Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Riot! By Night & Face First

Before we head to the fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! As always on the 10th of each month, we look at one or two defunct/inactive metal or hard rock bands (all selected randomly) in order to re-introduce them to current readers and outline their history, milestones, and current whereabouts. As the first band we randomly selected had no surviving media, I've added a second band with minimal info for this month, but both feature some familiar faces, and though they didn't last as long as other recent projects from their members, they're both worth mentioning, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Riot! By Night

Genre: Alternative/Modern Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: 

Ryan Harrison (RedStone Riot, Elipzis), vocals/rhythm guitar
Ben Huyck (Absolute, NoXcape), lead guitar
Bill Spence (Absolute, NoXcape), bass
Odin Osogwin (Oddfellow), drums

Audio/Video: None are known to exist publically at present, though Riot! By Night's MySpace page suggested that they were influenced by 1990s alternative rock, sounded like "modern rock with feeling", and had a setlist of at least 50 cover songs. For reference sake, Riot! By Night likely sounded the most similar to direct predecessors Absolute (who have a good amount of surviving MySpace media), though if you're curious on Ryan's singing/guitar ability, his YouTube channel is the best source to see him in this role. 

Info/Analysis: Riot! By Night were a short lived hard rock band that was active from August 2009 through mid-2010. Essentially the bridge between Ben Huyck & Bill Spence's similar late 2000s band Absolute and their early-2010s project NoXcape, Riot! By Night became a frequent sight at Sault Michigan-area venues (mainly The Satisfied Frog) on weekends through at least March 2010, after which the band quietly disbanded by the summer, with Ryan leaving to become Elipzis' bassist shortly thereafter. Riot! By Night's lineup was talented, their members have had noticeable success in other regional projects, and I heard good things about their brief run together, so be sure to follow members' other projects, and hopefully some live media turns up in the future!
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Face First

Genre: Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Benjamin Kallonen (Changing Waves), guitar
Devan Lauzon (Changing Waves), drums

Info/Analysis: A very short lived metal project that only saw updates to their MySpace page for a week in February 2010, Face First played improvised instrumentals that they jokingly praised as tasting good on toast. Calls to add new band members may have led to Ben & Devan's formation of defunct local hardcore band Changing Waves (originally FallsColour Turn Spring) with the Hagerman brothers that fall, though Ben & Devan respectively moved to vocals & bass, and Devan left that band in early 2011. In any event, Face First ceased activity by mid-2010, but they left behind four original songs ("Welcome To Parts Of Yourself", "Dimension 6 String", "Enjoying The Chaos", and "Closed In Fate"), which have some interesting moments for hardcore fans, though given  their different instrument roles, it's not clear how much of an influence they had on Changing Waves. The improvised nature & incomplete lineup may also have affected the composition of these tracks, but give them a listen to see what you think, as they do have talent here, and here's the almost 9 minute "Dimension 6 String"!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! So, what's coming next month? As the first band (from Sault Michigan) that we randomly selected for next month has very minimal information surviving, we'll be doubling up on profiles for the ninth time in 10 months. With that said, we'll be looking at defunct Sault Michigan alternative hard rock project A Shade of Light and defunct Sault Ontario progressive hard rock band Route 69 (three years after we replaced them in this series on short notice due to their brief reunion), so look out for their profiles on or around June 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post soon, and we'll see you guys at the Swampstravaganza TODAY! Thanks everyone!