our new poll (VOTE TODAY!!), we return to the news for today, and we have some notable stuff to share on this fine Wednesday! We have our latest weekly classic video, the latest clips from a once-locally based band, and headlining today's post, two new local band pages! Here's what you need to know!

Almost two months after debuting at the Total Chaos concert, local hardcore quartet Changing Waves have finally launched their own internet pages! I have noticed two, one being a MySpace page, the other a Facebook account. Yes, I said account, not page or group, so you'll have to actually add Changing Waves as a friend, but definitely add them! Their MySpace page (which was launched on January 10th) has more to say at present, and there, it confirms the lineup I had previously mentioned on here, including frontman Benjamin Kallonen, guitarist Mike Hagerman, bassist Devan Lauzon, and drummer Alex Hagerman! You'll of course recognize the Hagerman brothers from Paraside, and Benjamin and Devan from Face First. Crediting "life" as an influence, the band say they sound like "what we want to hear", and they say they're trying to put as much music as they can out there. Not much extra info is present, but you know what is there? Songs, three of them! They're likely recordings from a jam session, and these are rather clear, which is nice to see! I notice that on these recordings, Benjamin's singing isn't as "scream-filled" as I figured it was live, but that's not bad, and the group have chemistry! Can't wait to see their next steps, and definitely check them out at the above links!

The other new band is a new solo project from a prominent local musician! If you've followed the Sault Michigan scene recently, you're likely well aware of singer/drummer Bob Helsten, a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone. Now the singer in End of Existence and the drummer in Elipzis, Orb's carved a good local reputation through singing roles in Integrated System of Machines, Weed, and Mugwort, and for his drum work in Clownsack and Chord On Bluez, among others! Well, Orb's launched another new band, this time, a solo project simply named "Orb"! This project is a completely solo effort, with Bob on each instrument, and he describes his new solo material as a little different than what we've previously seen from him. He's right, as the new songs he has posted on his solo project's MySpace page are lighter and slower than his past death metal work, though there's still harsh vocals to be had on "Dawn of a Dying Day"! "Final Day" is completely softer, but in still sort of a fast sort of pacing, and it reminds me at points of some later Faith No More songs, if that's accurate. Good stuff, definitely different from his usual fare, but just metal enough for the SMS! Check out more from Orb at his solo project's MySpace page linked above, and his new Reverbnation page! And yes, both Changing Waves & Orb are linked in our band links on your left and right!

Now, to new videos, and we'll start with Sue Inside! Yes, the locally-born experimental metal band have resurfaced with a pair of new videos on frontman Shane Lipsit-Fraser's official YouTube channel! One is for an original song named "Hermit", an acoustic instrumental (well, mostly) with an accompanying music video! It's similar in tone to a classic silent film, only with filters, a contemporary setting, and some mostly unintelligible spoken word from Shane in the last section. It's well made, and the guitar work isn't too bad! The same can apply for the second video, of the original song "Green Curry Chicken", which is also a solo acoustic track. It seems to pick up where "Hermit" left off, but is mostly a solo performance, but also in black and white with filters. Not too bad, not really heavy, but well played! And before anyone's like "This isn't metal, why are you talking about this?", keep in mind that many of the posted Sue Inside videos since Shane moved to Southern Ontario have been acoustic, and there are still heavier videos on his channel and on the band's CBC Radio 3 page. Still, it's nice to see Sue Inside are still active, and hopefully some more material comes online soon! Check the above links for more, and here's Sue Inside's video for "Hermit"!



And finally, here's this week's third weekly classic video! Once again, I'm tying in this video with performers at an upcoming concert, and in this case, it's half of local death metal band State of Misery! Bassist Kevin Dorazio & drummer Nick Kainula have joined forces before in other bands, most notably Stealing Kisses in 2009, but that same year, they hit the metal scene in the defunct local band Losing Ground! Only briefly active in late 2009 and early 2010(?), Losing Ground also featured Kevin & Nick's Stealing Kisses bandmate Kevin Koprash on guitar, and current Late & Loud frontman Jonathan Tiberi on vocals and guitar! Is it wrong of me to use puns like State of Loud or Late & Misery to describe Losing Ground? This band never played a live concert, but their Facebook group includes lots of optimistic postings, and there is video footage online of the band in action! This video is one of them, from a late 2009 jam session at Nick Kainula's house, and it features the band (minus Kevin Koprash) covering the Pentagram song "Forever My Queen"! Featuring good quality audio and heavy filter use, it was uploaded onto Jonathan Tiberi's Facebook page in late 2009 at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1309509976165, and because it deserves higher exposure, I ripped it from there and uploaded it to the SMS' YouTube channel!

Remember, all credit for this video goes to Jonathan, NOT ME! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED, I mean no harm!! It's a good performance, and this song suits Jonathan's range, I wonder why Losing Ground didn't last? So, check out our newest classic video below!



That's all for now, but I should have more later tonight or tomorrow, including weekend concert previews, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!