A New Punk Album, New Videos, And Band Link Updates!!

Before we dive into St. Patrick's Day weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday evening, including new videos, updates to our band links, and leading off, a new album release. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have a surprise new album release to note on here, as local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism quietly released a new EP named "A Letter Of Resignation" to major streaming services on February 23rd! Given that this project (led by Vanity First, Hails, and Apocalypse Afterparty alum Mikhal Muto) is only active on social media via Instagram, it could be easy to assume that the album was plugged there and nowhere else, but nope, it wasn't even mentioned there. Mikhal actually told me about the release in a Facebook message, even acknowledging that he hadn't said much about it, so now everyone knows! The five song EP can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and even Boomplay (an Africa-centered streaming service that is getting more attention from local artists in recent months). Yes, this album is on sale on iTunes for $4.95, so it is eligible for a review on the SMS!

This and next month are sewn up with reviews of the newest Heavy Lies The Crown and Convergence albums, but our May 2024 album review will be of Agnosticism for the first time, so what will I have to say about Mikhal's unplugged folk punk originals? We'll know then, but give the opening song "New Year's Revolution" a listen below, and buy/stream this and other Agnosticism albums at the above links!

Next up, here's a new video from one of Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Oz's shows at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino earlier this month! Uploaded to the band's Facebook page last week, the video features Oz covering "Somebody's Out There" by Triumph, in what has to be a rare example of a band covering a Canadian song in Sault Michigan. Strong cover filmed from a good angle to capture the whole stage, and I can easily see Oz handling Rush singles if this Triumph cover tells me anything! Give it a look below, and hopefully Oz come back to the E.U.P. soon!

Also today, let's hop back to Sault Ontario for new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations! These were filmed by attendee Christopher Bardawill (who has filmed them before) at their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Saturday. The videos were first posted to Christopher's personal Facebook page and then shared to the band's Facebook group. Interestingly, both songs that he filmed are ones where Valerie Powley is not on lead vocals, instead providing backup and playing tambourine. One is a cover of The Eagles' "Already Gone" with guitarist Tony Kajnar on vocals, but embedded below is their cover of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals. That cover is a little shorter, but I embedded it here because it's a harder rocker and he didn't film it while sitting at a table for the duration, so you get some a much closer side stage vantage point of the band in action here!

I'm no Eagles fan, but that cover and "Magic Carpet Ride" are performed well and make good use of their vocal harmonies, especially on the former! Alas, both videos were shot vertically, which really didn't help the "Already Gone" video's case, but kudos to Christopher for filming on Saturday! Give their newest live videos a watch above & below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all bands newly moved to our inactive band links due to being publically inactive for a year or more. As always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

 

• The first of the bands moved to our inactive links is local acoustic southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge, who last posted band updates or played live on March 4th, 2023 at The Water Tower Pub. Launched in 2017, this side project of Bone Yard appears to have been put on the shelf so that Greg and Alex could include Bone Yard bassist Warren Reville in their unplugged (sorry, "uncorked") gigs, now under the Bone Yard banner, which have continued in the past year. Look for upcoming acoustic Bone Yard shows at The Water Tower Pub and Gateway Casino!
• Also now in our inactive links is local/Edmonton noise punk duo No Funeral, who have not issued any public updates since releasing their self-titled album on Bandcamp on March 5th of last year. Featuring former AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent and his old Flint bandmate Connor O'Brien, No Funeral played one live date at Outspoken Brewing in October 2022, recorded an album while Connor was in town, and that was about it until the album came out. No Funeral were an entertainingly chaotic project, and hopefully they surface again if the stars align!
• Finally, I have moved local/Toronto progressive metal trio PROV3RB5 to our inactive band links. Given the studio-heavy nature of the band (especially as Bryan lives out of town), it's entirely possible that PROV3RB5 have been working behind the scenes for the past year+, but the band has not issued a social media update since guitarist Benjamin Roswell posted a playthrough video on their Facebook page in January of last year. PROV3RB5 are too talented to go away, if I may say so, and hopefully Ben, Bryan, and Phil resurface when the time is right!
  

