Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From January-February 2026!!

It's time to dive back into the world of St. Ignace metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown in today's post, so what have they been up to since we left off with them? On January 27th, frontman Brandon West starred in this vertical update video where he remarked on how good their streaming numbers have beenc, and promoted the then-impending release of their new EP "Notions" on Friday, January 30th. He also further elaborated on why guitarist/drummer Kaycee Mason and bassist Christian Cook left the band, primarily citing their distance (both currently live in the Lower Peninsula) as impairing their availability for gigs and rehearsals, let alone upgrading their concert setup and staging with a full band reliably present to practice, though creative differences were also cited. The video ends with Brandon teasing their March tour run in Southeast Michigan and plans to put out new band merchandise.

Bookending that update video were two rehearsal clips featuring guitarist Jaxon Massaway and drummer Blaze Beairl in a lighting-overpowered room, but the first video runs for just six seconds and the second, while 5x the length, feels like filler between songs (regardless, both are vertical). I assume Brandon filmed those, and he starred in another update video from his vehicle on January 28th, where he optimistically talked about the band's progress as of late, including their planned online store, their higher streaming hits, their shift in goals, and the EP release two days from then. Brandon also addresses H.L.T.C.'s bassist position, where he notes that while the plan at the time was still to have Rob Vandewiele from Detroit's Nothing After This to fill in for concerts, he noted that there was a local bassist that they were going to try out that weekend. Good updates across the board, so give these videos a watch above & below!

As promised, Heavy Lies The Crown released their new EP "Notions" to major streaming services on January 30th, so what should you know there? Featuring artwork designed by Christian before his departure, the EP is credited to the North Shore Audio imprint, and while full performer credits aren't given, Brandon produced and Jaxon mixed/engineered the material. The five-song EP compiles most of the band's one-off singles released since mid-2024, with the exception of "These Walls". I haven't seen a reason as to why the song was omitted, but the band had begun work on "These Walls" in 2020 or 2021, and it was co-written by ex-guitarist Nathan Switzer, who finished his parts before he left the band in August 2024, so his involvement and/or the band's sonic evolution may explain things. All of the usual mainstream streaming sites host "Notions", but can you actually buy the EP anywhere?

Yes, you can buy it on mp3 format via iTunes for $4.95, so consider doing so to support the guys extra! "Notions" is absolutely up for a review on the SMS, but we are in a massive backlog for new album releases, and as Handsome Sandwich, The Realignment Project, Pillory, Viscera, Mike Haggith, and A.S.D.P. all put out albums for sale prior, Heavy Lies The Crown are currently slotted in for September. It's coming, but we were blessed with a lot of local metal, hard rock, and punk albums in mid-late 2025! Give the opening/title track a listen below, and hear more from "Notions" above!

Entering a new month, Brandon starred in another vertical update video on February 7th where he teased "sharing some news here soon about an upcoming change for (the band) that's pretty big (and) pretty awesome", while also promising "new photos, new merch, new everything". The "upcoming change" appears to be the teased bassist that they were trying out shortly after the EP release, and he was unveiled in photos posted to their Facebook page on February 16th. His name on Facebook is given as Bubba Hillz, but I haven't seen the band credit him by name in any posts or tags yet. Regardless, before he moved up here, Bubba played bass in the South Florida deathcore band Tracheotomy in the early 2020s, and if he is accurately credited, he performed as "Jay Jealousy" on their debut singles in 2021. Hopefully we get clarification for his name/credits from the band soon!

There is media online featuring Bubba/Jay, not to mention his songs with Tracheotomy, and he has the skill set to fit in with Brandon, Christian, and Blaze, so we'll look at their first videos with him when we next look at Heavy Lies The Crown on the SMS later this month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Unfortunate Sun, And Double Down), And New Videos!!

As promised, let's round up the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews along with some new live videos, so here's what you should know (mostly from Sault Michigan), starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly SHORT NOTICE ones!

Local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (The Merch never acknowledged it on social media, as usual). You'd think that Unfortunate Sun would have given this more of a push, as TOMORROW'S concert will actually be their final gig with singer Skip Parish, who is retiring from the band for unannounced reasons. This is the second lineup departure in under two months for Unfortunate Sun, following bassist Tony Rogers' exit in January, with the band playing just three gigs with new bassist Brett Blackwood in the fold before announcing that Skip is leaving too. From their predecessors Fake Chow to today, Skip has been a strong presence on vocals, and hopefully TOMORROW's show is a fitting sendoff!

