LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Fort Creek), A Surprise Album Release, And Much More!!

In what will likely be our last news post of this painfully slow month at the SMS, we have some new videos, a couple of bands likely destined for our inactive band links, and a very surprising metal album release. Leading off are a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and while this is a day earlier than usual, keep in mind how slow things have been this month, I have to slot in stories where I can. Here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return to Reggie's West for concerts on FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. One week removed from rocking the downtown Reggie's, this will be Fort Creek's second concert weekend at the former Rosie, following their debut gigs there over a month ago. Like this past weekend, FRIDAY & SATURDAY'S concerts will double as Christmas Cheer donation events, so if you have new/unopened toys or non-perishable food items, bring them with you to the Reggievelt to help those in need over the holidays! You can witness Fort Creek's brand of hard rocking covers on FRIDAY & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charges, but remember to respect the venue's social distancing protocols. See above for more details, and here's Fort Creek live at Reggie's West last month!

Next up, local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters have finally released their second studio album "The Dead Testament"! Over five years after recording sessions began at Mission Control Studios, and almost two years after the debut of their "I Fear No God" music video, the album was released on their Bandcamp page on Saturday on a "name your price" model, with all twelve previously teased songs present, though "The Forest of Forests" is no longer labelled as a "bonus track". In their new Facebook page posting, the band revealed that "the album has spent far too long sitting here ready to release", but a proper CD release party hasn't taken place due to personal life commitments and the ongoing pandemic. The guys admitted that "proper metal shows are probably still a long way off", and while they did want to finally get the album out there, they hope to be able to sell CDs at a normal live concert and play the album in full there when "the day finally comes".

Of course, The Bear Hunters have only played two concerts since the end of 2017, and until Saturday, they hadn't been publically heard from since the Lycanthro concert in April was cancelled. Though the circumstances certainly aren't ideal, it is great to see "The Dead Testament" finally on sale, and while you can download it for free, consider actually paying something for this labour of love! Not expecting any metal/punk albums to go on sale in November 2020, I already reviewed an archive album for this month, but "The Dead Testament" will be reviewed on the SMS in early December, I promise! Buy or stream the whole thing at the above links!

Also, let's head to Sault Michigan for more new videos from local hard rock quartet Tarnished's Facebook page, where they have been staying busy in in the last few days! Following the reveal of their planned merchandise give-away next month, the guys next uploaded a short video of them driving to the recording studio at night, which has some amusing moments while it lasts! Next was this short video of a band member(?) in a fox mask eating a shirt(?!), while three videos followed where the guys showed off a huge lot of Yooperlites (the syenite rocks found in this region that glow orange under blacklights) that they borrowed from discoverer Erik Rintamaki (yes, the former Half A Man frontman) to make their logo and other designs with. Fun and decidedly local idea, hopefully I'll find even one Yooperlite in my travels!

Lastly, Tarnished uploaded two blooper-reel videos from their merch give-away video shoot, including a short one featuring line flubs from Josh and Nathan. Embedded below is the first of the two, which is also on their YouTube channel, and features failed takes from Alex's appearances in the giveaway video (this and the "On The Road Again" video are the only new ones covered above to be uploaded on YouTube). Fun idea to generate some new content and make light of themselves, so give the blooper-reel videos and more a watch above and below, and also visit the the band's new TikTok page (that's a new one for the SMS!)

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge two Sault Ontario-based tribute bands that I will likely be moving to our inactive band links on Sunday due to a year's inactivity, namely Volbeat tribute quintet The Guitar Gangsters and Distillers tribute quartet Coral Fang. I'm lumping them together here because both bands share a common member (guitarist/vocalist Tiffany Stocco), and we last heard from either band when they both took a road trip to Sudbury for a joint concert on November 29th of last year. Naturally, the pandemic could be a big factor into both bands' public hiatuses, but with Tiff and Guitar Gangsters frontman Buzz living out of town, updates would naturally be slower on that basis already. Coral Fang debuted at J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party in October 2018, and resurfaced at last year's Joni Radford memorial concert and Go Skateboarding Day, while The Guitar Gangsters played their only local date at J.D.'s Halloween party on November 1st of last year.

With familiar supergroup lineups behind both bands, and solid musicianship to make their tribute sets stand out, both Coral Fang & The Guitar Gangsters delivered for their limited live dates, and hopefully we'll see them (and/or their members) on stage again when the pandemic eases up! Best of luck to Buzz, Jesse, Mike, Derek, Tiffany, Chris, Adam, and Johnny in the future! That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, barring a sudden influx of stories in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!