Double Down & Separate Wayz/Guilty Party Updates, Plus A New Video Interview!!

Before we tackle another round of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday night, which includes lineup updates for some bands on the weekend rock cover circuit and a new interview discovery with a musician who had a brief but noteworthy stint in a local band, so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have some big lineup news from two (kinda three) local classic/hard rock bands, as Half Past drummer Johnny Amendola has joined both Separate Wayz and The Guilty Party, replacing Brent Royer. As per Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Sunday, Brent amicably left due to being unable to "commit (to) the amount we want to play in both bands" (not unlike why Steven left), and while the statement was only made on one of the two bands' pages and didn't directly say that Brent left The Guilty Party too, singer/guitarist Terry Eaton confirmed that he did in a Facebook e-mail yesterday. Brent had been a founding member of The Guilty Party last fall, and only just joined their sister band Separate Wayz three weeks ago, but he played just one weekend with each group before opting out. He's a talented musician (you have to be to drum and sing at once), and hopefully we see him in a new band soon!

The son of Headrush bassist John Amendola, Johnny has been a familiar face in local rock bands like Cherry Crush, Tripod The Dog, and Skeyes Of Seven since the mid-2010s, and he reportedly is gelling well with Terry, Jim, and Nicole so far, so we'll have to see how things go for the two bands in 2026 now that they have a drummer who is purportedly more available! Terry also confirmed that Johnny will take over for Glen Thomas behind the drumkit for Soundcheck's reunion gigs next weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, which only makes sense. Stay tuned for more on the two full-time bands' next shows when they roll in, let alone Soundcheck next week!

Next up, here's the latest from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who confirmed on their Facebook page on Monday that this past Saturday's concert at Beck's Bar was their last with Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz as a fill-in, as their regular bassist Dan Beaupre is finally returning after being AWOL since the summer for medical and travel reasons. Apologies for erroneously covering that Dan was on bass for their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on December 12th, the band never said either way who was on bass that night. It will be good to have Dan back for their Water Tower Pub gig on February 21st, if not sooner! While we're on the subject, the band posted three videos from their Beck's gig on Saturday to their Facebook page, one with each regular band member on lead vocals. Alas, all three were shot vertically and none are full, but what was filmed?

The uncredited attendee filmed Double Down & Lori covering Collective Soul's "Gel" (with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals) and Weezer's "Island In The Sun" (with drummer Ric Datson on vocals), but embedded below is the longest of the three, of their take on the Thin Lizzy version of the Irish standard "Whiskey In The Jar" with guitarist Beej Syrette on vocals. Nice sampling of their live sound with everyone singing well when called upon, and while I wouldn't have shot these vertically, the filmer at least got some close-up angles from all over the stage, including the band's view of Beck's! Give Double Down's new videos a watch above & below, and kudos to Lori and Alex for filling in with them since last fall!

Finally for today, I figured this was worth sharing, even if the musician in question was only briefly a local band member, and only became publically known as such after the band dissolved. As you may recall, after Woods Of Ypres frontman David Gold passed away in December 2011, it came out that he and guitarist Joel Violette had enlisted American musicians Brendan Hayter & Rae Amitay to serve as their new bassist and drummer the previous month. Obviously, their 2012 tour plans never came to fruition, but Joel would add both Brendan and Rae to the lineup of his studio-only black metal band Thrawsunblat, and Brendan appeared on their albums through 2019. Brendan is otherwise best known for his New England-based atmospheric black metal band Obsidian Tongue, who predated his brief Woods tenure and are still active today.

I bring all this up now because Brendan was interviewed about his career (including Woods Of Ypres) by Shayan S. of the Iranian/British interview series/podcast Iblis Manifestations last year! You can watch the whole hour+ interview below, but if you want to jump straight to the Woods section, that begins 34:40 into the 67 minute interview. Here, Brendan talks about how he and Obsidian Tongue got the chance to open for Woods of Ypres on their last tour in May 2011 and how he befriended David and Joel afterwards, how he got the bassist gig, and his perceptions of "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" before it came out. He outlined plans for him and Rae to drive to Ontario in January 2012 to rehearse with the band before flying to Great Britain for label dealings, a music video shoot, and European tour dates, which leads into how he processed learning about David's death and the lost opportunities therein.

It's interesting to hear how Brendan balanced his thoughts about grief and loss from his place in the band, especially as he didn't know David that well yet, and he approaches things at a very mature and respectful level while not asking for pity or playing the blame game. The Woods of Ypres section takes up about 15 minutes, and it's an interesting look into the tail end of the band's all-too-short run, so check our Brendan's entire Iblis Manifestations interview below, and black metal fans shouldn't bypass Obsidian Tongue!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Brendan Garlick

It's now time for our first YouTube Channel Profile of 2024! This monthly feature series is back for another year of shining a spotlight on YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians/concerts, and this time, we've randomly selected a bountiful channel for fans of the indie rock scene of a decade or so ago. Here's what you should know for this month!

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Brendan Garlick (http://www.youtube.com/@brendangarlick43)

Owner: Former Gnaeus/These Magnificent Tentacles drummer Brendan Garlick, currently known as the owner of local concert promotion agency Sault Noir

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 30th, 2013; Videos uploaded from December 2014 until August 2015

Channel Summary: Brendan's channel is almost entirely devoted to fifteen videos shot at the first two Lopstock concerts that he co-promoted at LopLops Lounge in 2014 & 2015, including the full set of every band from Lopstock II (except that year's opening band Id Iota), and videos from four acts that played at this "bohemian conclave" the previous year. Brendan's last (and sole non-Lopstock) video is still from a LopLops concert, this time featuring inactive indie rock band Great Chamberlain in mid-2015. 

