Bush/Candlebox Concert Video Showcase!!

It took only three posts for us to head back to the EUP in terms of the focus of tonight's post, but this time, it's to look at videos from the Bush-headlined outdoor concert at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on July 18th! Despite concerns over the air quality index from the Northwestern Ontario forest fires (this took place concurrently with Rotaryfest Saturday), the show went on, and attendance was quite good despite the competition an hour north! It is worth noting that the Barenaked Ladies show last year also took place on Rotaryfest Saturday, so this is nothing new for Kewadin. Social media buzz from the show seemed positive, and the air quality was manageable in St. Ignace, but if you want to see for yourself, at least three YouTube filmers were on hand, though two only filmed Bush's set. We'll start with Dr. Death Defying, in his first ever concert videos.

Dr. Death Defying filmed the British post-grunge/hard rock quartet playing their songs "Glycerine", "Everything Zen", "Machinehead", and as embedded below, "Ghosts In The Machine". The framerate isn't too high, but Dr. Death Defying had a good view of the former BushX (ask a Canadian), if with a head or two in the road. I'm not a huge fan of Bush, but I will say that Gavin Rossdale sounds really good compared to their 1990s hit singles, and the stage lighing gives the show a big time feel, so check these out!

Next up, the YouTube channel named Echoes From The Stage was also on hand for this concert, and while they have extensive video uploads from major rock concerts in Michigan and Ontario, this video of Bush playing "Glycerine" in St. Ignace is their only local upload to date, so they likely aren't from this part of the state/province. This video has a much better framerate than Dr. Death Defying's take, and while the audio quality doesn't seem too hot, "Glycerine" was always a low-toned ballad and I think that's just how it came off live. Gavin's singing here seemed a little forced compared to their harder rocking songs too, but see what you think below!

We'll close with prolific Sault Ontario filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, as he headed to St. Ignace for this concert after seeing Mid Life Crysis at Rotaryfest that afternoon. Chris' videos are last in this post because he's the only one of the three filmers that got Candlebox videos, but he by far has the most Bush videos here, filming 9 videos last month, including "Little Things", "Swallowed", "Glycerine", "Everything Zen", "The Land Of Milk & Honey", "The Chemicals Between Us", "Bullet Holes", "Machinehead", and as embedded below, the extended closing version of "Comedown". Filmed from one of the first few rows of seats, you do get the sense that Gavin's voice was getting run down by the end of the night, but the crowd was very receptive and happy to sing along, and the whole band have good energy and play these songs very well! As this was outdoors, it is neat to see the skies get darker.

You can tell during "Everything Zen" that the sun was setting, and while none of the the three filmers got "Human Sand" afterwards, it was black out from "Glycerine" onward, and I always liked that contrast! Check out all of the Bush concert videos (so far?) above and below!

Finally, Chris got four videos of Seattle grunge/alternative rock quintet Candlebox's opening set, and while they were in a support slot an hour south, it was nice to finally see them in our region 6+ years after their April 2020 concert at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin was cancelled due to the first pandemic lockdown! I wonder if anyone tried to see if their 2020 tickets could be transferred to this show? Chris filmed Candlebox playing their songs "You", "Far Behind", "Arrow", and as embedded below, "Change". Partially thanks to the steady daylight, the Candlebox videos give the best steady look at the crowd density up front, and the guys come off good in the videos here! Kevin Martin's voice has aged really well, and while only he and Peter Klett are still around from their heyday, the new band nails these grunge-era favourites, so don't miss Chris' videos of Candlebox's set above and below! 

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Skeyes Of Seven

Keeping our busy post schedule rolling as we enter a new work week, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This monthly feature series again looks at a local metal, hard rock, or punk act that was randomly selected from our band links, and this month's selection is full of familiar faces that you may recall seeing at a few scattered Sault Ontario gigs in the early-mid 2010s. Here's what you should know on them!

