Another weekend is upon us for concert previews, including ones with attached SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! The post also ends with clarification on a scheduled event that I don't think is taking place on Saturday night, and if you're wondering, our preview of Tym Morrison's late notice matinee show on Sunday will topline our next formal news post. Now, here's what you should know!
We'll start in St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and...TONIGHT(?!) at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branch! Apologies for the short notice on TONIGHT's show, the band only confirmed the added day on their Facebook page on Monday, but Kewadin had confirmed that Scarkazm were pulling a rare triple header via the official Facebook event page launched last month.
The rare triple booking at The Northern Pines Lounge appears to be as a tie-in with the Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships, which take place this weekend at nearby Chain Lake, which is in Moran Township 10 minutes south of the St. Ignace Kewadin. Full details on the tournament proper can be found at this link, and Scarkazm are playing TONIGHT to coincide with the meet & greet held at the casino.
Of course, their previously announced shows tomorrow & Saturday night will be more normal affairs, so don't miss out on Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard hitting covers & select originals TONIGHT or then! Admission for all three shows is free (I don't believe tournament registration or tickets are required to just go to the lounge as normal), these are all 21+ events, and all have 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the late notice TONIGHT, and here's Scarkazm live!
Next up, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, neither the band nor venue have plugged these shows on their respective Facebook pages at press time, and I only heard that they were a thing via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier this week. Their first gigs at Shooters since adding bassist Jim Michaud to the fold, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow their usual open mic/jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight. Despite the lack of online notice from public sources, hopefully Soundcheck's partying brand of classic and hard rock covers (and some country) goes over well on Dennis Street once again this weekend! As usual for Soundcheck there, expect 8:00 PM start times, no cover, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, we'll look at some hard rock shows this weekend that did have advance notice, starting with southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Bone Yard and Soundcheck basically traded venues this weekend, as Soundcheck had been the Friday-Saturday band at Jay's last week, while Bone Yard rocked Shooters, so keep that in mind whether you're up for a downtown or west end trip. Last seen at the former Reggie's West at the end of January, this weekend's shows should prove to be another chance for Bone Yard to deliver their down & dirty brand of hard edged and classic covers for their fans (a.k.a. Boneheads), so don't miss out on Greg, Alex, and Warren in action tomorrow and/or Saturday! These have 9:30 PM start times with 19+ age limits and no cover, and limited band t-shirts will be on sale. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge a Sault Ontario concert announced for this Saturday night that I have serious doubts about the status of. Last fall, Ravencore drummer/ex-Brutally Fatal frontman Austin "Jayrald Micky" McCrae announced plans to hold a tribute concert/celebration of life for his brother Matthew Nadon, who passed away suddenly on August 27th at just 24 years old (read his obituary at this link). I'm not familiar with Matthew as a musician, but he was learning bass at one point, and he definitely had many friends in & out of the scene, so a tribute show does make sense. Original plans were to host it at Shooters in late November before being delayed to this weekend for unannounced reasons. Advertising for the event had Ravencore (in just their second ever live concert set) playing alongside No Filter (the new noise rock band from AlgomA/Bad Back alum Jamie Vincent), though neither have online pages to promote this show.
A personal Facebook posting noted that Chase Wigmore was also slated to play this event, but regardless, it doesn't look like the tribute show is happening. As noted above, Soundcheck are playing at Shooters on SATURDAY, there have been no posts on the Facebook event page since the date change, and Shooters haven't plugged it whatsoever on their own Facebook page (nor has their new upstairs sister venue The Queen Of Hearts Club, and I thought of that possibility initially). Given the nature of this event, you'd hope that it at least gets rescheduled, assuming it was called off, so we'll keep you guys posted when and if we hear anything about it, stay tuned for more news on the site shortly, and R.I.P. Matthew!
Let's tackle some more recent news on the SMS on this Monday night, as well as some new videos from recent concerts! The end of the post takes us to Sault Michigan, but we'll start in Sault Ontario with a half album release completing a puzzle from last week, so here's what you should know!