Why You Should Watch: This channel is a great watch for fans of the local indie music scene in the mid-2010s, with some heavier flourish among them, and while none of these bands had staying power into 2024, there's a lot of talent and familiar faces to be had, as well as the featured sets by two touring acts (The Galacticats and Kirby) at Lopstock in 2015! Despite its ample usage at the time, Brendan has not visibly used this channel since 2015, roughly coinciding with his departure from Gnaeus and eventual spell living out of town. The revived Lopstock III from last year had ample video coverage as well, but via SooToday and not on Brendan's own accounts.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Pixo Control - Reasons (Live): In a few respects, defunct local grunge/hard rock trio The Pixo Control were the stars of Brendan's channel, garnering the longest full-set video from Lopstock II and three of the seven videos from Lopstock I, with two of those being his most watched videos period. Of them, his first video (of them playing "Reasons") is by far the most popular video on offer. Filmed by Jason Lloyd (as with the other videos posted from 2014), The Pixo Control were represented here by singer/guitarist Michael Mikus, future Skinbox frontman Steve Edwards, and drummer Keeghan Rosso. The camera-work is excellent with nice quality audio of this very grungy and hard hitting original, so it's easy to see why this video caught on at the time, and it's a shame that The Pixo Control didn't last longer! Watch for edited in bits of LopLops' interior and some attendees in the middle of the video.

Caroline Divine - Lopstock II: One of the heavier bands at Lopstock II in June 2015 was the recently debuted Caroline Divine, a hard rock/power pop band featuring Frasiers alumni Anthony Marcello, Brenden Fitzgerald, and Devin Williamson, all later of Jesse Merineau's live band. Caroline Divine proper only graced local stages in 2015 (gigs with Jesse aside), with Brendan Garlick's 40 minutes long full-set video being the best extant video from their local run in terms of audio. The stationary angles used for the bands on this night were largely the victim of obscured vantage points due to fans on the floor, which is unfortunate, but Caroline Divine had a tight and energetic sound on their original material, and it'd have been nice to see them exist on their own in 2016 and beyond!

Gnaeus - Lopstock II: Brendan's sole channel appearance as a member of a band comes via his set with defunct post-punk quartet Gnaeus at Lopstock II, where he was joined by singer/guitarist Aaron Alessandrini, future Far From Fine bassist Matt Fronzi, and synth player Brad Irwin (now also of Skinbox). Their 45 minute set includes their songs "Lovers", "Exercise In Self Awareness", "Fire", "Crave", "Mountains", "Circles", their cover of The Cold War Kids' "Hang Me Out To Dry", "The Edge", "Lacking", "When You're Gone" , and "The Sound". This included every song from their 2016 album "Mediatations" except "Calling Out", plus the non-album cuts "Crave" & "Lacking". Attendee heads remain a liability towards actually seeing Gnaeus in full, but this is a strong performance from the peak of Gnaeus' local run, and they got a deservedly strong reception from the fans!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Our next randomly selected channel in this series will be that of YouTube user justfrenchie, which primarily features old Scary Uncles videos, so look for that on or around February 26th, and for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Brendan Christie & Orb

It's the 10th of the month, so it's now time once again for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! As always, this monthly feature series takes a look at one or two defunct or inactive metal/hard rock projects from the Twin Saults and surrounding areas, in order to profile them and their work for current readers and fans, and like all previous installments, the bands were randomly selected. This month's post features two artists for the fourth straight month (due to the first not having much surviving information), but these are both two talented inactive solo projects from each side of the border, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Brendan Christie

Genre: Thrash Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Brendan Christie (The Hydra's Teeth, Late & Loud), all instruments

Info/Analysis: After leaving his brief 2008 position as Stillbroke's bassist, talented local musician Brendan Christie launched a solo metal project circa July 2009, where he began work on original guitar-heavy material that was at one point supposed to be featured on a debut solo album named "The Clock Is Ticking". Original compositions continued to be posted & deleted from his MySpace page through 2011, though less so as his band work became more successful, and his last postings there in late 2012 were to promote his current band The Hydra's Teeth. Though his Late & Loud tenure was better known, Brendan first entered the SMS' general radar for his impressive guitar talents in 2009, and it's a shame most of his solo material isn't public anymore! His videos (though largely classical renditions) show his skills nicely, and his only remaining full song "Set Fire To Freedom" has a heavy & dramatic feel that wouldn't be out of place live, so give his older solo work a listen above, and here's Brendan's "bet you can't play this" original video!


