News From Frightlight, Half Past, And Much More!!

Hey guys, here's some more assorted news for your Memorial Day! In this post, we have a potential new concert, details on an upcoming concert, and more assorted stories, but first, we have a double shot of news from a notable local band, so here's what you need to know!

Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight have launched an official YouTube channel! Though guitarist Rick "Styles" White has his own Fitswitch-branded channel with Frightlight videos, this is a brand new official channel for the band, and despite only first uploading videos on May 4th, there's already 12 live videos on there! Nine are from what appears to be their set at The Sewer Swampstravaganja at The Oddfellows Hall last month, but the first three are from what looks like their live CD recording show in July at Coch's Corner. All of the videos have had post-production work done to them, specifically an old school black and white film grain to give them a more "horror" feel, and it works well enough! At least it fits their style, rather than just putting a filter on them for the sake of putting a filter on them. I suspect more videos will make their way to this channel when filmed (maybe at their Roosevelt Hotel show on June 16th?), and when more new footage pops up there, I'll be sure to let you guys know! Check the above links for more, and here's one of the videos from the "Official Frightlight Dead Zone", and it's of Frightlight playing "She Screams" at The Sewer Swampstravaganja!



As well, Frightlight have entered another online contest to try and win some awesome stuff, courtesy of a band page on The Mobile Artist Community! This is a largely mobile phone-driven music site that's offering a contest for Canadian bands that could see the grand prize winner getting a deal with EMI Records to release a single nationally through EMI, open for an EMI band, and other goodies relating to a record deal like this! Finalists will still appear on an upcoming EMI compliation CD which would get a wide national distribution. Frightlight are giving this a shot, and they'll basically get 3 chances over the next 9 months to be one of the highest 5 voted bands for a 3 month cycle. If this occurs, they'd be a finalist, and would be eligible to be selected as the grand prize winner for the complete EMI deal. Click here for full details. If you guys want to vote, you'll need a free MOA account (which is free and painless, but you'll need a phone number), and you can vote and sign up at this location! You can vote once a day for Frightlight (or any other competing band) by clicking on the "Vote for Fright Light" button. You can vote through text message too, but it's a longer process. VOTE TODAY, you never know how far Frightlight could get in this competition!

Next up, here's some details on another potential band you guys could see this year that are looking for a booking! Winnipeg hardcore metal quintet Scarlet Halo posted on our Facebook page yesterday asking if they could get any help to book a local concert on August 12th in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I forwarded them to Dismembertainment in the event they'd be interested, but just in case that doesn't lead somewhere, I'll let you guys know about them! They sort of have a death metal-influenced hardcore sound, nowhere near screamo or "scene" sounds, and they are a talented group with lots of originals under their belts! I have a hunch they'd get a good crowd here, but that won't happen unless they get a booking, so if you're interested in booking them for a show on August 12th (or helping them to that goal), give them a shout at their official Facebook page! Fingers crossed, and as I hear of more bands on the quest for a local booking, I will let you know!

Fourthly, here's some more details on Half Past's return to the stage this summer! The band has now given added confirmation to their return gig on July 23rd at The Rockstar Bar, thanks to this new Facebook event page! The poster for the show, though sort of bare, does show off their nice new logo, and confirms that band members Alain Fletcher & Arthur Lacasse's new live sound company Double A Sound will be working this concert! This is the first announced concert that Double A Sound will be on hand for (barring any announcement to the contrary beforehand), so it will be interesting to see how Al & Art manage with their own sound! I have faith they'll do great! As you may remember, this show is also notable in that new frontman Jordan Rains will debut with Half Past, and they've also hinted that they have some "exciting news" to share at the show, possibly including giveaways of some kind. Should be interesting, and I hope to be there to see what all goes on! Check the above links for more on the long awaited return of Half Past, and I will keep you guys posted!

And finally for today, here's three shorter (though by no means unimportant) stories from the last little while! These are, as usual, in order by band or site name:

• As It Stands are now on Twitter! The local hardcore quintet launched their Twitter page one week ago, and it's so far given scattered updates largely referencing their upcoming studio plans for early June. Click here to follow them, as there's a lot more coming to mention there!
• The new local death metal band featuring 2/5ths each of Bring The Fallen & State Of Misery has fittingly changed their name from Bring The Blood to Bring The Misery, as announced on their Facebook page! The change was due to "popular demand", and I fully agree with that sentiment, as it's a better (and fairer) name overall. Check them out on Thursday at The Rosie!
• I have deleted two message boards from our listing of local metal-relevant forums & message boards (under the CD reviews on your left.) The deleted forums are Caveman Morrison's forum (likely deleted by the band due to inactivity) & SooNews.ca's forum, which came down (along with every other SooNews.ca site) in the wake of the changeover to it's successor, LOCAL2. So if you're wondering where they went, now you know!
  

That's all for now, but despite my own personal goings on tomorrow, I should have at least one new post for you guys, be it general news or one more Woods of Ypres-centric post. Stay tuned!

News From Garden of Bedlam, MK-Ultra, A New Sound Company, And More!!