It took almost two weeks from the originally planned release date, but the Crucify The Whore/Molten Imp split album is now 100% on sale on both projects' ends, as Molten Imp posted their half of "Pyrolytic Punishment" to their Bandcamp page yesterday! Alternately considered by the industrial metal solo project to be their first EP if you don't count C.T.W.'s half, Molten Imp have supplied five songs for the cause, though no word on if they brought back buyer-only bonus tracks this time out (for what it's worth, C.T.W.'s ten songs run for about a minute longer than Molten Imp's five). Notably, Boyd dedicated Molten Imp's half of the split to the late Sabra Rajput-Gingras, which is a great gesture! You can buy both halves linked above on "name your price" models, so you can get them for free if you want, but consider paying something to support both bands' work! I'll hold comment until our full CD review, of course
Just as a reminder, this review likely will not hit the site until May, as we're in a new release backlog once again, with precedence going to earlier releases, including a 2022 album from Sykotyk Rampage coming this month, Forever Will Be's debut album next month, and Mike McCleary's new instrumental album planned for April. It's coming though, and it'll be interesting to see how I approach C.T.W.'s half given their musical and thematic nature that resists normal music criticism. Give everything a listen for yourself above, and stay tuned for more from the Blood Shed!
Next up, here's some new live videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past Saturday night! Despite these being the hyped "80's Party" at the former Reggie's West (I'm unsure if that was the band's idea or the venue's), Soundcheck never plugged it, the Friday nighter, or the Thursday jam night on their Facebook page last week, despite this being their first full weekend with ex-Obsession bassist Jim Michaud as an official band member. As such, it's a good thing that Jay's got the word out, and a staffer filmed two videos of Soundcheck during the 80's party for their Facebook page, so what can you see here? Alas, both videos are under 32 seconds apiece, shot vertically, and filmed at an angle from the bar, but they include Soundcheck covering .38 Special's "Hold On Loosely" with Cameron Oliver on vocals, and as embedded below, Nena's "99 Red Balloons" with Terry Eaton singing.
No word on if "99 Red Balloons" was chosen in reference to the balloon sightings/shoot-downs in the US or if it was already in their setlist, but topical memes involving that song have popped up on social media. These aren't an optimal view of Soundcheck, let alone for Jim's official debut, but both covers sound good, so give them a watch above & below!
Also from this past weekend, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard got two more videos shot at their Saturday nighter at Shooters Downstairs Lounge for their Facebook page! Usually, they only film at one night when they play twice on a given weekend, but maybe this tying in with the final weekend of Bon Soo helped. One was actually uploaded yesterday afternoon, which sees them cover The Rolling Stones' "Miss You", but embedded below is one live-streamed during the show proper, featuring Bone Yard tackling Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry". Again, these are vertically shot, but these are basically full song uploads, and the guys do effectively rock up these classic rock staples with the grit and energy to match! Bone Yard will be at the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, and while I don't know if they'll have anyone film or not, you can get your fix above & below!
We'll close today with big news from recently dormant Sault Michigan hard rock band The Nameless, who have been added as the final openers for the Scotty Austin/Redburn concert
at The Savoy Nightclub on March 23rd, as per the Facebook event page on
Wednesday! This will be The Nameless' second public concert set and
first in almost a year, last seen opening for the also dormant Buddy
Repperton & The Camaros at Three One Three on Ashmun back in April. It's great to see The Nameless back at long last, and hopefully they make a great impression to kick off the proceedings at The Savoy next month! As it turns out, they quietly had a lineup change at some point in the past ten months, as they have parted ways with guitarist Nick Fish for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing bad happened and that he resurfaces in a band again down the road, as he wasn't a bad guitarist in videos last year! The Nameless' Facebook page indicates that his replacement on guitar is "Mike E".
Their bio doesn't list members' last names anymore, but I think they're referring to ex-Tantrym Tyme guitarist Mike East, who briefly played in that band with Nameless bassist Michael McLeod in 2015 (Michael's debut show with Tantrym Tyme was actually at the Superior Festival at The Savoy). If I have the right Mike E, then he's a huge get, and it'll be interesting to see if The Nameless have a bigger and busier second year together! See above for more updates from The Nameless, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Bit later than this should have been posted, but tonight on the SMS, we have new videos, a partially released new album, and leading off, one last concert preview for the weekend, so here's what you should know!
We'll start by wrapping up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play an increasingly rare solo date TONIGHT when he returns to the YNCU Curling Centre (née the Community First Curling Centre) as part of their Super Bowl bonspiel festivities! I apologize for the late preview, I confused the Super Bowl theme for this being a Sunday nighter, but in my original coverage, I had correctly advertised this as being tonight. Tym played at a different bonspiel at the Anita Boulevard curling rink back in November, and clearly things went well for him to get called back for tomorrow! Again, this one is themed around the Super Bowl tomorrow night, and three full games of curling (six ends each) are guaranteed before the football telecast ever begins, with wings & an appetizer bar planned for tonight's festivities.
