Dirty Virgin, Dutch Vanderploeg, State of Misery, And Woods Of Ypres Updates!!

Hey guys, it's time for some more local metal and hard rock news, and we've got some big stories today! You know we've had at least one post a day for every day since March 10th? This marks our 27th straight day with at least one new post, that has to be a record! I love the busyness though, and thanks for sticking around over the past month! Today, we have new songs and interviews from one band, new shirts from another, and a newly renamed solo project, but first, it's a local band's official return to the stage!

Do you remember when two new Woods of Ypres songs premiered on the December edition of The Governor's Ball during an interview with David Gold? Well, now you can stream the full, uninterrupted versions of both songs on Woods of Ypres' CBC Radio 3 page! The songs are "You Were The Light" (the original "Woods V" title track) and "Falling Apart", and they're now in even better quality and available to stream without any strings attached! I won't give detailed thoughts on either yet, but check the above links to listen to them, especially if you want to experience a more upbeat sounding version of the heavier "Woods IV" songs! Speaking of which, as you may know, these and the other three songs recorded at Stereo Soul Studios in August won't be "Woods V" due to Earache Records' preference for a full album, so what exactly is gonna happen to these five tracks? Well, I don't know about the three we haven't heard yet, but these two will see a special vinyl release through Practical Art Records! Limited to 500 copies, it will feature both songs on each side of the vinyl, with special artwork and vinyl colouring, guest cello from Raphael Weinroth-Browne, and mp3 download cards, as well as hand numbering and autographs for the first 150 copies.

Sounds good, at least it gives some of the new songs an official release! Hopefully all the songs from these sessions see a release as "Woods 4.5" down the road! This'll do for now though, but will I review it on the SMS? Not imminently, I don't like reviewing two albums by one band in a short timeframe, and I try to review albums and EPs before singles, but I'll get to this down the road! Only 500 copies will be made, so get on this! How can you pre-order this vinyl though? Preorders are $20, so if you want to pick up "You Were The Light/Falling Apart" from PayPal, send it to davidypres@gmail.com, and for a snail mail order, send a cheque, money order, or cash to this address!

Woods Of Ypres HQ
c/o David Gold
44 Poplar Ave
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
P6B 2W7
CANADA

Next up, Sault Ontario glam/punk rockers Dirty Virgin are finally returning to the stage! Three months after their quiet local resurgence, the band have announced that they will be one of the openers for Motley Crue tribute band Crued at The Canadian Nightclub on April 30th! To my knowledge, this will be their first local concert appearance in 17 months, having last hit the stage at the Kiss Battle of the Bands at The Canadian in late November 2009, so this has been a long time coming! The other opening band will be local punk rockers Motion Carried, who I still don't have audio/video from, but their members have the talent! I don't think they fit the "glam" mold, but I'm sure they'll do great as openers! Click here for full concert details! As for the return of Dirty Virgin, here's what else I know. The news of their full return to the stage came out yesterday, though details on if this is a one time event or not weren't stated. The band's lineup will be the same as their late 2008-summer 2009 lineup, which means that guitarist Ryan Spin and drummer Matt "Hixx" Hicks are both back in the fold. They'll of course rejoin singer Bobby Clement and bassist Lionel "Rocks" Quinton for this next show! I'm glad to see Dirty Virgin back together, here's hoping the reunion lasts beyond April 30th! Check the above links for more!

Now, here's the latest from Browbeat 101 frontman Dutch Vanderploeg' solo project! We first told you about this in November, but at some point between then and now, he deleted the page and relaunched it with a new name, or should I say, no name? Actually, both, as his solo project is now called Knownaym, and it's said how it sounds! The songs posted here include "Eyelids Fall" (as originally uploaded in November) and two newly posted originals, "Big Fat Liar" and "Information Overload". Basically, these are original songs that were either not written for Browbeat 101, or are no longer played by the full band. I praised "Eyelids Fall" last year for it's heard rock sounds and unique dreamlike chorus, but the new songs have merit themselves! "Big Fat Liar" has a Stone Temple Pilots vibe to it, with nice guitar work, but the production could have been improved a bit on it. Slower but with a hard rock bite! "Information Overload" reminds me the most of a Browbeat track, and it has a unique fast-paced, yet relaxed sort of style to it. Good stuff, hopefully we hear more from Knownaym in the future! Click here to check it all out, and I have updated our band links to reflect the above changes!

Finally for today, how would you guys like State of Misery t-shirts? The local death metal quintet have launched an online store through Wordans, and there is one item for sale there at present, a t-shirt! Featuring one of their more recent logos (the one with the eye as the O in "of"), you can buy it for $20.19 at the above links! Sizes through XXL are available, and the band has stressed that if you pick one up, the white box on the sample image will NOT be on the shirt. You can buy the shirt in alternate colours, but I'm not sure how the logo looks on those. Still, it's nice to see State of Misery selling merchandise, hopefully there's more in the pipeline! The band's Facebook page has also suggested that they'll be selling these at shows, so maybe we'll see some floating around at The Oddfellows Hall on Saturday? Time will tell! Check the above links for more, and stay tuned for the latest from State of Misery when we hear it! Remember to buy your shirts today with PayPal or your credit card at this location!