LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Black Dog & Subsistance), A Possible New Show, And New Videos!!

(EDIT: 3:56 PM) The Sault Metal Scene sends the deepest condolences possible to the family, friends, and bandmates of Ronnie James Dio, who died this morning at the age of 67. He had been battling stomach cancer since last year. If it's working when you click the link, a statement from his wife Wendy has been posted confirming the news on his official website. Dio was a multi-platinum selling heavy metal singer whose prolific career included stints in Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf, Dio, and most recently, Heaven and Hell. I and thousands of others had the privilege of seeing Ronnie James Dio live at the now-Essar Center in March of 2007 when Heaven and Hell played here live on their Canadian tour with Megadeth and Down. It was hands down the best concert I've ever seen at the arena, and I'm certainly not alone in saying that. He's always been one of my favourite metal frontmen, and he kept the horns flying til the end. R.I.P. Dio, your incredible body of work lives on!

It's Sunday, and you know what that means...actually, I didn't have anything special planned. But I do have a packed new post for today with more assorted news and updates! Two new videos from a pair of local metal bands, a possible new show that needs a venue, and kicking things off, two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! (Also, check out my re-review of Garden of Bedlam's debut E.P. immediately below this post!)

Attention Led Zeppelin fans! Black Dog, the Toronto-based Led Zeppelin tribute act last seen here in April 2009, will be back in town on June 26th! Unlike last year's two weekend dates at Coch's Corner, Black Dog will rock The Canadian Nightclub this time, and it will only be one concert, on June 26th. Their MySpace page says they're playing at "The Knights Inn", which is the hotel that The Canadian is downstairs from, so I'm pretty safe in assuming they mean The Canadian. A start time of 10:00 PM is listed, and knowing concerts there, I'd expect at least a nominal cover charge. Make sure you're 19 too, this is a bar. The Canadian have yet to announce this show, but it appears to be a go! Black Dog even launched their own Facebook event page for it, click here to confirm your attendance and get more info! I heard they did a good job at their shows last April at Coch's Corner, but if you still want to hear how Black Dog sound, there are audio and video samples at their MySpace page, which aren't bad! They've been paying tribute to Led Zeppelin for years, and promise an authentic Zeppelin experience, so hopefully you guys can make it out! If I hear more, I'll let you guys know!

The other new show I have today is courtesy of Montreal old school hardcore band Subsistance, who will be at Foggy Notions (or "Foggy's Bar", as they put it) on July 21st! This hasn't been officially announced by Foggy's, but Subsistance list an 8:00 PM start time for this show. I'd expect a cover charge of $2-$3, and it will almost certainly be 19+. This seems like the type of show that might have extra bands tacked on later, so if I hear something in that regard, you'll hear it here! Their sound is about on the border of what counts as "metal" on the SMS, with a heavy punk influence, but they're just metal enough for coverage here! They have some fast heavy songs that recall old school hardcore pretty nicely, and they list Megadeth and Motorhead as influences! Good stuff, I imagine this show will go over well, check out some of their original material at their official MySpace page! I'm comfortable confirming this show, but if I hear changes or updates, you'll be sure to hear about them here!

Next up, I have came across another band that looks to play here in the near future! And when I say "near future", I mean that. Kitchener progressive hardcore band Set Anchors have a "TBA" date announced for May 27th for Sault Ontario. Sure it's short notice, but maybe someone out there could help? E-mail the band at their official MySpace page if you'd like to book them somewhere on May 27th! I like their sound, they're heavy and have some good instrumentation, while being hardcore enough for mosh-loving hardcore fans! I guess I should note that the date they listed is during a tour with another Kitchener band named Kingdoms, who you'll recognize as being the advertised headliners for that Out Of The Mouth Of Babes show they tentatively listed for May 28th at Foggy Notions. Remember, Kingdoms were booked in Etobicoke on that same day, so might OOTMOB have meant for the show to have been on May 27th? Are/were Kingdoms and Set Anchors set for a show here on the 27th? I'm not gonna say, there's not enough evidence to point to a definite concert, but I'm just throwing that out there. Still, contact Set Anchors and see if we can get them here!

Capping today's post are two new local metal videos! And first, we have the first full music video from local hard rockers Stillbroke! It's for the song "No Reason" off of their debut E.P. "Never Enough" from November of last year! It mostly features the band in and around an abandoned and heavily damaged house, throwing things, exploring the surroundings, and of course, playing the song! Though he didn't play on the E.P., new Stillbroke guitarist Chris Villeneuve gets lots of time on camera, including playing half of the guitar solo, and it looks like he has a firm grasp of it! I wonder how he sounds live? The video's actually a bit more than I was expecting, I figured it'd just be a performance clip, so kudos for Stillbroke for going the extra mile! The video was filmed by Paul Grimard from Extreme Airbrushing (check out some of his amazing artwork at that link), who was also responsible for the YouTube videos of Helix's 2008 concert at The Canadian Nightclub (click here to visit his YouTube channel!) Check out Stillbroke's video right here!



The second new video is one of three new demo clips from new local metal band WinkStinger! They've sure been loading up on YouTube videos, haven't they? These three are also on YouTube user joeyvelcro's channel, and let's go through what's now posted! The first video is for the song "Fuck The Rest", which is nice, fast, and heavy, very moshable! I can picture this getting lots of people to the front of the stage! Second is "In Other Words", which is a bit slower, but honestly, catchier! I'm detecting a Pantera-ish influence in it, and I completely welcome that! The third video, which is the longest, and the one I'm embedding here, is "The Taker" which has more of a punk rawness than the first two, but still has lots of hardcore rage and heaviness! With some polish and live experience, these guys could be something very special, here's hoping they keep it up! Check out "The Taker" below, and the rest of the new clips by clicking the above links!



That's all for today, but the fun's not over yet for this busy stretch on the SMS! Tuesday, we have a new poll coming up, my newest profiles of out of town bands with local members will be up by next Monday, my review of "Castle Stories" will be somewhere in that stretch, and as always, news and updates littered throughout! Lots of excitement around here in the next week, hope you come back real soon to see what's in store!