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The BAG), A New Local Solo Project, An Album Release, And More!!

Packed news post for you guys on this Monday night, and it includes a new video performance, an album release, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, but first, a familiar face is back in solo form after a few years of focusing on his bands, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal act to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Sir Hell, the newest stab at a solo project from Handsome Sandwich/ex-Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie! Long-time SMS readers and fans/friends of Mitch's may be familiar with his prior solo exploits under the project names Animas, April Eyes, By The Gods, and The Sorrow Fields, with the latter recording unreleased studio material as recently as early 2019. In this case, Mitch appears to be further into Sir Hell than on those acts for an initial splash (lost MySpace uploads acknowledged), as his first song on the project's Bandcamp page is the long awaited studio re-recording of his epic comedy metal song "Squirrel Buddy"! As memorably heard during many Bear Hunters shows, Mitch fittingly got his then-and-now bandmate Johnny Belanger (credited as "John Belanger") on drums and backing vocals.

This was recorded at Unsalted Audio (presumably during the sessions for Handsome Sandwich's upcoming debut album), and as such, producer Dustin Goodall also provides backing vocals, and Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling even turns up! Veteran local punk musician Mark Rand mixed the track in Peterborough. As for the song proper, this "vessel for my madness" delivers the amusing clean vocals and jarring tonal shift into death metal aggression that fans will fondly remember! Josh comes in via a couple of sax solos, one basically replacing Mitch's lead guitar solo of old, and one being the outro. Fun brutality, so give it a listen above, and stay tuned for more from Sir Hell when it rolls in!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local metal trio The BAG will return to The Esquire Club for one night only on Friday, March 3rd! This show was announced via the band's official Facebook event page yesterday, and while the venue has not confirmed the booking, it would appear that The BAG are replacing Mid Life Crysis that night, based on The Esquire Club's concert calendar for the first quarter of 2023 (I have no clue if Mid Life Crysis are still playing on Saturday the 4th or if they've pulled out of that weekend outright). These will be The BAG's first shows of the year, last being seen at Reggie's Place and The Esquire Club in consecutive weekends in December, and hopefully their blend of hard rocking originals and covers find another solid audience next month! Expect a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit as usual. Visit the above links for more details on this show next month!

Now to something that would have toplined a post on a quieter day, as local hard rock solo guitarist Mike McCleary has released his long-teased instrumental album "Fallout From Midnight Tides"! His first new studio album since returning from hiatus and de-listing most of his back catalog, it came out on his Bandcamp page on Wednesday, albeit sans one song that Mike cut as "I just wasn't happy with where it was and no matter what I tried, it just felt forced." The song he removed from the album (actually closer to an EP) was one of the shorter ones, as his teased three 7-ish minute tracks are here as planned. While this is instrumental with no vocals or lyrics, Mike noted that the songs each represent "something I find interesting in life, or is based on something that kind of reflects a certain part of me", and he details the thematic inspiration on each song's individual link on Bandcamp.

Also note that each song has unique single artwork based on the album artwork that he created using an AI art generator. "Fallout From Midnight Tides" is on sale on a "name your price" model, so you can download it for free, but consider buying it to support Mike's work! Yes, a review of this album is planned but it likely won't hit the site until April, as a new Sykotyk Rampage album is already planned for this month, and Forever Will Be's debut album is pencilled in for next month. It is coming though, and buy/stream it for yourself at the above links!

Finally for today, here's a new video of PROV3RB5 guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing a song that the local/Toronto progressive metal band collaborated on last year! Uploaded to their Facebook page last month, the video sees Benjamin covering "Distant" by the Minnesota metal project Stelliferous, who have returned to favour to appear on a PROV3RB5 song as well. The 59 second clip oddly starts with 11 seconds of Benjamin waiting for his part to come in, but it's as technically sound as you'd expect given PROV3RB5's chops, and the multiple camera angles add to the visual impact, so check this one out for yourselves below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

A New Album, Mike Haggith Updates, And New Videos!!