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Orb

Genre: Metal/Easy Listening

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten (Power Slug, I.S.O.M.), all instruments

Info/Analysis: Launched during his tenures as End of Existence's frontman & Elipzis' drummer, prolific local musician Bob Helsten launched his own solo project in January 2011 as an outlet for his lighter original material, releasing two songs to his MySpace page ("Final Day" & "Dawn of a Dying Day", with only the latter containing harsh vocals.) Updates did not follow there, but in April 2012, a solo version of the End of Existence song "12-21-12" was posted on YouTube as part of Werehold Records' second Friday the 13th posting event, and while his solo project has likely been defunct since, you can currently see him live as Power Slug's drummer. Orb described this project as sounding like "a dark & gloomy autumn day", which does make sense, as his full solo songs retain a slower & lighter instrumental feel, though the vocals remain reminscent of his metal singing work. Though I prefer his I.S.O.M. and E.O.E. past, Orb's solo material is an interesting & pleasant change of pace, so give his songs a listen above, and here's "Dawn of a Dying Day"!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Now, what's in store for April's installment? Believe it or not, we'll be looking at two bands again for a fifth straight month, as the first band we randomly chose don't have enough surviving information (or lasted long enough.) Also, because we're straddling the end and beginning of our current & next 1-1-1-1-1 schedules for each side of the border's bands, we'll be looking at two Sault Ontario bands next month for the first time since 2010. With that said, I've randomly chosen 2009 metal band (and Winkstinger predecessors) Operation: Killdozer & 2004 hard rock quartet Batteries Not Included (featuring future Free Beer members), so watch out for those profiles around April 10th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

New Videos, Inactive Sault Ontario Bands, And Miguel Gauthier Updates!!

Today's post mostly clears up some recent news and updates that have been waiting for a free moment to plug on here, so what's on tap? All relating to the Sault Ontario area, we have a recent solo cover video upload, a 2 year old video find of a local hardcore performance, and notes on some likely inactive local hard rock projects, but first, here's some info on what a prominent local music personality has been doing in the early 2010s!

Are you curious to know what former local producer and MBM frontman Miguel Gauthier has been up to since moving from the Soo to Los Angeles, California in October 2010? Well, we can find out in a recent SooToday article by Donna Hopper featuring interview comments and reflections on his local and more recent work! The article was actually posted last week, my apologies for it being lost in the shuffle until now. We touched on his move at the time, but in the article, we learn that Miguel chose to relocate to a bigger city with more opportunities 3 years ago, taking Stereo Soul Studios with him, but he has flourished since the move! Though nothing directly ties to metal of his recent output, he's done fashion photography & film work, music production & mixing, and work as a sound engineer for numerous TV and film projects (even on Dexter!), most recently winning a Best Fashion award at the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival for his short "Lovers Game". It sounds like Miguel's found his groove in California, and though his exceptional production is missed for local bands, it's great to see a Saultite doing so well with his career, and I wish him continued success!

Remember, when operating Stereo Soul Studios locally in the late 2000s, Miguel produced albums for bands like Woods of Ypres, Garden of Bedlam, Gates of Winter, and Stillbroke, along with doing studio work with As It Stands, Sense of Truth, and many other local bands. He's never forgotten his local output (even fondly looking back on his Gates of Winter work in the SooToday article), and many of his local projects are still on Stereo Soul Studios' website, so check everything out there, and read the full SooToday article at this link!

Next up, here's notes on two local metal/hard rock acts that we're now listing as inactive on our band links. One is the solo project of Hydra's Teeth/ex-Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie, who had maintained and recorded some very promising solo originals in the late 2000s, including planning at least one album. However, his band work has arguably been his focus in recent years, and there hasn't been any dedicated solo updates that I've seen since (at the latest) last fall, with his last MySpace page uploads being Hydra's Teeth demos. Brendan's solo work was really solid, and a nice precursor to Late & Loud, so hopefully he revisits that work in the future! The other likely inactive band is Durera (formerly The Diego Experience), the CASS Cafe-launched hard rock sextet that had been sporadically active since 2008. They last made a band-related update to their Facebook group in June of last year, and that (plus singer Keegan Gjos moving to Sudbury soon) leads me to think that they've also fallen inactive.

Durera had talent (as their Diego Experience-era videos on guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel indicated), but they had room to grow from some earlier and younger sets in their CASS Cafe run. Hopefully the guys stay active in music, and best of luck to Mike, Keegan, A.J., Brent, Ben, and Ty in the future! Stay tuned for more notes on inactive and broken up bands as I hear them!

We'll close today with some new video finds, starting with a newly discovered clip of defunct local hardcore quartet Changing Waves! This comes from the Smeltzer reunion show at The Oddfellows Hall on August 12th, 2011 that they were among the openers for, and it was uploaded to YouTube by attendee Kate Fantham the very next day. You'd think this would have been on the site by now, but she actually forgot which band this was, so it's just labelled by the show's name on YouTube. Luckily, only two bands that night featured a singer who didn't play an instrument, so it was easy to figure out who they were! Featuring Changing Waves' classic & final lineup, I can't place the song off hand, but I don't think it was on their free demo. Kate likely filmed this on a cell phone camera (hence the dimensions), and the quality isn't great, with dark lighting, very staticy audio, and a 19 second audio cut-out 1:17 in. Still, Changing Waves do sound heavy from what I remember, and the crowd's definitely into it, so check out this new video discovery below!



Finally for today, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy uploaded another solo performance video onto his YouTube channel on Wednesday, and it's a cover of 3 Doors Down's "Be Like That"! Like his Eagles cover from earlier this month (which is now unlisted for unknown reasons), this utilitzes multiple camera angles with Alex singing and playing guitar, and I think his clean vocals work better here, with his tone and pacing fitting this song better! Sure, it's not a heavy song, but we know Alex's track record, and he has the talent, so check out his newest solo cover video below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Airbourne preview and more news this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Destroilet Updates, New Videos, And More Assorted News!!

We're back with more news on this Friday afternoon, so what's on deck? Today, we have a new video from a local guitarist, more archive album uploads, and much more assorted news & notes, but first, here's the latest updates from a band we haven't seen on the stage in way too long, so here's what you need to know!