Tonight's concert is at the curling rink's on-site restaurant The House, and there's no cover charge to just see Tym perform, but I believe there is still a 19+ age limit, and he is not playing there tomorrow (the game is on). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
Next up, the teased split album from local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore and industrial metal solo act Molten Imp has been (half) released! I am admittedly behind on covering recent activity from Blood Shed Productions, I hope to remedy that in a post shortly, but this is the newest of news from them. Despite announcing that "Pyrolytic Punishment" would be released on February 1st, it was delayed a week for unannounced reasons, and released on Wednesday... albeit just on C.T.W.'s end. You can buy their half of the split on a "name your price" model (or download/stream it for free) on Bandcamp at this link, and it features 10 songs, some shorter and/or more provocatively titled than others. More recent songs of theirs have tended to not be quite as short as fans saw in the 2010s. As of this writing, Molten Imp's half of the split has surprisingly not been posted in full on Bandcamp, but we will definitely keep you posted when it surfaces!
A preview song from each act was uploaded to the Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, where you can hear C.T.W.'s "River Valley Slaughter" and (embedded below) Molten Imp's "Pedestrian Blues (EYEHATETRUCKS)". When fully released on both sides, I do plan to eventually review "Pyrolytic Punishment", which will be a first for us on C.T.W.'s end, believe it or not. Nothing against Tyler whatsoever, he has developed a loyal following with this brutal & minimalist goregrind, but between the recording & performing methods and the controversial lyrics/themes on offer, they're kinda critic-proof and I've been concerned about how I'd approach their songs. Stay tuned, and hear more above & below!
Also today, local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich have recorded their debut music video and it will be released to their YouTube channel on Wednesday! It will premiere there at this link at midnight sharp, adding to the prolonged hype for the release of their debut album "Deconstructed" on the oddly specific date of May 5th, but if you want to hear the full song early, they first uploaded a jam session performance of it (albeit pre-Rafael) in 2021. In advance, two videos were uploaded to their Facebook page in the last couple of days to get the word out, including this one where band members flash their devil horns over the YouTube scheduled upload, but embedded below is a 13 second teaser of the video, which features everyone performing outside, clearly where one of those five big blue chairs are given where singer Taylor Emlaw is sitting during her close-up scene (I think they were at Topsail Island?)
Just as an aside, I finally figured out who Taylor's voice reminds me of: Beth Hart, the American blues rock/jazz singer (listen to "Stay" by her to hear what I mean). We'll have more on the full video when it drops next week, but give their Facebook teaser clip a watch below!
We'll close today with two new live videos from local southern hard rock cover quartet Bone Yard's Facebook page, as a band associate was back live-streaming videos of them in action last night at Shooters Downstairs Lounge! Note the red & white balloons, likely a tie-in with the ongoing Bon Soo Winter Carnival. The videos include an incomplete clip of Bone Yard (with bassist Warren Reville on lead vocals) covering The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated", but embedded below is a nearly full cover of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" with drummer Greg Simpson singing lead as usual. Alas, these are vertically shot & uploaded, which doesn't help the framing of the clips when the filmed was further back (too bad more fans weren't up close on the floor), but Bone Yard sound solid & lively on these classic rock staples as you'd expect! Give them a look above and below, and round 2 at Shooters for them is ongoing right now!That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, giving us another opportunity to spotlight a randomly selected local metal, hard rock, or punk band from our inactive band links, and we have quite the band to look at this month! This group is one that local punk fans will be very familiar with from their accomplished runs over the past two decades, so here's what you need to know on them!
Dustin Jones (Jonesy Land, Bookclub), vocals/guitar Dave Bahun (Bookclub, Room 206), guitar Brad "Example" Lacell (Room 206, The Role Models), bass Mikey Hawdon (Mikey & His Uke, Bookclub), drums
Audio/Video: The Inner City Surfers released four studio albums during their original run, including their self-titled debut CD (a.k.a. the "Blue Album") in 2000, "Laughing On The Outside" in 2002, "Time To Travel On" in 2005, and their self-titled "Black Album" in 2007. All are available on major streaming services nowadays, though physical CD copies are long since out of print. The guys also recorded and released one-off singles named "Let's Go Greyhounds" in 2008 and "Excess Express" in 2020, and ample videos of them in and out of concert can be found on YouTube and Facebook, from band-linked and fan sources alike, though the video quality is quite variable. Here is their music video for their 2007 single "What A Life"!
