I hope everyone had a Happy New Year! or our first post of 2023, here's this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" installment, where we're again looking at the current release whereabouts of upcoming Sault Ontario metal, hard rock, and/or punk albums! Inclusions here must have had publically acknowledged recording sessions commence for an album or EP, not just songwriting or recording a stand-alone digital single for free platforms. This month's installment has six entries, two updated with new information (as noted with their titles in italics), plus a now unlikely-to-be-released album is noted at post's end. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!
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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite
Rumoured Songs: Multiple
Background: Ever
the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work),
originally named
"A Story
About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo
albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy
elaboration of the rock opera last year, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline. Clips of songs from the album have surfaced on his Facebook
page, as well as the final artwork, while in promotion for his last
release, Chase has hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final
eponymous solo album.
Current Release Status:
Your guess is as good as
mine for when this will finally come out, but remember that Chase
is very prolific
and varied in his musical interests, and not every album of his has
seen a formal paid release, either by finishing it's lifespan as a demo,
or by being released online for free. Regardless, he has been working
on the rock opera for years to ensure a quality product, so stay tuned for updates from his camp!
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Fort Creek's debut EP
Rumoured Songs: "Hammer Down"
Background: Local
southern/hard rock quintet Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, and while the pandemic lockdowns may
have gave them more time to record, they wouldn't release any samples until almost two years later when they shared this snippet of their single "Hammer Down" their Facebook page, later posting this 72 second clip. The guys debuted it at their headlining concert at Soo Blaster
in June, and have played it live regularly since, but they have yet to
release any full tracks online. It's not clear if new rhythm guitarist
Bill Brouillard will be part of the recordings, or if his predecessor
Matt Sibilo's tracks will remain on the final product.
Current Release Status:
Fort Creek originally planned to release the EP in "late summer", later adjusted to "late 2022", but both timeframes have obviously came and went. The
band had been part of a three month hiatus late last year, but whether the
break was to work on the EP isn't publically known. There are a lot of
unknowns either way,
especially given the 2+ years of production time and that this is a band
primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit (though some
members do have experience in name original bands, especially Tony). It
will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned!
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Handsome Sandwich - "Deconstructed"
Rumoured Songs: "All Or Nothing", "Bitter", "No Entry", "No Idea"
Background: After taking a year+
long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" band Handsome Sandwich reunited in mid-2021 with a new
lineup, with Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now
joined by singer Taylor Emlaw, guitarist Mitch Sirie, and (as of last summer) bassist Rafael Medina. Via their new Facebook page & YouTube channel,
the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously
being covers-only from 2017-2020), posting videos of them playing original songs. In June 2021,
Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album had began pre-production, with recording at Unsalted Audio
with producer Dustin Goodall. The band also confirmed in July
that guest saxophonist Josh Norling will appear on their new song "No
Entry". In November, the band confirmed that the album's name was changed
from "Lettuce" to "Deconstructed", and that recording sessions had
wrapped, with Jordan Zadorozny set to mix the tracks at Skylark Park in Pembroke
Current Release Status: If you believe Taylor's on-stage remarks at The Soo's Got Talent in October (source here), the album is slated to be released on May 5th, an oddly specific date given the then-7 month time gap. Regardless on if that date will prove to be true, the new look band has definitely hit the ground running since resuming activity in 2021, and they have gotten a positive reception for the new material so far, so stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp when they have them!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Haggith - "All The Best In All You Do"
Rumoured Songs: "I've Seen It Before", "Twist of Fate", "If Only You Could Hear Me"
Background: During his live-streamed Facebook concert
in February, local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike
Haggith revealed that he was working on his newest studio album,
entitled "All The Best In All You Do". Like his other Thompson-era
albums, this will have an overarching concept, this time about the
transition out of depression and being manipulated by others, into a
happier personal life. At the time, Mike was 35% done with the album,
and he has played two new originals planned for it in live-streams and
in his 2022 concerts, as well as "If Only
You Could Hear Me", a still-unreleased song from early in his time in Thompson. A single version of "Twist of Fate" was unveiled in July, and live videos of all three songs can be
found on Mike's Facebook page and/or YouTube channel.
