A New Local Band, Tarnished Concert Preview & Updates, And Much More!!

I've got another new news post for your guys on this Friday morning, and it's packed with a lot of shorter stories from the last little while, plus a concert preview and related updates, and leading off, a brand new addition to our band links! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, and they are named Dealing Without! Details are minimal on this band so far, but they have a promising lineup, including Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past bandmates Jordan Rains and Arthur Lacasse on vocals & guitar respectively, alongside former Big Mistake guitarist Rick Atkins and ex-Fitswitch drummer Larry Mousseau. A bassist has not been brought on board yet, but Arthur had posted in the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday looking for one (they do have a jam spot.) Message Art at this link or above for details! It's not yet clear if Dealing Without's existence will mean anything negative towards The Isolation Sessions' status, though note that they did post on Facebook as recently as January, and remember that their nature & inception were very tied into the pandemic.

Sonic inspirations with Half Past's final lineups will be easy to make re: Dealing Without, but time will tell how they truly look and sound. Will they jump in on the social distance-regulated concert scene where available, or will their live debut wait until things are more opened up? Time will tell, but this lineup has the chops! Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more updates on Dealing Without when they rolls in!

Next up, here's a rare weekend concert preview, as Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (minus Nathan) will perform publically in Hulbert Township for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT at The Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast! A new venue for us, this bed & breakfast at 9920 South North Hulbert Road has hosted a few live bands in recent months, and hopefully will serve to be a solid venue for Alex & Josh's unplugged cover attack! If you're up for the hour-long drive west to Hulbert, this show has no announced age limit or cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. While we're on the subject, Tarnished will also be taking a rare road trip outside of our coverage range to Traverse City today for a show at The Workshop Brewing Company (details here), and will be appearing again on The Eagle 95.1 with Tim Ellis again at 9:10 AM today for the exclusive public debut of their new single "SDR&R"!

Pre-orders for the single will proceed after the interview, though availability of it beyond the FM dial is to be confirmed. Tarnished are definitely staying busy this weekend, so follow along with all of their upcoming activities on their Facebook page or above, and to preview tomorrow's Hulbert Happy Hour gig, here's Alex & Josh live!

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

 

• I have removed Sault Ontario death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud from our band links again due to the unfortunate deletion of their known online pages & media for unannounced reasons at some point in the last couple of months. Black Cloud had previously done this in late 2019, before returning with new pages that were updated from February-July of last year. Peytan has definite potential in extreme metal, and hopefully we see Black Cloud return (again) in some form again down the road!
• I have replaced the link for local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore from their surprisingly deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page. As far as I can tell, C.T.W. are still active, as their other social media accounts are still up, and have been updated as recently as January, though it's worth noting that C.T.W.'s deleted page was previously Tyler's cybergrind project Malignant Neoplasm's page after the closure of their original page. Maybe it was taken down due to content flags, given their very polarizing imagery & subject matter? In any event, we'll let you know when Tyler has new music updates from any of his projects!
• Hard rock musician Mike McCleary has been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, last being seen posting a single on Bandcamp in February 2020. A quickly prolific addition to our coverage, Mike released a number of digital albums to Bandcamp in the late 2010s, often dealing lyrically in his own mental health battles & national politics, but his public profile sharply decreased in 2019 due to personal concerns, including the deletion of his Facebook page & two of his more political albums. Mike's a talented guy, and hopefully he resumes his original music again in the future!
• Local post-punk duo Orange are "coming back, baby!", as per their Facebook page on Tuesday. Featuring Telephone & Address' Christopher Shoust on drums alongside Ohio-based guitarist Matt Zook, Orange initially reunited in 2014 for studio work and album plans, but aside from some Soundcloud postings, nothing came of it until their last proper public update in March 2015. Good to see Orange back after six years, and they are back in our active links!
  
• Last week, The Soo's Got Talent posted on their Facebook page to say that they're "looking into going virtual", and asked fans what they thought about the idea. We all know why the multi-week local talent competition didn't take place last fall, and with lingering uncertainty even with vaccines beginning to roll out, hosting the 2021 installment online may make sense to bring The Soo's Got Talent back in the near term. Stay tuned for updates!
  
• Veteran ska/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog have been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The fan favourite band has not been seen since rocking The Esquire Club on February 9th of last year, though the pandemic & their lack of a recent online page are both acknowledged. After a successful reunion set at Rotaryfest in 2018, frontman Mark Oliverio brought Tripod The Dog back full-time in 2019 on the local bar cover circuit, though gigs were spaced out moreso than other contemporaries. Hopefully we'll see Mark and the Amendolas back at it when concerts as normal can return!

