Friday, October 4, 2024

Where Are The New Albums? (October 2024 Update)

After a weekend concert preview-helped delay, here is this month's "Where Are The New Albums? post, as we again see where announced albums from local metal, hard rock, and/or punk acts are in the recording process! This month's installment is mostly in a holding pattern from last month's, but it does have two entries with updates, as noted with their titles in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

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Bullet Train's upcoming EPs

Rumoured Songs: "Atmosphere", "Illusions", "Profit"

Background: The current hard rock band from former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchsion and ex-Fort Creek bandmates Robin "Bones" Lee and Anthony Fabiano, Bullet Train have existed solely as a studio band so far, releasing three original songs recorded at their own home studio to their YouTube channel earlier this year, all very much influenced by their take on current events. After a quiet summer due to "life's trials", Bullet Train resurfaced on their Facebook page on September 1st to reveal that they were working on two demo EPs, with the first one entering post-production as of the 9th, though it's not clear if their early 2023 singles will be on them.

Current Release Status: No idea yet, especially as this band has no prior track record for releasing albums, though all three band members have experience writing and recording studio material to varying degrees. Bullet Train claimed on September 9th that a release date for EP #1 would be announced "in the upcoming weeks", a timeline not realized as of this writing. It'll be interesting to see how fast things come along for Bullet Train, so keep tabs on their Facebook page for further updates!

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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite

Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"

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, as well as the final artwork. In more 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 prolific rate of original material. Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.

Current Release Status: Chase elaborated on Facebook this summer that the album was 95% done earlier this year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs uploaded to Facebook in the past year were clarified as not being planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP. Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of it!

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Convergence - Gemini

Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh"


Background: Just over a month after releasing their sophomore EP "Dead And Dreaming", local progressive metal band Convergence announced on February 9th that EP #3 would be named "Gemini", despite the obvious twin implications of that name. The cover artwork for "Gemini" was released at the same time, with the band asking fans if they should release singles in advance or put it all out at once. Teaser clips of most songs from the EP have been posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel since May. Guitarist Brendan Christie revealed the names of five songs in a recent Facebook conversation, one named after the band's prior name Kraken Mara, though a new or renamed song named "You Are Not Flesh" was posted an advance single on Bandcamp last month. New drummer David Peredun (who was confirmed to have joined the band in late February) will presumably make his studio debut with Convergence here.

Current Release Status: No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for "Gemini" to come out, depending on what angle you take. Since their modern studio cycle commenced last year, things have been relatively steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that Convergence keep that up for their third offering! 

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Fort Creek's debut EP

Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road"

Background: 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 (now-deleted) clips of their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page. The guys would play it regularly at concerts from June 2022-August 2023, and were 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 that May. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano (both now of Bullet Train) last fall, Fort Creek opted to abandon material recorded with them "as a show of good faith", and have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the past year, with an acoustic single named "One For The Road" teased as their "first release". Given that it's unplugged, we don't know if new drummer Phil Greco will be immediately involved in that recording.

Current Release Status: Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, and Bill have largely kept things somewhat close to the vest beyond optimistic teasers in the past year. There are a lot of unknowns, especially given the 4+ years of production time and their decision to basically start over last fall, and that this is a band that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit before their rhythm section left. It will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates!

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Handsome Sandwich's first EP

Rumoured Songs: "Without You", "Partyfuel", "Change A Bit", "No Idea", "All Done Now"

Background: Before even releasing their full-length debut album "Deconstructed" in May 2023, 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, but Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling may appear again, as he guested with them to play "Partyfuel" at August's Northern Vibe Festival.

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. An article about the band from The Sault Star in June noted that the seven new songs "will likely be released as singles", but whether this points to a change of release plans or is just an acknowledgement that they have seven individual singles to put out, I don't know. It will be interesting to see how things progress in the coming months!

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Mike Haggith's "Face To Face" live album

Rumoured 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, 2023, 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 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 2023), it understandably wasn't his first musical priority last summer, with his newest studio album "All The Best In All You Do" being released as planned last July. We'll let you know when/if more comes out on this live album in any form!

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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 November 2nd, while our next monthly feature post should be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, currently pencilled in for the site on Thursday. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

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