We have a new news post on this Sunday morning, which includes some new videos, big updates on a prominent local musician, and leading off, a new album release from a very prolific local group, so here's what you should know!

Local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage have released yet another new studio album onto their Bandcamp page, and it's their third in a five month span, and 68th total! Officially dated with a February 1st release date despite being posted on Bandcamp last week, this has the unwieldy title "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of The Stoned Ape: Hal​​​-​​​lu​​​-​​​ci​​​-​​​no​​​-​​​gen​​​-​​​ic​​​-​​​Mus​​​-​​​i​​​-​​​cal​​​-​​​Brain​​​-​​​Scans​​​-​​​3", and it is the belated sequel album to their prior two "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of..." albums that were released in 2011, harbouring the same scheme of songs generally having one word names. However, "Genius Mushrooms 3" has a whopping 27 songs, including one for each letter of the alphabet in order, and it would have to be a double album if released physically. Sykotyk Rampage also jokingly claim that this album is not associated with the prior two albums in this series, or the "bands" that recorded them.

Allegedly, "they stole our idea", and this album was just in the works for 12 years and not rushed out in 2011. Now you know!? Given the double length, "Genius Mushrooms 3" is on sale for $15, but you can of course stream the whole thing for free on Bandcamp as well. Will this be reviewed on the SMS? Not short term, as I'd rather review these albums in order and I haven't yet looked at the first two, but a review of either of their September 2022 albums ("Scott's Pub & Crash Music" or "Love Muffin") will hit the site no later than next month. Still, be sure to give this and dozens more of Sykotyk Rampage's unique brand of bluesy alternative and psychedelic rock a listen at the above links, it's quite an experience!

Next up, here's the latest from local alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith, who has finally spilled the beans about his recent plans, especially in regards to his homebase after previously teasing a move out of Thompson, Manitoba last fall. This will be no surprise to anyone who knows Mike personally, but on his Facebook page yesterday, he revealed that he has moved to Barrie, Ontario for work reasons and career advancement opportunities, but Mike does plan to become active in the music scene in Barrie, including solo concerts and possibly "calling the boys" for full band sets. He didn't 100% confirm if he meant his local band from Rotaryfest last year, but note that Mike is much closer now (Barrie is 6 hours east of the Soo), and keep in mind that his hometown of Windsor is a 4 hour drive from Barrie. Also, don't forget that his old Haggith bandmate Daniel Horton already moved down there with Spades GT.

Regarding his upcoming album "All The Best In All You Do", Mike confirmed that "good progress is being made in the studio", and he's hoping for it to come out in mid-2023, perhaps with a release concert. He also plans to resume monthly live-streams and album review videos in the spring now that he has a dedicated area to host his video recording setup. Mike had a very productive run with his best received solo output yet during his five years in Thompson, but hopefully Barrie proves to be just as fruitful artistically and personally, and we'll definitely keep you posted when more comes out on his next musical plans!

Also today, here's some brief clips of local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's new lineup playing at the Walter Froebrich memorial concert at The Rockpile in Toronto last night! Uploaded by YouTube user Belgian Jasper, this is a compilation video of six bands from the event, plus interviews with attendees/performers about Walter and what it means to pay tribute to "the metal mayor of Toronto". Spades GT turn up 1:19 into the 5:49 video, and are seen/heard for about 25 seconds, though remarks from members of Anger By Design are overlaid during it. Not a long look at the expanded Spades GT yet, but they sound good for what little we see, so check it out below, and R.I.P. Walter!

Finally, here's a new video from local progressive metal band PROV3RB5's Facebook page yesterday, which sees guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing a 72 second chunk of their song "Sea of Tranquility". Thankfully, the live instrumentation is enough for this video to avoid being content matched to itself by Facebook algorithms, so it can be embedded here, and Ben has a strong, technically sound handle on things as you'd expect! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from PROV3RB5 in 2023!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Fort Creek), A New Album Release, And More!!