In their post announcing Skip's departure, they said that Jody, Jason, and Brett are "not going anywhere" and to "stay tuned for the next chapter". We'll let you know when more on their further plans is announced! Everything goes down TOMORROW at The Merch at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

Next up, local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Hulbert Happy Hour in Hulbert Township for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band also only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (and given the weather forecast, you may not want to bring an AI-generated snowmombile to the bar for it). Last seen at Hulbert Happy Hour five months ago during a poker run, TOMORROW'S show will be their first anywhere since rocking The Strongs Tavern last week. Of course, drummer Jason VanLuven is playing in the Soo TOMORROW with Unfortunate Sun, who get priority when the two bands have conflicting dates, but 906 have not announced whether there will be a guest fill-in drummer or not (but they have played shows with hand drummer Brian Duford as the sole percussionist in the past, so they won't be out of luck regardless).

You can enjoy Project 906's hard rocking cover slate TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of the guys at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman last week/month! This clip from their Facebook page sees the guys covering the end of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City", which really tests Billy's vocal range, but he hangs in there well! Alas, this video is A. partial, B. very blue (blame the tavern's lighting), and C. vertical (oh so much ceiling here), but it's a fun performance for what we do get, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the Hulbert action TOMORROW NIGHT!

In one more show announcement, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, March 28th! This show was announced via the venue's March concert calendar, and Separate Wayz TONIGHT aside, is the only new hard rock-leaning show revealed thusly. The pub didn't post a monthly calendar online last month, and January's seemed extremely rushed, so it's good to see the Great Northern Road nightclub putting the regular one up for March! Joel, Beej, Dan, and Ric will rock out at month's end with no cover, a 19+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time, and as the venue hosts different nightly bands, classic/pop rock veterans Encore are playing there on Friday the 27th. Visit the above links for more details, and while we're on the subject, here's a newly uploaded video from Double Down's Facebook page of them live with a special guest!

As you may recall, Double Down welcomed former Quite Frankly singer Jack "Jacklyn Hyde" Alisat as a guest for a handful of gigs last summer, including a Beck's Bar date that I don't believe the band ever officially confirmed she would be singing at. While the video description alluded to Cher, the video itself actually sees Double Down and Jack covering Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams' "Get Lucky", which is a surprisingly modern and poppy cover for them. The extremely dark foreground lighting isn't ideal, but at least this was filmed horizontally, and it's a fun cover with strong vocals, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at Beck's tomorrow night!

Finally for today, let's head back to Sault Michigan for some new videos from a band who isn't playing live this weekend, namely hard rock quartet The Nameless! On January 4th, the band shared videos from drummer Jamie Costner's personal Facebook page of them at a private event the previous day, where they were filmed on a stationary camera covering Blur's "Song 2", The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Otherside", the end of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" (with bassist Mike East on vocals), Chevelle's "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)", and as embedded below, Papa Roach's "Last Resort". Most of the videos are incomplete, and alas, all five were shot vertically, but things were framed as well as they could have been given that, even though Josh is largely blocking Jamie from view. Solid work all around, and they should use Mike's vocals more, as we don't hear him leading songs often, just the end of "It's So Easy" a couple of times on video. Give these a watch above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent 9, Generations, And Separate Wayz) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

In what's shaping up to be a mild and rainy weekend, let's dive into this weekend's Sault Ontario hard rock concert previews, mostly including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Due to the amount and that it's on the other side of the border, I'll hold our preview of Saturday's Unfortunate Sun concert for tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook page yesterday, and the venue has not posted a March concert calendar on social media at press time. Last seen in their joint "epic crossover" matinee with sister band Soundcheck at The Tap Room two weeks ago, this will see Separate Wayz return to the site of their live concert debut from February of last year. As you may recall, singer Nicole Thibodeau had to drop out of the band's scheduled Esquire Club concerts last week due to illness (Travis filled in for her in what became a Soundcheck weekend), so hopefully she is 100% and ready to rock with the guys TOMORROW! As usual for The Water Tower Pub, they don't book the same band on consecutive nights, and the Saturday night headliners there will be Tex Riviera & The Ride.

