New Videos From Heavy Lies The Crown, A Surprise Full Concert Upload, And Much More!!

At press time, I haven't heard of any 100% confirmed hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and area for this weekend, but I will definitely let you guys know either tomorrow or on Friday if anything crosses my radar! In the meantime, today's post features some assorted recent updates, a surprise new full concert video from an artist you may not expect, and leading off, some new videos from a recently prominent local metal band!

St. Ignace, Michigan progressive metal quintet Heavy Lies The Crown posted two new solo playthrough videos onto their YouTube channel in the past week, so what can you see in these? One features guitarist Ted Olson playing "Time Diffuser" (or something else, as he put it) alongside the original recording, and this captures his performance across multiple camera angles. Solid and technically sound as you might expect from this very talented axe-slayer, so check out Ted's well-edited and performed rendition at the above links! Embedded below is singer Brandon West's own solo playthrough (singthrough?) video, this time tackling "A Hell Bound Heart", f.k.a. "Thing #1". Like Ted's video, post-production editing was done to spice things up, including some fade transitions and mirroring, along with the multiple camera angles, but the same basic idea is here, just vocally rather than on guitar.

Again, a solid and well edited performance that may help satiate some demand to see Heavy Lies The Crown live, and it'd be neat to see something similar from the other members of the band go online at some point! Give Brandon's video a look below, and check out more from H.L.T.C. above!

Next up, here's a mild diversion while news is slow: A near-full video of legendary comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic's concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in June 2007! This may seem out of left field for the SMS, but Weird Al has covered hard rock and punk songs multiple times in his long career, some of which are staples of his live setlist. To keep the SMS on relative brand, I'll only link to songs in our genre range here, but kudos to the Weird Al Concerts YouTube channel for posting this on Saturday! Touring in support of his 2006 album "Straight Outta Lynwood", Weird Al's set began with that album's polka medley "Polkarama!", which featured brief yet amusing vocal/accordion covers of the likes of Weezer, The Killers, and Velvet Revolver, while his very first proper song is "Canadian Idiot", his parody of Green Day's "American Idiot".

13 minutes into the 76 minute video, you can see Weird Al perform "It's All About The Pentiums", his parody of the rock remix of Puff Daddy's "It's All About The Benjamins" (the rock remix had Rob Zombie and Dave Grohl on it, so yeah, I can't ignore the inspiration!) Tenth filmed from this set is a 17 minute medley of assorted parodies that weren't performed in full on this tour, which is as good a way as any to witness his wide depth of covers in a short time! Within, he does perform "Bedrock Anthem" (The Red Hot Chili Peppers), "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi" (The Offspring), and "Gump" (The Presidents Of The United States Of America), among other songs. Immediately following, he performs "I'll Sue Ya", a style parody of Rage Against The Machine songs, while the last heavier detour is "Smells Like Nirvana" (parodying "Smells Like Teen Spirit, obviously).

For a 15 year old recording, these videos hold up really well, with the filmer getting solid audio from a near-front row vantage point, so don't let the age of the recording scare you off. Weird Al sounds great in these performances, almost album quality, and his energy and costume changes are excellent. Give the whole concert a watch below, there should be multiple things here for your musical and/or comedy tastes, and click here for SooToday's coverage of Weird Al's local concert proper!

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

 

• I have moved Sault Ontario "shield rock" duo Swampgut to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band has not issued a public update since releasing their self-titled album on Bandcamp on February 19th of last year, and while their lack of a proper social media page outside of there may not help, singer/drummer Frank McCormick's related visual arts page on Facebook hasn't had an update in longer still. Swampgut was active from 2011-2015 before coming back in late 2020, culminating in the album release, and hopefully this isn't the last we hear from Frank & Rob!
• I have removed inactive local metal band Unbound (a.k.a. With Blood Build Character version 2.0) from our band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only surviving online) page at some point in the past year. Successors to State of Misery, Unbound are sadly best known for the passing of their original singer Justin Fratpietro before they could even publically launch in January 2013, and their only concerts took place in Justin's hometown of Thunder Bay in his memory, before falling inactive that spring. Unbound didn't have much luck, but hopefully Ray, Christopher, Kevin, and Nick are doing well nowadays!
• While they have not publically elaborated on the release of their teased EP, local punk quartet Vanity are already back in studio, revealing on their Facebook page yesterday that they were recording a song at Mission Control Studios, complete with photos of the band tracking their parts there. Very cool to see a young band like this already working at Mission Control, and we'll let you know when more comes out on this song and/or the EP!
  

 

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: matti7915, Anthems vs Oceans, and pearls666's Channels!!

Now's a good time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we're once again spotlighting 1-3 YouTube channels (three this month) whose content is at least 50% comprised of local metal, hard rock, and/or punk video content, be they from concerts or artists. This month's choices (all picked at random as usual) have given us a three-channel month again, as the first randomly selected channel only had a single video, as did the second, so we filled things out with a third for November. There's some missed and intriguing projects ahead via these channels, so read on below for this month's YouTube profiles!
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matti7915's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/matti7915)

Owner: Either ex-Dirty Virgin/Riverin guitarist Matt Clement or drummer Matt Hicks (I'd guess Clement, but I'm not 100% certain)

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 3rd, 2007; Only video posted on August 4th, 2008

Channel Summary: Matt's only upload here is a promotional video of his 2007-2010 glam metal/punk quartet Dirty Virgin, complete with a movie credits-style opening, a press quote, and 7 minutes of footage from their set at the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser concert at The Canadian Nightclub in July 2008. Featuring the band's original lineup (with the Matts alongside singer/guitarist Bobby Clement and bassist Lionel "Rocks" Quinton), the edited video features Dirty Virgin covering Joe South's "Games People Play", then playing their original "Take You Hard", before closing with a cover of The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K.". This video & channel are admittedly now redundant given that these clips (and much more) were uploaded in full on Lionel's YouTube channel in 2009, but if you can get past that and the scratchy audio, you'll find Dirty Virgin rocking out well in their element, giving the Soo a then-rare dose of glam rock with good energy!