After a quiet holiday season weekend, we're back on the SMS with a Monday night post including some updates and videos from two different local bands, a new and quite seasonal album to buy/stream, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the end of the year. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will cap off 2022 with a New Year's Eve party on Saturday, December 31st at The Water Tower Pub! As far as I can tell, this will be Fort Creek's first ever appearance at the Great Northern Road venue, and doing so on New Year's Eve is definitely a big way to debut there! Last seen with their "Christmas blowout" at Soo Blaster earlier this month, Fort Creek's new lineup continues riding high with assorted live dates and their recent charitable initiatives, and hopefully their hard rocking covers and select originals prove to be an ideal way for revelers at The Water Tower Pub to ring in 2023! This 19+ event does not have an announced start time (likely no earlier than 8:00 PM), but The Water Tower Pub is going all out with this, including an appetizer buffet, midnight toast, and party favours included in the $60 ticket fee, and if you believe their Facebook post, "tickets (are) going fast".

There is also an overnight New Year's Eve hotel room package at the on-site Water Tower Hotel with breakfast and a concert ticket included for $175 ($275 for two people), so see above if that interests you. The admission fee will scare many off, but they're just pulling out all of the stops to make this party one to remember, and hopefully there's a sizeable crowd for Fort Creek to end the year with! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's a surprise (yet still long teased) album release, as Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night have put out their second full-length Christmas album "Dreams of Winter" on their Reverbnation page! On sale there for $9.99, it was posted on December 2nd, and is their first actually on-sale album (free Spotify playlists excepted) since they quietly released "Guntower Democracy" in 2018, and it 100% confirms their teasers and hints at putting out another Christmas album, effectively an expanded re-recording of their 2013 instrumental album "Christmas Night", but now with vocals from Rachel Mender on some songs. While every song on "Dreams of Winter" is a revision labelled as "V2" (version #2), two of the songs were not on the original "Christmas Night" album, namely "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" & "We Three Kings", and some songs have been renamed and re-ordered.

Song lengths are similar to the original 2013 versions, implying that they largely kept the old arrangements, but how different is "Dreams of Winter"? Due to the holiday season timing, I'm actually going to try and review this album before Sunday so it's timely for the holidays (it'd be odd reviewing this next month), and if this makes the site by Sunday, I'll bump our planned Chase Wigmore album review to early January, as it'll be still as relevant and about as new then. In any event, a new album review is coming, but if you want to hear some new-ish Christmas carols gone symphonic metal, buy or stream Theatre of Night's new album above!

Also, here's some new videos from one of new Sault Ontario metal trio The BAG's concerts at Reggie's Place this past weekend! Filmed & posted by attendee Stephanie Laplante to the band's Facebook group on Sunday, these were uploaded in a batch post along with a few photos from the gig. The videos see The BAG covering the instrumental bridge of Golden Earring's "Radar Love", playing an apparent new original song with a punk sound (if it's a cover, I couldn't match the lyrics up with anything), and as embedded below, them covering Marilyn Manson's version of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)". Alas, all three videos are under one minute long (the punk original clip runs for just 20 seconds), and they're also all shot and uploaded vertically, but luckily, the sound holds up across the board, and Stephanie was at a good angle to capture the whole band despite the aspect ratio and the somewhat dim lighting.

From what we hear of The BAG in these videos, they sound good and are rocking out as well as you'd expect, though I'm not sure that "Sweet Dreams" is the cleanest fit for Spencer's vocal range given how slow and creepy the Manson version is plotted out. Check these out above & below, and stay tuned for more from The BAG!

Finally, here's the latest from local/Toronto progressive metal band PROV3RB5, starting with a lineup addition, as they have enlisted former Role Models drummer Phil "Philly Gee" Greco as a full band member! He was officially announced via their Facebook page on November 25th, replacing existing bassist Bryan Lee, but his joining the band was hinted at on personal accounts in the preceding weeks (though he joined after the recording sessions for their debut EP "What Dreams May Come"). Phil is arguably better known locally as a punk drummer, but he has the chops to hang with Ben & Bryan, and it'll be interesting to see how he fits in on future originals! Elsewhere, their song "Treasure Forest" was featured & positively reviewed on the web series Local Band Smokeout last month (the relevant clip was posted to PROV3RB5's Facebook page), but just as a disclaimer, "local band" doesn't mean the Soo, the show covers local bands from any market who want their songs reviewed on air.