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Skeyes Of Seven

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Metal

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Cory Murchison (Sense Of Truth, Bullet Train), vocals/guitar
Ron Baxter (Sense Of Truth), guitar
Kyle Sweet (Short & Sweet), guitar
Alain Fletcher (Half Past, Parabol), bass/formerly guitar
John Mignacca (As It Stands), drums

Mike Mannarino (Tripod The Dog), bass
Chris Thompson (Frightlight, Fitswitch), drums
Johnny Amendola (Soundcheck, Separate Wayz), drums

Audio/Video: Skeyes Of Seven were working on a debut EP (to be named "Stare At The Sky") at Deluca Sound Studios in 2014 & 2015, and while it never saw a proper paid release on CD or streaming, you can hear all six intended songs on their YouTube channel. Original songs named "Destination Unknown", "No One Cares", "Differences", and "Anything At All" were among songs that either didn't make the cut for or came after the EP sessions, while they did tackle select Sense Of Truth originals live, like "Crawling". Outside bands like Slipknot, Stone Sour, Breaking Benjamin, Tool, Audioslave, Mastodon, and Avenged Sevenfold were among Skeyes of Seven's cover range. Select additional videos exist on the band's surviving channels as well as Mike's and the SMS' YouTube channels. Here they are playing their song "Treading Water" at their last concert!

Info/Analysis: Sporadically active from 2012-2020, Skeyes Of Seven effectively replaced the shorter lived but more frequently seen Sense Of Truth upon their debut, with two past (and future) members of Half Past also being part of their initial lineups. Cory, Ron, Al, Mike, and Johnny debuted this new band when they opened for Anvil at The Canadian in July 2012, but would only play one further gig (with Garden of Bedlam at The Rockstar Bar in April 2013) before Mike moved out of town and Johnny left the band. With Al moving to bass and John Mignacca coming on board on drums, Skeyes of Seven ended a two year stage hiatus at May 2015's final Swampstravaganza at The Canadian, and played at one of the Gonqshow events at The Algonquin Pub the following month. Another two year hiatus followed, and the band (now with Kyle Sweet on second guitar) played their final show when they opened for Project 421 at The Canadian in November 2017.

Skeyes Of Seven resurfaced briefly in July 2020 when they entered "Detonate" into Corus Radio's $20,000 Summer Song contest, but they would not return in a public capacity after the pandemic restrictions eased up. Despite their longevity, Skeyes Of Seven were full of unrealized potential given their talent, experience, and modern hard rock sound, including technical and unexpected cover choices, and it's a shame that we only saw them five times in just over five years (all in support slots), let alone never got the full EP release. Most members have been active in newer bands in the 2020s, so follow them to see what they've been up to since, but hopefully Skeyes of Seven return down the line, and R.I.P. Chris! 

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our latest random selection will give us a solo act for the third time in four months, and this time, we're looking at local progressive/hard rock musician and podcaster Mike Cliffe's dormant original solo project! Look for that on or around September 10th, and for a new video-heavy post on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

Dopethrone/Tribunal Concert Video Showcase!!

We haven't had a post 100% devoted to Sault Ontario since Wednesday, and it feels like longer given how many posts we've already has this month, so let's continue clearing out the backlog with a post dedicated to videos from a recent concert! In this case, this is one of the three recent SMS-leaning concerts attended by prolific YouTube user Christopher Paci that got backed up in recent weeks, as he was at Jay's Piston Broke Pub for the Dopethrone-headlined concert there on May 25th. While he only filmed seven videos at this Memorial Day concert, all four bands were filmed at least once, with the headlining Montreal "slutch metal" trio getting three videos on the evening. During their first local set in seven years, Chris filmed Dopethrone playing "Snort Dagger" and "Scum Fuck Blues" (featuring Tribunal guitarist Jessica Yang and Shit Liver frontman/promoter Josh Penno on guest vocals).

Embedded below is by far the longest of the three Dopethrone videos, which sees them playing their song "Dry Hitter". If you like your doom (er, "slutch") metal as slow and punishing as possible, you'll be glad to know that Dopethrone haven't lost a step in that regard since their 2019 date at The New A, and they hit all of the extreme notes while keeping things sludgy and low. Solid crowd too, so give Chris' Dopethrone videos a look!