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Anthems vs Oceans (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPG3jM3COCsENznSkWh_eXA)

Owner: Anthems vs. Oceans founder and ex-idioRECORDS head Dave Hunter

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 16th, 2012; Only video posted on August 22nd, 2014

Channel Summary: Originally created before Dave's solo project changed it's name from For July, this channel only features Anthems vs. Oceans' expletive-laden "Emo Song". Fans of pop punk should take to this song, which was nicely recorded at idioRECORDS, and has a catchy upbeat riff, but other For July/Anthems vs. Oceans pages will have this song and much more available to stream (I recommend their MySpace page.) Also, note that this channel has seen no new media postings since the name change, and Dave has hinted since that he may explore different genres on new material, so keep those in mind.


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nick kainula (http://www.youtube.com/pearls666)

Owner: A Dire Setback drummer Nick Kainula, also known from prior bands like State of Misery, Stealing Kisses, and Unbound

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 10th, 2007; Only video posted on January 20th, 2013

Channel Summary: Though extensively used for personal playlists, Nick's only video is of his short-lived local hard rock band Unbound (later the second version of With Blood Build Character), whose public launch sadly came following the sudden death of singer Justin Fratpietro in January 2013. The only public video of the original Unbound is a jam session take of their song "Deep Waters", with Justin and Nick joined by Nick's ex-State of Misery bandmates Ray Cowan on guitar and Kevin D'Orazio (now of K.I.C.K.) on bass. Taking a darker yet more accessible slant than State of Misery had, the video is hampered by distorted audio, but Unbound showed decent potential here and a solid pre-existing chemistry, and it's a shame that they didn't accomplish more before Justin's passing (or after.)


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we have randomly drawn ex-Nikkfitt guitarist Robert Ross' YouTube channel for our next profile, and though he only has three videos, they're all distinct and relevant, so look for that to close 2016 on or around Boxing Day! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's CD review soon! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Olivia Williams, Alanoth, And nick kainula

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, and for the first time of this year, we're looking at three separate channels (all randomly selected), as the first we chose only had one distinct video type, so I filled it out with extras. Remember, this monthly series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels that have at least 50% worth of local metal/hard rock videos, in order to profile, feature, and recommend them to prospective fans! We have a nice blend of hard rock talent from Sault Ontario this month, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Olivia Williams (http://www.youtube.com/flangel22)

Owner: YouTube user and former Sault Ontario resident Olivia Williams

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 11th, 2007; Videos posted from February through December 2011

Channel Summary: A close friend of members of defunct local hard rock band Stillbroke (later Borderline Divine) during their heyday, Olivia's video postings are all uploads of studio tracks from their 2009 EP "Never Enough", though they were curiously not posted there until their ongoing concert hiatus in 2011. Featuring their classic lineup (frontman Jesse Frigault, guitarist Sam DeDominicis, bassist Kyle McKey, and drummer Jenny Hooper), the songs are "Forget", "Never Enough", and (as embedded below) "Tear Me To Pieces", which provide a nice sampling of Stillbroke's talent & abilities from the peak of their local run, and with solid production from Stereo Soul Studios, fans of modern hard rock should be right at home! Note however that the other songs from the EP ("No Reason" & "Wash It Away") are not on Olivia's channel, but they can be streamed here, and her channel hasn't been actively used in a year or more.


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Alanoth (http://www.youtube.com/alanoth)

Owner: Former 2wo Man Baand singer/guitarist & Sault Ontario native Elliott Corston-Pine

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 12th, 2006; Only video posted on October 17th of that year

Channel Summary: Effectively the official YouTube channel for the partially local improv/hard rock duo 2wo Man Baand, member Elliott Corston-Pine uploaded their only known public video there in October 2006, which was late into their collective run. The video and song (both entitled "Sky High") feature Elliott and guitarist Stephen Quackenbush jamming an improvised instrumental guitar track, which has a lot of promise that actually outshines their more comedic songs on their MySpace page, but the video suffers from washed out colours and a somewhat poor camera angle. In a sense, the 2wo Man Baand were ahead of their time in terms of their membership and style, so the video is worth looking at to gauge their talent! Also watch out for credits, and note that Elliott hasn't visibly used his channel since 2009.


