A "New" Local Band, Lineup Changes, And More Assorted New Items!!

Another week is on, and for today's news post, we're mostly clearing out our news cache, so what's on tap? Along with a pile of assorted random recent news items, we have lineup changes and other updates from two new-ish local metal bands, and first, we have a new local hard rock project to plug, so here's what you need to know!

Haggith drummer/local solo musician Mike Haggith announced a new local band project on Saturday, and they're called Mike Haggith & The Din! Likely a reference to his most recent solo album "The Present Din", this project appears to be an outlet for Mike to play his array of solo original material live in the Sault area, which is something I know he'd tried to get going before in town. With a cited genre of "acid jam", Mike Haggith & The Din's lineup is almost the same as the Haggith band's lineup, albeit with the 3 common members in swapped roles (a'la Lion Ride & Detroit), with Mike on vocals & guitar instead of drums, Curtis McKenzie on bass & keyboard instead of vocals, and Daniel Horton on drums instead of guitar. For the record, I don't know if The Din will get any dedicated online pages or just share Mike's solo pages, but Mike did confirm that this project is the newest band on the Paperclip Productions label (no word though on if this is the same as the never-revealed Cadets project.)

As a first sample, Mike posted an extended jam of him and Daniel (Curtis is absent) playing "Limb Coast" from his "Neighbourhood Watch" album onto his new YouTube channel (along with full postings of that album and "Suspended Animation"), but how does it sound? At 23 minutes in length, it definitely has a loose jam feel, and it puts more of a freewheeling experimental take on this already dark and atmospheric song, but the parts that match the original recording line up well! I'm interested to hear how The Din tackles some other Mike Haggith originals, so check out their jam version of "Limb Coast" below, and stay tuned for updates!



Next up, here's the latest updates from Sault Ontario thrash band Pillory, starting with the addition of Cole Royal to their lineup as their new bassist, replacing Jonathan Tiberi. The news was broken on their Facebook page on Thursday, though from what I can tell, he's been with the band since last month. I'm not familiar with Cole musically, but fingers crossed he has the skills to match up with Robert and Bret in their current lineup! No word yet though on a new guitarist to replace the late Andres Duchesne. In the same Facebook posting, Pillory revealed that the release of their "Cringe at the Cross" EP is "not too far away", with a summer release now being worked on, while they also revealed that they just finished writing a new original song named "Dethrone the Dictator". It sounds like Pillory's hard at work on their next plans, but I'd like to see them back on stage, as their only concert was six months ago. They need to build some momentum, but they're talented and have made a good early impression, so hopefully some more big news is coming! Stay tuned for more!

Also, here's the latest from the newer local classic metal previously known as Hydra, starting with a name change, as they quietly changed their name to The Hydra's Teeth on Saturday. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's to avoid conflicts with existing bands with the same name. The lengthened name works though! Also, they've confirmed the addition of veteran local drummer Roy Kreutzberger to their lineup (as per their Reverbnation page), returning them to a trio following guitarist Talon Risto's departure. Roy's well known locally from projects like Leaves Off Trees, Startlefish, Odd Man Out, Iron Lung, and Clockwork, some of which date back to the 1990s, so even with a lack of explicit metal work that I can find, the skill's absolutely there for Roy to match up with Late & Loud's Brendan Christie & Benn Garside in this band! Other news hasn't been posted since the above changes, but check out The Hydra's Teeth's promising (though incomplete) original demos at their Reverbnation page above, and keep an eye out for band updates!

We'll close today with six assorted recent news items (as they've been piling up), and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Though not a direct local metal story, Ashes To Dust frontman Noah Morden will take the stage in Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School's production of Evita this weekend, where he'll play Che, the narrator. Big opportunity, hopefully all goes well this weekend! As for the band, while we've heard very little from them in recent months,Noah did inquire about returning to this year's Sewer Swampstravaganza, so keep an eye out if they're confirmed!
• On May 10th, Eckerman, Michigan metal band Life's Eclipse posted an unembeddable video sample of a new track named "Aphelion" onto their Facebook page! It sounds very heavy and promising, if incomplete, so check it out at the above links, and fingers crossed we hear more from them soon!
• Bear Hunters/Suicide Kings guitarist/bassist Mitch Sirie is looking for a bassist and drummer for a new progressive metal project that he's working on, though no word on if this is an expansion of his Sorrow Fields solo act or something completely different. If you're interested in trying out, message Mitch at this location or through his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Wednesday!
• Local punk trio Redundant were added as a third opening band for the Sleep When You're Dead-headlined all ages concert at The Oddfellows Hall on May 29th, as confirmed on the Facebook event page on Saturday. Unexpected choice, given that the other three bands are all forms of extreme metal, but Redundant's members all have metal experience, and they should set the tone well with their entertaining originals & covers!
• Ex-Swayze Train/Insipid Brutality guitarist Scott Savoie has uploaded three new solo original songs onto his Soundcloud page in the past month, including a Jeff Hanneman tribute named "Forever Reign", and there's vocals on these new tracks! If that's Scott on the thrashier ones, he could front a band if he wanted! Check out his new songs (one of which has female vocals) at the above links!
• I forgot to mention this when we plugged Winkstinger's addition of Jason Bourcier as their new bassist on here, but his enlistment is sort of a return too, as he fronted Winkstinger's predecessors Operation: Killdozer during their brief mid-2009 run! Fans may remember that at least one Killdozer song ("Pieces of You") was adapted by Winkstinger as "Where'd We Go Wrong" after their debut. It's good to see Jason, Jesse, and Jonas back together, and don't miss the band's return on the 29th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for my review of The Crusade! Thanks everyone!