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: black cloud, Frank Thomas, and Dave Prendergast

Here is our last monthly feature post of October 2020, namely this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This ongoing feature looks at up to 3 YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk acts, all of which are randomly selected from our active YouTube subscriptions. This month, we drew 3 channels, as the first only had 3 audio demos, which means I only pull one to feature in the post, so I added two more channels who only had one SMS-relevant video. Still, there's some interesting stuff to see, so here's what you should know!

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black cloud (http://youtube.com/channel/UC9DYv-NpD7poW1R839JBdcA)
 

Owner: Black Cloud project leader Peytan Andreola

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 5th, 2019; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud, it used to feature more content than what is currently present (including their full debut album "Abstract Sounds"), but a swath of video deletions preceded the upload of their remaining three audio demos (a self-titled song, "Bloodbaiting", and as embedded below, "Ghost Stomp"). Black Cloud's minimalist brutality is still a work in progress, but there is promise on these demos, and hopefully Peytan keeps at it into the new year!

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Frank Thomas (http://youtube.com/channel/UCSxehYsMJF-TI0DG_aZlmOw)

Owner: YouTube user and area resident Frank Thomas

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 10th, 2012; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: While still actively used for personal needs, Frank's only video is from California punk legends The Offspring's headlining set at GFL Memorial Gardens on November 19th, 2019, where he filmed their three opening songs ("Americana", "All I Want", and "Come Out & Play"). Despite a vertical camera angle, this relatively central video captures lively and faithful performances from The Offspring (albeit with Dexter's deeper modern voice), and this is definitely worth a watch for fans who saw or missed this show last year! There are a lot more videos on YouTube from this show courtesy of other attendees.

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Dave Prendergast (http://youtube.com/channel/UClVaIeCdzMZVVdmvnoSYL7g) 

Owner: Former Nebraska Arms, Gilmour, and Small Town Rivals guitarist Dave Prendergast

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 4th, 2009; Videos posted that day and on September 17th, 2010

Channel Summary: Aside from a 10 second video of him jousting at camp a'la American Gladiators, Dave's only video here is of his late 2000s indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms playing their original song "Clockwork" at the original Coch's Corner location on Boxing Day in 2008. The band was represented here by Dave alongside the late Guy Thiffault (The Hangdowns) on vocals & bass, Wayne Watkins (Northwest) on guitar, and Adam Sauve (Renderware) on drums. The scratchy audio is a hindrance, as can be the tight camera angle, but this was a solid performance by this talented new group, and luckily, there are more videos of theirs floating around elsewhere!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around November 27th when we look at YouTube user jonasgasperas' channel, featuring 10 videos of Jonas' old metal band Winkstinger from their original heyday! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Squatfest Concert Preview, Plus A New Live-Streamed Concert!!

Let's close up our first true hard rock concert weekend in the Soo in over four months by previewing a big outdoor house party event tomorrow night, with a live-streamed concert to round things out! Here's what you should know!

With the hard rock concert schedule in Sault Ontario easing back into operation this week, here's the first public multi-band event in the pandemic era, as lots of Blood Shed Productions-affiliated artists will congregate in nearby Heyden TOMORROW NIGHT for Squatfest! To be held outdoors at 5 Dixie Drive (near Christie's RV; look for Nessie), promoters have confirmed that this is a publically attendable event with paid admission, despite the Facebook event page being set to private. Similar in spirit to the Oh!No festival in Leeburn, attendees are welcome to camp at the Squatfest site, enjoy the outdoor amenities on the property, stay overnight, and even come by tonight for a planned bonfire jam and to help set the stage up. Promoted by Blood Shed owner Tyler Gibson and assorted collaborators, a huge lineup of familiar and somewhat newer acts are slated for tomorrow night at Squatfest, so who all can you expect? I will go in order of listed acts on the event page here.

Four solo acts are listed at the top of the event page's lineup, including ex-Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman (and Blood Shed co-founder) Austin McCrae in a rare solo set, former Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti, prolific folk/punk musician (The Ghost Of) Chase James Wigmore, and Tyler's drum-and-bass side project Alegendary. Chase will reunite with Strange Coyotes bandmate James Watterworth for that funk metal band's second reunion set tomorrow night, while Blood Shed-affiliated death metal one man bands Black Cloud and Tyler's own Crucify the Whore will also take the stage. Party/rap metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will make a rare live appearance at Squatfest, as will rappers Joonas "JSK" Kamula and Austin's rap alter ego Miracle Man. Lastly, the Strange Coyotes will split off into two more solo acts, including James' scarcely seen solo set, while Chase will deliver some extreme metal under his Awokest handle. More unadvertised performers are also planned, we'll let you know if we hear anything.

