For our first monthly feature post of June 2025, let's dive into another round of the eternal question: "Where Are The New Albums?" Once again, we're seeing where upcoming local metal, hard rock, and punk albums are based on their most recent public updates, and things have grown this month by way of two newly confirmed albums in the works from heavier local bands! Along with the two existing entries with updates, anything with new content has their title in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to find out!
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Bone Yard 225's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "F.A.F.O.", "Gypsy Spell", "Fuck!"
Background: After months of teasers that they were planning to record original music (as previewed in their live concerts prior), local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 began releasing their own songs on major streaming services in July 2024, a whopping fifteen years after the pre-225 band debuted as a country cover quartet. Their first three singles (all recorded at their home studio) were posted online by January, though it took until last month for the band to confirm on their Facebook page that they were indeed working on a proper album. It's not immediately clear if their existing three singles will be included, but it's not a given, as Jonesy Land fans saw with "Zoom-Out".
Current Release Status: In that Facebook post from May 30th, your local 225 said that "the album is coming along nicely", and they hoped to release it "by the end of 2025". Assuming no delay, that's a six month window, and while singer/drummer Greg Simpson did release an EP with his old band Stiffler's Mom, it's hard to compare the release methods and schedule given that "The Demo" came out in 2004. It is neat to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren are going all in on a studio album, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
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Bullet Train's upcoming EPs
Rumoured Songs: "Atmosphere", "Illusions", "Profit", "Wayside"
Background: The current hard rock
band from former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchsion
and ex-Fort Creek bandmates Robin "Bones" Lee and Anthony Fabiano,
Bullet Train have existed solely as a studio band so far, releasing four original songs recorded at their own home studio to their YouTube channel in 2024, all very much influenced by their take on current
events. After a quiet summer due to "life's trials", Bullet Train
resurfaced on their Facebook page on September 1st to reveal that they were working on two
demo EPs, with the first one entering post-production as of the 9th,
though it's not clear if their 2024 singles will be on them.
Current Release Status:
No idea yet, especially as this band has no prior track record for
releasing albums, though all three band members have experience writing
and recording studio material to varying degrees. Bullet Train claimed
on September 9th that a release date for EP #1 would be announced "in
the upcoming weeks", a timeline not realized as of this writing. It'll
be interesting
to see how fast things come along for Bullet Train, so keep tabs on
their Facebook page for further updates!
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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite
Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"
Background: Ever
the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work),
originally named
"A Story
About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo
albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy
elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page,
as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has
hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more
than his prolific original material.
Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.
Current Release Status:
Chase elaborated on Facebook last summer that the album was 95% done
earlier that year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard
drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or
recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs
uploaded to Facebook in the previous year were clarified as not being
planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP.
Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out
when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of
it!
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Convergence - Gemini
Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh"
Background: Just over a month after releasing their sophomore EP "Dead And Dreaming",
local progressive metal band Convergence announced in February 2024 that EP #3 would be named "Gemini", with its cover artwork
being released at the same time. Teaser clips of most songs from the EP have been posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel since May 2024, with guitarist Brendan Christie revealing the names of five songs in
a recent Facebook conversation, one named after the band's prior name
Kraken Mara, though a new or renamed song named "You Are Not Flesh"
was posted an advance single on Bandcamp in September. New drummer
David Peredun will make his studio debut here. The band has spent most
February hyping a crowdfunding campaign
for a planned tour, though "Gemini" is not overtly tied to its
marketing. Convergence have been working in studio recently with
producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in
Facebook "Reels", which also now involve singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio
(who joined the band in the winter), but the newest teasers haven't 100%
credited an EP as the end goal.
Current Release Status:
No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent
studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for
"Gemini" to come out, depending on what angle you take. Since their
modern studio cycle commenced in 2023, things have been relatively
steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that
Convergence keep that up for their third offering!
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Fort Creek's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road", "Sweet Rosie"
Background: Background: Local
southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples
until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of
their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page.
The guys would play it regularly at concerts from June 2022-August
2023, and were working in studio throughout 2023, revealing that "it's
coming along" in a
Facebook post that March, and teasing new recording
sessions following earlier "learning experiences" there that
May. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer
Anthony Fabiano (both now of Bullet Train) in the fall of 2023, Fort Creek opted
to abandon material recorded with them "as a show of good faith", and
have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the
past year. Now featuring Phil Greco on drums, their first single (the acoustic "One For The Road")
was posted online in January, with the band confirming plans to now
record a 10 song album at Jettison Studios prior to returning to live
concerts, with their new single "Sweet Rosie" coming next.
Current Release Status:
Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s
lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and Phil have largely kept things
somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road".
There are a lot of
unknowns,
especially given the 5+ years of production time and their decision to
basically start over in 2023, and that this is a band
that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit
before their rhythm section left. It
will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for
updates!
