Sunday, January 17, 2016

An Inactive Punk Band, New Videos, And More Assorted Updates!!

Today's post mostly collects some assorted news and notes, including new videos from a pair of local bands who have shared drummers, but we're kicking things off with a likely inactive band. Here's what you should know!

We'll start with info on a band that we'll likely be adding to our inactive band links soon due to a year's inactivity, that being local punk trio The Northern Tragedy. Nothing regarding their status has been publically announced, but the guys last updated their Facebook page on January 23rd of last year, and they haven't played live since March 2014. Active since late 2012, The Northern Tragedy were one of the most notable punk bands of recent years in the Soo, opening for bands like The Golers, Warsenal, and Skynet during their run, along with playing at 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, and releasing two demo EPs. However, updates slowed down in 2014, and we've more recently seen singer/drummer Terrence Gomes in the alternative duo Infinity Grinder (who have been dormant as of late themselves.) Though their stage presences were often stiff, The Northern Tragedy had a fun modern punk sound and a lot of promise, and hopefully they re-emerge at some point! Best of luck to Terrence, Mike, and Corry in the future!

Next up, here's a new video from local hard rock quartet Skeyes of Seven, who have been busy working in studio with Deluca Sound Productions as of late! Though unlisted on YouTube, studio head Korey Deluca (Mannapool) shared it on the studio's Facebook page yesterday, so it's publically viewable through there. It's of frontman Cory Murchison tracking a verse, and while window glare gets in the way, everything sounds solid at this stage, so check it out below! For what it's worth, drummer John Mignacca moved to Sudbury last year, and it's yet to be established how that will affect Skeyes of Seven's future plans, if at all, but we'll keep you posted if something is announced!



Also today, here's some new heavier covers from a recent jam session by local pop rock veterans Cherry Crush! The band is featured in nine new videos uploaded to their YouTube channel on Thursday, and while they include covers from their usual wheelhouse (including songs by The Weeknd, The Swedish House Mafia, KC & The Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, and Awolnation), four covers do fit what the site, including of Theory of a Deadman's "Bad Girlfriend", The Foo Fighters' "Everlong", Royal Blood's "Out Of The Black", and as embedded below, Volbeat's "Still Counting"! In the videos, Cherry Crush are represented by guitarist Jules Cote, bassist John Amendola, and his son Jonny (returning to replace Rico Calvano) on drums, with Jules on vocals for the most part (Taryn Bugyra recently left the band, so they have been looking for a new singer.) The audio is somewhat muffled on these videos, but Cherry Crush handle heavier tunes well, and it's nice to see them break them out on occasion!

Now, it's worth mentioning that Jonny's drum head (still?) displays the logo of his old band Skeyes of Seven. Has he just not updated his drum head yet, or has he returned to that band? If we get any public clarification, we'll let you know, but it's nice to see him back with Cherry Crush in any event! Give their new videos a look below, and hopefully they find a new singer in due course!



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

  • New local metal band Debt To The Heirless have changed their name to Kaepora Gaebora, referencing the wise owl character from the Legend of Zelda video game series, as per their Facebook page yesterday. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, other than to say that the decision came as a result of their sound development & establishment of the band. The new name is somewhat out of left field, but with members of Bring The Fallen/Misery and Them in their lineup, don't bypass Kaepora Gaebora when they finally debut on stage!
  • This doesn't bear directly on local metal, hard rock, and punk news, but local news website SooToday launched a new layout and design today, which you may have already sampled on their sister sites in other cities. It'll take some getting used to, but it has a cleaner and more modern look, and things seem easy to find (including for entertainment updates), so give the new SooToday a look!
  • In a surprise find, unmastered rough mixes of the first three songs from Woods of Ypres' third album "The Deepest Roots & Darkest Blues" can be streamed on their page on the goth culture social networking site VampireFreaks! Though the page hasn't been regularly maintained by the defunct black metal band since at least 2007, the songs ("The Northern Cold", "Iron Grudge", and "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground") still work perfectly, and it's interesting to hear these songs in their early unpolished form! Give them a listen above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

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