This presumably all ages event has a 12:00 PM start time, and while a $5 admission fee was previously advertised, it is no longer referenced on the event page. Band and Blood Shed merchandise will be on sale, food and drinks will be available (please don't bring glass bottles), and while Tyler is asking attendees to respect the area and stay clean and on the property, nothing directly references social distancing measures, but of course, please use common sense. This sounds like an ambitious but fun event, especially if you love the Blood Shed roster of artists, so consider a trip up to Heyden tomorrow for Squatfest! For a preview, here's Chase live!



Finally for today, let's get into local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's 34th live-streamed concert, which took place on Tuesday on his YouTube channel! I won't lump yesterday's live-stream in here as it was at a separate location (the Motley Market, host of his Thursday matinee gigs this month), but I am currently planning to hold that one for when we preview his show there next week. After blocking external embedding privileges of his last 7 live-streams, that quarantine has quietly been lifted, so this episode is embedded below! Again, I hope it wasn't because of anything I said or did. Yesterday's live-stream begins about 7 minutes in with a Spanish guitar instrumental, which seems rare to lead off these at-home shows with, but it's well performed as usual! The covers proper lead off with Berlin's "Take My Breath Away", Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", Amy Holland's "Shooting For The Moon",  ...

...Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive", Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", and Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart", before Tym played an original song named "The Hardest Stone", which he originally did with his old Hollow bandmates. Tym next tackles Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver", before dipping into the instrumental well again with an adaptation of a classical piece, followed by a cover of The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon", a partial version of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons' "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". and two Days of the New songs ("Shelf In The Room" & "Touch, Peel, and Stand"). After playing a lengthy original instrumental, Tym finished with covers of Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", and The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". Fun set with lots of classic and occasionally heavy cuts to check out from this talented local veteran!

There did seem to be more chatter between songs with the live viewers, but Tym offered good insights into certain songs and his compositions! However, fans who aren't as into instrumentals may not like their extra focus here, and the Bryan Adams and Jim Croce songs were repeated from last Thursday's live-stream. For the first time in almost a month, give this live-stream a watch below, and stay tuned for his Thursday show in an upcoming post!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Two Local Solo Acts, Plus Lots Of Recent Updates!!

Things have been painfully slow as of late, but I have scraped together enough content for a post on this Sunday afternoon! This is half devoted to assorted short items, but leading off, we do have some videos from a pair of very different local solo artists. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison hosted his 27th live-streamed concert on his YouTube channel on Tuesday, so what is there to see here? Nothing on the SMS directly, unfortunately, as Tym has quietly disabled external embedding on his last few YouTube uploads for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing bad happened, and hopefully I didn't do anything wrong by embedding prior live-streams on the site! Of course, you can still watch on YouTube proper, and Tuesday's show begins about 11 minutes in with renditions of Supertramp's "The Logical Song" and Tears For Fears' "Mad World", before Tym acknowledges the dreaded return of video lag, which has been an issue on a number of his prior live-streams. Afterwards, he tackles Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud", an instrumental composition and some banter, Prince & The Revolution's "When Doves Cry", Berlin's "Take My Breath Away", and Toto's "Love Isn't Always On Time".

Tym ended the show early after that due to the video lag issues, and that was it for his live-streams last week, as he did not do a public at-home concert at all on Thursday. I have not seen an announcement as to why online, but between his internet problems & last week's immense heat, they both could have been factors. Tuesday's show was entertaining while it lasted, and the choppy video wasn't as bad as it has been, but it was still noticeable late, and he did just do the Berlin & Toto covers the previous Thursday. Again, this live-stream does not work for external embedding at the moment, but watch it above, and look for more on Tuesday, one assumes!

Next up, here's a video that I can embed, courtesy of local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud's YouTube channel! Peytan has recently been overhauling his content there, deleting all old videos (including the "Abstract Sounds" demo again), and re-uploading his original songs "Ghost Stomp" & "Bloodbaiting". Embedded below is the only brand new upload, the self-titled song "Black Cloud", which has a nice driving riff, but the structure and intensity of the harsh vocals need some refinement. Hopefully Black Cloud keeps at it, and give their new-ish songs a listen above and below!



