Happy 3rd Anniversary To The Sault Metal Scene!

Three years ago today, a frustrated metalhead started a Facebook group to keep fellow area metalheads in the loop on local metal bands and concerts. I'd have never guessed that three years later, we'd be where we are now! Today is The Sault Metal Scene's Third Anniversary, and as promised, I have some cool things to unveil and debut today in honour of the occasion! But before I tell you guys about them, I just wanna thank each and every one of you guys for supporting The Sault Metal Scene since July 4, 2007! When I first started the original SMS Facebook group, I had no idea that we'd make it this far, and to be honest, every year I'm more amazed that I've kept this up and that you guys still visit, read, and give feedback! The past year has been our biggest yet, with all local metal bands being incredibly gracious and supportive to the SMS throughout! Whether it was Woods of Ypres or Hands of Betrayal, the Kiss postponement or the Kiss Battle of the Bands, Sault Ontario or Sault Michigan, I've been extremely glad to cover it all and keep all of you in the loop. I'm not perfect, but I do what I can, and I thank every single person who reads the SMS for taking time out of their day to do so, and of course, all local metal/hard rock bands (past and present) for supplying the stories, links, and information that keep us going! You all rock, and I promise many more great things from the SMS and the local scene in general in the next year and beyond! Thanks everyone!

So what new features do I have to share today? Well, I have three to unveil (fittingly, because it's our third anniversary), so here's what's new! And to start, this is something a lot of you have been asking me to join up on for the SMS, and I am giving in to popular demand, so it's official: The Sault Metal Scene is on Twitter! I think my personal derision to joining Twitter in the past was the fact that I didn't feel the need to post character-limited updates on everything I personally did, especially when Facebook status updates were quite similar. But in the past few months, I've seen Twitter use for practical things, like on-the-fly news updates and announcements, and I realized that it could have some effective uses for The Sault Metal Scene! So in the last couple days, I've rounded up a number of relevant Twitter accounts to follow, launched the page, and now it's up for the tweeting! I'll likely post assorted singular stories and updates there, ones that you guys should hopefully find interesting! I don't know if I'll be able to effectively keep up with this compared to our site and Facebook page, but it's worth trying, and it can't survive effectively unless YOU follow us!

Click here for the latest tweets, our URL is http://twitter.com/saultmetalscene, and if you're on Twitter, FOLLOW US TODAY!!! Also, a Twitter feed widget will be placed on the SMS in the very near future, and depending on connection availability, a tweet may have been posted from the Phatstick show, so check and see if there was something!

The second thing I'm unveiling is a new SMS monthly feature! I realized lately that there are a number of defunct local bands of varying success levels that we don't talk about much on here. Some just don't have updates anymore to share, others just have nothing new that I've found that's worth discussing. Some have released material like Amethyst or Foothill Road, while others didn't get very far, like Recognition and T H E I D, who we're featuring in the current GarageBand mini-series. These are bands that really should be brought back to consciousness, no matter their success or talent levels, and they definitely should be discussed more often around here! So starting later this month, we will profile one defunct local metal band a month in what I'm calling our Defunct Local Band Profile series! For the sake of fairness, unlike other SMS monthly features, bands selected will be randomly chosen, and this month's first profile will be of AtrophiA, the defunct local metal band that eventually led to Bring The Fallen! That profile will be posted later in the month, so stay tuned for that, and much more in this special new series!

So what's my final 3rd Anniversary surprise? I'm not telling...yet. I'm linking this surprise with an upcoming local music festival that I'm attending, and it has parallels to something that happened a few years ago with a band that headlined it. It's nothing too grandiose, but it'll be pretty cool, and it'll be unveiled online later this month! You'll like it, especially if you like the headliner! I'll be back later today with a new news post including my review of last night's Phatstick show, and much more! Stay tuned, and thanks again for all the support over the last 3 years!!