Separate Wayz won't be idle on Saturday though, as for a second straight year, they will be headlining the dance party after the annual Wawa Ice Fishing Derby that night (Soundcheck have done so in the past too). Wawa is 2½ hours north of here, but if you're up there or are up for a road trip, keep this gig in mind, and click here for details! As for TOMORROW'S Water Tower Pub concert, it's an 8:00 PM event as usual with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here they are live!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will set up shop at The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and will also return there on Friday, May 22nd and Saturday, May 23rd! Again, apologies for the short notice on this weekend's dates, we only just heard about them via the band's Facebook page this past Saturday, and The Esquire Club has seemingly transitioned to plugging shows week by week on Facebook rather than a half year schedule like in the past. It is worth noting that both TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows and the May dates are recent additions to Silent 9's website's concert calendar, and were not among the 2026 dates listed there at the start of the year. After focusing on private events for most of the winter and Bon Soo last month, this weekend's dates will be Silent 9's first traditional bar concerts of the year, and they should have lots of fun rocking covers in store for west end fans TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Despite the proximity to May 24th, their shows in May are not on the Victoria Day long weekend, which is the week prior this year. All four shows are 19+ affairs at 9:30 PM with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video from Silent 9's Facebook page from their Bon Soo-opening concert at The Machine Shop! This 33 second clip sees Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve covering Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", albeit in two chunks, and alas, shot vertically (look at all that needlessly empty space above the stage!) Length and orientation aside, they sound good here, and Jess' voice sounds strong for what is included, so check this video out below, and don't miss out this weekend!

Also newly announced for this weekend, one more female-fronted classic/hard rock cover quartet will take the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT, as Generations will return to Gateway Casino! Apologies again for the short notice, the band first announced this show on their Facebook group on Monday. This will be Generations' first gig at the downtown Sault Ontario casino this year, and it will also be their first show there with new guitarist Joe Miller, (their most recent Gateway gig in October featured fill-in guitarist Michael Yurich). Hopefully there's a sizable crowd at the casino on SATURDAY for Generations' tried and tested classic and hard rock hits! As usual for shows there, this one-nighter is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on SATURDAY's concert action, and for a preview, here they are live last month!

Finally for this preview post, we'll look at a show that did get advance notice earlier than the past week, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Beck's Bar for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at The Water Tower Pub two weeks ago, this will be Double Down's second Beck's gig of 2026 and their first since last summer with bassist Dan Beaupre (not pictured, unless their AI prompt was really vague). No word on if there will be multiple guest appearances like fans saw last time, but there should be a solid array of hard rocking covers in store on Saturday from the Syrettes, Dan, and Ric for fans in the west end! Beck's is hosting live music tomorrow too, but like The Water Tower Pub, they don't double up on Fridays and Saturdays, so tomorrow's band is new local blues rock act Sunday & The Broken Hearts, who you may recall from last year's Toystock.

As for the matinee performer on Saturday, the 3:00 PM slot then goes to 2024 Soo's Got Talent semifinalist Arin Karki, who you may know as a frequent performer at The Dive Gastro Pub. Remember, Arin isn't "opening" for Double Down, he and the band have separate 4 hour timeslots spaced 2 hours apart, but you can hang out to see both if you like. Double Down are up at 9:00 PM on Saturday with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Double Down live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Unfortunate Sun preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Dale Corcoran (1966-2026)

I'd like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local musician Dale Corcoran, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 59. His obituary is now up on SooToday, where it does not give details on services, but a "special musical gathering will take place at a later date", and in lieu of flowers, his family would appreciate memorial donations to a charity of your choice. Dale is survived by his wife Clare and his brother Phillip among other extended family, and he was predeceased by his daughter Krista-Lin. A native of Sackville, New Brunswick who was raised in the Soo, Dale will be familiar to local music fans of the 1980s from his work in hard rock/metal bands like Riggy Zomba, Vandyl, Dirty World, and Uncle Fester, along with later country-leaning bands like Tommy Gun, The Southern Guns, and The Hillbilly Heartbreakers, who evolved into what is today Tex Riviera & The Ride.

Dale also performed in Victim out of Sudbury, had a run as an Elvis Presley impersonator, and later worked and performed across Canada and internationally, later settling in Norwich, England with his wife. He most recently performed with the British pop rock band Paper Lace, who had a #1 single in 1974 with "The Night Chicago Died", and he toured with them in Australia in 2024. Dale's run in the local scene ended when I was still years away from following local bands, but he was a very talented musician and kind person by all accounts, and his far-flung music career has led to strong tributes here and afar from those who knew and worked with him. Understandably, media from his local band work is limited today, but his old Dirty World/Southern Guns bandmate Glen Thomas has posted a handful of videos on YouTube, including this C.C.R. cover by Dirty World.