Co-headlining in May was Vancouver gothic/doom metal quintet Tribunal in their local concert debut, and Chris filmed them playing their lengthy songs "A Wound Unhealing" and, as embedded below, "Incardine". Very distinct and eerie yet well layered and orchestral sound from Tribunal, who definitely looked like they left their mark on fans at the former Roosevelt Hotel in May, so give Chris' videos from their set a look above and below as well!

For the two local opening bands, Chris shot a video each, and one was of the one-off reunion of local grindcore trio Shit Liver in their first concert appearance since the Dopethrone show here in 2019. This was just a 15 minute bonus set and not a full reunion (Josh is busy leading The Golden Scoundrels nowadays), so Chris' video constitutes almost a third of this set. Two songs are played here, namely "Evacuation" from their 2018 album "Hitting The Fan" before an abbreviated cover of fellow local doom staples AlgomA's "Fell Down A Well", which Shit Liver covered on 2017's "Trading Faces" split. AlgomA's last show was also at the 2019 Dopethrone gig, so this was a cool nod to Boyd, Kevin, and Jamie in absentia! It is odd to see Josh playing these songs with short hair, but it must have been cathartic for him, Mike, and Matt to revisit their blistering 2010s chaos one more time, and fans definitely ate it up, so give this video a watch for yourselves below!

Finally, the opening band here was a band that Shit Liver know very well in and out of this Korah Road nightclub, as relaunched and renamed local death metal quartet Eden Plague (the former Bear Hunters) played their first show under the new name on this night! Chris filmed them playing most of "Bloodthirst", though unfortunately, he didn't film the minute-long instrumental intro. While not one of the new Eden Plague originals, there is something fitting about seeing Nik, Mitch, Justin, and Johnny on The Rosie's stage, with that infamous pole, playing an early Bear Hunters staple once again all these years later, so give this brutal performance a watch below!

There's more to look at from Chris' channel as of late, but how soon will we have more of his recent hard rock/metal concert videos? Hopefully we'll know more soon, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

More New Videos & Related Updates From The EUP, Plus A New Live Video Of The Gambit!!

Here's another news post as we continue staying busy on the SMS this weekend, and it just so happens with our backlog clearout that we have a heavy focus on Sault Michigan and/or the Eastern Upper Peninsula again today. This includes a follow-up to recent coverage from a local battle of the bands and local musicians' involvement in an indie film premiering later this month, but we are capping things off on the Canadian side for a new live performance video. However, we'll start south of the border, so here's what you should know on this Sunday morning!

While featuring the video yesterday of Molly Escherich's Music In The Park set at last month's Superior Whitefish Festival, I realized that a video from last year's battle of the bands at this Brimley-based festival was also uploaded to her YouTube channel! While the Dafter-based teenage singer/guitarist led The 8th Fire to second place in year #2 of this battle, and she led Molly & The Other Guys to victory at 2024's Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands (more on this year's soon), the two battle runs bookended an off day for Molly as a local battle competitor. Molly & The Other Guys were revived with a mostly new lineup for 2025's inaugural Superior Whitefish Festival battle, but with five competing acts (four guaranteed prizes), Molly & crew surprisingly finished in last place. Possibly because of this, the video is now unlisted on YouTube, but it was publically shared to her Facebook page at the time. 

For this set, Molly was joined by returning Other Guy Nathan Webber (ex-Tarnished/Exit 808) on guitar, alongside bassist Destini Smith (who guested with Tarnished at the previous year's LSSU Battle) and Molly's brother Cayd on drums. Cayd was a very late replacement for About:Blank drummer Kade DesArmo (what are the odds on the similar first names?), stepping in that same day for his first ever appearance as a drummer in a live concert. Things started with a full band version of Molly's original song "Cheap Cologne", before Molly put down her guitar for a cover of Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Old Time Rock & Roll". and then picked up a tambourine to cover Paramore's "Hard Times". This was actually the entire set, and as Molly explained on her Facebook page at the time, they wanted "to give the band some stage time" despite the lack of rehearsal and the drummer change, so the set was heavily pared down from the expected 45 minute runtime.