Info/Analysis: Originally active from 1999-2013, The Inner City Surfers became arguably the biggest local punk band of the 2000s as they grew in prominence, peaking with successful tour runs surrounding "The Black Album" release in the mid-late 2000s. While much of their early run isn't logged online on extant sites, they opened for major acts like Treble Charger, Jackyl, War, Strung Out, and Matthew Good on local stages, while also becoming regulars at Foggy Notions before their first closure in 2008. Band activity slowed as most members had spells living out of town, but they played live in fits and starts into the early 2010s (last doing so in December 2012), and members frequently collaborated even after their initial hiatus. The Surfers reunited in August 2019 for a 20th anniversary show at LopLops Lounge, and also recorded three songs at Mission Control Studios for the occasion, but only one was released in 2020, with the band falling inactive once more. The Inner City Surfers were a fun band that effectively merged modern rock with folksy and rootsy influences and relatable lyrics about life in Northern Ontario, aided by each member's unique musical backgrounds yet undeniable chemistry, and as fans will attest, they improved progressively up to their final album cycle! Luckily for fans, everyone except Brad lives in town nowadays (and are bandmates anew in Bookclub), so a reunion could happen at any time if things line up the right way, but do check out their albums and extant videos to see what the guys brought to the table!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us inactive local grunge/alternative solo project Kush Wood, so look for that on or around March 10th, and for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession are not playing at The Esquire Club this weekend, despite announcing last month that the planned gigs there tomorrow and Saturday night were to be their last before breaking up. A reason for the cancellation of the dates has not been announced, but their website has been replaced by plain text by bassist/founder Jim Michaud noting that "the Obsession band has retired effective immediately" without addressing this weekend's concerts, and there was no follow-up as to their status on Facebook after his press release a month ago. Jim has since joined Soundcheck and will debut with them this weekend (more on those dates below), but whether they are a factor in the cancellation or not, I can't say with certainty. Obsession had announced their impending dissolution after an 18 year run last month when guitarist Gabe Tessaro opted to retire from live bands.
As for The Esquire Club, they have quietly confirmed that local country singer Brendan Hodgson will be playing tomorrow & Saturday night instead, as per their Facebook page. I assume it's safe to say now that, had Obsession played their farewell gigs this weekend, that they would have welcomed back multiple past band members in guest slots, which would have been neat, but it wasn't meant to be. Obsession were talented staples of the weekend cover circuit locally and they will be missed, so best of luck to Jess, Gabe, Jim, Steve, and their former members in the future! Now, here's what you should know for still-on hard rock shows over the next two days, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced SATURDAY's show on their Facebook page on Sunday, and while the band has not publically confirmed these dates on their Facebook page at press time, drummer Glen Thomas confirmed that they're playing TOMORROW as well on his personal Facebook page. Thursday jam nights excepted (yes, they're back for that tonight also), these will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at the former Reggie's West in just over a month, and the partial promotion on Jay's end is because SATURDAY NIGHT's concert is themed as a "classic 80's party", so expect a decade-heavy set of covers from Soundcheck on night #2! If you want to hear more of an array of eras, come TOMORROW NIGHT instead, but Soundcheck's talents are a given regardless!
As alluded to above, these shows will mark new bassist Jim Michaud's first formal gigs as a full Soundcheck member, following the cancellation of Obsession's planned farewell gigs this weekend, so be sure to welcome him with open arms, and/or come to Jay's for a similar musical fix in the west end if you were banking on seeing Obsession this weekend! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows are 9:00 PM events with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Snows Bar & Grill! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page on Wednesday, but the venue first announced it on January 31st. In an SMS context, readers will best know Snows as the host venue for a handful of Tarnished shows last year, and Project 906 played elsewhere in Cedarville last fall, but TOMORROW'S show will be part of this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest Pub Shuffle taking place at nightclubs in Cedarville and Hessel this weekend! If you're in the area, click here to read the full program, but it doesn't detail who's playing where. Like last year, Snows is bringing in the hard rock for this year's Pub Shuffle (Tarnished performed there in 2022), and I believe this is Project 906's debut at Snows, so keep TOMORROW'S festivities in mind!