This isn't a hard rock or metal performance, but I'll embed this brand new full-set video that Glen uploaded from a Southern Guns show that they played back in 1994 at the former(?) Princess Theater, where they were joined by the late Brent Blair (vocals/guitar), Terry Maich (bass), and Doug MacMillan (keyboard). While not getting much heavier than Steve Earle for cover choices, Dale does throw in some rock musician impressions between songs here, and the talent is very clear, even if the VHS quality is mixed by 2026 standards. Hopefully some more audio and video from his local career surfaces, as I'd be eager to hear and see more of his work. R.I.P. Dale!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Marks), A New Addition To Our Band Links, And More Updates!!

Let's catch up on some Sault Ontario odds and ends on this Tuesday night, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, promotion for another upcoming show, and some other updates, but leading off, here's a long overdue addition to our band links & full coverage!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are the no-longer-online-pageless The Spaceship Opening! Despite debuting on stage in September 2024, they only launched a social media presence (their new Facebook page) over the weekend. Described in promotion for past gigs as "east end rock & roll" and "space rock", The Spaceship Opening are a two-man-band featuring former Redundant/Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald alongside A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber, and in videos publically shared so far, neither sings at all. Over the past 18 months, you may recall seeing The Spaceship Opening sharing the stage with touring acts like The Space Wizards and Greg Rekus & The Inside Job, while they also opened for Mike Haggith's "Under A Moonlit Sky" show last fall, and most recently played at the "Not A Leap Year Party" concert in "Mellow D's Basement" on Saturday, alongside other public and private events.

Two videos are on their Facebook page, one being this short and black-and-white clip from an unspecified venue, while embedded below is four minutes of them playing at the still-closed Distraction last year, and while this one is in colour, it was shot vertically. Unless you've seen them live already, their early descriptors didn't give their sound away, and they have way more of an AlgomA-esque sludge/doom essence than I would have assumed. If you were expecting The Spaceship Opening to be similar to Andrew's past local bands, you may be surprised! Distorted and low (if not all that spacey), I can see why they've attracted fans with their minimalist rock compositions so far, so check things out from them above and below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Thursday, June 11th! The fourth time in as many years that Cory has performed a local date, this appears to be a full band show with a proper promotional push, unlike his most recent local gig (also at the Bushplane Museum), when he headlined the Hope Air Day charity event this past June with a solo acoustic performance that we didn't hear about until it was short notice. The Bushplane Museum is hyping this up by saying that "for the first time ever, we’re turning the hangar into a full-blown concert venue", and while multiple shows have taken place there in the past, they've tended to be all-local or supplemental to other events. Hopefully this show is a huge hit for Cory and the venue alike, so that more similarly scaled concerts can be considered!

No word on possible openers, but Silent 9 opened at Cory's Machine Shop shows in 2023 and 2024, and Matthew James opened last year's unplugged Hope Air Day concert. Doors open for this "hangar party" at 5:00 PM, there is no announced age limit, and tickets run for $40 (up fro $35 from Cory's last full-band show here) at this link, and $100 VIP passes are also available. Cory's hard rock and country crossover sound continues to garner fans and chart success, and fingers crossed that his fourth local concert is a smash this summer! Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's the first Facebook update from local progressive metal band Convergence in almost three months! Well, that's discounting "Stories", you may have seen one where "Johnny Cash" endorsed them, but they did not opt to separately upload that "Story" as its own video. The video below from Sunday features guitarist Jake Valois hyping their first show of the year, when they will be among the openers for Nashville death metal band Demon King and other touring groups at Soo Blaster on March 24th (three weeks from today!). Amusingly, Jake puts footage of the mobile video game Subway Surfers in an inset picture-in-picture window to try and discourage people from scrolling away, assuming you're watching the video on a vertical cell phone orientation, which may explain the captions. As the show is all ages, Jake suggests that the whole family come out to "Soo Blasters", even your grandma!

