Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From February 2025!!

For today's SMS post, let's return to the world of St. Ignace metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to since we last left off with them in early February? Back on February 6th, the guys posted a "Reel" on their Facebook page of them playing at last August's second annual 2nd Street Music Festival in their hometown (the January "Reel" alluded to in our last H.L.T.C. post was not from that event, my apologies). Short, vertical, unembeddable, and dark, but it captures some ferocious energy while it lasts, and Brandon's vocals really come across as American Head Charge-y here! Later that day, the guys announced another new downstate gig, which would take them to Battle Creek (5 hours due south of the Soo) on March 22nd, where they and three other bands opened for Wisconsin groove metal band Squidhammer at Feed Them, a Michigan Metal Fest-promoted "heavy metal food drive" at The Music Factory there.

Attendees got discounts for bringing in non-perishable food items for the cause, which is great to see! The following day, Heavy (as Brandon often calls them in announcement videos) announced that they'd be returning to The Delft Theater in Escanaba on April 19th for "The Invasion Of 420" (well, the show will end on the 20th!) Eight bands are scheduled to take the stage for this one, including Hannahville metal band Ghidora, who played at the 2nd Street Festival last year. Keep an eye out for coverage of public fallout from these two shows soon! On February 8th, H.L.T.C. asked fans if they'd be interested in buying a "Rat King"-themed t-shirt, a'la their song of the game name, while two days later, they teased that they were working on a new single in studio. Over the next two days, they shared four new videos from their set at at Fight Breast Cancer With Music in Escanaba back in October, so what can you see from The Delft Theater therein?

One is another "Reel" featuring more distant raw footage of Heavy Lies The Crown's set (Kaycee is completely obscured at this angle), and while solidly brutal, it is a short clip, let alone a horizontal video forcibly pillarboxed into vertical dimensions. Another "Reel" has photos from the gig, but the audio is the studio version of "Time Diffuser". The other two are actual embeddable videos, including this still-vertical clip of the guys improvising a section of music that night, with Blaze's drumming arguably being the star of the show there. Embedded below is the only horizontal clip of the four, and here, the camera is nicely zoomed in to capture the band rocking out, hopefully not burning anything to the ground despite the lyrics! While none of these are that long, it's good to see some more videos from the Escanaba show last fall (even if they all showed up six months later), so check these out above & below!

On February 10th, H.L.T.C. revealed that they now have official band logo stickers (clear and gold ones), and while not as big as they were hoping, to message them if you wanted any. Four days later, they also asked fans on Facebook what merchandise ideas in general that they had, and on February 20th, they again floated the possibility of expanding this year's 2nd Street Music Festival in St. Ignace to two days (one for local bands, one for metal bands that aren't necessarily local), and to offer suggestions for both categories. Also that day, they noted they were "working on some stuff" in this "Reel" featuring the monitor of a tracking computer, which would line up with their February 10th post hinting that they were working on a new single. Finally, here's a new video from singer Brandon West on February 22nd, where he lamented that musicians are treated like pirates nowadays.

Basically, bands are expected to do anything big now, but it costs money to tour and record and all that, while promoters are criticized for who they do/don't bring in when that costs too. It's not directly about Heavy Lies The Crown, but you get the sense that Brandon is talking from experience about his frustrations with expectations from certain fans and observers. No solutions are offered, beyond perhaps becoming a pirate, but you don't see a lot of local musicians vent like this, and it could be a good talking point, if not a reminder that this all isn't as easy at it seems. Check it out below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Heavy Lies The Crown) & More Winter Updates From Their Camp!!

It's been two months since we last talked about St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown on the SMS in regards to new activity, so what have they been up to as of late? We left off in mid-December, and we'll pick things back up on the 13th of that month with this short Facebook video from singer Brandon West (again introduced here as "Heavy" despite no other band members being present), where he teased the impending delivery of their newest round of official H.L.T.C. hockey jerseys. They arrived three days later, featuring artwork by bassist Christian Cook, and you can see how they turned out at this link! Jerseys were largely made to order with limited extras, but message the band to see about possible availability or to express interest in possible future orders. The band's last proper musical updates of 2024 were their second and third "Studio Update" videos.

