Bear Hunters & Apocalypse Afterparty Album Previews, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

While we wait for Jackyl concert fallout, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning, as we have big updates regarding two upcoming albums, some long overdue fallout from a local summer festival, and more assorted shorter updates! Now, here's what you need to know!

Local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have finally released a full track from their forthcoming debut album "Eternal Hibernation"! Posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday to coincide with what would have been late guitarist Andres Duchesne's 25th birthday, the band chose "Bloodthirst" as the first public demo from the album as it was the first song that Andres and The Bear Hunters' original lineup wrote together. The song is "mostly mixed" and "not fully refined", but it's nice to hear the full track! The cover artwork for the CD can also be seen on your right and below, as designed by singer Nik Deubel's Chronic Demonic bandmate Kevin Powe, though it remains to be seen whether The Bear Hunters' logo and/or the album's name will be added. I find it evokes more of a black metal essence, but Kevin did strong work as always on the design! As I expect to be reviewing "Eternal Hibernation" on the site soon after it's release (and no, a firm date for it hasn't been announced yet), I won't comment yet on the song, but check out the unfinished studio version of "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more updates!



Next up, here's some long awaited fallout from the first annual Emergency Festival that took place at the old Rotaryfest Second Stage's stomping grounds two weeks ago! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the festival and take photos of some of the bands, though of the three acts with an SMS-fitting sound, only The Pixo Control (complete with animal facepaint) are included in the album. Strong photos either way, and it looks like the festival was well attended, so click here for the full article and photos! The album also confirms that Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook was on hand to MC the main stage, which is pretty cool also! For The Music Inside were also on hand for their own coverage, though aside from this photo of Gnaeus, their Facebook photos largely focused on acts and fans at the main Emergency stage. Nicely taken in their own right too, it's good to see F.T.M.I. showing up to get media at more concerts! Moving back to Village Media properties, Local2 have been teasing The Emergency for their next episode of Tuned, but before that, this video on the festival is now online, so what's within?

Along with performances by main stage artists Kalle Mattson, Lindi Ortega, and The Treasures, the video features an interview by the aforementioned Donna Hopper with Emergency organizer/LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander about why the festival was launched, their artist selection, and the biggest surprise about the festival. No acts from other stages are featured here, but maybe more will turn up in the forthcoming Tuned episode, and we'll let you know when it is posted! See above for more on The Emergency!

Also today, here' the latest from new local metal/rap duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, including the revelation that they're apparently already working on a debut EP! As revealed on their Facebook page on Thursday, they were apparently beginning recordings for the first track on Friday with producer Jamie Vincent (AlgomA, Bad Back), and they're planning to work with "another great local talent" on the second song, with a third also to be included. The guys are hyping this as being "disgustingly raw & tight", so we'll have to see where things lead! Optimistic news for sure, especially seeing as X & Z haven't played a public concert yet, but some readers may have attended a private house party show that they played at last night (along with Bad Back and some Blood Shed Productions artists), so media from that might be forthcoming. Lastly relating to this new band's EP sessions, this Facebook video was posted yesterday that features a sneak peek of their song "The Crowd", so how do things sound?

Again, I hope to review a finished EP down the road, so I'll hold my thoughts for now, but the recording sounds good in this form (straight from the computer), and look for some cameos from band associates! Remember, "The Crowd" is very similar in structure to (if not the same as) a song from Paul Stanghetta's old(?) band The Fury, so if it sounds familiar, that may be why. Interesting stuff is on the horizon, so see more above & below from The Apocalypse Afterparty!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• This is just a late addendum to our piece on defunct local punk band The Bottom Half, as I recently came across their old MySpace page! It has improvements on their PureVolume page via this band photo from the former Sault Music Scene, and 4 songs ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") from their planned "Beginnings Change" album. Like before, they have an energetic pop punk sound, though one could argue that members' later work has matured considerably. Check out more from The Bottom Half above though, and their link on our listings is now from MySpace!
• A local musician named Rob Charlebois is looking to find a drummer for a rock band that he's currently with, though he didn't specify a genre beyond just "rock", and jam sessions would take place once or twice a week. If you're interested in trying out (especially if it leans to hard rock or punk), message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from two weeks ago!
• Local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger will be playing a free acoustic concert this Thursday at Speakeasy 21 in Toronto! As it's an acoustic gig, I assume just Greig & Bill will be playing a'la their older acoustic shows since their reunion, but I can't 100% verify that. Sounds like a good way to end the summer, keep it in mind if you're in the Toronto area this week! Our source is the band's Facebook page.

That's all for today, but stay tuned  for more news and features this week! Thanks everyone!