A Battle Of The Bands Cancellation, Banned & Brutally Fatal Updates, And Much More!!

Before we likely cap off the month with weekend concert previews and our next CD review, here's some news for this Wednesday afternoon! Along with a new video from a talented regional band, the latest from a rising young death metal project, and much more, we'll lead off with some disappointing news regarding an upcoming concert event, so here's what you should know!

The Twin City Sounds Battle of the Bands scheduled for February 20th at The Rednecks Saloon has officially been postponed. Co-promoter & judge Terry Eaton revealed on the Facebook event page on Monday that they're postponing the battle due to the event's proximity to the VM Radio Battle at The Canadian, which begins just under two weeks later on March 4th, saying that "two battles around the same time just doesn't work for anyone." Bands that registered to compete in next month's battle will be able to get their entry fees back by contacting Terry or Steven Flint on Facebook, so if you registered to play, message them A.S.A.P.! This is disappointing, especially as it's the second Sault Ontario battle in four months to be called off (following November's scrapped Rock For Dimes battle), but it's officially just postponed, so hopefully we see a rescheduled date for later in the year! Also, remember that while an official band lineup wasn't announced for next month, there are a few bands who had signed up to compete in both battles, so be sure to see them in March!

I'll note as well that VM Radio Battle promoter J.D. Pearce had suggested that the winning band of each battle should face off in a head to head finals after the fact, and that'd be cool to see brought up again when the first battle is rescheduled! Stay tuned for updates on both when we hear them!

Next up, here's a new video from Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock standouts Banned, as per their YouTube channel on Monday! Their first uploaded video in four months, this is of the guys covering Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)" earlier this month at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino. Filmed by Eric Cairns at Third Cinema Productions (who's filmed them in the past), this is a well filmed and performed cover, though Alex Traynor's vocal range doesn't hold up on the falsettos. I'm not a huge Fall Out Boy fan, but Banned's skill helps a lot on this performance! Also, for reference, the band is playing as a trio here with Wayne Lawrence on bass, so the recent photos of the band as a quartet in Engadine likely indicate that Jim Pentland was only back as a guest that night. Check out Banned's new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!



Also, here's the latest updates from Sault Ontario death metal duo Brutally Fatal, all from their Facebook page over the past month, and our apologies for the delay! Three weeks ago, the band revealed the cover for their first demo EP with their current lineup and name spelling, which will be called "The D.P.E.P.", though we won't share it here due to potentially offensive content. No word on what the title stands for, but an NSFW story about the concept can be read at this link. Austin & Tyler have been working in studio on "The D.P.E.P." this month, even revealing 25 potential song titles for new originals on Saturday, including such eclectic titles as "Ocean of Blood" & "Bulgarian Beetles". The first song for the EP was uploaded to their new Bandcamp page and the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Stomp Your Feet", so how does it sound?

Sonically similar to Tyler Gibson's other duo project Rotopsy's song "Cops 'N Moms", this song is a short death metal number with repetitive shouted lyrics (largely of the song's title), though there is some late growling vocals too. It's consistently heavy and engaging for Blood Shed loyalists, but we'll have to see how the rest of the songs evolve. We won't embed the full YouTube video here due to the cover art being included, but stream the full song at this link, and stay tuned for more from Brutally Fatal & the Blood Shed!

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

• According to their official Facebook page, Sault Michigan nightclub and occasional concert venue The Back Door (which was recently sold to new owners) re-opened for an "encore presentation" of their usual Friday night party last week, and will apparently be permanently re-opened soon under their new management. Great news for regulars, but will bands be a part of the new owners' plans? We'll let you guys know if we hear anything!
• Sault Ontario music store Music Depot's Facebook page revealed on Sunday that they are "temporarily closed" and hope to be back soon. This announcement follows rumours of the Gore Street store's closure in December, though there were later assurances that Music Depot was just sold to new owners. Hopefully the temporary closure is just that, as I know many musicians enjoy going there, and we'll let you know when/if it re-opens!
• The fifth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza all ages concert will indeed move from The Oddfellows Hall for this year, as it will apparently be held at The Canadian Nightclub for this year's installment on May 9th. A reason for the venue change wasn't announced, but The Canadian is a quality location, and hopefully there's a great turnout this year! Our source is promoter Steve Mozarowski on the Facebook event page yesterday, and stay tuned for more on the lineup!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, this month's CD review, and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!