Studio Update #2 from December 16th covers similar ground to the first one (footage of guitarist Kaycee Mason and drummer Blaze Beairl tracking material for their forthcoming third full-length album), but does so in colour, while Studio Update #3 from the 21st focuses on Christian (with those hands, though!), albeit in black & white. No sign of Brandon or "travelling" guitarist Jaxon Massaway in either upload, and both continue to use the same clip of "These Walls" as the backing audio. Good to see things progressing throughout the winter, so give the new update videos a watch!

While not featured in the above update videos, Brandon was slated to wrap up vocals "soon" as of January 9th, when the band also teased the possibility of adding more tracks to the album after reviewing what they've recorded so far. The following week, they teased possibly including a featured artist on their new album, and asked fans for suggestions, while they said that "I think these songs are gonna hit different" on January 23rd. Starting later that month, H.L.T.C. began announcing concerts of theirs for 2025, and the first will see them rock Cabin Fever Fest 2 at the From Huron Out Pub in Oscoda (3½ hours southeast of the Soo) over the March 22nd weekend. Twelve bands are scheduled to play this two night festival, including Lansing experimental hard rock band Mr. Denton On Doomsday, who Sault Michigan readers may recall from multiple local gigs in the 2000s. Nice to see them in an SMS post again after 16 long years, albeit not for a local date!

Regarding their new album, they posted a Facebook poll on January 27th to inquire about physical formats to potentially release it on (as far as I'm aware, their two  albums and their debut EP were digitally exclusive). CDs won in a landslide, but we'll let you know if you can actually hold the next album when it's released! On January 28th, Heavy Lies The Crown shared two "Reels" on their Facebook page featuring footage of their set at Fight Breast Cancer With Music at The Delft Theater in Escanaba in October, finally letting us see video footage from that night with actual live audio (they previously only posted a highlight/teaser compilation featuring multiple bands, but with "These Walls" dubbed over). One is of them playing "*69", while the other "Reel" is not labelled as to which song. Click on each to see them, as "Reels" remain unembeddable on external websites and unplayable in background tabs.

While it is great to see actual raw footage from their last concert of 2024, they are horizontal landscape videos forcibly pillarboxed into the vertical "Reel" dimensions, and while they have text captions above, why let these videos be so tiny when they don't have to be? Also on January 28th, H.L.T.C. announced a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for actually local fans, as they will host their third annual 2nd Street Music Festival at 376 North 2nd Street in their St. Ignace hometown on Saturday, August 9th! Like in the past two years, this is being hyped around Brandon's birthday, and further details are to be confirmed, but it's great to see the guys playing a proper E.U.P. show again! We're lucky to see Heavy Lies The Crown in our coverage range twice in a calendar year. If this is similar to the last two installments, this will be a FREE & ALL AGES outdoor event at 7:00 PM with a few extra bands (last year featured Tarnished and Hannahville metal band Ghidora.)

We'll leave things here for now, but they have been quite active posting videos/"Reels" on Facebook in the past three weeks, so it shouldn't be too long before we look at more from Heavy Lies The Crown on the site. 

Even More Weekend Concert Previews, Plus Related Updates & New Videos!!

This incredibly busy concert weekend will almost be 3/4ths addressed on the hard rock/punk side of things after this post is wrapped up! We're now down to Saturday-only events, and this one looks at an annual concert event just outside of town and two big events in Michigan's Easter Upper Peninsula (including big updates from a local band across the river), so here's what you should know on this Friday evening!

We'll pick things back up in Sault Ontario with the annual Algoma Tree Services community meet & greet and charity barbecue TOMORROW, which is being headlined this year by local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225! As you may recall, local classic/hard rock veterans Soundcheck headlined this event in the past two years (despite not plugging the show in advance on social media at all in either year), so kudos to Greg, Alex, and Warren for giving this some actual advance promotion! Taking place outdoors at Algoma Tree Services' 1424 Haviland Shores Drive headquarters in nearby Goulais River, this annual event features a bonfire, family activities, the aforementioned meet & greet with staff, and the barbecue alongside two live bands, with Bone Yard headlining at 7:00 PM and classic rockers Angry Joe & The Growlers opening the day at 1:30 PM (both bands are blocked for four hours apiece, nightclub style).