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nick kainula (http://www.youtube.com/pearls666)

Owner: Former State of Misery & Unbound drummer Nick Kainula

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 10th, 2007; Only video posted on January 20th, 2013

Channel Summary: Talented local drummer Nick Kainula finally uploaded a video of his most recent public band Unbound to his YouTube channel last January, albeit not under optimal circumstances following the sudden death of frontman Justin Fratpietro on January 3rd of last year. Their only known footage with Justin, this originally came from a personal Facebook posting, as filmed by attendee Amy Roach at a jam session in November 2012, which fans may recognize as the same location as early State of Misery videos. Also featuring Nick's former State of Misery bandmates Ray Cowan & Kevin D'Orazio at the time, the video suffers from poor audio quality & a shaky camera angle (which is auto-corrected on YouTube), but it does show Unbound's hard rock base, with Justin's deeper melodic vocals flowing nicely, and it's definitely makes you wonder what could have been! Note however that videos from the band's later activity are not on Nick's channel, nor has he updated it recently.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month, I've randomly chosen just one channel (but it's stacked), and this one will be our first single channel profile from Sault Ontario in 5 months, so what's coming on or around April 22nd? The official YouTube channel for defunct local experimental/grunge trio SBD, which is stacked with videos, so watch out for that next month, and stay tuned for an all-Anvil concert video showcase soon! Thanks everyone!

Oddfellows Hall Concert Fallout, An Inactive Band, And Much More!!

On this cold Saturday afternoon, we have an assortment of updates, including a new cover video, an inactive band to take note of, and more assorted updates (including a prominent CD reissue), but first, what went down at last night's all ages concert? Here's what you need to know!

As you may know, yesterday's heavy and persistent snowfall and weather warnings put a damper on the all ages metal show at The Oddfellows Hall, most notably preventing North Bay headlining acts TheKillingField and Buried Out Back from making the trip for the show. That's definitely disappointing, especially given how long it's been since either band played here, but hopefully they'll get a local raincheck! On extremely late notice, Blood Shed Productions metal duo Brutaly Fatal were added to the bill as the night's opening band to help fill the gap, in just their second show, their first (I think) with new drummer Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, and their first since announcing plans to deemphasize death metal. As well, a later post on the event page said that the thought-defunct Mike Haggith & The Din were added late as well, which would mark the acid rock trio's first live set since the summer (complete with a new lineup, apparently), but details beyond there have yet to be publicized.

The weather did regrettably keep me from attending, but hopefully the people that came out had a great time! This definitely isn't the best way for Heavy North Entertainment to kick off their run as local concert promoters, but they apparently plan to reschedule the headliners in the near future, so fingers crossed that the second time's a charm, as I didn't wanna miss last night's show! Also, kudos to Ringsnaps for pulling triple duty last night (and to Pillory for headlining), and hopefully we see all the performers back soon!

Next up, I'm regrettably moving a local hard rock band to our inactive local band links, that being the second version of With Blood Build Character (originally known as Unbound.) While not past our one year threshhold for inactivity, they have issued no public updates since March, and a recent Facebook status reply from drummer Nick Kainula started with "If I had a band going", so it doesn't look like they're functioning at present. Originally fronted by the late Justin Fratpietro, his passing last year actually predated the band's public launch, with their surviving members (all formerly of State of Misery) staying together with bassist Kevin D'Orazio on lead vocals, and playing their only concerts in Justin's hometown of Thunder Bay in March 2013. Due to a naming conflict, the band recycled the With Blood Build Character name (after Ray Cowan & later addition Christopher Neveau's short lived late 2012 band) for their last show on March 29th, though activity stalled afterwards.

Unbound/W.B.B.C. had promise, especially as they deviated from State of Misery by playing a more straightforward hard rock sound, but despite optimism from Nick in personal conversations, things didn't go the way they were intended both before & after Justin's death. It would have been great to see the band power through and play some local dates last year, but at least Justin's family got to see them live! Best of luck to Kevin, Chris, Ray, and Nick in the future, and they're now in our inactive band links (albeit listed as Unbound, their longer used & less cumbersome name.)

Also today, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy has posted yet another solo cover onto his YouTube channel, this time of Lifehouse's "You & Me"! Though it's his first proper cover video of 2014, he preceded it with a new original song named "Paradise Sunrise" that is an lively acoustic rock number, but it definitely shares more similarities with his recent covers than his band work. The new Lifehouse cover is par for the course of his recent work, featuring vocal, guitar, and drum performances, and it's well done (especially if you like this style of music), so give Alex's new video a look below!



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

• Are you curious to see local classic/hard rock quintet The Thrill Junkies' setlist? Former bassist Jamie Cameron apparently made one of sorts during his early 2013 tenure with the band via a 30 song playlist on his personal YouTube channel, which features links to songs by everyone from Alice In Chains & The Beatles to Velvet Revolver and Volbeat. Interesting mix, with a lot of metal tunes, so give it a look above (though be cautious, as things may have changed since he left.)
• I've removed local banquet hall & sporadic concert venue The Verdi Hall from our concert venue links due to their website being taken offline, possibly due to the expiration of the domain name. The Queen Street West hall is still open (it just hosted the Ray Brown benefit last fall), but we typically only see it used for heavier concerts if there's a benefit/fundraiser component. If the website returns though, we'll re-add it!
• Earache Records are finally reissuing one of Woods of Ypres' first three albums under their banner, as their 2008 CD "Woods III: The Deepest Roots & Darkest Blues" will be reissued on CD and in limited coloured vinyl pressings on March 24th, with some bundles including new t-shirts. Click here for complete pre-order information and details on the packages, and hopefully this new release is a success so their earlier albums (and more?) are officially seen again!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Curse The Witch! Thanks everyone!

Unbound Updates & Name Change, Plus New Videos!!

In our 27th straight day of SMS updates, we've got some more news and videos to share today, including some new solo covers & new material from separate local projects. However, we'll lead off today with a bunch of stories from a newer local metal band, including their first live concert video, a guitarist departure, and a familiar name change, so here's what you need to know!

