Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Crimson Crusade

It's now time for our first Defunct Local Band Profile of 2018, as we're continuing our monthly spotlights of 1 or 2 local metal, hard rock, or punk bands that, while no longer active, still deserve a revisit for current readers! This month's 100% random selection takes us to a prominent young metal band active locally from 2010-2013, so here's what you should know!
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Crimson Crusade

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie/Hilton Beach/Thessalon, Ontario (credited as "North Shore Area Algoma" on Facebook)

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics.)

Devon Lucier (The Dirty Few), vocals/guitar
Robert Sartini (Pillory, The Peach Thieves, The Issues), guitar
Riley Marshall, bass
Robert Crossley (Inhuman Methods), drums

Curtis Moir (Inhuman Methods), vocals
Brent Beaulieu, guitar
Brock Pinder, guitar

Audio/Video: Crimson Crusade independently released their only EP "Upon The Eve Of War" on June 3rd, 2013, as recorded with producer Dave Pihlaja that winter, and while it is no longer in print, you can stream it in full at this link via frontman Devon Lucier's YouTube channel (though their actual YouTube channel only has one early demo track.) A handful of late-period live concert videos can be found on YouTube as well, primarily from our YouTube channel, but here's a full set of theirs from one of their final gigs that October, during Six, Two, Oh.'s Big Loonie Bus Show in Echo Bay!



Info/Analysis: One of a cluster of young extreme metal bands to come out of Central Algoma Secondary School and their CASS Cafe events in the early 2010s, Crimson Crusade launched in the spring of 2010 and spent their first couple of years as a sporadically seen act in varying Algoma District settings, debuting at a Hilton Beach event that summer, and eventually playing their first Soo show at The Bellevue Park Bandshell in August 2011. After months of practice and some big lineup shifts, Crimson Crusade fully relaunched in November 2012 at that month's Locals Attack event at The Canadian, shifting from mostly covers to an original-heavy setlist, inspired greatly by the band Death. Notable local appearances in 2013 included that summer's Skeletonwitch, Warsenal, and Ahna concerts, though a brief breakup that summer stunted their post-EP momentum. The band played their final show at The Oddfellows Hall on Devil's Night, and announced in 2014 that they were "on a hiatus."

Though only briefly a prominent sight on Sault Ontario stages, Crimson Crusade got a lot done in a short time, and developed a brutal sound unlike any of their local contemporaries! They owed a lot to Death, but Devon could definitely channel Chuck Schuldiner with ease on vocals, he and Robert Sartini were a devastating two-pronged guitar attack, and Devon and Robert Crossley were also very effective during their run! While their 2010-2011 material and early lineups were works in progress, fans who followed along saw their evolution, and their EP helped validate their prior work. Hopefully we see the guys back at it in some form in the future!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection will give us a more recent band than usual for us to spotlight, but one that deserves a spotlight nonetheless, they being classic metal rockers Project 421! Look for that on or around February 10th, and stay tuned for this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!