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Phatstick (St. Catharines, Ontario)
Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)
Jason Taillefer (vocals/guitar)
Marco Bresette (guitar)
Keith Gillam (bass)
Joe LaVergne (drums)
Russ Herstek (guitar)
Julian Tomarin (guitar)
Jesse Turton (bass)
Kenny Corke (bass)
Jesse Aubertin (temporary live bass)
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/phatstick/364411715619
Local Info: Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne grew up together in Sault Ste. Marie. Jason fronted local metal bands in the 1980s and early '90s like Alyster & Scrooge (among others), and worked with Tym Morrison on some sort of album release in high school, which I'd love to track down! Not sure what Joe LaVergne was up to locally in the past, though he was likely in some of Jason's bands. Both eventually moved to Southern Ontario in the early 1990s to pursue their musical dreams. Jason & Joe would later become members of Port Colborne groove metal band Human Disorder, who released two albums and enjoyed some success before breaking up in 1999.
Band Bio: Jason and Joe would form Phatstick in 1999 after leaving Human Disorder. During their run, Phatstick released a demo CD and a full self-titled debut album in 2003. They also toured extensively through Canada and the United States, as well as placing high in numerous band search and talent contests, and supporting Default and Theory of a Deadman at the Rock The Border concert in 2003. Despite entertaining alternative hard rock originals, the band abandoned their past original songs from their live setlists in favour of a more varied mix of cover songs in recent years, during which they occasionally played live in Sault Ontario through 2011. After parting ways for unannounced reasons in July 2012, Phatstick reunited the following year with new rhythm guitarist Marco Bresette, finally returning to the stage in Brantford on October 10th, 2013, but updates never followed, and the band presumably dissolved again in 2014.If you like radio-friendly hard rock with a heavy metal edge to it, Phatstick were a great band to check out, as they were very solid with some great musicmanship! Jason Taillefer's vocals were excellent, and the whole band showed a very professional sound and style on their original material! That being said, I'm disappointed that their later concerts didn't feature their original material, but their covers still retained their abilities and live charisma, even if they played more varied and light material by the late 2000s. Their breakups were disappointing, but hopefully Phatstick reunite at some point again! No originals of their exist on YouTube at present, but here's a video clip of Phatstick covering "Master of Puppets" by Metallica from a show in 2008!
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Will of the Ancients (Toronto, Ontario)
Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)
Tristan "Tristram" Biggar (vocals/guitar/ex-keyboard)
Peter Weinrauch (bass)Dave Black (drums)
Colin "Maelgad" Attlesey (vocals/keyboard)
Andrew "Albanack" Alush (vocals)
Jordy "Rex Lupis" Steinberg (vocals)
Stephen "Arrakis" Walton (vocals/ex-bass)
Yura "Melekhai" Ukraman (guitar)
Tom "The Griminal" Gendron (guitar)
Ryan Sequeira (guitar)
Dean Arnold (guitar/vocals)
"Gog" (bass)
"Pyrus Infernus" (bass)
Jeff Kurkowski (bass)
"Macros" (keyboard)
"Conan" (keyboard)
Chino "Heborym" Deville (drums)
David "Veillko" Gold (drums)
Jason "Sayduke" Longo (drums)
Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/willoftheancients
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/willoftheancients
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/user/willoftheancients
Official Twitter page: http://twitter.com/wotametal
Official forum: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/will-ancients-425/
Official BandCamp page: http://willoftheancients.bandcamp.com/
Local Info: The lone Saultite ever in Will of the Ancients was David Gold, who was frontman and ex-drummer of local doom/black metal band Woods of Ypres! Though formed in Windsor in 2002 and later moved to Toronto, David brought Woods of Ypres back home in 2008, where it remained until David's death and the band's breakup in December 2011. As well, David briefly replaced Jonathan Harvey as drummer of fellow locals Gates of Winter before their 2009 hiatus. Woods played here frequently, along with making the Soo the basis for their song "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground" during their run, while David also drummed for bands like Necramyth & Thrawsunblat, among others concurrently with his Woods of Ypres work!
Band Bio: David Gold joined Toronto black metal band Will of the Ancients in 2004, replacing Chino Deville behind the drumkit, and taking on the stage-name "Veillko". The lineup of WOTA during David's tenure included Jordy Steinberg on vocals, Tristan Biggar & Tom Gendron on guitar, Stephen Walton on bass, and "Conan" on keyboards, later replaced by Colin Attlesey. David left the band in 2005 to focus on Woods of Ypres, and was replaced by Jason Longo. Will of the Ancients formed in 2002, and released their first EP "Cold Grim Times" in 2004. They've underwent numerous lineup changes before & since, with guitarist Tristan Biggar as the only remaining original member. They released their self-titled full length disc in 2006, and have played with notable bands including Woods of Ypres, Behemoth, Quo Vadis, and Wolven Ancestry. WOTA play a very aggressive and heavy style of epic black/death metal, fans of which should find a lot to like here! The band released their new album "To Our Glorious Dead" in February 2014, and recently toured Eastern Canada in support of Psychotic Gardening, with more shows to come in 2015 and beyond!During his tenure with Will of the Ancients, David didn't drum on any of their albums, although he did play at live shows in 2004 and 2005. I can't recall if they ever came here for a concert, but it'd be awesome if they did! I admittedly don't listen to much black metal, but these guys are very solid at what they do, and have the talent to back it up! Very fast and heavy where they need to be, some death and thrash metal influences are thrown in here and there too! Hopefully the current lineup are just as good as on their past releases, and the what I have heard of "To The Glorious Dead" is brutal! Here's a clip from a Will of the Ancients show in 2005 around the time of David's departure, but click here for samples from their new album, and check the above links for plenty of audio & video clips!
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Hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of our new monthly feature! Remember, even if you take a metalhead out of the Soo, you still can't take the Soo out of the metalhead! Plus, it never hurts to give these bands some exposure! Next month, to coincide with local shows involving members of these bands, we'll profile London Ontario's Papa Fogals Chair (with Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner) and Toronto's The Sexual Vigilantes, featuring Lion Ride bassist Brenton Ellis! Stay tuned for that!
Thanks everyone, a full news post including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT should be coming tomorrow (in case you didn't hear the news on Facebook), so be on the lookout! And, I hope the Ultraviolence/Sense of Truth show was awesome, I'm still pissed that I couldn't make it!
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