Let's start with some news from the newer local metal band known as Unbound, starting with the news that they have changed their name yesterday. As revealed on the Facebook event page for their show in Thunder Bay on Friday, the name change is to avoid confusion & conflicts with a prior Thunder Bay metal band named Unbound, whose name late singer Justin Fratpietro got permission to use as inspiration for the local band's name. Good move on the surface, as you could tell that there was some questioning of a "new" Unbound playing there, and hopefully everything's smoothed over! As a result, the band's new name is With Blood Build Character... wait, haven't we heard that before? You may remember last summer when a band of that same name was formed by the non-drumming members of local hardcore/death metal band March Into Regression (Jeremy Hannah, Ray Cowan, Christopher Neveau, and Tyler St. Amour), but they only played one show in August before going inactive. Since then, Christopher & Ray joined the former Unbound, and it looks like Christopher had the W.B.B.C. name to give to this new band when the time arose!

Note that aside from the name & common members, these are definitely two different bands, as the current W.B.B.C. don't play hardcore songs, and they were initially formed under a different name. Personally, I find the new/old name is a downgrade, as it's grammatically awkward (shouldn't it be "...Builds Character"?), and it was initially conceived for a different style of metal band, but at least in this case, members have the rights to this previously used name!

It also looks like they've already split with lead guitarist Ray Cowan at some point in the past week, as per his removal from W.B.B.C.'s Facebook page's lineup recently. A reason wasn't announced, but hopefully things are amicable, and best of luck to Ray in the future, as he's a very talented guitarist! With his departure, their lineup currently lists Christopher Neveau back on guitar, with frontman Kevin D'Orazio on vocals only, and the bassist position is empty. If there's a member search on the horizon, I'll let you guys know! Finally, the former Unbound made their live debut two weeks ago at Pier 61 in Thunder Bay two weeks ago, and the first video from their debut is now online to check out! Normally, I wouldn't plug this, as it's a personal Facebook video, but with no other glimpses of 2013 work yet, I wanna spread the word until something public & embeddable pops up. Uploaded by attendee Kiko Tommasini, it's of With Blood Build Character playing an original song named "Pound It Back", and it seems to be influenced by groove metal bands like Prong or Pro-Pain, which is cool to see from a Sault Ontario band!

Kevin D'Orazio has the right vocal aggression and tone for the material, but he needs to get a bit more diverse and less monotonous in my opinion, and the song is somewhat repetitive. Their stage presences could also be a bit looser, but overall, I like where the new With Blood Build Character is going, and hopefully they play more local shows than the first version did! Stay tuned for more updates!

We'll close today with some new videos, including one and some extra updates from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night! Oddly, none of their recent news have been about their planned third re-recording of "Christmas Night", instead focusing on different new projects, possibly leading to a new EP that they hyped on their Facebook page on March 17th. Though it's possible concept or theme isn't known yet, could it be classical covers? They already posted one Mozart sonata in a metal style, and on Friday, they posted their cover of Mozart's "Symphony No. 25" onto their Reverbnation page, and it's predictably good as a metal rendition! It's not as familiar as Mozart's #11, but give it a listen above for some quality classical metal! The other new posting is a video previewing a re-recording of their 2011 original "Uthgar's Last Stand" (not "Ulfgar's Last Stand" as it was called then), though I'll note that their Facebook page is crediting it as a "brand new" song.

Posted to their YouTube channel on Thursday, it features two short samples of the re-recorded track, which will reportedly feature vocals from singer Gaby Koss when it's completed, along with footage from what looks like their recording studio. It sounds like it will be an improvement, but of course, stay tuned for updates as they come in, and check out their new sample video of "Uthgar's Last Stand" below!



Finally for today, here's a new solo cover from Valentine's Day Massacre bassist Adam Veale! Yes, he's getting in on the solo video action, as he's been featured in two filmed covers on his dad John's YouTube channel within the past 4 months. Featuring him on vocals & acoustic guitar from his current London homebase, the covers are of The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" and (as embedded below) The Smashing Pumpkins' "Today", and they amount to the first videos of Adam singing that we've seen since before Sativa Rose got a full time singer. The Pumpkins have heavier stuff, but I think Adam's vocal range suits softer material like this better, and he does display some guitar talent in the process! See if you like Adam's solo clips above, and his cover of "Today" is below!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at 180 Gore Street TONIGHT for Soul Killing Female, the debut of AlgomA, and Honest Job! ALL AGES, don't miss it! Thanks everyone!

Suicide Kings & Unbound Updates, Plus New Solo Performance Videos!!

It was February 25th when we last had a day without a post on the SMS, and I'm very glad to see things picking up and staying newsworthy in what's often a light time of year for news! In this latest post, we have some new solo videos from a pair of local hard rock artists, as well as news on a new local band's debut concerts (they're not where you think), but first, here's what's new from a recently prominent outfit, and what's on the horizon!

We'll start with the latest news from local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings, who have a busy spring on the horizon (including with their Nicolet Tavern show on Friday), but before then, they'll be focusing on recording sessions for what their debut EP! According to their Facebook page, the sessions are taking place at The Smoke & Oak Room Studio with producer Dave Pihlaja, similarly to Late & Loud and Crimson Crusade's recent recording sessions. Dave's been doing some great work with a wide variety of local acts since starting The Smoke & Oak Room last year, and hopefully this continues to grow and fill more of the need for local recording studios, so become a fan at the above links, and the Smoke & Oak Room's now in our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" section! Drum tracks are now complete, with guitar tracking beginning today, and while I can't find the post I saw this off of, I could swear a Suicide Kings band member said on Facebook that they hoped that their EP would be finished by their set opening for 40 Sons at The Rockstar Bar on April 5th, with a free distribution planned there rather than selling the discs. Seeing as I can't find that post, plans might have changed (and/or it may have been a premature announcement.)