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Handsome Sandwich's first EP
Rumoured Songs: "Without You", "Partyfuel", "Change A Bit", "No Idea", "All Done Now"
Background: Before even releasing
their full-length debut album "Deconstructed" in May 2023, local
alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich revealed that not all of
their existing originals would be on that album, with plans to instead
release them and some brand new songs on a forthcoming EP. In September
of that year, they began recording this EP (which will reportedly have
seven
songs) at the Algoma Conservatory of Music,
with bass & drum tracks completed that month, and then-guitarist Mitch
Sirie was finishing his parts as of that December, with vocals still
to go. At least five of the seven songs have had their names revealed in
concert setlists. After only
contributing to the packaging on "Deconstructed", bassist Rafael Medina
will perform on this EP, and a "Reel" of him recording an unidentified song in studio was posted to the band's Facebook page.
It's not clear if (ex-?) rhythm guitarist Brandon Ruch will be involved on the EP
in some fashion or not, but Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling may
appear again, as he guested with them to play "Partyfuel" at August's Northern Vibe Festival. The studio version of "All Done Now" was sampled in this Vintage Games & Junque livestream with drummer Johnny Belanger in April, while "Collage" was cited as a possible album name at their most recent concert at Soo Blaster last month.
Current Release Status:
To be determined, and while they're not recording this EP at the same
place as "Deconstructed", note that the sessions for that album at
Unsalted Audio wrapped up four months before the album release. An article about the band
from The Sault Star in June noted that the seven new songs "will
likely be released as singles", but whether this points to a change of
release plans or is just an acknowledgement that they have seven
individual singles to put out, I don't know. It will be interesting to
see how things progress
in the coming months!
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Pillory's first full length album
Rumoured Songs: "End Of Small Sanctuary", "Specimen Of Egotism", "Sculptor Of Cadavers", "The Angst Of Existence", "The Passing", "Abhorred Apprehension", "The Curse Of Eternal Sickness", "A Drop Of Shame In An Ocean Of Guilt"
Background: After a five year hiatus dotted with occasional reunion teasers from band members on social media, local death/thrash metal trio Pillory fully reunited last summer, picking up where they left off in their 2015-2019 run. During that time, they fully moved to death metal with harsh/growled vocals, completely abandoning their originals from their 2013 debut EP "Cringe At The Cross" in the process. While established mid-late 2010s songs and new material have been played in concert in the past year, Pillory only confirmed in this Facebook post on band t-shirts from May 19th that they were working on a full-length album, which they intend on "finishing and releasing", implying that sessions have commenced in some form. This will be Pillory's first release with bassist Blair St. John, after frontman Robert Sartini handled bass on "Cringe At The Cross".
Current Release Status: Given how little Pillory has publically said about the album on social media, it's anyone's guess, but the technicality and brutality seen on the band's death metal-era material (and increasingly so) bodes well towards wanting this music not to stall out in live performances. Keep tabs on what Robert, Bret, and Blair are up to on Facebook, and hopefully the album is on its way reasonably soon!
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Spades GT - "United" 
Rumoured Songs: "United", "Deamons"
Background: Long teasing plans to
record their next album this year, local/Barrie crossover thrash band
Spades GT began recording sessions for their follow-up to
2023's "Sewer City Radio" on February 17th at Room 21 in Toronto with
producer Kyle Marchant
once again. Their fourth release total dating back to their original
all-local run as Jack Spades, this will be Spades GT's first album with
new second guitarist Matthew Voros. Teaser videos on their Facebook page included guitarist Daniel Horton tracking bass on at least one of the
planned eight songs (the sessions took place after James Roy Daley's
departure but a few weeks before Sean MacNab replaced him) and
ex-guitarist Jay Sarrazin returning as a guest
musician. The final sessions
on February 22nd reportedly featured guest appearances and gang vocals,
but teaser videos from that day were not shared online, so we don't know
who else will pop up yet. The album name was eventually confirmed as "United", with the full cover artwork, track listing, and two advance singles scheduled to be released throughout this month, though the title track has been played live often.
Current Release Status:
The band plans to release "United" on July 5th, with a release party taking place that night at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto (no word on local availability of CDs), and given the hype and pre-release schedule that Spades have in store for this album, it should be a big month for J.D., Dan, Tyler, Matt, and Sean as they prep for the launch! Stay tuned to Spades GT's social media for more on the album in the coming weeks!
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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! We'll return to this series and topic on or around July 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be our next Defunct Local Band Profile, currently scheduled for one week from tomorrow. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Also today, here's our first public videos of local hard rock quartet Sylo's current lineup! The band debuted new second guitarist Owen Middleton when they opened for Derev at Soo Blaster on May 23rd (itself their first show since Eli left for university last fall), and they posted two brief videos from their set to their Instagram page in the following days. Unfortunately, both are vertical (not even square), but you have to be used to Instagram video limitations on that platform. The band has promised that "full length footage (is) coming up soon", implying that longer videos are coming to a platform that will host them, but I haven't seen it anywhere obvious yet. One of the videos focuses on Owen playing during their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" with drummer Jakob Fice-Lesage "switching up in the middle of the set", as noted via on-screen text. I don't think that the text was needed, but viral content creation, I know. 
