Local Metal Video Showcase!!

For our first news post of 2021, we're dipping into the video well for some recent uploads from a handful of local musicians, and we'll start in the Sault Michigan area with new videos from local hard rock quartet Tarnished's Facebook page! After being absent from their "Run Rudolph Run" cover last month, drummer Gary Croad got a rare starring role in one this video uploaded last week, featuring him... riding a bike? Given the non-winter setting and the backing track by his long-defunct local band Set To Random, I severely doubt this video (entitled "To The Road And Back") was made recently, but Gary does tease a discussion topic at the end that never visibly arrives. It's nice to hear a bit of Set To Random, but as for your interest in seeing him ride a bike, who's to say! Embedded below is a new performance video live-streamed on New Year's Eve, filmed at what appears to be a private New Year's party (I hope they were minding social distancing recommendations.)

This video features frontman Alex Traynor and bassist Josh Fair (seen above celebrating their 600 Facebook fans milestone) in a garage acoustically covering Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", and it's a solid rendition with MUCH better audio quality than their two-man unplugged shows from the spring lockdown! Whether an attendee's audible request for Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" was met afterwards is not known, but give this New Year's jam a watch!

Next up, here's some new videos from Mackinaw Trail/ex-Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, as posted or shared to both bands' Facebook pages in the last couple of months! These videos (two shared from his personal Facebook page in recent weeks, one posted on his YouTube channel in November) are all classic rock covers that he's worked on in studio as of late. The Facebook videos are both of his tracking computer during the apparent mixing process for his covers of Boston's "Amanda" and Heart's "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", the latter re-written from a male perspective. Henry has teased posting actual videos of him doing these songs, and though neither song's final video is up publically at press time, the sample clips have promise! Embedded below is his YouTube cover of "When I'm With You" by the Canadian arena rock band Sheriff, which he recorded as a gift for his wife.

Given the personal nature, it's hard to say whether his other teased studio covers will resemble this one visually, but it's a well recorded cover that puts his strong singing voice to good use, and I'm sure his wife appreciated this kind gesture! Give this and more a look above & below!

Now, let's head to Sault Ontario, starting with some new videos from local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet, courtesy of drummer Matt Waples' YouTube channel! While their latest long-term concert hiatus is truly out of their hands, they have been staying busy by selling a new round of band t-shirts online, plus these new videos that Matt posted in the first couple days of the new year, which largely just feature a relevant (to varying degrees) photo in between a zoom out of the band's logo and relevant credits. These include half of their songs from the "Fed Up!" split ("iBomb", "Lifer", and their cover of The Rebel Spell's "Murderers"), plus their regular album track "End Me", and as embedded below, both their cover of The Fuckin' Burnouts' "Evil God Hater" and their own "Got Beat Up". Besides having two songs, I picked that one to feature here because it actually has a slideshow of Destroilet pictures!

This well edited video has lots of live concert clips, band photos in general, familiar cameos, memes, and even some outside stock images for effect (the kid plugging his ears among them. Maybe he's just too young for hardcore punk?) Definitely a good watch for fans, especially when we can't actually see Destroilet live in the near term, so give this a look below!

Finally, here's a new acoustic cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" by former Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik "Buzz" Boissineau, as posted on his YouTube channel on Sunday! The video starts with Buzz offering well wishes and a personal update to viewers, and you do get a sense of his honest feelings there! The cover proper is well done and has strong vocals, and given that my mom was a big John Lennon fan, I think she would have liked how this came out. That said, the high camera angle pointing down at Buzz isn't ideal. Give this a watch below, and hopefully we hear more from Buzz soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Friday! Thanks everyone!