Local old school hardcore quintet Destroilet are continuing their somewhat quiet activity with some encouraging new band updates, including the confirmation that they are working on a new album! Online pages are still updated only scatteredly, but drummer Matt Waples has been keeping fans up to date on his personal Facebook page to the recording plans, which will apparently lead to a 12 track full length album (including reworked versions of the songs from their 2011 EP), with a planned proper CD release concert around Christmas, which is something that last year's EP never got. Their MySpace page briefly had some unfinished demos of these tracks in recent days (including the previously previewed "Eternal Fire" and a cover of The Ducky Boys' "Cross To Bear", among others), though they've since been taken down. I'm cautiously optimistic about these Destroilet updates, and hopefully we'll finally see them fully back and active before you know it! I don't know exactly why they haven't played live in over 20 months, but if this helps speed up Destroilet's return, I'm all ears, so stay tuned for more band updates as they roll in!

Next up, local solo artist and Haggith drummer Mike Haggith posted two more of his old solo albums onto his YouTube channel yesterday to stream for free! Uploaded as single files of the whole album in one video, they're of Mike's 37th & 38th solo albums "The Curse Was The Cure" and "I Hate My Life & I Want To Die", so click the above links to check them out! Both were released through the former Rotten Records in mid-2009 before Mike moved to Sault Ste. Marie, so while they're not overly familiar to Saultites, there's still some solid stuff there! I have yet to hear either in full, but there's some varied hard rock and alternative material in both albums, as you've hopefully come to expect from his local work. I've embedded the longer of the two albums ("The Curse Was The Cure") below to check out, but visit the above links for more, buy them at this location if you like what you hear, and stay tuned hopefully for more uploads of Mike's back catalog!



Also in the realm of new videos is the latest solo guitar cover from Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy, who posted this clip of him covering Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" onto his YouTube channel yesterday! He knows the song pretty well, but his playing sounds a bit reserved compared to the original recording, and there's a lot of stretches in the original song with minimal to no guitar work, so I wouldn't say it's the best song to showcase Alex's skills with. Very good though, so give it a look below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• Former Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie is looking for a drummer for his new local metal project, implying that Josh Hatherley is not in this new band. Having double kick experience is a must, and liking or being influenced by hair metal and bands like Iron Maiden, Dokken, and Skull Fist would help as well. If you're at all interested in trying out, message Brendan at this location or find his post from yesterday on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group!
• Don't sound the bell for Dismembertainment's death yet! Owner Rich Moreland posted on their Facebook page today to let fans know that he's working on ways to possibly put on local metal concerts in the Soo despite his move to Alberta last month, and he may also get into concert promotion out west as well. I'm curious to see how Dismembertainment could put on shows from afar like this, but if I hear anything positive or negative on their future, I'll let you guys know!
• Though not local anymore, Energy Rock Radio is back! The online hard rock/metal station (which was based out of Sault Ontario from 2008-2011) had been shut down since January, with owner Ryan Kaarlela hosting some radio shows in the interim out of his current British Columbia home base, but a new Facebook page has been launched with more updates to come, so check the above links for updates, and click here to stream the new Energy Rock Radio!

 That's all for today, but stay tuned for hopefully more news and updates this weekend, and I hope to see you guys at the Zombie Walk (or at least the afterparty!) Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage Jam Session Recap, Plus New Videos & A New Recording Studio!!

Who wants some news and videos? I've got them today as we kick off the month of October! We have this week's classic video, a preview of a local band's music video, and news on a new-ish local concert studio, but first, here's a mini-review of a local band's jam session I was invited to last night!

I was recently invited to see local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage's "Autumn Apple's Jam" last night at their jam room ("The Cave"), so me and my mom (a longtime friend of Dirk & Paul Becker) went to check things out for a couple of hours! Having missed out on a lot of concerts over the past month (thanks a lot, homework & Friday morning classes), I thought it'd do me some good to catch at least some live music before September wrapped up. The session mostly was of Sykotyk Rampage jamming out versions of classic songs like "Lowest of the Low", "Sex Toy, Oh My Baby", "Pink Radio", and "Treating You Bad", along with some newer songs from their 6 latest albums, like "Talking BGANL" and "Bucket of Ham", and even covers, like Flogging Molly's "Fuck You, I'm Drunk" and even an impromptu jam of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"! Beer and jokes flowed throughout the night, and you can tell how casual and relaxed the band was, which thankfully does cross over to their live shows. Of course, some songs sounded a bit different, but with their improvised studio songs, creative nature, and lack of on-stage pressure, I expected that and didn't mind. Neither did the other fans in attendance!

It was fun to see Sykotyk Rampage at work for another jam session, but of course, if you like the band already, you'll have more fun than if you don't, but that depends on your own preferences. If you like your music harsh and sykotyk, and you have the right connections, Sykotyk Rampage jams in "The Cave" are definitely worth checking out! Unlike the last time I was invited to see them jamming, I brought my camera, so click here to see photos or visit our Facebook page! And I did get a video, so here's Sykotyk Rampage playing their song "Dolly & Valium" last night!



