End Of Existence's Album Release, Lots Of Musician Searches, And Much More!!

March has arrived, and it's time to get to some overdue news and updates at the SMS! Today, we've got news on a brand new local metal CD release, a bunch of updates relating to a central Sault Ontario concert venue, lots of news from a local solo artist, and a pile of local musicians looking for new bands & musicians, so here's what you need to know!

As expected, Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids epic metal band End of Existence finally released their debut album yesterday! While postings of the album on iTunes, Amazon, Reverbnation, and similar sites have yet to be publically revealed on band pages, it is definitely available now on CD Baby for $9.99 in mp3 format! According to the track listing there, the self-titled album features 12 tracks clocking in at about 52 minutes in length, and we've heard most (if not all) of these songs at least partially so far. While the album is now on sale, and it's definitely worth purchasing to support the band, this might be even more appealing: End of Existence are offering mp3 copies of the album for FREE right now! To help promote their search for a new singer to replace Bob Helsten, you can e-mail the band right now to request a free copy at endofexistenceband@gmail.com! I've already done so, and I encourage you guys to buy and download it as well at the above links to enjoy the fruits of End of Existence's labour! And finally for today's news on End of Existence's debut, I can confirm right now that we should be reviewing this album on the SMS in early April, so our reviews are set for most of the spring! Stay tuned for more on this new local album release as it comes in!

Next up, here's some assorted updates related to Pim Street concert venue The Canadian Nightclub! Firstly, the March 30th concert scheduled to be headlined by Victoria, B.C. sleaze rockers The Lust Boys is indeed a go, as confirmed on a new Facebook event page for it! There was some venue unsure-ness, but it's good to see things remain where they were originally announced! No other details have been announced for this likely 19+ event, but I'll let you guys know as more is announced! In other Canadian concert news, we now know the ticket price for April 7th's Ypres Metal Fest, as confirmed by promoter Rich Moreland on that event's Facebook event page last night. The admission will be $20, which is more than worth it given the 11 band lineup, the high profile bands scheduled, and the tribute nature of the show. This will be a great event in David Gold's memory, and hopefully all of you guys (of all ages) can make it out! And finally, the Canadian's Jay Perron revealed on their Facebook group on Tuesday that they're looking for web designers willing to create and maintain an official website for The Canadian Nightclub. If you're at all interested, call (705) 253-3257 A.S.A.P. and ask for Carmen! Stay tuned for more news on The Canadian Nightclub's upcoming metal & hard rock shows!

Thirdly today, here's the latest news on local solo hard rock artist Mike Haggith's recent work! As revealed on his solo project's Facebook page last week, his independent record label Rotten Records changed their name to Galactic Records for unannounced reasons, and vocal recordings for his upcoming album "Neighbourhood Watch" are forthcoming, hopefully within the next two weeks! He also revealed the newest (and very different) track listing arrangement for the new album there, which has seen the songs "Stalking Booze & The Raptor", "Nightmare On Reed Street", "The Day The Lights Went Out", "My Angel", and the album's title track removed (again for unknown reasons.) In their place are new songs named "To Whom This May Concern" & "Wicked Midnight Ride", which now implies that "Neighbourhood Watch" will be shorter than was projected earlier this year. Slightly disappointing, but if this helps the album come out sooner, than it should work out! Finally in Mike Haggith news, his Facebook discography page (which featured info & artwork for all of his dozens of back albums) was recently deleted as part of Facebook's refocusing on partner music sites, so the vast majority of back album information is now gone unless it's reposted, which I hope happens at some point.

While it'd be a lot of work, I'm sure, Mike's Facebook discography was great to read up on earlier Rotten/Galactic Records releases and hear information on new albums, and hopefully his prediction of a reposting of it not happening "anytime soon" is an overestimate! Notably, the same thing happened to Sykotyk Rampage's Facebook discography too, and I hope they bring theirs back in some form as well! For now, stay tuned for more on Mike Haggith's future solo work and the release of "Neighbourhood Watch"!

And finally for today, here's six recent local musician searches for metal/hard rock bands in Sault Ontario, all of which come from the Musicians Wanted Facebook group over the past month! Like the last time we grouped these together, the respective posts inquiring on this topic are in alphabetical order by the posting users' names. Are you interested in joining or jamming with a new local band? Read on below for details!

• Aftersight/Route 69 singer Ed Vowels is looking for a bass player for an unidentified rock band he's currently working on. Whether this is a reunited Aftersight or something new isn't publically known, but scroll to his post on February 23rd (as "Eddie V.") through this link if you're interested in possibly joining up!
• Late & Loud guitarist Jonathan Tiberi posted on the Musicians Wanted group yesterday to gauge interest in forming a stoner/doom metal band this summer, inspired by bands like Sleep, as a separate entity from Late & Loud. This could be interesting if it moves forward, so give Jon a shout at this location for more details!
• Gates of Winter frontman Lee Maines posted there on Friday inquiring about recruiting musicians for a new project that would play slower Isis/Meshuggah-inspired metal with original material & a heavy groove. I don't think this means anything towards Gates of Winter's status (just a separate project), but knowing Lee's talent, this could be a huge band if it takes off! Click here and move to his post on Friday for details!
• Ex-Dirty Virgin bandmates Matt Hicks & Matt Clement are looking to join a new band as singer & guitarist, though what this means for their Riverin project's future is unclear. Matt Hicks described his vocal style as a mix of James Hetfield & Sully Erna, which is intriguing! If you're interested in shooting them a reply, scroll to their post on February 14th at this link for more info!
• Skull After Betrayl frontman Mike Vincent is still looking for musicians of any type for a new death metal project, which appears to be separate from Skull After Betrayl. Varying bands are listed as influences, but if you're interested in possibly being a part, check out Mike's post from Tuesday at this location!
• On February 9th, Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie inquired about finding a new bassist for a local hard rock band he's in. First instinct says that the band he means is Borderline Divine (formerly Stillbroke), implying that Jake Hache has already left, but official band sources haven't confirmed that news. I'll keep tabs on this story, but if you're an interested bassist, find Mitch's post from last month by clicking here!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post TOMORROW, along with weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!