Tickets are on sale through the band for $15, and if you message him to get yours, he will make sure he gets it to you, so how simple is that? It's good to see some new shareable content from Convergence, and with their planned new album still in the works, hopefully 2026 proves to be a stacked year for them! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

 

• We don't cover open mic/jam nights as "concerts" here due to their in-built unpredictability, and even if the host crosses our radar, there's no guarantee that they'll perform if it's busy. That said, I did at least want to mention that local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are actually hosting Piecing It Together Shows' weekly jam night tonight at their seasonal pop-up locale at 331-A Wellington Street West, as per their Facebook page. The former Dryer Fire haven't booked formal concerts with SMS-amenable acts over their winter season, but hopefully Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal have a good turnout for tonight's open mic night!
• Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus (who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the past two years) has been added as a surprise opener for The BAG's album release party at Soo Blaster on April 18th, as per Underground Events SSM's Facebook page last week. This may seem odd for a metal concert with a local headliner, but promoter Mikhal Muto is an ardent folk punk fan, so I assume this was just good timing to get Greg a local booking when he'd be coming through on a spring tour run. Plus, this show already has a diverse lineup, as Mikhal's new ska punk band A.S.D.P. are also opening. Hopefully Greg sets things off on the right foot next month!
• In their own poster for new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow's concert there on March 27th, Soo Blaster alternately list the venue name for the show as "SooBlaster / Blaster Power" and "Blaster Power House". I don't know if this is portending anything about a name change for the building/stage, but the Queen Street East entertainment complex has recently opened bowling lanes, laser tag, and arcade upgrades. Of course, the concert stage there had been branded as the Soo Lounge since opening in 2019, but if anything is clarified further, we'll let you know!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in due course! Thanks everyone!

Where Are The New Albums? (March 2026 Update)

Here's our third "Where Are The New Albums?" post for 2026, but our monthly look at the current release whereabouts of upcoming local metal, hard rock, and/or punk albums is very much in a holding pattern for March. No new entries, no substantial updates, just touch-ups for dates and what have you, but seeing as the first album here is scheduled to be released next month, things will pick up on the a retail front soon! So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

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The BAG - Sacculus

Rumoured Songs: "Eccentric Refuge", "Our Rock"

Background: Immediately launching in the summer of 2022 with original music in their back pocket, local metal trio The BAG (featuring With Gunfire and Jupiter Marvelous members) quickly released their first studio single "Eccentric Refuge" to major streaming services, with "Our Rock" following in 2023. The BAG didn't confirm that an album was in the works until October of 2025, when they revealed the cover artwork for their debut album "Sacculus" on their Facebook page, also confirming at the time that the whole album was already done mixing and mastering. These were the band's only proper updates about their own activity, album or otherwise, in the second half of 2025. It's not clear if their first studio singles will be included on "Sacculus", and if so, if they were re-recorded in last year's recording sessions.

Current Release Status: The BAG confirmed in December that they will release "Sacculus" on Saturday, April 18th via an album release party at Soo Blaster, though specifics on the track listing, price, and formats are all forthcoming. It will be great to see the fruits of Spencer, Austin, and Bradley's quiet work last year finally out for fans to hear in the spring, so stay tuned for more updates on the impending release!

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Bone Yard 225's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "F.A.F.O.", "Gypsy Spell", "Fuck!", "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" (Mike Posner cover)

Background: After months of teasers that they were planning to record original music, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 began releasing their own songs on major streaming services in July 2024, 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 2025, though it took until May 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". As of August 11th, it was reportedly "album tracking time", while this video from three days later shows bandmates Alex D'Ettore & Warren Reville recording backing vocals for their cover of Mike Posner's "I Took A Pill In Ibiza". That will be one of "a couple of covers" for the album, as confirmed by frontman Greg Simpson during recent concerts. "Fuck!" was renamed "The F Word" on streaming services in December, but it's not clear if the less explicit name will stick on the album. The band was still "in the studio finishing shit" as of December 4th, source here.

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", but Greg has since adjusted the timeframe to "early 2026" when mentioning it during live shows. 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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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 in mid-2024 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 2023 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 - In Bloom

Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh", "The Ebb"

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 were posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel throughout much of 2024, but most prior media was wiped as they retooled as a full band, now including singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio and drummer David Peredun. Convergence worked in studio last year with producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in Facebook "Reels", eventually confirming in concert that the EP (now named "In Bloom") is still in progress. Live versions of early instrumentals (now with vocals) have also been played in their early sets. A new version of "The Ebb" (first seen on their 2023 EP "One") was released to streaming services on Christmas Day.

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 "In Bloom" 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 2022-2023, with studio sessions taking place in early-mid 2023 as well. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano 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 two years. Now featuring Phil Greco on drums, their first single (the acoustic "One For The Road") was posted online in January 2025, with the band confirming plans to now record a 10 song album at Jettison Studios prior to returning to live concerts. Their new single "Sweet Rosie" was being recorded as of August 31st, and a teaser of the song was posted to their Facebook page on New Year's Eve.