The 10 minute length will likely explain the lack of a podium finish last year, but I did notice timing issues during the set, and to me, they picked two covers that would have suited having a second guitarist present (Molly or otherwise). Still, they did perform well and likely would have won cash had they played a full set! This would end up being the swan song for any version of The Other Guys, with The 8th Fire becoming Molly's new full-band concern last month, let alone her heading to Interlochen last fall, but she has a bright future ahead, and Nathan, Destini, and Cayd are talented musicians too, so give Molly & The Other Guys' 2025 battle set a watch below!

Next up, let's stay in the EUP by heading north to Sault Ste. Marie for... the premiere screening of an indie horror movie? On Saturday, August 22nd, Lake Superior State's Arts Center will host the premiere of Yooper Frankenstein, a locally-filmed and produced horror movie by local filmmaker Dave Cairns that was shot here from mid-2024. The movie will be screened twice that evening at 7:00 & 9:00 PM, and the movie will definitely be R rated for violence, adult content, coarse language, and disturbing scenes (it is a horror movie, after all!). Teasers from the shoot have been shared to the movie's Facebook group and across multiple YouTube videos, one embedded below, but why is this relevant to SMS coverage? Well, look at who is soundtracking the movie, namely Viscera frontman "Blind" Bob Quinn, X's & Y's/ex-Life's Eclipse guitarist Jason Mills, and ex-Half Stupid/Plastic frontman (and former Crooked Music owner) Zac Crook!

Blind Bob also has a small acting role in the film proper, and Zac is the film's music director. Zac and Jason have shared songs from the film to YouTube, and while what they have shared so far is atmospheric and feels inspired by 1980s horror classics, there will be some level of metal music, as heard in the teaser below from YouTube user gothicsoldier (listen to those drums!). A locally made horror movie in Sault Michigan is sure intriguing, and they've certainly put the work in over the past two years, but will this be horror's answer to Escanaba In Da Moonlight? See above and below for more on Yooper Frankenstein and the premiere in two weeks! 

We'll close this post with a rare live video from veteran Sault Ontario punk supergroup The Gambit's Facebook page! As you may recall, they played their first public concert set since Rotaryfest Stage 2 in 2024 on August 1st when they opened for 5 Dollar Bribe on an all-local bill at Blaster Powerhouse. This was just their fourth show period since changing their name from The Sick Sons in 2022, and given their stacked lineup and original material, it's a shame that they don't play more often. This video captures the last 2 minutes of what I believe to be a new original song named "Searching For A Signal" (if it's a cover, I don't know the original at all), and while the audio levels are too loud and staticy as filmed, it's an upbeat punk rocker that fits in line with members' past bands! Good stuff, and hopefully we're not waiting until 2028 for The Gambit's next gig, so give their new video a watch below!

That's all for now, but there should be at least one more post on the SMS later today! Thanks everyone!

Heavy Lies The Crown Updates & New Tour Videos From The Spring!!

It's been three months, so what have St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown been up to since we last left off with them in early May? Surprisingly, not much, but too much time has passed, so let's get caught up! When we left off our last post on HLTC, they had just finished their multi-state spring tour run, and while the video that ended that post was sadly deleted from Facebook due to the new one month time limit on live-streams, a raw video of them covering "Friend" from the last gig at The Jordan Inn in East Jordan was shared to their Facebook page on May 5th. This features guest vocals from Jay Clemons (drummer of the Detroit-area metal bands Influence and Nothing After This), who had sang on this song on multiple gigs on this loop. Just as a reminder, new bassist Bubba Hillz did not join this tour, and this was among the shows that didn't even have a guest bassist present.