Next up, here's another new video, this time from Eckerman, Michigan metal trio Swampghas! The trio featuring Life's Eclipse & Half A Man alumni recently shot footage towards a music video for their original song "Bog" at Pine Grove Cemetery in Sault Michigan and other assorted locations in town, and a behind the scenes video from the shoot was posted on the Werehold Records YouTube channel on Thursday! The video features random goings on like some guitar playing, band members laying down, some footage of the full band playing for the video, and so forth, which doesn't tell us much, but it's a good preview for when the full video is posted! A rough cut of the "Bog" video was briefly posted too, but was later deleted, so this will do for now if you want a taste of Swampghas before the final product comes out! Check out the behind the scenes footage below!



Thirdly today, here's a new local recording studio I recently came across that you local band members might be interested in! Dimension Studios is it's name, and it's a Sault Ontario-based recording studio ran by Brendan Clace, who I think just moved to town earlier in the year, though he's done music and production work in Saskatchewan and Sioux Lookout in previous years. Originally named BreakCore Productions, the studio's located on Panoramic Drive, and Brendan specializes in working with bands of heavier music styles. From what I can tell, Brendan's worked with Ontario bands like Ashes Past and Double Helix, and local favourites For All That Is Lost have inquired about working with them, but I don't know if any local bands have contacted Brendan about working with Dimension Studios yet. Samples and covers that he's produced can be checked out at this location, and I'll say that Brendan's definitely a good producer! The posted songs sound good, and I think local bands could benefit by doing recordings there! If you wanna see what Dimension Studios offers, or contact Brendan with questions, check the above links, and I've added Dimension Studios to our Other Local Metal Links!

And finally, here is this week's classic video! Very late, I know, but I wanted to make sure who all was playing before I uploaded something to tie it in with, and other posts kinda put it behind a bit too. This week, we're tying in the video with Tym Morrison, who plays a solo acoustic concert TONIGHT at Service Grill Pizza, and the video is of his metal cover band Caveman Morrison! This video comes from a concert that the band played at The Rockstar Bar circa late 2009, and it features the band's 2009-2010 lineup, including Tym on vocals & guitar, Frightlight/Redundant's Rick White on bass, and his then-Frightlight bandmate Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on drums. The video is of Caveman Morrison covering Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" with a bit of a hard rock spin, and the audio quality isn't too bad! The band sounded good here, though the video quality could be better. The camera's far from the stage, dancers get in the way at points, a green watermark from the original conversion program is put on the last third of the footage, and the original video is very red, but I corrected it to more natural lighting with YouTube's video edit tools when I uploaded it to our YouTube channel. That said, you can watch the original video at http://tymmorrison.com/cavemanmorrison/video1.html.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Caveman Morrison and the original filmer, I'm just spreading it to a wider audience like it deserves! I've been meaning to share some videos from Caveman Morrison's website for a while, but because they were posted in .swf format, they were hard to rip and convert. Now I've found out how to easily do it, so I can show off this solid 2009-era Caveman Morrison video with you guys, so check out their cover of "You May Be Right" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

News From Brendan Christie, Free Refill, Hollow, And John Mignacca!!

Here's some assorted news and notes for your Saturday, including some cool video finds online relating to a local drummer and a Sault Michigan band, some new material from a local solo artist, and leading things off, a concert relocation, so here's what you need to know!

Veteran local metal band Hollow will still have two shows over their one weekend reunion next week, and they won't have to go too far for a new spot for the Saturday concert! The band announced on the Facebook event page yesterday that their concert originally scheduled for August 6th (one week from today) has been moved from The Canadian Nightclub to Bossy's Pub & Grub, which is just seconds down the road. A move for the Saturday show was necessitated due to the flooding at The Canadian two weeks ago, but it's nice to see that they found a conveniently close new spot! We haven't talked much about Bossy's here, but since changing their name from Smack Daddy's Bar & Grill earlier this year, they've gotten more into concert booking, bringing bands like Redundant and Asylum Country there to rock Bossy's on weekends. Add Hollow to the list for this coming Saturday! No other changes have been reported, though the cover charge could be different, as I don't know what cover Bossy's usually has, if any. Get more details at the official Facebook event page! Nice spot for the moved show, but if that date doesn't work for you, remember that Hollow will still be at The Rockstar Bar on Friday night! I hope to be at the show at Bossy's (more convenient for me time and location-wise), and hopefully you guys can also come out for the big reunion shows! Check the above links for more!

Next up, Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie has posted three new solo instrumental songs onto his solo project's MySpace page! Unlike the softer "Foot Of This Hill", these are heavier leaning, so here's what you should know! One is called "The March", and it's a slow metal song that does feel like a march is in progress, with some nice driving rhythms and melodies mixed in! It could probably be built on more for a fuller song, but it's very promising! Also new to his page is part 1 of a solo song named "Quantum Mechanix", which is just 69 seconds long, but gives us a cool look at a slower cymbal-heavy metal number! I definitely wanna see where it leads, cause it starts well enough, but there's not a lot to go on with it yet. The other new song is a rough draft called "Shining Down", which feels the most like a complete song of the three, with nice tempo and heaviness changes, and a great guitar solo section! Brendan has some real talent, and it'd be interesting to see him package some of these songs into Late & Loud originals after they returned from their hiatus! Check the above links to give his newest original songs (and more) a listen!