Our post marathon begins today with two news posts, and we'll start with a general one today! In this post, we have a new local sound company, the latest news from a Sault Michigan hard rock band, and this week's classic video, but first, here's another new video that I recently came across on YouTube!

On Monday, you may remember when I shown you guys a new high quality Garden of Bedlam concert video filmed by CML Productions' own Rick DellaVedova. Well, Rick's uploaded some more videos there, including a black and white version of the "New Rain" video from yesterday, with the colour version deleted. Why? I don't know, maybe he liked the black and white version more, but regardless, I changed the link on Monday's post to keep it accurate. Aside from that, Rick has uploaded a few new videos onto his YouTube channel for us to check out, including a short video of Crank Sound Distribution at work during a Garden of Bedlam show at Foggy Notions, and one cool classic video I'll be featuring later in the week, but there are three other Garden of Bedlam videos worth discussing! Two come from what looks like the sound checks for a Foggy Notions show last year, judging by the small crowd, crates on the floor, and visible daylight. They're of the band playing their songs "New Rain" & "Shallow", and everything looks and sounds real good! They also include some scattered discussions with the sound guys too, if you're interested in that!

The video I'm embedding here though is of Garden of Bedlam playing "Shallow" at last year's Rotaryfest, which sounds awesome and the crowd adds to it greatly! Rick gets some great angles of the band too, great work as always! Check the above links for all of Rick's new Garden of Bedlam videos, and here's "Shallow" from Rotaryfest!



Next up, here's some long awaited news from Sault Michigan hard rockers MK-Ultra, who we first told you guys about in January! Firstly, MK-Ultra have announced the addition of bassist Bill Spence to the band, reuniting him with his former Absolute & Riot! By Night bandmate Ben Huyck. Good choice, Bill & Ben had chemistry from the Absolute material I've heard! MK-Ultra are still looking for a rhythm guitarist and (maybe) a drummer to round out their lineup, so if you or someone you know are at all interested, shoot the band a message on Reverbnation, MySpace, or on their brand new Facebook page! Yes, they're on Facebook as of February 28th, where they've announced plans for a future CD of some type, a logo contest with a free CD as the prize for the winner, and plans for live shows beginning in June! They also hinted towards a new drummer already being found in their last Facebook update, saying that "Justin" will be laying down some drum tracks soon. My first thought was former Absolute drummer Justin Lawless, but I don't know enough to assume either way. Sounds good overall, hopefully MK-Ultra's plans fall into place, we'll be watching! Check out their material and band news at the above links!

Thirdly, here's a story I've pushed back far too long, as you guys (especially band members) should know about it! Half Past guitarist Alain Fletcher & bassist Arthur Lacasse have started a new live sound reinforcement company named Double A Sound, which will eventually give a more professional quality sound to concerts and events. They're not ready to go yet, but they have lots of gear ready to help make your band sound at it's best! When they officially start doing sound at local concerts, their rate will be $200 for shows featuring one or two bands, with an additional $50 for each added band from there (i.e. $250 for 3 bands, $300 for 4.) For all current details, visit their official Facebook page! I think this a great move by Al & Art to give bands another option for professional sound at their shows, and though I don't know how their prices and gear would stack up to Crank, for example, I have faith that Double A Sound will make their presence felt once they start doing sound at some local concerts! Check the above links for all you need to know from Double A Sound, and I'll keep you posted if some big updates come out!

And finally for today, here's this week's classic video! This is both our longest and oldest classic video so far, and it's a good one, so here's what you should know! As Half A Man are rocking The Bird in Sault Michigan on Sunday night, I found it fitting to post a video related to them again, but this time, of frontman Erik Rintamaki & drummer Mikey Bishop's mid-1990s local band Lower S.E.S.! Their posthumous MySpace page is full of 20 minute+ concert videos from their heyday, but I figured I'd start small for classic uploads with their 20 minute set from the battle of the bands that they won in 1994 at The Tumble Inn in Eckerman, Michigan! The video features their entire set, including their introduction, and it has the band's classic lineup covering Slayer's "South of Heaven" & "Seasons in the Abyss", Nirvana's "Rape Me", Pantera's "Becoming", Korn's "Blind", and their own original song "Bold"! I broke up the set into five videos (the Slayer covers are combined) and uploaded them to the SMS' YouTube channel earlier today, but you can check out the original unbroken video at http://myspace.com/lowersesband/videos/battle-of-the-bands/60189504. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! Lower S.E.S. were a great band and they deserve wider exposure like this, even if it's been 16 years since they broke up!

This was filmed by an attendee on what appears to be a tape camcorder, so I apologize for the quality, which isn't as clear as it would be on a digital camera, but remember, this was 1994. The band sound good when they're clearly audible, and they have a good grasp on the covers, but it'd be cool to hear a few more originals, and more guitar solos from Andy Nash. His solo on the Pantera cover was nice, but I wish we'd have gotten them more! I hope we'll find more classic videos from the 1990s in the future, Lower S.E.S. deserve all the kudos in the world for posting these videos online! So here's their Slayer covers, but check the above links for the rest of this 20 minute battle of the bands set!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new Woods of Ypres-centric post later tonight chock full of new concert videos! Thanks everyone, and remember, we review Destroilet's EP TOMORROW!