It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This monthly feature series lets us once again look at the currently public information on upcoming Sault Ontario metal, hard rock, and punk albums, CDs, and/or EPs from local musicians, in order to spotlight where they are at last word and when we might see them go on sale. This month's installment has one removed album due to its release last week (Fuller's "II"), but a newly announced hard rock album has kept the numbers steady! Three of this month's seven entries have updated information, as noted with their titles in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bullet Train's upcoming EPs
Rumoured Songs: "Atmosphere", "Illusions", "Profit", "Wayside"
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 four original songs recorded at their own home studio to their YouTube channel in 2024, 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 2024 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more
than his prolific original material.
Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.
Current Release Status:
Chase elaborated on Facebook last 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 in February 2024 that EP #3 would be named "Gemini", with its cover artwork
being released at the same time. Teaser clips of most songs from the EP have been posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel since May, with guitarist Brendan Christie revealing 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 in September. New drummer David Peredun will make his studio debut here. The band has spent most February hyping a crowdfunding campaign for a planned tour, though "Gemini" is not overtly tied to its marketing. Convergence have been working in studio recently with producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in Facebook "Reels", while teasing the involvement of a singer named Steve, but it's not clear if this is all for "Gemini" or something else.
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 in 2023, 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Creek's debut album
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 that March, 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) in the fall of 2023, 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. Now featuring Phil Greco on drums, their first single (the acoustic "One For The Road")
was posted online in January, with the band confirming plans to now
record a 10 song album at Jettison Studios prior to returning to live
concerts.
Current Release Status:
Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s
lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and Phil have largely kept things
somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road".
There are a lot of
unknowns,
especially given the 4+ years of production time and their decision to
basically start over in 2023, 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. In September
of that year, they began recording this EP (which will reportedly have
seven
songs) at the Algoma Conservatory of Music,
with bass & drum tracks completes that month, and then-guitarist Mitch
Sirie was finishing his parts as of that December, 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Headfirst - "Road Trippin'"
Rumoured Songs: Unknown
Background: Three months after releasing their debut EP "Head Trauma" in July of last year, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst revealed on their Facebook page that they would be "stepping away from the live scene temporarily (in February and March) to continue to develop our music and projects", with unreleased new originals being played at concerts over the winter. While they would play shows in February & March anyway, they continued teasing their "next project" on social media, and said project was revealed last month as their first full-length album "Road Trippin'", which was produced by Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle and the aforementioned Dustin Goodall. The album will have nine songs, though aside from live performances, none have been teased in advance yet online.
Current Release Status: "Road Trippin'" is slated to be released on Saturday, May 3rd when HeadFirst headline this year's Steel City CollectorCon's pre-party at Soo Blaster, but the band hasn't revealed details on pricing, format, or the cover artwork yet (unless the poster and ticket design is a hint). It's good to see HeadFirst acting fast to get their sophomore effort out, and hopefully this album is a strong step forward musically and professionally! Stay tuned for more on "Road Trippin'" in the month ahead!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spades GT's second full-length album
Rumoured Songs: "United"
Background: Long teasing plans to
record their next album this year, local/Barrie crossover thrash band
Spades GT did indeed begin recording sessions for their follow-up to
2023's "Sewer City Radio" on February 17th at Room 21 in Toronto with
producer Kyle Marchant
once again. Their fourth release total dating back to their original
all-local run as Jack Spades, this will be Spades GT's first album with
new second guitarist Matthew Voros. Teaser videos on their Facebook page
included guitarist Daniel Horton tracking bass on at least one of the
planned eight songs (the sessions took place after James Roy Daley's departure but a few weeks before Sean MacNab replaced him) and ex-guitarist Jay Sarrazin returning as a guest
musician, while the video from the vocal sessions seemed to suggest that
one song will be named "United" or "We Are United". The final sessions
on February 22nd reportedly featured guest appearances and gang vocals,
but teaser videos from that day were not shared online, so we don't know
who else will pop up yet.
Current Release Status:
The caption for the band's recap video/"Reel" for their most recent Toronto concert from last month indicates that the album will be released in July, though they have not put this in writing on social media since. If that month holds, it'll be a longer timeframe to see this album compared to "Sewer City Radio" (which came out three months after sessions wrapped), but good art takes time. There are many variables, and of
course, the band now being based in Southern Ontario has its own
plusses. In general, Spades are pretty open about their upcoming plans,
so stay tuned in the coming months as they continue the promotion for the new album!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return 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 this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
Muskegon "weirdo punk" trio Violet Scum and new local punk trio About:Blank will join forces for a multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Saturday, May 3rd! Announced yesterday via About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino's solo Facebook page, this is the latest event from local promoters Serious Business, whose last concert in February (also at Pickles) was About:Blank's live debut, albeit on an all-local bill. Good to see Parker, Nathan, and Kade back at it, and if you missed them at last month's Shamrock Show, why not drive out to Brimley next month? Violet Scum's mixed-genre lineup delivers a nice grunge-laden sound that will appeal to punk and alt-rock fans, and it will be neat to see them play up here for the first time next month! Grand Rapids experimental/synth project Dick Texas (who have played at two prior Serious Business shows, including at Pickles in November) are your headliners on May 3rd.