We'll close today with videos, and first, here's some older videos I just came across yesterday of Sault Michigan hard rockers Free Refill! With a summer gig finally popping up for them at the Sugar Island Music Festival, I did some researching to see if they had anything else new online, and I found some videos on their website I'd never seen before! These are actually from the band's set at the annual Sidewalk Sales in Sault Michigan from August 2009, and though they've been on YouTube since shortly afterwards (courtesy of user amourdete's YouTube channel), I've only just seen them now! The videos all feature their former five-piece lineup (including ex-guitarist Tyler Wall), and they're of Free Refill covering Pearl Jam's "Even Flow", AC/DC's "Back In Black", and The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". The band do a good job overall, though Mary Gilbert's vocals sound forced on "Back In Black". The video quality is odd... it looks clear, but there's odd "purple dot" pixelization that I can't really describe, but the audio works! Nice videos, and it's good to finally see them, as Free Refill footage isn't readily available online. Check the above links for more of these videos, and here's the band's cover of "Even Flow" from 2009's Sidewalk Sales!



And finally, here's a random recent video find featuring As It Stands drummer John Mignacca! This video comes courtesy of the YouTube channel of Dave Hunter, frontman of the local pop punk band For July & owner of idioRECORDS, the former label home of John's old band Out Of The Mouth Of Babes. The video, which was uploaded on Monday, is of John playing a pretty cool drum solo on For July's own drumkit, and it shows John's talents well! They should have him do solos at As It Stands shows more often! However, the video has lots of swearing despite it's 64 second length, so if you're easily offended, take note. Worth a look though to see John laying out a solid drum solo, so check the video out below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including my preview of Monday's Alcoholic White Trash show and much more! Thanks everyone!

A Major Concert Update, Some New Videos, And More!!

Well guys, this was a slow weekend for local metal news, wasn't it? All the better to work on some SMS 4th anniversary stuff, which will all be revealed on July 4th, in exactly three weeks! All that will be revealed in due course though, as we have real honest to god news to get to for this Monday! Today, we have some assorted stories from the last little while, new videos from Woods of Ypres & End of Existence, and to start things off, some major short notice news for an upcoming concert!

If you thought the lineup was final for Thursday's 20th Roosevelt Hotel metal night, think again, as a huge band has been confirmed as the new out of town headliners! Victoria, British Columbia punk/thrash quartet The Dayglo Abortions have been officially announced to headline this concert! How's that for a late coup? No strangers to Sault Ste. Marie, this controversial (yet very entertaining) band blurs the punk and metal lines in many of their songs, and have been going strong as a Canadian punk institution since 1979! It's about time they come back, and I can finally check them out in person, so definitely come out for The Dayglo Abortions on Thursday! The previously announced local lineup for Thursday (Skull After Betrayal, Frightlight, and Sativa Rose) is still intact, just likely with an earlier start time and condensed set times, so you won't miss any bands with the late addition! However, this concert will now cost $5, but seriously, it's The Dayglo Abortions, they're worth the money! A 9:00 PM start time is now announced, and as is usual for The Rosie, you must be 19 to attend. For more details, check out Dismembertainment's Facebook page and Frightlight's event page!

I was planning to go on Thursday anyway, but with punk/thrash legends like THIS headlining, now it's a can't miss concert! Stay tuned for updates through Thursday if they come in!

Next up, here's a handful of new videos from Woods of Ypres, who have now finished their "Pain & Piss" tour! Over the past few hours, frontman David Gold has uploaded four new videos from their concert in Saint Paul, Minnesota on May 14th onto his YouTube channel, so here's what you should know! Unlike the awesome quality video of "Falling Apart" from Rusty Nuts Productions, these likely are from the band's own cameras. Three are of full song performances, of their songs "The Sea Of Immeasurable Loss", "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", and surprisingly enough, "The Sun Was In My Eyes: Part I"! The quality's nice, with solid audio, nice camera angles, about what you'd expect for official band video uploads! The other is of their condensed version of "Halves & Quarters", which sounds good, but the camera's focused early on the "slow" mosh pit going on during the song! You don't see that often with a slower heavy song, and it actually works well enough! I find the three videos end rather abruptly though, like they had to end as soon as the song did. Great stuff all around, check everything out at the above links, and stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres stories very soon! Because it's the longest of the four new videos, here's "The Sun Was In My Eyes: Part I" from Saint Paul!



Thirdly today, here's a brand new song from End of Existence! The Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids epic metal quartet have re-emerged from almost two months of limited news to give us a new original song named "Taken", which you can now stream at their YouTube channel! The song doesn't feature keyboardist Craig Harrison, but video comments indicate he'll be on a later version with an attached music video. Solid song though already, though I noticed a disparity between the instrumentation and Orb Hearthstone's vocals. Orb's in typical growl/clean chorus mode, and he's as good as we've ever heard, but the actual song seems very un-death metal, and comes across as more melodic hard rock. Catchy though, it's well played, and Steve Giles has some nice riffing and soloing to let us hear, though the fadeout at the end seems sudden. Not bad at all, give it a look below, and stay tuned for more End of Existence news as it comes in!



And finally, here's three assorted smaller stories from the last few days, in alphabetical order by band name:

• Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie has finally posted a new solo song on his solo project's MySpace page! Easily his first new song since last year, it's called "The Foot Of The Hill", and it's an instrumental song with more of a bluegrass feel than we're used to. Well played and recorded though, nice to see his solo stuff back! Check out the new song (and more) at the above links!
  
