It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, and for a second straight month, I have randomly drawn a very prominent local metal band whose name is Ga___ Of ______! I don't plan stuff like this, but it does give us another high profile local band of the past who accomplished a lot in their run, so here's what you should know on them!
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Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Genre: Progressive/Death Metal
Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics. This doesn't include session drummer Jon Morrison, who recorded during the "Perihelion" sessions but never joined the band)
Lee Thomas Maines, vocals/guitar
Bryan Belleau (Melinda, iT), guitar
Steven Angelo Furgiuele, bass
Brian Holmes (Machines Dream), keyboard
David Gold (Woods of Ypres), drums
James Chiverelli (Kalle Mattson), drums
Kevin Overton (RedD Monkey, Smeltzer), drums
Jonathan Harvey (Chronic Demonic), drums
Audio/Video: Gates of Winter released a self-titled demo EP in 2005, but it is not available on streaming services, and was basically disowned by the band due to its recording quality, their musical evolution, and the usage of programmed drums. They more famously put out their sole full-length album "Lux Aeterna" in 2008, which is on major streaming services today. A studio copy of their non-album single "Torment" exists but is not currently online. Songs and teasers from their unreleased EP "Perihelion" were sporadically posted in the 2010s, but as Gates Of Winter perfected the material and became heavier & more technical, they often took these files down, and also limited video uploads from their 2000s run as a live act despite a lot of well shot and recorded live videos existing from the era. Their YouTube channel does host select videos from back then, including this one of them playing "Winter Flight" at one of their final gigs at The Grand Theater in 2008!
Info/Analysis: Launching in 2003 and becoming the biggest homegrown metal band of the mid-late 2000s, Gates of Winter were mainstays of local concerts for the next four years, including headlining the first two Second Stages at Rotaryfest and sharing the stage here and afar with notable bands like Quo Vadis, Wolven Ancestry, and Fuck The Facts, along with headlining many shows at venues from The Oddfellows Hall to LopLops to Algoma University. Harbouring a stable lineup aside from their drummer position, the band played their last three local gigs after putting out "Lux Aeterna", all at The Grand Theater in mid-late 2008. Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold joined behind the kit that year, also adding his new bandmates to Woods' lineup. The "Gates of Ypres" era ended for both bands by early 2009, with Gates of Winter going on a year's hiatus, before returning (sans any drummer) in 2010 as a studio-only project.
With Bryan and Steve moving out west, and Brian eventually leaving the band outright, the now three-piece Gates of Winter pushed forward on their follow-up album "Perihelion", but updates on the album (later EP) got more and more sporadic, and the band last updated social media with new activity in 2019. Gates of Winter were the first local headlining band that I ever saw in concert back in early 2005, and they always impressed with their intricate and dark brand of metal that called to mind bands like Katatonia and Amorphis in their original run. Extremely talented group of guys that always operated very professionally and with a drive to improve musically, and it's a shame that the "Perhelion" sessions never reached a public finish line, as they were cranking up their progressive and death metal bonafides on the teased material. Hopefully Lee, Bryan, and Steve resurface when the time is right, they have been missed!------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our latest randomly selected band of the past will be hard rock quartet Sailor's Tongue, so look for that profile on or around April 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!
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