PROV3RB5 have also been selling a new line of official band clothing that you can check out/buy at this link, and on December 6th, and they shared this "Reel" from Phil's personal page of the early drum tracking for their first new song since he came on board. Not much to see/hear yet, but good to see things are underway! For a longer video, they did share this video of guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing the solo from "Particles", but I can't embed it here as he's playing along to the studio track, and Facebook content matched it to itself, so external embedding is not allowed. Solid work though, so check out all of the new PROV3RB5 updates above, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

PROV3RB5 - "What Dreams My Come" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 161st monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at local/Toronto progressive metal trio PROV3RB5's debut EP "What Dreams May Come"! Independently released to major streaming platforms on November 1st, this short digital-only EP features instrumental versions of their first three original songs, which were previously released online with vocals from ex-singer Josh Ratliff. In this form, PROV3RB5 are represented by guitarist Benjamin Roswell and Toronto-based bassist/drummer Bryan Lee (the songs were recorded before new drummer Phil Greco joined the band), while Kevin Xiong from the Minnesota metal band Stelliferous guests on the last song. As the versions with vocals never had an album release, I'll primarily review these as instrumentals, but I will make comparisons at the end. You can hear the EP for free on Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer (all linked at this Distrokid page).

If you want to actually buy the mp3 files, "What Dreams May Come" is on sale for $2.97 on iTunes, and now on Bandcamp for $3, so keep those options in mind also! Featuring three songs (all close in length) running for 13 minutes, let's begin this review with the opening song, "Sea of Tranquility"! After a softer guitar opening, the well layered progressive technicality is on full display, with an effective staccato riff early and some solidly crushing djent riffs at the mid-point, but this song operates on multiple effective tracks and will satiate extreme metal and prog fans! The drums are too monotone during the guitar solo (itself a little short for my liking), but as a pure showcase of Ben & Bryan's talents, this is a good introduction to what PROV3RB5 are all about!

The middle song is "Treasure Forest", whose title is a better thematic match to the song than "Sea of Tranquility" was. I do find that the first song executed its melodies and layering better, but "Treasure Forest" does have heavier moments on average, and at points, it reminds me moreso of a video game level music. Benjamin's guitar work and time signature changes are worth the price of admission alone, and the percussion does flow better down the stretch. Maybe a little too much of the twinkly ethereal parts (including the outro), but genre fans should still be into this one! The closer has PROV3RB5 & guest Kevin Xiong playing "Particles", which doesn't stray from prior formulas despite the added guitarist. This one more alternates between heavy prog metal and softer, more ambient (but drum-heavy) bridges, so for headbanging purposes, it comes and goes. When it's on though, it's very much on, especially with Bryan's bass work!

The melodies are on point throughout "Particles", so this ends things on a solid note! As for comparing these songs to the versions with Josh's singing, this style of progressive metal doesn't stick to a traditional structure for composition, so the songs don't feel empty without vocals. That said, Josh is a capable harsh vocalist with clean singing and harmonizing abilities, and while the tone of his screaming isn't my favourite, the first melody you pick up on from these songs is definitely altered when you have him featured, so in a way, these songs are new experiences with Josh, or without if you heard them first. Listen to the versions with vocals on major streaming platforms!

Overall, PROV3RB5 will definitely be worth checking out for fans of progressive metal, especially given the subgenre's shelf life for other local bands! PROV3RB5 benefited from having an established profile in the online metal community before Benjamin ever started making a local push for the project, and he and Bryan are a strong pairing with high proficiency in their instruments! While not full bore heavy on the three songs (each has ebbs and flows into softer sections), their metal credibility is readily apparent, and there's nowhere to go but up, especially given their teasers of late! I will say that, with each song hovering around 4:31, they will blur together for many listeners, especially in this instrumental form, and some extra variance would help to make them stand out, such as longer/more substantive guitar solos or more of a relentless death metal influence on some songs.

