Yes, we have a new band from the Sault Michigan area to add to our band links, and they are East Branch! Once known as Jaar, I believe they're based out of Strongs, Michigan and feature Swampghas' J.R. Johnson in their lineup, and they are signed to Eckerman label Werehold Records, but I know little else on them beyond that. A Facebook page for East Branch was quietly launched on Saturday, and all it says is "Play Metal" for band information. That all said, they still have enough information for us to link them on the SMS, as songs by East Branch were a part of both of Werehold Records' Friday the 13th New Music postings on their YouTube channel, and they definitely fit among other area metal bands! Their two available instrumental songs are entitled "Black Market Body Parts" and "Hillbilly Highway", and while the former is a slow heavier instrumental, the latter is a softer track that still has a lonesome darker feel and isn't badly done. These are interesting tracks, if a bit repetitive, but East Branch do have promise, and hopefully we'll hear much more from them soon, along with the other current Werehold bands! Check the above links to hear and read more on East Branch, who are now in our local metal band links!
Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Skull Fist are coming back to Sault Ontario at the end of this month during their Tear Down The West Canadian tour! The Toronto speed metal quartet have became local favourites in their last two stops here in August 2010 and last fall, and luckily for us, T-Rex Manning guitarist Tiffany Stocco is bringing them back to The Canadian Nightclub on August 31st for what should be their biggest Sault Ste. Marie show yet! The Friday placement of it helps in that regard, as does the growing local support for a band of this intensity, speed, and old school flavour, but it will also be bigger by featuring three opening bands rather than two from the previous Skull Fist shows here! Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight will co-headline in their first appearance since the Anvil show (barring any new shows in the interim), and they should fit well with their Misfits-inspired sound on August 31st! The other two opening bands are actually the same openers from the Skull Fist show last fall, those being local deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre (who were known as View To A Kill last year) and classic metal quartet Late & Loud! For The V.D.M., this will very likely be their last local concert before they move to London for college, and who knows when they'll be back, so help send them off in style on the 31st!As for Late & Loud, this will be their first local concert since winning the Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April, and after a four month break, you know they'll be itching to return to the stage and melt some faces, so don't miss their opening set at the end of the month! This concert will have a $5 cover charge, everything starts at 10:00 PM, and despite other recent Canadian shows being all ages, this one will be 19+ for unannounced reasons. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like this will be an entertaining concert, and if you were at either of Skull Fist's last shows here, you should agree, so definitely stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and I'll hopefully be there as well!
Thirdly today, here's some long awaited updates on prominent local progressive death metal band Gates of Winter! Updates have been almost nonexistent since the spring (barring a new band photo), but on Sunday, frontman Lee Maines revealed on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group that they're looking for a new session drummer. Direct reference to Gates of Winter was oddly not made, but he said that he's looking for a real drummer to possibly record the tracks for their upcoming album within "the next 4-12 months". That timeline alone hints that "Perihelion" may not be finished until next year, so things definitely sound delayed, but good art takes time! This news seems to indicate that Gates of Winter are no longer working with Vancouver drummer/Sault native Jon Morrison on their upcoming material, but I have no idea what happened or if anything he may have recorded will be used on future Gates releases (best of luck to Jon though in the future!) If anyone out there is interested in trying out or lending their services to Gates of Winter as a session drummer (or maybe more?), message Lee on Facebook at this location! This could be a huge opportunity, as even though Gates of Winter are still on their almost 4 year concert hiatus, their talents and original material are top notch, and they're still widely known and respected locally, so I wouldn't pass on this! Stay tuned for more Gates of Winter updates as they come in!
Also in the news, here's the latest updates on the David Gold/Woods of Ypres tribute album! The official album cover has been revealed, and it's not the one that was earlier posted online as a possibility. You can see the official one on your left, and it looks nice, and very fitting to David's memory! However, the album's title looks tacked on and doesn't flow with the artwork, so I'd make it fit better and add "A" to the beginning, as the title is "A Heart of Gold: A Tribute to Woods of Ypres". In related news, another new song has been added to the album, as Musk Ox cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne (who guested on the last two Woods of Ypres albums) will perform a solo cover of "Adora Vivos" for the tribute album, which is a nice addition, and I'm curious to hear how that song will come out on a cello! Finally, the tribute album's Facebook page has revealed that organizers are hoping for the album to see a release at the end of August (and into autumn...) or early September, but nothing will be finalized until everything is at top quality standards like David would have wanted. Sounds like things are coming together nicely, so check the above links for all of the details on the tribute album so far, and I know somehow, somewhere, David must be proud!
And finally, here's some updates to some of our monthly feature posts! In our Defunct Local Band Profile Series, I edited the SIGHdEFECT profile to replace Giwakwa with Faithless Sin in bassist Jason Bourcier's other bands, given that he did more with Faithless Sin locally. I also made big edits to the other defunct profile from November 2011, that being for the Sault Michigan metal project Mugwort, as I've finally re-obtained the other info on them thanks to e-mail correspondence with singer Bob Helsten. To sum it up, Mugwort was a 2008 collaboration between Bob and a multi-instrumentalist from Kyoto, Japan named Da-Ko, who currently plays in Japanese metal/punk bands like Grim Outside, and now we have that up on our profile with appropriate links. Thanks to Bob for letting me know about Mugwort again! Finally, I've updated the Lorax profile to reflect members Jeremy Hannah & Nathan Bouliane's current bands (With Blood Builds Character, The Moves, and Like Father Like Son) and to note that they've worked together in projects since Lorax's dissolution. Finally, in our YouTube Channel Profile Series, I updated the profile for myangels1266's channel to note channel owner Cami Hubbard's son Chris' work in The Hubbard-Menard Band and the end of his old band Trail's End. There's more updates to come, but check the above links for this batch of changes!That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow as we kick off our monthly feature posts for August 2012, along with weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone
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