A New Local Solo Project, Chase Wigmore Updates, And Much More!!

Here's another new post for your Sunday afternoon reading, and it includes some assorted recent updates, the return of the bumped Northern Film Showcase write-up from Friday's post, and the latest from a prolific solo artist, but let's lead off with a new local act that we recently came across!

We have a new local death metal solo project to add to our band links, namely Black Cloud! Publically launching their Facebook page in November, Black Cloud is led by local singer/guitarist Peytan Andreola, who some readers may recognize from musician searches that he conducted in 2015 & 2016. Public details are minimal as of yet for this project, but Peytan has posted four original demo tracks onto Black Cloud's Reverbnation and Soundcloud pages, as well as three videos on their Facebook page, so what can be said on these? The most unique aspect of these songs so far is their inclusion of Shamanic and trance elements, plus what he calls "world drums", so much so that two of his videos are just of him playing skin drums rather than a traditional kit. You'll even here a flute instrument of some kind at times, and "Fade" & "Count The Calling" are the most experimental in the above regard.

The audio quality of the demos isn't pristine, and Peytan should work on the song structures and vocal clarity, but there's enough unique elements here that Black Cloud already stand out on their own merit, and I'm curious to see what he has in store next! Here's Peytan playing Black Cloud's death metal original "Blood Red Hands", and give more a look/listen above!



Next up, here's the latest from local experimental/folk/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore, who posted on his Facebook page on Friday to update fans on his recent studio work. In that post, he admitted that the other four unreleased EPs in the "12 EPs of Christmas" series are complete, but he didn't post them as page likes allegedly dropped while he was posting the first eight, and he apologized to fans who may have been turned off by him posting too much. I can't speak for everyone else, but for someone who covers Sykotyk Rampage and Mike Haggith (two acts who have far more canon albums in their repertoire than Chase), this amount is nothing, and I'm glad to see him pumping out so much new music! Partially thanks to our coverage of the first 8 EPs of Christmas last week (thanks for the positive words!), Chase said that he will get the other four posted, but before that point, he has some teaser material from another EP to share.

As previously hinted, he plans to put out a 27th canon "album" after the 12 EPs series concludes, entitled "Solving The Human Condition", and this (untitled?) teaser track was shared on Friday from it as a Facebook video. The song sounds a little like Chase shredding over top of the sounds of city life and traffic (complete with police sirens), and if nothing else, it's a nice showcase of his guitar skill and soloing! How will the full release turn out? We'll let you know when more goes public, but give Chase's new upload a listen below, and stay tuned for updates, including on the teased Rednecks Saloon show later this week!



Also, here's some information on an upcoming event that has some SMS-relevant content! Prolific local bassist & filmmaker Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane and his local/Ottawa company McBully Productions are hosting their second annual Northern Film Showcase on Sunday, January 27th, and following last year's surreal/fantasy theme event, this year's will be centered around music videos from local artists. The idea is to unite local musicians and filmmakers for networking, collaborations, and exposure therein, and students, filmmakers, and musicians are encouraged to attend. There will be a music video viewing party, live performances to be announced, and some industry experts will speak about the music industry and how filmmaking and video production can play in. The cover video on the Facebook event page confirms that Mike Haggith's video for "The Nature of The Times" will be screened, alongside videos from Mike Mikus, Jackson Reed, Kalle Mattson, and Audiosmile.

No word on if we'll see more videos than these 5, and for reference, Audiosmile are the new EDM/rock project from Anthems vs. Oceans' Dave Hunter. The Northern Film Showcase will be held at Shooters Downstairs Lounge (formerly Breakaway Bar & Grill) at 69 Dennis Street, just down the road from The Oddfellows Hall, and it is a 4:00 PM matinee, with tickets available for $10 at this link & presumably at the door. There are some unknowns yet, but this sounds like an intriguing way to spotlight musicians and video producers alike, and hopefully there's a great turnout in two weeks! Give the full cover video a look below, and see above for more details!



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

• In a post thanking fans for their successful return shows at The Rapids Lounge this weekend, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E noted on their Facebook page this morning that "we'll see you in a month." No word as of yet when or where the presumed show(s) will be, but there are four weekends in February you may want to keep an eye on until a public reveal!
• I have restored Sault Ontario death metal solo project Gorrifier to our inactive band links! As you may recall, this was headed up by Pillory frontman/Id Iota bassist Robert Sartini in 2014, but their initial Reverbnation page was quietly deleted by year's end. Well, Gorrifier quietly launched a new Reverbnation page at some point after Pillory's 2016 reunion, so they're back at last. I don't believe Gorrifier have fresh updates, so they'll remain in our inactive links at the moment, but Rob's six brutal death metal instrumentals are still highly worth checking out at the above links!
• Local/Thompson, Manitoba hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith was interviewed on Thompson adult contemporary station 102.9 CHTM on Friday morning! The interview was conducted by DJ Maxwell Healey, where they discussed "The Nature of the Times" and Mike's upcoming album "Bridges", and his single was also played, marking Mike's debut song appearance on FM radio. No word on if the interview was recorded for posterity, but it's great to see Mike getting more exposure and recognition in Thompson!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!