• I have removed the defunct local band Chillum from our band links, as the link I had for them (the YouTube channel for "Dingers Production") doesn't really count as a band page. I don't even know if a former Chillum member owns the channel, though it does feature 6 live videos from a pre-2007 show. Still, check the channel out, Chillum had promise, and there's some assorted metal-relevant videos there, one with Andrew Angelic from Sativa Rose! Anyone have any real details on Chillum though?
• Sault Ontario hard rockers Late & Loud (who are still on hiatus) announced on their Facebook page that they have a music video on the way, along with "the lost episode", likely an allusion to "episodes" of assorted band happenings on their YouTube channel. Interesting, especially the music video news, I wonder how it will look? Stay tuned for more Late & Loud news, including some new live videos!
  

That's all for now, but we WILL have more news sooner than three days coming up, and yes, my sadly delayed "Soo Stories" review is coming too, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band And More Assorted Updates!!

As promised, it's time for some more local metal news and updates that have came up during the weekend when I couldn't update the SMS, or have popped up since it's came back! I still have about one or two more posts left before that material is cleared out though, so let's not waste any time! Let's begin this news and updates post with a new local band! And yes, the new poll's up, VOTE TODAY! Full results from last month's poll and a rundown of the current poll are coming later today!

The new band is Riverin, a new local industrial hard rock project from local musicians Matt Clement and Matt Hicks, who you'll likely best recognize as half of the original Dirty Virgin lineup! You may also recognize both Matts as ex-Silver Dream members, and you might remember Matt Hicks from his work as the drummer in T.H.E.I.D and MY ID too! However, don't expect stuff similar to their past bodies of work with Riverin, this is actually really original compared to other local bands! While Matt and Matt pool their influences into their material, they're also incorporating a lot of other types of music into their songs, including piano tracks, a synthesizer, and even some orchestral pieces! The band have three songs posted on their MySpace page, with Matt Clement on guitars and Matt Hicks on vocals and drums, though they are looking to add members. Definitely original stuff compared to what we usually hear, the songs have sort of a Nine Inch Nails vibe, and they have some nice beats and melodies that have sort of a trance like effect moreso that still manages to be heavy! Vocals take a bit of time to get used to though, they don't immediately work with the tone of the songs. "A Calm Wind" is particularly notable for the effects used and glimpses into what original sounds we could be in for!

Though launched late last year, Riverin took a while to publicly announce anything band-related besides their name, but it's nice to see the Matts moving forward with this project to a point where we all can see & hear! They have promise, and are apparently working on an E.P. for an eventual local release, so that'll be worth checking out! See what you think, click here to visit their MySpace page, or check out their (under construction) Facebook group!

Next up, we have more Woods of Ypres updates! I told you I had more coming, and here they are! Firstly, the fourth installment of bassist Shane Madden's tour diary on Decibel Magazine's website was posted online on Monday, detailing the band's tour dates from Austin, Texas through New York City! Another good, well written read, detailing the shows they played as they entered the latter half of their American concert stretch! Read it to check out discussions of a guy reportedly "pissed" at the band in Austin, the Soviet Cold War-themed venue they played, why they couldn't get drunk in and around their Georgia concert, the positive vibes of their Philadelphia concert and the van break-in in New York, and much more! Another really good read, click here to check it out, and stay tuned for the final installment detailing their remaining Northeastern and Canadian shows! Also on the Woods of Ypres docket, Natalie Zed of Hellbound.ca posted a review of Woods of Ypres' Toronto concert at this location, and she gives a lot of deserved focus to the opening bands, where many reviews I've seen don't tend to. She almost spends as much time talking about past Woods of Ypres experiences and tour history as she does the actual show, but her review is well written and detailed in discussing how they performed, and they brought it by her account! Click here to read her review! Stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres updates as they come in!

And now, we come to some updates from local hard rockers Browbeat, who have a couple of new developments to share that came up over the weekend! For one, the band have announced the return of original bassist Tiffany Emmerson! Great to see her back, she was a good element to the band way back, though it doesn't look like a Chris Smith return is in the works, so it won't be a complete reunion, but a new drummer has apparently been chosen, but hasn't been announced yet. I'll keep you posted on that development! Also, the band have launched an official YouTube channel as well! Presumably the work of frontman Dutch Vanderploeg, it currently features two videos, one of which a slideshow video for their song "Narrow Mind" featuring the band's brief lineup that featured Rich Moreland and Sean See in the photos. Very good song, but the video I'm embedding here is a live performance clip from the band's last show, at their only show under the Social Play name in January, which is a cover of Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction", as filmed by Shelly McKie! Shaky camera work, but good quality, and it's a great performance, though the vocals sound kinda off. Check it out below, and more from Browbeat at the above links!



Finally today, here's some overdue updates from Sault Ontario guitar standout Brendan Christie! Brendan's been busy in recent months working on songs for his upcoming debut solo album, and has been making some nice edits to his MySpace page recently as well! There haven't been any brand new songs posted there, but check out what he has on there, cause his guitar work is VERY impressive! His blog on MySpace has also been a good source of updates for his solo project, but according to his newest post on July 11th, he's finally getting a band going! It's called Herityk, and he said that their MySpace page will be up soon! Great to hear, I've always thought since I found him online that he'd be an excellent addition to a metal band, I'll keep you posted on any Herityk developments! And finally for updates on Brendan, he posted a new video onto his YouTube channel on July 6th! It's a live demo performance of the solo on his original song "Epitaph For A Dying World", and it sound great, he's shredding some awesome notes and melodies, even if we only get 36 seconds of video! I wonder how the full song will sound? Check out the video below, and more from Brendan at the above links!