Finally for Suicide Kings' news, the guys have quietly cancelled their planned St. Patrick's Day gigs at Docks Riverfront Grill next weekend, as per the deletion of the shows' Facebook event page on Sunday. A reason wasn't announced, but bassist Mitch Sirie will be in Sudbury on the 16th for his other band The Bear Hunters' next out of town gig in Sudbury, so that's likely related. Disappointing, but the rest of the spring sounds very promising from their camp, so stay tuned for more Suicide Kings updates!

Next up, here's the latest news from new Sault Ontario hard rock outfit Unbound! The band featuring State of Misery & March Into Regression alumni will make their live concert debuts this month with concerts this Saturday & on March 29th... just not in Sault Ste. Marie. Instead, the guys will be taking a road trip to Thunder Bay to play at Pier 61 this weekend, followed by a suicide awareness fundraiser there named "Out Of The Darkness" at Crocks on the 29th alongside electronic acts. The almost-9 hour drive for their first shows may seem odd on the surface, but as you may remember, Unbound's late original frontman Justin Fratpietro was a Thunder Bay native, and their involvement in the latter show is especially significant given Justin's untimely passing in January. Details on Unbound's Sault Ste. Marie debut have yet to be publically unveiled, but hopefully we'll see the guys around town this spring! I fully understand the Thunder Bay debut & connections, and hopefully many Justin's family and friends will be able to see music he helped create in person this way! Keep an eye out for more Unbound updates in the near future!

We'll close today with a pair of new solo performance videos from local hard rock musicians, including this new cover from Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy! Though both his solo YouTube channel & the whole band have been fairly quiet so far in 2013, Alex did upload this cover of Green Day's "Nuclear Family" onto YouTube on Saturday! Using multiple camera angles and a nice quality camera, he does another good job on this cover, but if you're hoping for metal covers, he hasn't posted any since the fall. I have to ask though, where's the titles & logos like on his past clips? Still, give Alex's latest guitar cover a look below!



Finally for today, RedStone Riot bassist & ex-Riot! By Night frontman Ryan Harrison uploaded three more "pajama sessions" solo acoustic covers onto his YouTube channel yesterday! The covers are of The Counting Crows' "Right Here", Butch Walker's "ATL", and (as embedded below) Blue October's "Worry List", and all were filmed similarly to his last solo clips. These are very similar in sound to his last videos, and his talents are clear on all 3 (so I'd say how you'd rank them would depend on liking the original artists.) Check out his cover of "Worry List" below, and hopefully Ryan will revisit singing in a live band again in the future!



That's probably all for today, but stay tuned soon for more news & notes, plus this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned), Lion Ride's Last Original Songs, And Much More!!

Keeping with recent news updates, we have a bunch of stories to cover on this Saturday morning at the SMS, so what's on tap? Today, we've got news on studio material from a prominent local hard rock band, another newer act's newest lineup changes, and a glimpse at what would have been for an unreleased album, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month across the river!

Kinross hard rockers Banned have announced yet more upcoming concerts, as they'll return to Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan over St. Patrick's Day weekend! As revealed on their Facebook page on Thursday, this will be Banned's first concert weekend at the local bowling alley/concert venue since their Dondee debuts last month, and they should have an entertaining set of hard rock and classic rock covers and originals in store on March 15th & 16th! Plus, if you're a partying type, this is a perfect weekend to have a drink or two (or more), so why not partake in that revelry with some hard rocking music as well? Both of these shows likely have no cover charge and a 21+ age limit, while 8:00 PM start times are advertised. Check the above links for more details! Hopefully Banned's possibly new lineup rocks out well over the St. Patty's Day weekend, and of course, don't miss them TONIGHT at Todd's Tavern in Moran!

Next up, here's a cool new posting from prominent defunct Sault Ontario/Toronto metal quintet Lion Ride! A year after their disappointing breakup, the band uploaded all four studio tracks from their unfinished second album to their YouTube channel on Wednesday to check out as part of one single upload! In order, the songs are their last 3 originals "Snail Trail", "Bang Bang, Bye Bye", "Stick It In", and their cover of The Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited", and these were all recorded in 2010 at BWC Studios in Toronto with producer Greg Dawson. Though we've heard most of these studio tracks already from MySpace & YouTube postings, this has the first publically available studio copy of "Bang Bang, Bye Bye" (barring soundtrack uses) that I know of, so this upload is notable on that basis alone! Note as well that the band's labelled the songs as their "final EP", but if there's an official paid release planned for the tracks, I haven't heard of it (nor am I sure if the used image was planned to be the album's cover.)

It's great to hear the studio copy of "Bang Bang, Bye Bye" in full finally, and it flows nicely with Lion Ride's other 2010 tracks, which would have been a great base for a studio album! It'd be interesting to see all of Lion Ride's studio tracks (including the "Awesome" EP, "Lazer Lover", and "My Baby's Bad") grouped together as a summative 12-track full length album from their local run, but given their breakup, that's a longshot idea at best. Check out all four of Lion Ride's last songs below, and cross your fingers that we'll get that farewell show (or any type of reunion) at some point down the road!



