Things have been somewhat quiet as of late, but we are back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, featuring a few short new videos from each side of the border, and to kick things off, two new albums from regional hard rock musicians, so here's what you should know!
The newest album from Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton was released as scheduled this past Wednesday! Entitled "Escape of the Desert Rat", this is his eleventh to be themed as a score for use in other media, though Ken visualizes it as a video game score, even giving it a plot outline on his website. If left up to him, the story is about a United States military colonel who leads an elite strike force team, but has to escape capture by Sudanese rebels, but potential licensees could theoretically adapt it as they wished. "Escape of the Desert Rat" is available for $9.99 on his Bandcamp page, and while it is his first new album release of 2018, remember that we will not be reviewing it this month. Instead, we'll be looking at SweetKenny's August score album "The Dogs Are Watching", as it's material is slightly heavier, so look for that review soon!
Also, while his scores remain his current focus, one new traditional original is now on his YouTube channel, so what should you know on it? Entitled "Bikini", it's a rock instrumental with a 1960s British Invasion vibe that fans of his older material should enjoy! However, I have chosen not to embed it here due to it's featured video (borrowed clips from a rap music video and of bikini models suggestively washing a car), as some of the content may be considered inappropriate or objectifying. Give it a listen if you want though!
Next up, here's another new solo hard rock album to take note of from a local musician, that being Sault Ontario's own Mike McCleary, who put out his surprise EP "Hourglass" on January 8th! This is not a renaming of the previously announced "Weight of the Truth", that's coming in the near future, but Mike noted on his Facebook page that he chose to release "Hourglass" first due to "the timeliness of its message." In particular, this five song EP addresses topics like assimilation, gender inequality, racism, and poverty, and how they are handled in reality. All five songs have previously been shared in varying forms on Mike's Soundcloud page, and if you're missing a favourite, watch for follow-up releases. It should be noted that Mike did release a debut album called "In Ruins" to online streaming services last June (before we discovered him for site coverage), but it has since been pulled from iTunes, Spotify, and Deezer, and was never acknowledged on Facebook, so he may intend to rework that album and/or it's songs.
"Hourglass" is available on Bandcamp for $4.95 and is also on iTunes and Spotify, so consider streaming or buying it through those sites to hear Mike's newest (first official?) release! As for when to expect a review of it... next month is very possible, though if teasers regarding "The Weight of the Truth" prove to see it's release in the coming weeks, we could pick that instead. "In Ruins" wouldn't jump ahead in line as it's not a "new" album anymore, and who knows if it's being tinkered with. In any event, February is very possible for our first ever Mike McCleary album review, so stay tuned for updates!
Also today, here's the latest from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, so what's new from their camp? Well, they will hit the road with a Southern Ontario tour run with Owen Sound sludgecore band Cruel Bloom
early next month, which join a previously announced Windsor show
in two weeks where they'll help open that city's thrash band Plague's CD release concert. No word on a local concert return yet, but it's great to see the guys keeping busy! Shit Liver have also been seen in a few news Facebook page videos from late last year, including this 2 second video from New Year's Eve featuring Matt Baic drumming while standing up. Ultra brief, but he's definitely in the zone for those 2 seconds! The other video is a proper live clip from their Hamilton concert at Doors in November where they opened for past local headliners Uncle Ray, as shared from attendee Zixuan Chen's page. While it's also brief (37 seconds), at least we get some solid quality footage from a high camera angle, so give it a look below!
Finally for today, here's some brief new videos from Sault Michigan independent label Werehold Records' YouTube channel, though these aren't your standard postings. Instead, these feature label head/Life's Eclipse guitarist Jason Mills testing five microphones across two videos by playing the same heavy guitar riff. You can see the second part (featuring a pair of MXL microphones) at this link, but embedded below is the longer video comparing three. I think the MXL 990 on the second video has the clearest sound, but the SM57 has a scratchier tone that might work better for a punk song. Compare for yourself above and below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on The Sault Metal Scene as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!
Typically I wouldn't mention a metal-based movie here, but seeing as this was being screened at a local concert venue, it seemed only fair to mention, especially with the lack of metal shows at The Grand since last spring! After all, when's the last time a heavy metal band played at Galaxy Cinema? Looks about the same as it did from the previous concerts I've seen there, just with the fancy tables back out on the floor to accommodate moviegoers. No popcorn for sale, but they did have pop, alcohol, and chips, so we weren't emptyhanded! I chose the balcony to see the movie, it seemed more "normal" compared to looking up at the screen from the floor. What surprised me was when we were waiting for the movie start, a nice lady from the staff came around and gave everyone there a free bowl of pretzels! And, cause the movie was on a Blu-Ray disc, there wasn't 20 minutes of trailers! Don't see either of those at Galaxy, do you? However, the crowd was very small, if there was a dozen paid moviegoers there, I'd be surprised.
As for Anvil itself, what a good movie! It was, as you may know, a documentary about Toronto metal legends Anvil, who influenced numerous metal bands in the early 1980s, yet never became mega-stars. It primarily focused on founding members Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, who, through it all, still love to play their music and continue striving to achieve their dreams of making it big, even while entering their early 50s. Now working normal day jobs, they still play to diehard, but small, crowds as often as possible. The movie details how they went on an extensive European tour that turned into a comedy of errors, later exploring Steve and Robb's daily lives, what went wrong in their careers, and their efforts to make a new studio album with star producer Chris Tsangarides, finance it on limited income, and shop it to mostly uninterested record labels. While the movie has a lot of humour and great music, it also has a lot of sad moments. You can tell that the members of Anvil love their music, and would do whatever it takes to get back to their old glories. From the faults of their tour, to the smaller than hoped crowds, to the band's internal struggles, you feel it when they pour their heart out or get into a spat over their music and career. Though I'm not the best person to say this, it really does show the effort and drive it takes to make it in music, even when no doors appear to open in your favour.