The drums were also something that could be mildly distracting based on repetitive tracks and beats, especially in the second half of songs, and again, while the lack of vocals isn't a hindrance, their inclusion dramatically changes the songs' initial perception, so keep that in mind based on what you like out of your metal. PROV3RB5 are definitely on their way though, and hopefully this EP goes some way to giving them a true foothold in the local scene, but check it out for yourself above! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and look for our year-ending review of Chase Wigmore's "We Are All Going To Die" on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard), The Future Of Reggie's West, And PROV3RB5 Updates!!

For our first post of the month, we're diving into two topics that each kinda branch into some interesting subtopics, one being updates from a local original metal project, and the other being LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard have announced a batch of upcoming concerts taking place in the next month+ via this photo on their Facebook page earlier today, so what should know here? Not counting the Esquire Club dates and Toystock (which were already announced by the venue & organizers respectively), seven newly confirmed shows lie ahead, but we'll save the one on SATURDAY NIGHT for this weekend's concert previews to avoid redundant coverage. Otherwise, Bone Yard will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for concerts on Friday, November 11th (yes, Remembrance Day, no word on any memorial tie-ins) and Saturday, November 12th, before returning there three weeks later on December 2nd & 3rd! Next weekend's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the downtown Reggie's in over a month, and hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren deliver more solid weekends of southern rock and heavier covers ahead!

All four dates have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, so visit the above links for more details! The other two brand new Bone Yard shows will take place on Friday, December 9th and Saturday, December 10th when they perform at.... Jay's Piston Broke Pub?! As it turns out, this is the brand new name for Reggie's West (née The Roosevelt Hotel) at 306 Korah Road, which did indeed get sold by Reggie Daigle to new ownership, as Soundcheck confirmed in their promotion for their gigs there this past weekend. Reggie's West's Facebook page hadn't been updated in almost two weeks before today, but Jay Scott is the new owner of the venue, and rather than stick to the existing name like Reggie's Place did or throw back to The Roosevelt Hotel, Jay's going with new vehicle-themed branding. Full disclosure, there is a Piston Broke Pub already in Brantford, no word on if it was an inspiration, but it is locally unique compared to other bars.

Unlike the sea change of 2014 when Reggie bought The Rosie, things look like the status quo for Jay's as far as bands go (cosmetic changes aside), with Jus' Chillin playing first this Friday & Saturday night, followed by Fort Creek next weekend, and Thursday jam nights will reportedly continue as well. Of course, I hope things go well at the pub in this new era! Sad to see Reggie divest himself of both of his bars (he sold Reggie's Place to separate owners in 2020), but hopefully he's doing well and it was just time to step back. Bone Yard will rock Jay's at 9:30 PM on the 9th & 10th with no cover and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Toronto progressive metal project PROV3RB5, who we haven't talked about on here in way too long, so what's new to report from them? Over the summer, much of their updates on their Facebook page were about milestones for views and followers, plus the reach that their first three singles were getting from djent-friendly outlets, including video reviews from JMR Music Reviews and I Built The Sky guitarist Rohan Stevenson. In August, a band member(s?) guested on "Distant", a new song by Minnesota progressive metal solo project Stelliferous, whose leader Kevin Xiong previously guested on PROV3RB5's third single "Particles". The links are obvious as such, but the technical prog metal attack will absolutely appeal to genre fans! The Chinese company Dimension Music also interviewed them for this article.

Benjamin & Bryan are asked about the meaning of the band name, how they formed, their lyrical messages, how the music scenes in Canada & China differed (Ben lived in China for five years), and their future plans, among other topics. Not the best formatted review, but there are good insights that many fans won't have known, so give it a look above! Last month, they announced plans to re-issue their first three songs as instrumentals with no vocals (original singer Josh Ratliff left the band in April), and those evolved into what they're calling their debut EP, entitled "What Dreams May Come", which was posted onto Spotify & Apple Music earlier today! Links for both can be found at this Distrokid page. While streaming platforms are emphasized (i.e. no Bandcamp or Amazon availability yet), you can buy "What Dreams May Come" on iTunes for $2.97, so it is on sale!