Thirdly, remember Sault Ontario hard rock notables Sailor's Tongue? We've heard very little from them since their return to the live concert stage at Rotaryfest last year, but they are still alive, and they're even working on new material! As posted on drummer Dean McKey's SoundCloud page over the past year (though the newest songs went up on Wednesday), the new songs are entitled "Shadow", "Out of the Woodwork", "Wired For No Sound", and "Float", and I believe they feature their current lineup, including singer/guitarist Kyle McKey, guitarist Liam Seymour, and bassist Jeff Brown alongside Dean on drums. According to a Facebook page comment reply in December, Sailor's Tongue are hoping to have a new record out this year, so I assume these new songs would go towards that. Assuming that's the end goal still, I won't give an in depth review of the tracks, but they remind me of Sailor's Tongue's earlier work, all showing a heavy groove and audible classic rock influences, punctuated with Kyle's unique clean singing tone!

I recommend checking out Sailor's Tongue's newest original songs at this location, and stay tuned for any possible updates from their camp, including hopefully a return to the stage sooner or later! They're a talented band for sure, and they hit some big heights way back when, and it'd be great to see the guys ascend the ladder in full in 2013 and beyond!

Finally for today, here's the latest news from newer Sault Ontario hard rock band Unbound! In the past week or so, the band quietly updated their lineup on their Facebook page, which was a likely necessity following the sudden passing of singer Justin Fratpietro last month, but how does the band look now? It's been confirmed that bassist Kevin D'Orazio has taken over lead vocal duties with Unbound going forward, while also trading his bass for the rhythm guitar (similarly to State of Misery's brief quintet run in 2011.) Though we've seen him do backup singing live, he's somewhat of an unproven commodity as a lead singer, but drummer Nick Kainula has spoken well of Kevin's vocals to me, so we'll have to see how he does in concert! As a result of Kevin's move to vocals & guitar, Unbound have also added Christopher "Nessy" Neveau as their new bassist, returning them to a quartet lineup. Christopher's likely best known for his mid-2012 guitar work with March Into Regression & With Blood Builds Character alongside Unbound lead guitarist Ray Cowan, and though I'm not familiar with his bass skills, hopefully he adds well to their new lineup!

Other news is forthcoming on Unbound's future, such as their live debut and any Justin Fratpietro tributes, so keep an eye out at the above links, and hopefully the guys make a huge splash in 2013 as I'm sure Justin would have wanted! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news & notes soon, including this month's newest poll and last month's poll results on Monday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), Recent Sault Star Hard Rock Interviews, And Much More!!

As promised, here's our first news post of February 2013, so what's on tap? Today, we have a lot of assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, along with a new solo original song, and some catching up on hard rock band interviews from a major local news source, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT (and check out this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post below this one!)

There are indeed heavier concerts this weekend in the Sault Ste. Marie area, courtesy of Sault Michigan hard rock trio Powerslug! Their second announced concert weekend of the year, the band featuring I.S.O.M., Kilacel, and River Witch alumni are playing at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) TONIGHT, following a first concert either yesterday or Thursday. When drummer Bob Helsten announced the shows on his personal Facebook page on Thursday, he indicated the first show was that night, but bands in the area generally play Friday first instead of Thursday, so I'm not sure if there's scheduling differences at play, or if it was just a typo. Regardless, I missed the show until now, and I profusely apologize as a result! They could really use an online page to update show information though. As for tonight's gig, Powerslug will bring their hard rock covers to the stage at 10:00 PM, a cover charge wasn't announced, and you must be 21 to attend. If any more details pop up, I'll add them here! These should be good concerts from this talented trio, and with no online media either, take my word for it, and go occupy The Bird for some hard rock this weekend!

Next up, if you're a Sault Star subscriber, you may have noticed an interview last month with Sweet's Steve Priest in advance of their show with April Wine at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino next weekend! That alone was worth mentioning, but today, it's just part of a catch-up I wanna do for other recent Kewadin Casino hard rock performer interviews held with The Sault Star since the beginning of last year, so what'd I miss? All conducted & wrote by The Sault Star's Jeffrey Ougler, the recent SMS-suited articles included interviews with Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson (prior to their Kewadin show in August) and members of both of Stryper's opening bands last February (Slaughter bassist Dana Strum & Lynch Mob guitarist George Lynch), so click each link above to give them a look! I apologize for the late notice on most of these, but I'm not a Sault Star subscriber, so I miss a lot of their quality articles as a result.

If you're not familiar with Jeffery's concert preview articles/interviews, these all feature general discussions with the band member(s) on their history and recent events, along with promotion of the Kewadin concert, and they're all informative and deserve a look, even late! Check them all out above, and don't miss Sweet with April Wine on February 9th at the Soo Kewadin!

Also today, here's the newest solo track from Alterwhite mainman Mike Matthews! Entitled "Erase Me (Please)", he posted it onto the AlterWhite YouTube channel on Thursday, Mike recorded this for his "album "Something Left Inside", but how is it? The music's good, especially the heavy second half, but Mike really overdoes the clean vocals on the soft first half, and he should have done the first few minutes in a more reserved and less exaggerated style. The second half makes up for it though, so check out "Erase Me (Please)" below!