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 6+ 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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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, even if there wasn't a lot to say! This series will return on or around April 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile scheduled for one week from tomorrow. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Crush & A Woods Of Ypres Clarification!!

We made it to March 2026, so let's kick off the month with a post devoted to two different acts with a lot to get into, so here's what you should know!

It's been too long since we took a dive into Sault Michigan hard rock trio Crush's Facebook page, so what have the guys been up to in recent months? Well, aside from last month's show with About:Blank at The Savoy Bar, which neither band plugged on social media that I was able to find. On December 9th, they posted this brief video of an unidentfied band member greeting the statue of the French fur trader located inside Sault Ste. Marie's roundabout (that'd have been a bit of a climb up!), while another video from four days later during their St. Helen concert the previous month sees frontman Alex Traynor's surprise encounter with a lighter in an unexpected place. I can only assume that it was that road trip where Crush fell in love with the Big Boy restaurant chain, which became a running gag in posts over the winter! The next video sees guitarist Josh Fair play an acoustic Christmas song from December 19th.

Presumably titled "Randolph The Reindeer", this is jokey and somewhat ribald, so whether you want to watch it out of season or not, keep that in mind! Adding to the seasonality (apologies for the delay in getting to these), the Tarnished spinoff band posted a video called "What's Eating Santa Claus?" on Christmas Day, where a drunken and belligerent St. Nick has car trouble, drives to a gas station for smokes, goes to a bar, and gets into other antics. I would have to guess that the guys in Crush are familiar with the Trailer Park Boys, and it's an amusing video if you don't mind watching it 2+ months late! Lastly is their new 10+ minute video where the guys bake cookies, and to make things comically complicated, Alex is blindfolded, bassist Isaac "Iggy" Royer is listening to loud music on headphones, and Josh isn't allowed to talk (ie. see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil).

I'll let you guys find out how the cookies turn out, but there are definitely laughs to be had as Alex tries to tell Josh what visual signals to give Iggy so he can do the primary recipe, and hey, you don't see other local bands doing this! The video ends with the announcement of two upcoming concerts in May (at least these ones got announced!), but both will see Crush hit the road for downstate gigs in Ann Arbor and Battle Creek. Unfortunately, I can't embed the cookie one here because Facebook content matched the song that Crush used over the show announcements (Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe"), so give it a watch at this link, and here's "What's Eating Santa Claus?"!

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge the Milwaukee goth metal project 616's cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Patient Number Nine" that made its way to major streaming services last month. On some streaming platforms, the song is labelled as "feat. Woods Of Ypres", which definitely caught fans of the defunct Sault Ontario blackened doom metal band by surprise. Things were clarified in a thread on the Woods Of Ypres FanClub Facebook group, where it was revealed that 2008-2010 Woods guitarist Bryan Belleau (who appears on "Woods IV: The Green Album") performed on the cover. This isn't a brand new collaboration, as Bryan previously covered "Wet Leather" and Type O Negative's "Everything Dies" with 616 in 2022, while this article plugging a podcast appearance from a year later indicated that Bryan's old Woods and Gates of Winter bandmate Steve Furgiuele was also remotely working on material with 616.

It's not clear how involved Steve is with 616 beyond that, but a comment implies that he (if not another former Woods alum) may be on the new cover too. Bryan unquestionably appears on 616's 2023 EP "The Living Dead Sessions" and he returned for this Ozzy cover, but why is it branded as featuring the band? Bryan (who lives and performs in British Columbia now) responded in the comment section, where he confirmed that while "it was filtered through Mama Gold" (late frontman David Gold's mom Esther), he "did not explicitly endorse Woods of Ypres at any point during the recording of this", and "the path forward will be solely my name". 616 frontman Matthew Lidwin said that "it was my ode to mention (the band) in the title" and "to pay my respects to the Gold family", and Esther defended Matthew herself, saying that "one song was 'influenced' by David's style", and that the "best compliment in life is when another, with admiration, copies a style".

When I gave my thoughts on the "Wet Leather" cover on the SMS at the time, I noted a definite HIM influence from 616, but Matthew's vocals on the "Patient Number Nine" cover really remind me Tobias Forge from Ghost. I don't get massive Woods of Ypres vibes from it (remember, Bryan only recorded one album with them), but it is definitely well performed and produced on all fronts, so if this seems interesting, definitely give it a listen below! I'd be a little more specific when tagging it in the future though, as Woods Of Ypres effectively = David Gold for most fans.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!