Bubba is still in the band's profile and cover photos on Facebook, but they haven't always been transparent when it comes to lineup changes, so we'll have to see if he is on the low end when they return to action. What we see and hear in this clip is suitably chaotic, and Brandon and Jay add to the brutality with their joint screaming, so give this a watch below!

Later that day, frontman Brandon West starred in this horizontal(!) update video from his vehicle where he noted that they're taking a week off after the tour, but would soon "push for new music", as they "have developed a new sound on the road". Specifically, he noted that they want to remove "a lot of our slower songs, and, like, happier songs", and even namedropped certain originals that they removed from their set on this tour for that reason. While not bad songs, he said that they wanted to find "our focus of our sound", and you could infer that Heavy Lies The Crown want to be faster and heavier going forward. I hope this doesn't mean a loss of melody in the trade-off, or that they completely disown songs like "*69", "Notions", and "Road To Detroit"! Three days later, Brandon asked in the video embedded below where fans want to see them tour when they hit the road next.

Specifically, Brandon sounded optimistic about touring out-of-state again, particularly in Wisconsin. Brandon did directly note wanting to play more shows in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, but said that through his contacts to that point, it was hard to get a foot in the door an hour north unless you were a weekend bar cover band (he should contact Serious Business or Soo Tang Records, and if able to cross the border, Sault Ontario promoters!!) If you can help get HLTC booked locally or elsewhere, or play on the same bill with them, message Brandon above, and check out the video below!

After asking for new merchandise suggestions on May 14th, Heavy Lies The Crown took a month+ break from updating their Facebook page, returning via the upload of this video on June 20th from an unidentified concert, of Brandon draping a t-shirt over drummer Blaze Beairl's head mid-song, and he kept on drumming without missing a beat. The loud staticy noise and 12 seconds-long runtime do not help, but it's fun for what it is! Two days later, a longer (if still very short) video from their show at the Petskull Brewing Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin on April 29th was shared, featuring 27 seconds of Brandon, guitarist Jaxon Massaway, and Blaze (no guest bassist here) rocking out. The corner-stage angle is a unique look at the ferocity, with Brandon being a powder keg of energy here, so check out this brutal but short look at a rare out-of-state gig a watch below!

To close, the band's most recent video is from June 23rd (they have been idle from Facebook for well over a month now), and it features them playing 15 seconds of "Rewind" at the tour kickoff at the Eaton Rapids Craft Company on April 24th. This show was one of the early ones here that did have a guest bassist, namely Emily Barnett from the Athens metalcore band Fault Of The People. While brutal with Brandon's energy levels and screaming at top levels, this is far from ideal, not just from the length. For one, the stationary camera looks like it's pointing at the wall beside the stage, so you only see Brandon and Emily in frame, with the focus on Brandon's back when he's facing the crowd. The audio sounds dubbed in in post, which is proven by vocals being heard when Brandon's mic isn't at his mouth (note that the video description does say "Rewind edit"). Why not trust the raw audio, especially for 15 seconds?

Despite the brevity, the file's runtime is over 24 minutes long, which is otherwise a black screen. I felt like I was watching the finale of The Sopranos! If you do want to see a better angle of the stage (despite the identical length, vertical orientation, and cartoon cowboy hat added in post), click here for an earlier Eaton Rapids video that we featured on the SMS in May. With the teasers of longer/fuller videos and even vlogs from the tour, I do hope that Heavy posts more when they're ready, but the teasers sure leave you wanting more, so give everything so far a watch above and below!

We are now surprisingly caught up on Heavy Lies The Crown despite the three month gap, but hopefully they emerge from their dormant summer in full force, so stay tuned for more from them in the future, and for more news and notes on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Mike Haggith, Molly Escherich, And The Floor Between Us!!

As our slow clear-out of the backlog continues, here's a new news post on this Saturday afternoon that takes us from the EUP to Southern Ontario before finally coming home to Sault Ste. Marie, but we'll start in Michigan with another recent full set video, so here's what you should know!