Finally for today, here's SIX assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, as we've had a bunch of these in the last few days! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or band name:

• Former Skull After Betryal bassist Adam Brett is currently looking to join or form a new local metal/hard rock band, though he aims to play guitar this time around. I know he's been working hard to improve his skills recently, so give him a shout at this location or find his Musicians Wanted Facebook group posting from yesterday for more details!
• Prolific Sault Michigan guitarist Mike Libertoski is back with a new original demo! His first publically available new song since 2011,  this blistering & short technical metal demo is full of promise and shows a skill evolution from his other early 2010s work, so give it a listen at his SoundCloud page, and his solo project is now back in our active Sault Michigan metal band links! (Note that this is credited to himself, not his Galactic Alignment project.)
• Valentine's Day Massacre frontman Steve Rhodes has joined a new band, that being the London, Ontario death/thrash metal band D3athcharg3r! Early reviews are very good, and congratulations to him on this big opportunity! However, he was quick to point out on his personal Facebook page last month that The V.D.M. (who all still live in London) remain alive, and he'll be with them as long as they want him, so fingers crossed we see both of his bands up here soon!
• Last night, Sault Ontario hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings revealed on their Facebook page that they were working on their own debut EP, which should be "ready to go" by the end of the month. Nothing else is publically known yet, but keep an eye out to see how this progresses!
• Also last night, new Sault Ontario metal project Unbound revealed that they plan to make their live debut in March, though extra details (i.e. location, lineup changes, Justin Fratpietro tributes) have yet to be posted. I'm very curious to see how Unbound shapes up after all that's happened, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
• Has Jason Ladouceur rejoined Winkstinger? Nothing official has been publicized, but Jason plugged a Thursday night Winkstinger show on "the 11th" at The Rosie in a recent MSN status, which (barring a typo) would likely refer to April 11th. If true, this would mark the band's first show since July, and Jason's return to the band following his exit in May, with Anthony Orazietti replacing him on rhythm guitar last summer. If I here any concrete confirmations or denials, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news at some point this week, as our cache of news slowly grows! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

It's video time for this Friday morning at the SMS, so what are we looking at in this local metal video showcase? All Sault Ontario clips, including a live outdoor performance, a new career-spanning slideshow, and an embeddable copy of a new band's first video, but we'll start with a new live concert video from local grunge quartet Haggith, who posted this video of them playing their song "I Am" as part of The Art Gallery of Algoma's Culture Days/Boardwalk Expressions event in September on their YouTube channel last week! The first video footage that we've seen from this set that I know of, this is unique thanks to it's outdoor setting on the lawn outside of the Art Gallery, which allows for extra freedom of movement, and the guys sound good on this mid-paced rocker! It'd be nice to have seen more crowd members though, but maybe they were all in front of the band. Check out Haggith's newest video below!



Also in new videos is a new slideshow video from prominent local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam, who posted this onto their current YouTube channel on Wednesday! This compiles a ton of pictures of the band and their concerts, albums, and logos dating back to their 2008 launch, as set to their ballad "Around The Bend" from their 2011 CD "Everything Will Die", and it's a solid video that shows a lot from their run so far and how much they've accomplished! Also, it's good to hear from Garden of Bedlam again, having heard little in terms of new updates since November. Give their new slideshow a look, and stay tuned hopefully soon for more band news!



Third in new videos is one that isn't exactly "new", but we only have an embeddable copy now to share. As you may remember, we've linked to new local metal band Unbound's first jam video for their song "Deep Waters" on here, but I couldn't embed it on the SMS as it was a Facebook video, which doesn't allow embedding. Well, drummer Nick Kainula posted it on his new YouTube channel on Sunday, so I thought it could use the extra attention! A more traditional and darker metal song from 3/4ths of State of Misery's original lineup (with the late Justin Fratpietro on vocals), check out Unbound's song "Deep Waters" below, and hopefully we hear more from them in the coming months!



Finally for today, here's our second bi-weekly classic video of the year! With slim non-YouTube pickings to tie in with this weekend's heavier shows, we're dipping into the archives for another video of well regarded blackened doom metal notables Woods of Ypres in action! This video is of Woods of Ypres playing their linked originals "The Shams of Optimism" & "Crossing The 45th Parallel" at Cafe Chaos in Montreal on November 20th, 2008 during the band's "Looming Cold of Autumn" tour of eastern Canada that month. Like most of our older Woods of Ypres classic video uploads, this features the band's 2008 sextet lineup, including the entire 2008 lineup of Ga†es of Winter alongside drummer Evan Madden, which I still like to call the "Gates of Ypres" era. In fact, this is the last of late frontman David Gold's live concert videos with this lineup that he hadn't posted on YouTube, so our next classic videos of Woods of Ypres will likely come from early 2009, when they still had a 3/4ths local lineup. Well shot with a good angle of the band, I still prefer live playings of these songs compared to the studio versions thanks to the doomier and cleaner-sung vocals, and the large lineup contingent doesn't throw off the sound at all!

Originally posted to David's personal Facebook page in December 2008, you can see the original video at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=42126390671 & NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit goes to David and the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this video with a deserving wider audience! It's a great video from the midst of Woods of Ypres' most local tenure, so check it out below!



That's likely all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Bury Your Demons TOMORROW, along with more news as it comes in, and yes, our Destroilet CD review! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, New Solo Videos, And More Updates!!

After a two day spell based on Queensryche videos and other Sault Michigan updates, today's post is 100% Sault Ontario focused, so what's on tap? We have new solo videos from a pair of local musicians and a bunch of other assorted stories, but first, here's a brand new local band to add to our links on the site!

