End Of Existence & Dead In The Van Lineup News, Plus The First Stryper/Slaughter Videos!!

Greetings from Detroit! I'm gonna try and get more than just this news post up by the time we get back home on Wednesday (I have this month's CD review already typed up for an auto-post then too), but for now, we have some big news relating to an upcoming fundraiser concert, the first videos from a recent major show, and leading things off, an unexpected lineup change relating to a partly local band, so here's what you need to know!

Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence have surprisingly parted ways with singer Bob Helsten, just days away from the scheduled release of their debut album. A full reasonfor the move wasn't disclosed, but the band's statement that they released yesterday to various Facebook pages (including ours) hinted at Bob's own personal issues as a partial cause, and the band felt that dismissing him was "the only solution". Despite Bob's departure, the release of End of Existence's debut album is still lined up for Wednesday, with planned online releases on iTunes, Amazon, and in physical copies as well. However, the above statement implies that End of Existence will be changing their name following it's release and the addition of a new frontman, and they don't have plans to re-record this album's material with their new singer. This is really surprising news, as Bob (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone) has been a perfect fit for End of Existence's style since their 2009 inception, and the timing of the move is very odd, what with the planned album release on Wednesday. Bob's a very nice guy, but if the band's statement rings true, hopefully he can work out whatever's going on personally!

That said, if you are interested in singing for End of Existence (or whatever their name ends up being), e-mail them A.S.A.P. for details at endofexistenceband@gmail.com! While the name change and implied downplaying of older material seems drastic, hopefully the guys have things in hand for the future, and I'm curious to see who they find (be they local or from Grand Rapids) to fill the vocal void! Stay tuned for updates as they come in, and stay tuned for the End of Existence album release on Wednesday!

Next up, the first videos from Friday night's Stryper/Slaughter/Lynch Mob concert are now online! On Saturday, YouTube user soundsunlimiteddj uploaded five videos from this major Dreammakers Theater concert onto his YouTube channel, and though one is of Slaughter, let's start with the Stryper videos! Four songs were filmed by soundsunlimiteddj at this show (among other Stryper concerts from other Michigan venues dating back to 2009), including Stryper playing their songs "Sing-Along-Song", "Reach Out", "Calling On You", and (as embedded below) "More Than A Man" at Kewadin Casino on Friday, so click each link to check them out! I'm not an ardent follower of Stryper's material, but the video quality on these videos is great! They don't sound too far off their 1980s peak, the view is clear and centered, the audio's not scratchy at all, and I'm impressed all around by these videos! The camera that soundsunlimiteddj used did a great job, and after hearing some non-preachy heavier stuff in here, I may have to give Stryper more of a listen! Check out their rendition of "More Than A Man" on Friday in Sault Michigan below!

Also new from soundsunlimiteddj's channel is one video from Slaughter's set, and it's of them playing their classic ballad "Fly To The Angels!" I was sort of hoping to hear a heavier track of theirs (it's that material that sold me on Slaughter when they played Sault Ontario in 2008), but it's good to see Mark Slaughter dedicate this song to fallen soldiers! The video quality's exactly the same as on the Stryper videos, so it's excellent, but this definitely isn't a favourite of mine from Slaughter's catalog. Still, give this video a look below, and if I hear of any more notable fallout from this past Friday, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

And finally, here's the latest updates concerning THIS SUNDAY'S Dead In The Van fundraiser concert at The Canadian Nightclub towards horror punk quintet Frightlight's future tour plans! An eighth band has been confirmed for the lineup, that being Desbarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, joining fellow Desbarats rockers Inhuman Methods on the lineup for this massive fundraiser concert! The lineup is now capped at eight bands, and for trivia's sake, this event could serve as a bit of a preview of the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, as only punk trio Redundant, solo artist "Evil" Greg Callaghan, and (most of) Frightlight aren't competing at the battle. I just thought that was worth noting! Also in terms of this concert, the official poster is now on the Facebook event page (I haven't seen the full original copy though), and the performance order was also confirmed there as well. Frightlight are headlining, and they'll be preceded by local hardcore quintet As It Stands, Redundant, deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre, classic metallers Late & Loud, F.A.T.I.L., Inhuman Methods, and Greg Callaghan in that descending order. This is shaping up to be an awesome concert, so check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more updates!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news over the next few days and our review of Sykotyk Rampage's 27th album "Karrs" on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!