In a follow-up from our coverage of last month's Superior Whitefish Festival battle of the bands in Brimley, Michigan, you may recall that there was a separate Music In The Park concert before the battle featuring acoustic-leaning performers. One was 8th Fire frontwoman Molly Escherich just hours before she led her new band to a second place finish, and like with the main band, her solo matinee set was shot in full for her YouTube channel! I have been more selective with acoustic singer/guitarists in our band links in recent years, as for metal, hard rock, and punk, it doesn't play in as well for song choices, and anyone with a guitar can play a set live and call it a day, but what does a 56 minute set of Molly's entail in 2026? In performance order, the 14 year old Dafter native covered Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Still The Same", The Eagles' "Take It Easy", Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", ...

...The Doobie Brothers' "Listen To The Music" (which The 8th Fire covered in their battle set), Carole King's "It's Too Late", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" (briefly), and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", before playing the original song about the perfect boat day with her dad that led off The 8th Fire's battle set. Covers resume with Noah Kahan's "The Great Divide", The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (also covered by The 8th Fire that night), another attempt at "Proud Mary" that was more successful than previously, Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", Coldplay's "Yellow", and Little Big Town's "Boondocks", before Molly ended her set with two more original songs named "Cheap Cologne" and "Always Known". Molly definitely has some other hard rock covers in her back pocket from past solo gigs that I want to look at in the future, but her solo set is definitely more varied.

Regardless, she is a very talented singer and guitarist who is still rapidly improving (being at Interlochen will help in that!), and for her age, she has an ease about her on stage and a good audience rapport already! If you saw her battle set with The 8th Fire, the three common songs from Molly's solo set (one being an acoustic solo performance too) will either be an interesting contrast or feel redundant, but remember that a lot of early festival attendees didn't stay for the battle, or vice versa. Good stuff, and with a dash of the hard rock to come that night, so give Molly's Music In The Park set in Brimley a watch below, and we'll have more from her soon!

Next up, let's head north of the border (and yet still south) to Barrie, Ontario, where local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith returned to Athletic Kulture Stadium there on July 4th to sing "O Canada" at a Barrie Baycats baseball game! Now competing in the renamed Canadian Baseball League, the Baycats welcomed Mike to sing the anthem at games in each of the past two seasons, though rain delays got in the road of his original 2024 bookings. For Mike's game this season, he sang before Barrie's clash with the Hamilton Cardinals on the Fourth of July, and regrettably for the home team and fans, the Baycats lost 8-1. As always though, the game was live-streamed on Barrie's YouTube channel, and if you want to just check out Mike's performance, he is introduced by the PA announcer at the 7:42 mark. Mike sings well, as you'd expect given his talents and pedigree!

I just wish the game went better for the Baycats, but they are in fourth place in the nine-team league, which would guarantee them a playoff spot if the season ended today, so best of luck for a strong run over the rest of the CBL season. Give Mike's performance (and the game) a watch below!

Finally for today, I wanted to mention the local comedy/art rock band The Floor Between Us, who have came up sparingly in our coverage in recent years. If you're not familiar with them, their lineup features one-time Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli on vocals & guitar alongside singer Ivy-Rose Morrison, Stones & Crows bassist Nicholas Gingras, and Spaceship Opening/ASDP drummer Ralph Barber (an "Andrew M." played keyboards for them once too). Their music is very eclectic, experimental, and has more in common with a lot of 1960s pop rock and bands like They Might Be Giants than heavier styles, but there's a joie de vivre and clear sense of humour across their original music, so I do recommend checking out their material on maior streaming platforms to see what you think! However, they do occasionally cover some songs that cross the SMS' radar in concert.

The Floor Between Us are fans of the English anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba, best known for their one mainstream hit "Tubthumping", which they have covered live (here they are playing it unplugged at a Korah talent show featuring Ralph's ASDP bandmate Mikhal Muto on cajon). However, they haven't just gotten up again after being knocked down, as they covered their 1994 b-side "The Day The Nazi Died") at one of their Sault Theatre Workshop fundraiser concerts in November. More of a politically charged folk song that would definitely fit an English pub (complete with Nicholas on added percussion), this is well performed with sharp lyrics, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS shortly! Thanks everyone!