It doesn't hurt either that I like Anvil as a band, but even if I didn't, I'd still like and appreciate Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Part of me did expect more humour, but what was presented was genuine, and you really felt like you knew the guys in the band at the end. Like how I don't grade CDs or concerts, I won't grade the movie, but to copy Siskel and Ebert, I will definitely give this movie a thumbs up! Buy this if you see it in stores!!! And if a movie comes back to The Grand that may interest you, check it out, they really are nice there, and you may get free pretzels too!
Now, back to local metal bands, or in this case, one musician! I have a new local act to add to the band listings on the SMS, and like 20 Pack of Marshmallows from yesterday, this act is one I've bypassed in previous months for not being sure of their metalness. Do you know of Sault Michigan death metal band Slackjawed Rats? Well, as you may know, their frontman Mike Libertoski has wrote and recorded solo material (you may remember him as part of the lineup on a Half Stupid concert last year!) And as it turns out, a lot more of it is metal than I'd figured! While his concerts tend to skew more towards acoustic prog rock, he has released no less than SIX SOLO ALBUMS that feature a high dose of heavy material! On his MySpace page, he mentioned that he aims to include songs of all genres on his solo material, which is good, diversity is always welcome! And you did hear that right, he has at least 6 albums, the most recent of which (I think) is "In The Arms Of The Condemned" from last year! His solo albums are primarily instrumental, though one, 2007's "The Great Movement", did feature vocals.
To put it mildly, Mike is a great guitarist, he can play almost anything, and he has a wide skillset! Accomplished guitarist, and he also plays numerous other instruments too! I'd like to see him play some more shows, possibly electric ones too! I'd love to get my hands on his albums, maybe Grooves Music or somewhere online carries them! Check out more from Mike at his official MySpace page and his YouTube channel, or head to his band Slackjawed Rats' page to hear some solid death metal too! Here's hoping one or both play some shows soon! I'll make sure to cover Mike's solo stuff from here on out! And to give you a preview, here's one of his heavier solo songs, "Glasgow Smile"!
Once I found out that Mike Libertoski had so many albums, it jogged my memory as to the local metal albums I'm still on the lookout for. So I figured I'd put out another open call for anyone to help me find these albums to help fill out my local band CD stockpile, or at least get the mp3s from them! IF YOU HAVE, OR KNOW SOMEONE WITH THESE CDS, LET ME KNOW! I'd love to have a copy or the mp3s for future SMS reviews, and possibly upload online to give the bands well deserved exposure! So here's what else I'm still on the lookout for: As It Stands- Kill The Music, Save The Children: Contacting band members about getting their only EP release has been fruitless so far, so I'll put out the call again! Released in 2007, the EP featured 5 tracks, and is out of print. No sites online is actively selling it (The only site that I thought did isn't active), and only one song, "Bush Raids", was streamable online at last search. Any help finding this album would be much appreicated!
Foothill Road- Either of their albums: The locally based hard rock band from the 1990s released two albums: One was self-titled, the other was named "Seventy". And tracking down either has proven to be easier said than done! The songs on their MySpace page are very solid, makes me wish I was old enough to experience them way back when! Anyone know how I could get these albums?
Harsh Heads- First Hated, Then Forgotten: They were a local punk/hardcore band from the early-mid 1990s, though they didn't release their demos into CD form until 2005. I won't say too much about them yet (I haven't even profiled them properly on the SMS yet! That'll be in my next post!) But let me just say this: They're metal enough for the SMS, and I'd love to get this CD!
Infrastrate- Phase I: Commencement: Still have had no luck finding this, the only album release by the originally Sault-based hard rockers Infrastrate. They recorded and released this album after they moved to Ottawa in the mid-2000s, and only some of the album's songs are streamable online. It'd be great to find a copy of their CD, they were a good band!
If you guys can help me get these, or ANY local metal/hard rock CD/album releases, LET ME KNOW! There's likely others I'm not aware of, so if you know of a metal/hard rock/hardcore/grunge album that I don't, TELL ME!!!!!
Speaking of stuff from inactive bands, I've found a real gem of a local metal video to cap off tonight's post! This comes from the YouTube channel of local bassist Mike Mannarino (Tripod The Dog), from one of his old metal bands, Genghis Khan! This clip is of Genghis Khan covering the Racer X song "Scarified" from a show at The Eastgate presumably from the early 1990s! There is audio of these guys online, thanks to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube account, but this is the first actual video I've seen! And I like what I'm seeing here, this is a hard song to play and they did awesome! You don't see stuff like this often! Check out the clip below, thanks to Mike for the upload!
I'll leave it at that for tonight, my next post will include info on Harsh Heads, a Woods of Ypres update, and hopefully much more! Stay tuned, thanks everyone!
Next up, here's another new solo hard rock album to take note of from a local musician, that being Sault Ontario's own Mike McCleary, who put out his surprise EP "Hourglass" on January 8th! This is not a renaming of the previously announced "Weight of the Truth", that's coming in the near future, but Mike noted on his Facebook page that he chose to release "Hourglass" first due to "the timeliness of its message." In particular, this five song EP addresses topics like assimilation, gender inequality, racism, and poverty, and how they are handled in reality. All five songs have previously been shared in varying forms on Mike's Soundcloud page, and if you're missing a favourite, watch for follow-up releases. It should be noted that Mike did release a debut album called "In Ruins" to online streaming services last June (before we discovered him for site coverage), but it has since been pulled from iTunes, Spotify, and Deezer, and was never acknowledged on Facebook, so he may intend to rework that album and/or it's songs.