This is a FREE & ALL AGES event, though as this is outdoors, be advised that they are calling for showers all day tomorrow. I'd highly recommend keeping tabs on Algoma Tree Services and Bone Yard 225 on social media for updates on the weather, but temperatures will range from 15-17°. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new Facebook video of Bone Yard live in Thessalon this past Saturday for the Aubrey Falls Trading Post & Outpost Camp's Civic Holiday weekend pig roast! As plugged in this "Reel", the outdoor set's opening song was filmed (horizontally!), namely a cover of AC/DC's "Ride On". It's a strong jam take on this Bon Scott-era classic, so check it out below!

Next up, let's head to the E.U.P. for Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906's continuation of their #summerof906, when they rock The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel TOMORROW! Last seen there via a normal nighttime show last month, tomorrow's concert is actually a 4:00 PM matinee, coinciding with this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Antique Wooden Boat Show, an event that Project 906 also played a show during last year, albeit at nighttime. The boat show isn't inside The Islander Bar, but the venue is definitely playing up stopping by there while in town for the festival, so hopefully there's a decent crowd, and click here for details therein! It is worth noting that both of Project 906's shows last weekend in Pickford & Cedarville featured guest hand drummer Brian Duford for at least part of both days, as per pictures shared from both events on their Facebook page, though the band has not confirmed if he'll be back tomorrow.

This 4:00 PM matinee gig has no announced cover charge, and I'd presume it's still 21+ given the locale. No word on if they'll be having another charity drive for guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife MaryJo's cancer fight tomorrow, but I doubt they'd turn away any help on that front, Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!

Finally for this post, the second annual 2nd Street Music Festival returns to 376 North 2nd Street in St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT, giving E.U.P. fans an all too rare opportunity to see local hardcore/extreme metal quartet Heavy Lies The Crown at a public event! This will be H.L.T.C.'s first public date in our coverage range since they performed at last fall's LSSU Battle of the Bands, and it will also be their first local set since Nathan Switzer returned on guitar in lieu of Ted Olson. However, there's another huge change to take note of, as the band has indeed welcomed recent Exit 808 guest bassist Blaze Beairl to their ranks, albeit on drums. A reason for existing drummer Jaxon Massaway's departure was not publically announced, but Jaxon has been busy in recent months working on his own solo material, and I hope to touch on that on the site next week. Hopefully things are amicable with Jaxon in any event!

Blaze debuted with H.L.T.C. as a mixer/DJ when they opened for Born Of Osiris in Pontiac in May, but when they returned to the stage for the Sturgeon River Shred Fest in Wolverine (90 minutes south of here) on July 27th, Blaze was behind the kit there, and our preview video for tomorrow's 2nd Street Festival will be a full set video from that day! Before then, the rest of tomorrow's outdoor action in St. Ignace will feature the local debut of Hannahville "rez metal" band Ghidora (who also played at last month's festival in Wolverine) as well as Sault Ste. Marie hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished in their first show since bassist Parker Talentino's departure (the Highway 63 rhythm section will be back to fill out Alex & Josh's sound here). The 2nd Street Music Festival is FREE & ALL AGES, and starts at 7:00 PM. Be advised however that 9&10 News is calling for a 30-40% chance of rain showers tomorrow evening, if less than in the Soo.

It will be cloudy with temperatures in the low 60s (16-18° Celsius) regardless, but if you are at all concerned about the rain scuttling the 2nd Street Music Fest, keep tabs with H.L.T.C. on social media in the next day+. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, I wanted to upload this drumcam video of their entire Sturgeon River Shred Fest set, courtesy of Blaze's solo Facebook page last week, but I can't due to Facebook content matching the band's pre-recorded intro tracks. Honestly, I've had trouble trying to ID some of the songs there anyway, as the audio quality is not good, with very thin guitars and too loud bass and drumming, and the camera being set up directly behind Blaze is not ideal to see what's going on (yes, it's likely to focus on him for his solo page, but even then, we can't see most of the kit behind him!) Regardless, Blaze is a talented drummer, and this is what he wants to play first and foremost, so his skill level is sound there!

Also, props to singer Brandon West for the clever deception (even if unintentional) re: hiding his hair underneath that baseball cap at the start of the set. With the audio quality and how the drumcam was framed, I literally thought that the guy in the hat was the MC until the song began! It will be an adjustment for fans to not see Jaxon behind the kit after his 2+ year run, but check out Blaze's first video with Heavy Lies The Crown at this link, and for our actual preview, here's thy are live downstate last year!