A one nighter due to or resulting in The Mark Bowen Band playing there on Saturday, expect voting for various superlatives among competing pubs in the shuffle this weekend, along with the expected solid tunes from Project 906 TOMORROW! The concert itself is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time, and I don't believe a Snowsfest button is required for entry given the locale (for Sault Ontario readers, this is Bon Soo-esque), but Snows has been selling them. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live in their most recent gig!
We'll close back in Sault Ontario with shows that were previously announced by the band in question, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking last weekend off, this weekend's gigs will be their third and fourth of 2023, and their first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Not only will Bone Yard's brand of southern fried classic & hard rock covers be coming in hot as usual, but the guys have confirmed that more official t-shirts will be on sale tomorrow & Saturday night, including limited XXL sizes, so bring cash for those if you are so inclined! Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are otherwise standard for Bone Yard at Shooters, including 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
That's all for today, but look for our Tym Morrison preview and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile shortly! Thanks everyone!
Let's continue playing catch-up after blanking on this series in December via our first of two YouTube Channel Profiles in the month of February! This (otherwise) monthly series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels (as randomly selected) whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians and/or concerts, and we're dipping way back in the timeline here for videos from a very talented E.U.P. musician at the peak of his eponymous solo career, so here's what you should know!
Channel Timeline:Launched on October 14th, 2008; Videos uploaded from that day until February 23rd, 2009
Channel Summary:The original YouTube channel for this extremely talented musician, Mike posted 12 videos there in a four month span, most being audio recordings, primarily of original songs attached to "albums" that he worked on in the late 2000s (if these were formally released for sale, I haven't found surviving evidence). The channel also includes three acoustic performance videos & a parody of the ShamWow commercial which is not musical.
Why You Should Watch:This channel is worth a watch for fans of Mike's local music run, especially those who saw and liked his work in the late 2000s, though even with his considerable talent on display here, his abilities and professionalism have noticeably grown in the past 14 years. You can compare via his mlibz channel that he used from 2011-2012 to see how his technical skill evolved, let alone his current output! Note that neither the mikelibs nor mlibz channels feature content from his formal bands at the time, but his current bands are active on Facebook.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
Mike Libertoski - Drawn & Quartered: Seven of Mike's audio uploads are original songs, all opening with a title card noting the intended album that the song was featured on, and all but one are taken from "In The Arms Of The Condemned", an instrumental album Mike says came out in August 2008. For a pure showcase of his guitar skills of the era, his nine minutes long track "Drawn & Quartered" will easily show you what Mike was all about at the time, and glimmers of the technicality he'd later use in Galactic Alignment and downstate are definitely on display within the brutal guitar work! Other songs from this album on this channel include "Winds", "Glasgow Smile", "Peine Forte Et Dure", "The Vampire of Sacramento", and "Crucifixion", though I am unsure if the full album was uploaded here.
Eight Days a Week - The Beatles[Mike Libertoski]: Fans of Mike's solo & band work are likely used to him just shredding on the guitar, but he did dabble in singing a bit in the late 2000s, releasing an album with vocals in 2007 called "The Great Movement", from which one song ("My Favourite Mistake") made it to this channel. However, featured here is Mike's vocal & guitar cover of The Beatles' "Eight Days A Week" from October 2008, and it is competently done! You'd hope so musically given his background, and while Mike's vocals are not nearly as rangy as John Lennon's were, he's not out of tune or anything and he keeps the melody going! More covers, albeit instrumental metal guitar covers, can be seen on his mlibz channel.
Mike Libertoski - Folk Jam: Mike's most popular video on this channel is one of his three actual performance videos, where Mike plays what he called "an almost bluegrassish tune (that) I've been working on". Definitely a departure, especially if you're familiar primarily with his current bands, but "In The Arms Of The Condemned" had genre variance, and regardless of sound, this is a fine display of Mike's pure guitar skill while it lasts!
I hope you guys liked this YouTube Channel Profile, delayed as it may have been! We're back on schedule now for this series, as our next installment will hit the site on or around February 26th as usual, and our next random selection will be Sault Ontario punk band A Dire Setback's official YouTube channel, which has only three music-centric videos, but all are distinct and unique for content, so look for that in a few weeks, and for weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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!