New local metal band Unbound have finally created a Facebook page, so we officially have a new band to add to our Sault Ontario metal band links! As you may remember, Unbound is the band featuring State of Misery alumni Ray Cowan on guitar, Kevin D'Orazio on bass, and Nick Kainula on drums, alongside the late Justin Fratpietro on vocals, who suddenly passed away on January 3rd. Little is on their Facebook page so far, but here's what we know so far on Unbound: Though heavy, they're far removed from the surviving members' prior death metal work, as indicated in their lone current video for their song "Deep Waters". While yet to be posted on their Facebook page, conversations that I've had with Nick Kainula indicate that he wants to keep Unbound going and honour Justin's memory, with tentative plans and ideas that include song/video postings and potentially a live debut, although nothing's concrete at present. Also, I'm not sure if Unbound's existence means anything negative for Ray Cowan's death metal projects March Into Regression and With Blood Builds Character, neither of which has made a public update since the summer. If I hear anything on either, I'll let you guys know!

I hope the guys keep Unbound alive and do everything they can to make it locally and remember Justin! I didn't know him, but I'd assume he'd want the band to continue. Nick sounded very proud of the Unbound originals they wrote, and the "Deep Waters" video has some metal/hard rock promise, so hopefully we'll hear more from them as 2013 rolls along! Become a fan above, and Unbound are now in our active metal band links on your left!

Next up, here's a few new videos from some local musicians, starting with the latest solo video from Valentine's Day Massacre frontman Steve Rhodes! Yesterday, he uploaded this vocal cover of Suicide Silence's "Unanswered" onto his YouTube channel from his current London homebase, and this is his first video of this type in 3 months, but how does he sound? It's a solid cover, and you can tell he's a big fan of Suicide Silence, but I'd say you'd have to be a huge fan of theirs or this style of hardcore to appreciate it the most. His vocal devastation's on full display though, so check out Steve's newest solo video below!



Also in new videos are the latest two solo originals from AlterWhite's Mike Matthews, who uploaded new songs named "Enough" and (as embedded below) "Something Left Inside" on his/the band's YouTube channel last week! These are reportedly planned to be on an "album" named "Something Left Inside", though I'll note that his announced first two albums still aren't on sale. The evolution from the early AlterWhite tracks is very clear, and there's some catchy and very heavy music here, but I'd like to see Mike diversify the singing more (though there's good steps that direction here, including some harsher yelling.) Check out "Something Left Inside" below, and hear more of Mike's solo songs above!



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

• According to a post on The Rockstar Bar's Facebook group on Saturday, local concert promoter/singer J.D. Pearce is planning a month long battle of the bands to take place there every Wednesday in March. Public details are forthcoming, aside from confirmation that bands who play covers & originals will be welcome. This sounds very intriguing, so keep an eye out for updates as they come in!
• Local old school hardcore/punk quintet Destroilet have launched their own Twitter page! Little is there so far beyond plugs for existing pages and their new album, but follow them on Twitter to stay in the loop on new band updates!
• Sault Ontario hard rock supergroup Skeyes of Seven posted a new update on their Facebook page on Sunday, confirming that they've been busy writing originals and will soon be back on stage, hopefully within a few months. The band memorably debuted at the Anvil show in July, but have offered few updates since, so hopefully 2013 has a lot of activity in store for them! Check the above links for more on Skeyes of Seven!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews a, this month's new "Favourite _____ of 2012" poll, andlast month's poll results over the next few days! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Justin Fratpietro, 1983-2013

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences to the family & friends of local musician Justin Fratpietro, who suddenly passed away on Thursday at just 29 years old. His obituary has been posted at this location, and there it confirms that his services will take place tomorrow in Justin's hometown of Thunder Bay, so check the link for more information. Justin had been living in Sault Ontario in recent years while attending Sault College, and though he wasn't well known in the local music scene yet, he was a singer and guitarist who had recently joined a local metal band (more on them in a second) that had their own levels of promise despite their low profile so far. I didn't know Justin at all, but everything I've read so far points to him as a devoted father, talented singer, and good guy who was taken far too soon. I especially feel for his son, as no one should have to lose a parent this soon, so keep him and the entire Fratpietro family in your thoughts. R.I.P. Justin!

While we're on this subject, I just wanted to briefly touch on the new metal band he was fronting locally. I don't know a whole lot on them yet, but their name is Unbound, and they featured Justin alongside State of Misery alumni Ray Cowan, Kevin D'Orazio, and Nick Kainula on guitar, bass, and drums respectively. They formed in November or earlier, and one Facebook video has been uploaded to preview their sound from a jam session last year, which was filmed by attendee Amy Roach in the same location from State of Misery's early videos. The video isn't of the highest quality, but Unbound seem to be a more straightforward metal band with cleaner vocals, and this song (possibly titled "Deep Waters") has a slower & darker feel. It's too soon to judge how Unbound would have sounded with Justin singing (or to debate their future), but from what I can make out, they seem to have real promise, and hopefully Ray, Kevin, and Nick keep going musically (or at least release more media with Justin on vocals.)

I won't go too in depth otherwise (especially as Unbound hadn't really been publically launched yet), but I thought the band deserves the press after what happened, so check out the video above, and all credit for the above information goes to Nick and Amy! That's all for this post, but we'll have a full news post either tonight or tomorrow, and keep the Fratpietro family in your thoughts at these tough times. Thanks everyone!