Spades GT Updates, Plus New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

Let's cover some more recent news and notes as we play catch-up on this Friday evening, including some new studio recordings from two local solo acts, and leading off, updates from a prominent relocated local punk/metal band who look to have a busy 2023 start in a big way this weekend!

Here is the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, who will play their first (non-local) concert of the year tomorrow night, but this one is for a special cause. You may recall hearing news stories last month about the death of Walter Froebrich, a beloved fixture of the metal scene in the GTA who was a frequent and friendly presence at concerts for decades, and who passed away in unfortunate circumstances after abdominal issues that he was unable to get prompt medical treatments for (click here for more details). A benefit show for Walter takes place tomorrow at The Rockpile in Toronto, with a whopping twenty-seven bands on the bill, Spades GT among them. For reference, none of the other bands are familiar from tour dates in the Soo, but there are recognizable names if you follow the rising metal scene there, including at least three tribute bands. Kudos to everyone for coming together for Walter like this, he'd definitely be proud!

Spades GT have since posted some teasers for the show on their Facebook page, including pictures from a recent jam session, and they indicate changes to their lineup, notably an expansion to a quintet for the first time since the former Jack Spades announced their Barrie relaunch in 2021. Late 2022 fill-in bassist Jay Sarrazin (drummer Tyler Reiner's old Caym bandmate) appears to have shifted to rhythm guitar full time, belatedly replacing Tiffany Stocco in the process. If he is sticking around, he has the chops on guitar for sure! With Daniel Rodbard apparently leaving the group last year for unannounced reasons, and Jay moving to guitar, their new bassist is James Roy Daley, a prolific musician and horror author who has also been seen in GTA punk bands like Stand Against Fear, Prior Convictions, his solo act Killroy, and even Puppethead, a literal parody of Motorhead starring puppets. James gets more and more interesting the more you read!

J.D. and Daniel are now in the minority as the local contingent of Spades GT, but again, GT = Greater Toronto. It's great to see the band back at full strength, and here's hoping the benefit concert is a massive hit for Walter's friends and family in & out of metal! If you're in the GTA, Spades GT play at 7:00 PM. The full new lineup appear in this brief video to plug their set tomorrow and give Walter a shoutout, which was nice of them, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT when it rolls in!

Also today, here's some new videos from local extreme metal/folk punk musician Chase Wigmore's "Jason Walker" YouTube channel in the past month! After posting a free streaming copy of his newest solo album "We Are All Going To Die" (review forthcoming) and a separate upload of its song "Don't Worry, We Have A Plan" featuring unique cyberpunk graphics, he uploaded a song called "Gristly" under the project name Manitou (apologies for mixing the two up), and whose visual layout is quite similar to the proceeding (graphics in a square video with a title overlayed in the middle). Very doom/synth heavy, reminds me of something Molten Imp would have cooked up, but Chase says this was a collaboration with "non mammalian sentience", and Chase referred to them as "her" and "the old gal", so read into that however you like. No word on if this project will exist long term, but check out Manitou below!

Finally for today, here's the first new song from Sault Michigan extreme metal solo project X's & Y's' YouTube channel in seven months! This is a cover of the "Creeping Silence" and "Pleasure of Tension" songs from the 1988 graphic adventure video game Snatcher, which is best known in North America for its Sega CD port in 1995. If this rings a bell, you obviously remember X's & Y's leader Jason Mills' past work with his indie label Werehold Records, as he already covered "The Pleasure of Tension" under the project name Snatcher back in December 2017. Unfortunately, as the Werehold YouTube channel has been deleted since, I can't check out that version to compare, so assuming it's not just a renaming of the prior recording, I want to say this is more techno influenced than what Snatcher the band put out at the time. Could be wrong, but the metal is definitely present in this recording, and it has a solid groove to it!

It's worth noting that X's & Y's posted on their Facebook page for the first time since the summer in September to reveal that they have finished writing two whole albums since 2019, and while public updates as to either have not came out yet, their last post from last month noted that Jason was "ironing out the last of the album art". Will the Snatcher covers turn up? No idea yet, but remember that Werehold acts largely stalled out at free YouTube uploads despite a lot of promising material. Fingers crossed, but check out more from X's & Y's above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!