Current Release Status:
Given Mike's day job and personal commitments, he hasn't been as active
on social media in recent months, but he was playing live dates last year and
presumably working on recording the new album where time allows.
It is worth noting that Mike did move out of Thompson late last year, but outside of personal remarks, he has yet to publically elaborate on his musical future beyond vague teasers. Hopefully things are progressing naturally in
studio, and we'll keep you posted!
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Mike McCleary - Fallout From Midnight Tides
Rumoured Songs: Unknown
Background: After taking a couple
of years off from public updates on his solo music (and taking down much
of his prior back catalog from streaming services), local hard rock
solo musician Mike McCleary announced on his Facebook page
in January 2022 that he was working on new original music. In April, Mike
clarified that this would be an instrumental album (his de-listed albums
all had vocals) inspired by his own curiosity and creative thinking.
Mike has since posted a sampler video featuring the planned album artwork and title,
and he also revealed the album's planned track structure (seven songs, three
being 7+ minutes long), but has kept most specifics close to his vest.
Current Release Status:
Mike was very optimistic about the album's progress, but was
intentionally not putting a public timetable on when it will be
completed, and things were complicated when his hard drive containing
his new music crashed in October (the files still hadn't been recovered
as of the 10th, and no updates have followed). Hopefully he can recover
everything
and that this isn't a huge bump in the road towards his new album, but
we'll keep you posted when we hear more!
The Uncanny Valley's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny
Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In
Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”, "Fumbling Through"
Background: The new classic hard
rock band from 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, fans will
have seen original material of theirs right from the start, as The
Uncanny Valley debuted their own songs in their first live concert at
The Canadian on New Year's Eve 2019. Live concert & jam session videos
have followed on their Facebook page featuring their own material as well. After posting a teaser audio clip of "Sweet Like Sugar" in September 2020, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man" that October, finally confirming there that they are working on their
first album. The guys did
record a studio version of "Stuck In Rotation" at Unsalted Audio for the Clusterfolk Music Festival
and a related compilation album in April, but whether that
exact recording will be included on the band's own album is unclear.
Current Release Status: No clue,
which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar
profile for many readers, not to mention the complications of the
pandemic, but they have played a number of local concerts in the past few months.
That said, they are a
talented group who seemed to be taking the
right steps for the future, and hopefully more updates on The Uncanny
Valley's debut
album follow in some form or another when ready!
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As for the album removed from the series (at least for now) due to its current unlikely release status, here's what you should know on it:
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Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's fourth album
Rumoured Songs: "Lost & Found", "All Broke Down", "No Control"
Background: Local Celtic punk veterans Dustin
Jones & The Rising Tide began recording sessions by October 2018 at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, as per their Facebook page. In January 2019, the band confirmed that they were indeed recording a fourth studio
album (and first since 2012), which would presumably be
released through Tidal Records, and would also be their first album with second guitarist Liam Seymour & drummer Chris Johns. While "All Broke
Down" was initially cited as the first single in December 2018 (source here), the first two released singles were "Lost & Found" in March 2019 & "No Control" in December 2020. Credits on the above songs' music videos note that Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios
in St. Catharine's was mixing the album, as he had done for multiple
Tidal/Mission Control releases. Dustin posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel in 2020, but it's not publically known whether or not they would also be used as new Tide originals.
Reason For Removal:
I've opted to remove this album due to The Rising Tide being moved to our inactive band links, after going one year since their last social media update, though tangible updates regarding new/future Tide activity had not occurred since 2020, partially due to fiddler Sheldon Jaaskelainen working out of town. Frontman Dustin Jones has hardly been idle since, working on studio material for his solo project Jonesy Land that often bears thematic similarities with The Tide, so definitely follow them on streaming services and Tidal Records/Mission Control Studios accounts to see what Dustin's up to nowadays for original music. Still, it'd be neat to see The Rising Tide's fourth album completed!
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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return on or around February 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will either be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile or this month's CD review, so stay tuned for that and more news & notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
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