We'll close this incredibly busy concert weekend tomorrow morning (as early as I can manage) with tomorrow's Ripcordz, Handsome Sandwich, Generations, and Curtis McKenzie concerts, so stay tuned for those then and much more news to follow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Heavy Lies The Crown) & More News & Updates From Them!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula (more the latter), including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know across the river!

St. Ignace metalcore quartet Heavy Lies The Crown will play a rare local concert on Saturday, August 10th when they return to at 376 North 2nd Street for another "birthday bash"! Early advertising is not calling this the "2nd Street Music Festival" like when they debuted here last August, but this is a publically advertised and attendable outdoor concert despite not being at a formal public concert venue. Last seen in the E.U.P. for a truly public event at last fall's LSSU Battle of the Bands, it is nice to see H.LT.C. rock out for local fans (it's a shame it can't happen way more often), while this will be their first public local gig since Nathan Switzer returned to replace Ted Olson on guitar. Unlike last year's outdoor St. Ignace show, the lineup here is metal-centric, and will also include Ghidora, a "rez metal" quartet from Hannahville outside of Escanaba. Solid group with a melodic and aggressive sound, and it'll be very cool to see them out east for the first time!

Sault Ste. Marie classic metal/hard rock quartet Tarnished (who shared the stage with Heavy Lies The Crown at the LSSU Battle) will play a rare St. Ignace gig outside of the Kewadin Casino umbrella on this night as well, and we'll have more on them this week. The second annual 2nd Street Music Festival(?) is a FREE & ALL AGES event taking place at 7:00 PM. This should be a fun time for fans of original metal in the U.P., weather permitting, so visit the above links for more details on the action next month!

Staying with Heavy Lies The Crown, what have they been up to in the last few weeks? One day after I noted on the SMS on June 14th that they'd been oddly quiet re: how their set opening for Born Of Osiris in Pontiac on May 26th went, they finally started posting content from that night on their Facebook page, including this 10 seconds-long clip of the headliners, a handful of setup photos at The Crofoot, and a "Reel" of them performing. Curiously, it does not appear to be the same stage that Born Of Osiris performed on, and after doing some digging, I learned that The Crofoot has multiple stages/venues in the complex, with H.L.T.C. seemingly playing at The Vernors Room, a smaller bar/lounge. Given the lineup on May 26th, it would seem like bands were playing at multiple stages in The Crofoot with Born Of Osiris and select openers playing in the ballroom proper. It'd be an interesting experience, if nothing else!

The "Reel" (cross-posted from TikTok and unembeddable as always) features singer Brandon West starting a moshpit while very openly not giving a damn, and while we don't hear a ton of the song, the energy levels are good to see! Note that it does appear like there's someone standing at what could be a mixing board or turntable to Jaxon's right, but as the video is (sadly) vertical, we don't get a good look at the person. Brandon had teased earlier this year that H.L.T.C. might be adding a DJ to their lineup, and thanks to photos taken by Aaron Schmidt that the band shared to Facebook on June 19th, we can confirm that recent Exit 808 guest bassist Blaze Beairl was scratching on the turntable in Pontiac! The band hasn't said if Blaze has joined full time in this role (let alone mentioned him by name), but it must have been a thrill for him to learn a very new instrument and join them on the 5 hour drive south! 

Heavy Lies The Crown's next show will take them to Wolverine (90 minutes south of the Soo), where they and the aforementioned Ghidora will join a dozen more Northern Michigan metal bands for this year's Sturgeon River Shred Fest on the July 27th weekend, while they and Ghidora will also rock Escanaba on October 19th for the Fight Breast Cancer With Music charity metal concert. If you're in the Northern Lower or the central U.P., keep these shows in mind for some intense original metal action! Finally, on April 18th (but oddly not plugged publically on social media for another two months), Heavy Lies The Crown released a brand new studio single named "Marble Skin" to major streaming services like Spotify! Running for just 1:40, it's their first song since Nathan came back and Ted left, and while suitably heavy for fans, it seems overly processed in terms of vocal clarity, like they recorded it in a wind tunnel.

