For our first post of the month (after successfully dodging anything that could be construed as a prank yesterday), here's our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, as we again look at the current whereabouts and release statuses of upcoming local metal, hard rock, and/or punk albums, CDs, and EPs! Of the six returning albums from last month, three have updated entries, as noted with their title in italics. 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: "A Song For The Apocalypse", "The Speciesist", "The Cities Alive & It's Angry", "From Beyond The Clouds"
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 in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page,
as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, and the final artwork. In recent promotion, Chase has
hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final
eponymous solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more
than his historically prolific rate of original studio material.
Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.
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", "Battlefield"
Background: Local
southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples until almost two years later when they shared this snippet of their single "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page, later posting this 72 second clip. The guys debuted it at their headlining concert at Soo Blaster
in June 2022, and have played it live regularly since. The band has been
working in studio throughout 2023, revealing that "it's coming along" in a
Facebook post on March 22nd of last year, and teasing new recording sessions following earlier "learning experiences" there in
May. A new original named "Battlefield" was teased in this picture from studio sessions in September, and they confirmed that they made "big progress in the studio" as of December. The band quietly parted ways with bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano last fall, andt it's not clear how involved they will be on the final product.
Current Release Status: Fort Creek revealed in a comment reply on their Facebook page on April 17th that their originals are "set to be released this fall", which follows their unrealized plans to release an EP in "late summer", then "late 2022", all obviously since passed. There are a lot of unknowns either way, especially given the 3+ years of production time and that this is a band primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit, let alone what their rhythm section leaving could mean. It will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned!
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Handsome Sandwich's first EP
Rumoured Songs: "Without You", "Party Fuel", "Change A Bit", "No Idea", "All Done Now"
Background: Before even releasing
their full-length debut album "Deconstructed" in May, local
alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich revealed that not all of
their existing originals would be on that album, with plans to instead
release them and some brand new songs on a forthcoming EP. On September
13th, they began recording this EP (which will reportedly have seven
songs) with producer Greig Nori at the Algoma Conservatory of Music,
with bass & drum tracks complete as of September 29th, and then-guitarist Mitch
Sirie was finishing his parts as of December 21st, with vocals still
to go. At least five of the seven songs have had their names revealed in
concert setlists. After only
contributing to the packaging on "Deconstructed", bassist Rafael Medina
will perform on this EP, and a "Reel" of him recording an unidentified song in studio was posted to the band's Facebook page. It's not clear if new guitarist Brandon Ruch will be involved on the EP in some fashion or not.
Current Release Status:
To be determined, and while they're not recording this EP at the same
place as "Deconstructed", note that the sessions for that album at
Unsalted Audio wrapped up four months before the album release. If the
timeline is similar, than we wouldn't see Handsome Sandwich's EP until
at least mid-2024, but it will be interesting to see how things progress
in the coming months!
Mike Haggith's "Face To Face" live albumRumoured Songs:
"MorningStar", "The Best You Never Had", "Into The Setting Sun", "Come
On Home", "I've Seen It Before", "If Ever Comes The Day", "Suburban
Dream" (The Din cover), "Out Of My League" (The Din cover), "Potato
(Should've Known Better)"
Background: In the lead-up to the staging of his joint storytellers "Face To Face" concert with local folk/country musician Brian Tremblay at The Art Hub on Spring on May 26th, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith announced plans on his Facebook page to release a live album from this event through his indie label MorningStar Records,
including a vinyl pressing. If this comes to fruition, it's not clear
if Brian's half of the concert (he and Mike alternated songs), let alone
the stories, would be included on the final product, which would
necessitate at least a double album on vinyl. In any event, you can
watch the entire "Face To Face" live-stream at this link.
Current Release Status:
Little has came out about the "Face To Face" live album plans since
first announced, and while that show went off without a hitch for Mike
(unlike Rotaryfest), it understandably wasn't his first musical
priority last summer, with his new studio album "All The Best In All You Do" being released as planned in July. We'll let you know when/if more comes out on this live album in any form!
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", "The Village"
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 2022, but whether that
exact recording will be included on the band's own album is unclear.
After an 8 month public break, the band released a music video for their
song "The Village" in June.
Current Release Status: No clue,
which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar
profile for many readers, and their 10 months away from new updates may be concerning for some as well. 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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Vanity First - Identity Crisis
Rumoured Songs: "Off With Their Heads", "Get Out", "Habitual Vanity"
Background: In a surprise announcement on their Facebook page
on March 1st, local punk trio Vanity First revealed that they had recently
been working on their second album, named "Identity Crisis", with cover artwork
also unveiled and a new single named "Off With Their Heads" released to
major streaming services. A new advance single named "Habitual Vanity" was similarly posted late last month, though it is not clear if their 2022 single "Get Out" or their
re-recorded version of "Playboy Magazine" (which was recorded with
producer Dustin Jones at Mission Control Studios)
will be a part of the new album or not. This will be Vanity First's...
first album since singer Andrew Beggs took over bass duties in lieu of Nick McClelland, and their first since tacking "First" to
their name.
Current Release Status: The guys plan to release "Identity Crisis" to major streaming platforms and physically via MorningStar Records on Friday, April 20th, with a release party also taking place on 4/20 at Soo Blaster. Digitally, expect it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, and YouTube,
which are the services currently hosting their newer singles. Despite the complete lack of pre-March word that Vanity First were
recording an album, fans should welcome this when
it comes out in a few weeks, so stay tuned for updates!
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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! We'll pick things back up with this series (and a little less Vanity if things go according to plan on the 20th) when this series returns on or around May 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile scheduled for one week from tomorrow. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
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