News & Updates From The Realignment Project & Viscera!!

Now that our weekend concert previews are done and dusted (for now), let's spend some time digging out of our still-massive backlog of stories from the past month, and tonight's post looks at new updates and media from a band on each side of the border, so here's what you should know!

Let's start today with the latest from local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project, so what have they been up to in the past two months? When we left off with the Matt Hicks-led project, he had just released their first full-length album (as opposed to EPs) "Long Cold Winter", and was in the process of uploading individual YouTube lyric videos of its songs. On June 13th, Matt revealed on their Facebook page that "album 2 is starting to develop some decent bones", so his rapid recording schedule hasn't slowed down just because he's working on longer studio albums! Said post was accompanied by a black-and-white photo of his tracking computer, even. Two days later, two T.R.P. songs were featured on The Tuesday Pump Session show with Jeff Tucker on the Georgia-based internet station Front Row Radio, and it's great to see that Matt's solo music is spreading far beyond the Soo area!

The Realignment Project got some more far-flung internet radio coverage on July 22nd when they and other labelmates at East London Recordings were featured as part of a "takeover" of British internet station Coastal Breeze Radio, so add some more international exposure, and it's good to see Matt's label promoting his music well! Lastly for the recent T.R.P. updates is that they released their second proper music video (not a lyric video) to their YouTube channel. There's less to this in terms of filming, as it's a one-take video of Matt singing the song from the shoulders up, but there was a heavy filter put on it in post-production that looks like the Stylize "Glowing Edges" filter from Adobe Photoshop. I'll hold comment on the song pending our review of "Long Cold Winter" (allegedly available on "all streaming platforms"), but it's a distinct looking video for sure, so give it a watch for yourselves below, and stay tuned for more from Matt soon!

Next up, here's some new updates from Sault Michigan hardcore punk trio Viscera, starting with the reveal on their Facebook page on July 22nd that they have had a print run of their debut EP "From Feast To Famine" made on CD, and they are now on sale via their Bandcamp page for $12 USD (as of this writing, $16.73 CAD). That is certainly good news, even if there isn't an obvious brick-and-mortar location to sell them at in the Soo post-Crooked Music, so buy it above if you want a physical copy! Bands have been added to both of Viscera's announced Soo Tang Records concerts here in the coming weeks, as per updated concert posters on their Instagram page. For their August 22nd headlining concert at Three One Three On Ashmun, they have added Marquette indie rock/power pop quartet Addicus in their local debut, so this show will definitely lean punk, if not have a genre variance.

A female fronted band with a strong upbeat sound and fun lyrics, hopefully Addicus provide a good counterbalance to Viscera's attack in two weeks! A second opening band, local or otherwise, is being sought, so message Viscera above if you wanna join this bill at the former Back Door. As for their show in the basement of Pizza Hut on September 26th, that show has had its lineup capped off with a third touring band, namely Marquette progressive/deathcore quartet SilentLife, also in their Sault Ste. Marie debut. Brutal yet atmospheric sound from them, and definitely not a style of original metal seen often in the EUP, so keep this show in mind for them and much more next month! Finally for tonight's news post, new live videos were filmed at Viscera's most recent gig, a headlining date at Superior Culture in Marquette last week, as shot by a members of other Marquette bands, one being Particle Thrower, who were the first announced openers for next month's Pizza Hut show.

I can't embed these videos here because they are tiled in a batch post, and videos uploaded thusly aren't embeddable on external websites, but the first three feature Viscera live, including their first public footage with new bassist Chris Lovins that I am aware of. Looks like an animated crowd for their hard hitting attack, and the guys look in good spirits (was Blind Bob wearing camouflage face paint?). The third video notably has an overhead view of Mitchell drumming, and if you have the means of a second floor or balcony to make that a reality, you take it! Sadly, these videos are all vertical and reasonably short, but give them a watch above, and stay tuned for more news & notes on the SMS tomorrow! Thanks everyone!