As such, I can confirm that this EP will be reviewed on the SMS this month! Originally, I had pencilled in Chase Wigmore's new album, which was slated to be released on Saturday, but he has since confirmed that it was postponed, more on that in the coming days. Give "What Dreams May Come" a listen above, stay tuned for more proficient prog metal from PROV3RB5, and check out this new teaser video featuring the instrumental version of "Sea of Tranquility"! Alas, I can't embed it here because Facebook content matched the song to PROV3RB5' own streaming copies of it. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

After a busy slate of weekend concert previews, let's dive into some recent videos from local metal acts, including a jam session clip, a solo performance, and a video explanation of a recent original song's recording progress, but leading off, here's some lineup updates and teasers!

Let's start in St. Ignace, Michigan for the latest from local progressive metalcore quartet Heavy Lies The Crown, who played their first concert since the pandemic began, and with their new lineup, on Thursday! Unfortunately, it was in Saginaw, continuing their run of non-local dates, but hopefully they melted many a face in the Lower Peninsula in their return show! Joining Brandon and Ted in their new lineup are bassist Christian Thanasiu (replacing Danny Tucker) and drummer Jaxon Massaway (replacing Cale Krist), who is credited as "The Kid" in the Facebook teaser video embedded below for the Saginaw concert. Just as a reminder, H.L.T.C. have not immediately replaced Nathan Switzer on rhythm guitar. I am not familiar with Christian or Jaxon from prior local bands, but crucially, both currently live in St. Ignace, so any distance hang-ups will be precluded, and maybe this will lead to more E.U.P. dates?

Over the past month, Heavy Lies The Crown have updated their Facebook page primarily to promote the Rock Rebel Show show in Saginaw, including this teaser clip focused on their duck mascot mask, and this short video featuring our best look yet at the new lineup jamming together, albeit without live audio. Frontman Brandon West had also entered a Michigan Metal Vocal Competition that they were promoting, and Belgian online host Evy Wisse reviewed them in her Twitch series highlighting underground rock musicians, a'la Your Music Live or You Rock. Good to see things falling into place for the new look Heavy Lies The Crown, so get all of their current updates above & below, and stay tuned for more!

Next up, here is a new teaser clip of revived Sault Ontario death metal quartet Exploring Detritus jamming, courtesy of their Facebook page on Thursday! This is not quite a full look at the band's current five-piece lineup, as new frontman Mitch Sirie is not visibly present, but we do get to see his (ex-?) Bear Hunters bandmate Justin Lam with the former Kaepora Gaebora for the first time. The 31 second clip doesn't tell us much, and Dan is unfortunately behind a pole (and glare) for most of it, but it sounds promisingly brutal while it lasts, so give it a look for yourself below!

Also, here's a new video of prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore in action, though not on his Facebook page, rather his on-and-off label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page. Uploaded on Tuesday, the caption-free video sees Chase playing more of a funk rock song, while impressively singing with a cigarette in his mouth! Very Primus-y vibes with this performance, but the audio quality is somewhat scratchy, and the foreground lighting is much darker than the background lighting. Check it out for yourself below!

Finally, here's a new video from local/Toronto progressive metal band PROV3RB5's Facebook page on Thursday, where guitarist Benjamin Roswell explains how the songwriting and concept of their third released single "Particles" came to be, notably with how he, Bryan, and the guest American musicians all came to the same theory about the song's meaning, while also thanking viewers of their virtual release party for the single. If you missed out, you missed a chance to win prizes, even! Ben does come off a little dry here, but he explains everything nicely and gives some solid insight into "Particles", so give it a watch , and look for more from PROV3RB5 soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), A New Local Metal Band, And New Videos!!