That's all for now, but stay tuned later tonight where we FINALLY go over the results of last month's poll and discuss this month's poll! The poll is launched, so VOTE TODAY!!! Stay tuned for lots of poll-related goodness, and updates on that Subsistance show, later tonight!

A Concert Cancellation, A New Local Band, And Much More!!

Greetings everyone! I have some more local metal news to share with everyone on this fine Wednesday evening! Mostly assorted news that's piled up lately, but we're kicking things off in style with a new local metal band and a concert cancellation. So here's what you need to know!

(EDIT: 4:32 PM): According to a posting on The Canadian Nightclub's Facebook group by Mary Lou Johnson, the planned performance by Burlington's 2112: A Tribute To Rush has been cancelled. No reason as to why was given, but to be fair, the band never announced the show on their website. In their place tomorrow night will be DJ Beetle, so if that's your thing, head on out! According to the same posting, Mary Lou mentioned that a Bon Jovi tribute band would be playing at The Canadian next weekend. I will research which band it is and will plug the show in my next post if I can verify which band. Stay tuned! Shame that 2112 cancelled, but they do a good job covering Rush, hopefully they will come here for a show one day in the near future!

Next up, I have discovered a new local metal band! They are called Hammerspace, they are a progressive metal band from Sault Michigan, and I just came across their MySpace page in some Google crawling I conducted earlier today! They launched their page on April 26th of this year, though depending when they wrote their description, may have been together since January. These guys have played live at least once, rocking out at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill on May 6th, and believe me, if I'd have known about Hammerspace then, I'd have alerted you guys to the show! The band consists of singer Logan Reed, guitarists Justin Smith & John Bergeron (creator of the local psychedelic/trance project Immortal Danish), former Burn The Day bassist Tim Padoba, and Bent Rollercoaster drummer Paul Burns! Nice to see them getting back into the local scene!

Hammerspace have no videos online that I've seen, but lucky us, they have audio! Click here to check out four live songs from a practice session in April! My assessment of them is: Not bad, the songs have a nice groove, though Logan definitely sounds better when he's using angrier harsher singing than with his cleaner singing voice. I imagine it'll be better to judge Hammerspace though when they get better audio samples, or more live shows booked, but they have obvious promise! I can't wait to hear more, and when I do, you'll find out here!

Thirdly today is some updates from local music store Case's Music, which has been a well known source of musical instruments and lessons for many years! Owner Mike Case handed over ownership of Case's Music to his nephew Jay Case and his wife Carrie Suriano, who will be renovating the Spring Street-based building this summer prior to a grand re-opening in September! Local music fans will be sure to recognize Jay from his work in numerous local bands, including Bigsuit, The Chris Belsito Band, The Wild Turkeys, and Big Wheel & The Spokes, so he's definitely got the music genes in him, and should do very well as the new "Case" of Case's Music! So to all you musicians out there, things are in good hands over at Case's Music! Sad to see Mike retire though, he was an ardent supporter of young local musicians, it was apparent each year with the Case's Music Battle of the Bands he put on, which helped give some young local bands their first exposure, including 2008 high school division winners Stillbroke! Also of note, Jay will be bringing many new musicians with him for the re-opening as additional teachers at Case's Music, mostly bandmates of his, including Crank Sound Distribution's George Ravlich (himself a veteran of some local metal/hard rock bands) as a bass instructor! Check out SooToday's article on the Case's Music ownership change by clicking here!

Before we close with some assorted quick stories, here's a new video I found online from local metal guitarist/solo artist Brendan Christie! It's an acoustic performance of the first movement of a new classical piece he wrote called "Ode To Darkness", and I have to say, I like it! It has kind of an ominous melody that would fit well in a metal song if he chose to go that route with it! I've always been impressed with Brendan's talent, this is just another example of the things he can do on his guitar that set him apart! Check it out below, and visit his YouTube channel for more videos from him, or his MySpace page for audio samples and more!



Finally for today, three more random stories from my news pile, in order by band name:

• SooToday has been running a weekly feature called "Friday Hot Shot" since April, which features a locally relevant photo of some type taken by Donna Hopper. This past Friday, it featured a photo of Lion Ride guitarist Marky Lion from their concert on May 22nd at The Canadian Nightclub! Curious that there was no review of the show posted too, but I'll take what we can get! Check out the great photo by clicking here!
• My apologies for the lateness of this, I don't know how it slipped me by! A new local band named Nocturnal Majesty (out of Sault Ontario) are looking for a drummer who would like to play for them! Kory Derasp from the band stresses that anyone interested must be a serious drummer. Their old drummer left for family reasons. If you're interested in trying out for this position in Nocturnal Majesty, contact Kory Derasp at this location! Just to note, they practice on Mondays and Tuesdays. Sorry for the late posting of this, Kory!!
  
• The announcements of bands playing the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival has been incredibly slow, hopefully they announce a full lineup soon! Regardless, I have found another confirmed band! Boston rock band StilrizE will be back for the festival, playing on July 23rd as one of the support bands for Three Doors Down, along with Finding Clyde and many others! You may recognize StilrizE as one of the bands who backed up Papa Roach last November at Kewadin! I don't think StilrizE are really "metal", but seeing as they're part of the festival, they should get mentioned! More about the festival as it comes in!

That's all for now, I will have much more in the next few days! Friday is likely for a new post, I have an announcement to make on Friday concerning the SMS' 3rd anniversary, so keep an eye out for it, because I need your help concerning it! Stay tuned!