It's good to hear some new (if brief) music from H.L.T.C., so check out its YouTube Music copy below, and we'll have much more from them and other Sault Michigan/E.U.P. bands on the site soon! Thanks everyone!!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Heavy Lies The Crown), This Weekend's Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin our weekend concert previews, we have a cancellation to take note of, as reunited Sault Ontario hard rock band Half Past are apparently not playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge tomorrow night. The Facebook event page for that show was quietly deleted by the venue, and the band never acknowledged the concert on their own Facebook page. No reason was given for the cancellation, but for their first gig in almost 12 years, the lack of promotion was definitely suspect. When they are ready to return, expect lots of hype! Now, here's what you should know for announced hard rock shows in the area this weekend, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown will play a public event in their hometown THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, namely the 2nd Street Music Festival! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this on their Facebook page last Wednesday, but I wanted to get more information just in case. As you may know, H.L.T.C. almost exclusively play concerts downstate due to a lack of available opportunities in the E.U.P. (they also can't easily enter Canada), so their few gigs in this peninsula have tended to be private outdoor affairs. Not on SATURDAY, with this concert seeing them actually playing on a proper outdoor stage that is open to the public at 376 North 2nd Street, which is a bit south of Chain Lake. Like their past private events in St. Ignace, this is a multi-genre affair, as they'll be joined by local classic rock cover band Aisle8, acoustic rock musician Austin "Grayham" Graham (who has played some heavier covers live), and cover band Just Jammin'.

This all goes down on SATURDAY at 5:00 PM, there's no advertised cover charge, and this should be all ages. If you're coming from the Soo, the ideal exit off of the I-75 would be exit 345, and 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy weather in St. Ignace with a high of 79° (26° Celsius). As best as I can tell, Heavy Lies The Crown are headlining the 2nd Street Music Festival, so it'll build to their brutal original metal nicely! It'll be nice for E.U.P. fans to be able to not have to drive 2+ hours and pay bridge fare twice to see H.L.T.C. in concert, and it'll be a solid showcase for St. Ignace musical talent, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page for details, and here's Heavy Lives The Crown! See what I did there?

Next up, local metal/hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but in terms of a new confirmation, they will return to nearby Rudyard on Saturday, August 19th at Huck's Pub & Grill... or rather, outside of it! While the former Joe's Bar is no stranger to hosting live bands inside, they do have an outdoor stage that they'll use on occasion in the summer, and Tarnished will get to rock out there in two weeks, weather permitting! Should be a fun time for fans of their hard rocking covers and solid originals, so don't miss out then! One assumes that they'll just move indoors if rain occurs. That show has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover, but before that, remember that their previously announced Rapids Lounge dates in the Soo are this weekend, so if you're further north or prefer the casino, keep tomorrow & Saturday's Soo Kewadin dates in mind!

While fans in Sault Ste. Marie just saw Tarnished live at The Merch two weeks ago, these will be their first Kewadin dates in town since the Memorial Day long weekend. Like in Rudyard later this month, expect no cover, 21+ age limits, and 9:00 PM start times tomorrow and Saturday night. Visit the above links for more details on all of Tarnished's announced August dates in our area, and here they are live!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario for some linked shows, starting with local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison's next concert in his weekly seasonal run at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW! This is stop #5 in this year's regular arrangement at the outdoor stage way down Great Northern Road, which runs at least through the end of the month, and it should prove to be a fun way for fans to check out his rock cover favourites! For a third straight week, Tym is double booked tomorrow, as he'll be zipping downtown for a full band concert tomorrow night that we'll be previewing in a second, so it'll be a bit of a trek if you want to pull the double. This all ages concert has a 7:00 PM start time and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather in the 22° range. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

When Tym finishes up at The Trading Post, he'll make his way downtown to join his Nostalgic Band bandmates Randy "Dutch" Vanderploeg and Chet Dziergas for shows at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, this will be the third straight week where Tym is playing solo and with his band on the same night, but unlike the last two weeks, they are definitely doubling up for public gigs this weekend. so you have options if Friday doesn't work for you, or if you just want to spread things out. Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts have 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. For more details on the festivities at Reggie's this weekend, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's a new live video from The Nostalgic Band's Facebook group! Dutch posted this on Monday, and it comes from a private gig that they played this past weekend.

The video has The Nostalgic Band tackling Deep Purple's "Highway Star", and everyone sounds good on this strongly performed cover! That's beneficial given the muddy and dark video quality, though post-production zooms are attempted. Give it a watch below, and don't miss The Nostalgic Band's classic metal and hard rock attack at Reggie's this weekend!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!