The steady stream of new posts this week continues today with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and some new audio recordings from a local metal act, but first, here's a new addition to our band links that you more progressively minded metalheads will want to take notice of!

We have another new-ish local band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are progressive/djent metal band PROV3RB5 (always capitalized), who have been active primarily as an international studio project so far, but have begun more of a local outreach this year. Their founding and only current local member is guitarist Benjamin Roswell, a Brantford native and current Sault Ste. Marie resident with no major prior local band ties that I'm aware of, and he's currently joined by Toronto-based bassist Bryan Lee, who has also doubled as drummer. Until last month, their singer was Australian metal vocalist Josh Ratcliff, who amicably left PROV3RB5 for personal reasons. This band had the misfortune of publically launching in March 2020, and subsequent updates were sporadic at best until 2022, when they began teasing the release of their first single "Treasure Forest" in February.

That was followed by a second single "Sea of Tranquility" in March, and you can hear both songs on multiple social media and music platforms linked here, with the songs getting exposure & play across progressive and metalcore-friendly corners of the internet since. Their third single "Particles" was launched with an online release party (as in, held via Zoom) this past Friday, and it features guest performances by guitarist Kevin Xiong of Minnesota progressive metal solo project Stelliferous and the singer of the masked Ohio metal band Echobreak. While this may not sound all that local in focus, Benjamin is looking to change that, as he did post on the local Musicians Wanted Facebook group last week that he's looking to find a singer, rhythm guitarist, and drummer to fill out PROV3RB5, preferably ones with their own recording studio access, and to send him samples of your compositions above or at this link if you're interested.

The Soo is not completely devoid of djent-able metal musicians (Kraken Mara, anyone?), so hopefully Ben finds some capable hires, as PROV3RB5 are very talented and know what to do towards a highly professional studio sound and visual presentation! Benjamin's an excellent technical guitarist with a lot of diverse influences, Bryan matches nicely on bass, and while no longer in the band, Josh had the screaming and clean vocal ability needed on their first two singles! It'll be interesting to see where PROV3RB5 go from here, but check out their three singles above and more videos on their Facebook page, and here's the well edited official music video from "Sea of Tranquility" courtesy of their YouTube channel!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage at The Trading Post on Wednesday, June 1st! Truth be told, I have no clue why Tym is scheduled for a mid-week show like this, especially as June 1st is not a holiday (my first thought is this was a typo and he's playing there on July 1st for Canada Day). Maybe it's just a special thing to kick off the summer months? You may recall seeing Tym play outside of The Trading Post for a string of mostly weekly summer gigs last year from July-September, which were his first public dates since the pandemic began. Hopefully his unplugged hard and classic rock hits find a receptive audience next week, and we'll cover his show at The Mike Case Memorial Stage this weekend in our upcoming weekend concert preview posts. Expect a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limits next week.

And of course, The Trading Post is located at 1332 Great Northern Road, way down if you're not coming from up north already, but it's a nice outdoor spot for a drive, tourism, and meals, weather permitting! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more on his prior show there this weekend in a couple of days!

Finally, here's the latest videos from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's YouTube channel from last week! Continuing their frequent if usually slightly cryptic studio work outside of their holiday season touring, they shared their "Metal Mozart Concerto #11" last Sunday, featuring an audio cover of the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart piece. Very solidly done take that effectively metallizes this classical staple! Nice visualizations too, but despite using a band photo featuring singer Rachel Mender front & center, this is an instrumental recording. Embedded below is "Instrumental Dark Acoustic Revenge", an original composition by keyboardist Craig Harrison and guitarist Steve Giles that gives fans an accurately described yet melodic piece of music that sets the right darker mood! It's worth noting that the band has since packaged these songs together on Spotify in a "compilation album" of their instrumental recordings not related to the Christmas season.

I don't consider albums only released on Spotify as "albums" as it's a free platform (this isn't even on Reverbnation), but you can do far worse with your time than listen to 23 well recorded epic instrumental metal songs! Good to see the Theatre of Night crew keeping busy as we approach the summer, so give their newest uploads a listen above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!