A New Local Band, Abstract News, Review Updates, And This Week's Classic Video!!

Hey guys, I apologize for the lack of posts since Sunday. I've been going though a lot of major computer grief (I think it's overheating too much), and I may have to take it to the shop soon for (at least) a look-over. That, and Blogger had more issues over the past day that prevented me from logging in to make any posts, and you may have seen similar issues when trying to log into your own accounts, comment on posts, or watch embedded videos. Luckily, those problems appear to be fixed, and hopefully we're done with Blogger outages already for this month! I wanna get at least three posts in by Friday, and we'll start today with a new news post, including this week's classic video, a bunch of updates to some of our feature posts, and news from a young local band, but first, here's a brand new band to check out!

If you're still bummed over the breakups of Bring The Fallen and State Of Misery, then I have good news, as members of both bands have united into a new local death metal band named Bring The Blood! This new band features State of Misery members Steve Rhodes & Ray Cowan, Bring The Fallen's own Dan Souliere & Travis St. Amour, and new bassist Kory Derasp rounding out their five-piece lineup. Drawing influences from bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, Lamb Of God, and Children Of Bodom, Bring The Blood launched their Facebook page yesterday. Aside from plans to post a band logo later today, there isn't much to say yet on their page, although postings on Steve's personal Facebook page pointed to demos being posted "sooner rather than later", originals and covers in their setlists, and a planned live debut next month. I was thinking it'd be cool to see members of these broken up bands uniting into a new band, and they should be impressive when they debut this summer! Their talents speak for themselves, though I'm curious to see how Kory Derasp does on bass, as I'm unfamiliar with his work. I do have one question though: Why aren't they called Bring The Misery? That would have fit perfectly! No worries though, I'll keep you posted as updates on Bring The Blood come in!

As for the other members of both of the above bands, we know Josh Stephney joined The Bear Hunters, and I've heard talk of Nick Kainula already working with a new band, but the rest of the old BTF/SoM band members haven't said much publically as to their next musical plans, if any. When I hear anything, I'll have it here!

Next up, here's some news from Sault Michigan hard rockers Abstract, who are really making a big name for themselves right now, especially considering their young ages! For one, the band were interviewed live on Rock 101 on May 13th during "Scott & Brian In The Morning", which is awesome news for them! It's great to see them giving some local exposure, and these kids could use it! A complete recording of the interview isn't posted on their Facebook page, but a video of the band during the later portions of the interview (and photos from the Rock 101 studios) are all available to check out at this location! I wish I'd have known about this beforehand, I'd love to have listened in! Also, a number of videos from their recent gigs are posted there, and before anyone asks, I didn't advertise them here because information was extremely lacking, if even posted, on them. That said, all their recent gigs have been outdoor daytime sets, usually at benefits, special events, and at stores, but I've heard good things! The newest unembeddable videos have the band covering songs from bands like Velvet Revolver, The White Stripes, and Blue October, and they show their talents well!

It's great to see kids rocking this young, I see bright things for them quickly if they keep this up! Check the above links for all current details on Abstract, and if you wanna see them live, they'll be at the IGA grocery store on Osborn Boulevard across the river at some point tomorrow!

Now, I wanted to update you guys to some edits I made to one of our special monthly feature series, that being our monthly CD reviews! I didn't edit the review content, as I want the reviews to reflect my original thoughts without going back and revising everything, which wouldn't be fair. I stuck to the album information and photos, so here's what's changed! Our review of Gates of Winter's debut EP now lists the band's complete lineup, which I didn't have originally. The review of Lion Ride's "Awesome" now has details on where it was recorded and mastered, who produced it, and who provided backing vocals, along with a replaced photo due to a dead link. The review of Fitswitch's EP has more current information on the lineup, including some more Frightlight references, a clearer and larger version of the album artwork, and completely replaced photos. The Stillbroke EP review was edited to reflect the fact that the album isn't brand new anymore, and one dead photo was replaced. The review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" now reflects that the band's then-lineup's current status, it's re-release through Earache Records, and a bunch of new purchasing links for the reissue. The Clownsack review for "Rotten Candy" is updated to reflect future lineup changes, a restored photo, and details on where the album was recorded.

Also, the Detroit & I.S.O.M. CD reviews have both had minor adjustments to reflect their respective inactive statuses, the Frightlight review was slightly adjusted to reflect the new year and other time notes, and the Lower S.E.S. review now includes references to drummer Mikey Bishop's work in Half A Man. Check out the above links for the newly updated information and photos concerning each review! All CD & EP reviews with no changes above are still basically accurate, though I have my eyes peeled!

And finally, here is this week's classic video! With a quiet weekend in the metal/hard rock scene, and it being too soon for another As It Stands video upload, I picked another higher profile video not yet on YouTube, and it's from Gates of Winter! This comes from their very last local concert before their 2 ½ year+ live hiatus, which took place on November 2nd, 2008 at The Grand Theater when they opened for Fuck The Facts! This is one of the few songs Gates of Winter covered after 2006, and conveniently, it's of Woods of Ypres' "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground"! This was played often during the three month stint where Woods frontman David Gold drummed live for Gates of Winter. The video is nice quality and, oddly enough, the filmer travels around the floor to different points and views, which offers a cool perspective! The audio's great too, you hear everything perfectly! Brian Holmes' keyboard playing seems too light for the song, and Lee Maines does miss a few words here and there, but it's a very solid version of the Woods of Ypres standard, and as far as I know, it's the only publically viewable footage of Gates of Winter covering this song.

This video was uploaded to Facebook by David Gold not long after this concert, and can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=38221735671. As always, NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! I want people to see this video, it's a nice performance, and it deserves a wider audience! All credit to this video goes to Gates of Winter, David Gold, and the original filmer! With that said, check out Gates of Winter covering Woods of Ypres from their last show in our burial ground (to date) below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews (including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT) and another Woods of Ypres-centric post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!