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

• In their first Facebook page updates in over two months, local extreme metal solo project Awokest announced that they have finished tracking for two new albums, a guitar-heavy release named "The Majestic Seagulls of Satan's Army", and an electronic-based album named "Beyonder", though they await a final mix and master. Cover artwork was shared for both as well. Time will tell if these will receive a paid release or be like Chase's prolific round of past free albums, but stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
• While there was no Go North Music Festival in Richards Landing this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers made due with a live-streamed concert on July 2nd featuring Calgary/Toronto indie rock band The Fast Romantics and local musicians Jesse Merineau & Frank Deresti, all festival veterans. No punk or hard rock on this reduced bill, but it's great to see organizers turning lemons into lemonade in a tough year, so click here or visit the Music & Film In Motion Facebook page to see the whole show!
• New local acoustic hard rock band The Isolation Sessions are looking for a second guitarist, bassist, and drummer to round out their lineup, and are "looking to have some fun." It'd be great to see this band have a fuller profile when they can finally play live, so message guitarist Arthur Lacasse at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on June 28th for more details!
• Kewadin Casino has quietly announced that their normal live entertainment schedule at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace will "tentatively" resume after August 1st, implying that live bands will be back at both locations starting with the weekend of August 7th-8th. Hopefully there are no further setbacks this month, and that Kewadin puts all possible social distancing measures into effect! For reference, Paradise Excuse frontman Mark Bowen has already announced return dates there and elsewhere on his Facebook page.
• Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith has announced that episode #14 of his live-streamed #LockdownLive concerts will take place tomorrow on his Facebook page. The unusual scheduling for his first monthly episode is due to "a pretty crazy month ahead", and I believe fans were consulted on possible dates on his private fans-only Facebook group. No word on a theme, but keep watch on Mike's Facebook page tomorrow night for all of the action, with an SMS recap to follow!
• Veteran local musician Richard Overton is "looking for a drummer who loves classic rock", specifically one with "a heavy foot (and) lots of bottom end". There is already some interest, but just in case this apparent band project crosses the hard rock line, I thought I'd mention it here. Message Richard at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from June 29th for more details!

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

A Full Concert Video, SMAC-19 Benefit Updates, And Some New Demo Tracks!!

Before we get to today's news post, just a heads up that A Dire Setback's self-titled debut CD is now on sale on CDBaby for $9.99! Of course, tonight's planned CD release concert was postponed, and while they haven't officially confirmed availability on streaming services, the band had mentioned on the concert's Facebook event page that it'd be available "everywhere" tomorrow. To give more time to listen and have the review ready, I'm planning to post our review either tomorrow or on Monday, so stay tuned for that, and for now, here's some new videos and recent updates!

Helping to fill time while they can't play shows, local power rock quartet Re:Born posted a full concert set of theirs from last year onto their Facebook page on Sunday! Specifically, this comes from their Rockstar Bar headlining show on June 29th, 2019, which served as a farewell party for guitarist Blair Burch's son Cory before his year-long move out west. If you want to read my review of Cory's Bon Voyage Party, including video footage of Re:Born and the opening bands, click here. The videos were originally intended for Cory's private viewing as a farewell gift, and the band did warn fans that this was more of a loose, freeform, and "slightly alcohol tinged" set than normal for them. Uploaded in three chunks due to Re:Born's camera having a 23 minute recording limit per video, the first chunk is embedded below, where you can see them tackle Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law", their original "Running Away", Guns N' Roses' "My Michelle", Kissin' Dynamite's "Sex Is War", ...

...Motley Crue's "Live Wire", and the beginning of Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years". That song is continued into the second video, which also features Re:Born playing Black Sabbath's "Children of the Sea", Edguy's "Lavatory Love Machine" (featuring guest singer Alandra Brooks), their original "Die Another Day", and Billy Talent's "Viking Death March", notably featuring drummer Brandan Glew on lead vocals. The set concludes in the third video with the end of "Viking Death March" and a cover of Halestorm's "Love Bites", and also includes the band leaving the stage and mingling for the rest of it's 10 minute run time. The video quality is pretty good, if not centred to the stage, and everyone's clearly having a good time on a bittersweet night, but the audio quality is the drawback here, as vocals can often be muffled and drowned out by the instruments. Still, this is our longest and most substantial look at Re:Born yet, ad hopefully we'll see them (and everyone else) on stage again soon! Check out the first part of Re:Born's full set below, and see much more above from it!



Next up, lots of talented local musicians will join forces for a special live-streamed "online benefit concert"called SMAC-19 (Sault Musicians Against COVID-19) on Wednesday! Coordinated by new local internet radio station The Borderline, this is similar in intent to last week's Coronafest, but all-local and much bigger in scope and length, with plans to support the Sault Area Hospital Foundation's emergency operations, which is even more important than ever nowadays, though I don't know if/how organizers are facilitating donations. The Mike's Lunch Music Facebook group lists a massive schedule of 20 local musicians and acts performing sets of 15 or 30 minutes apiece, and much like at last fall's The Soo's Got Talent, local rap/party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are massive outliers as the only metal/hard rock band on the bill, with their 15 minute set scheduled for 11:15 PM as the day's penultimate performance (DJ Peter Florio will close SMAC-19 at 11:30 PM.) The other acts largely don't have obvious hard rock ties, but there are a lot of familiar faces!

Among artists you'll see on Wednesday (starting at 3:30 PM) are M.D. Dunn, Eric Brombacher (minus The Soo), DJ Seith, ex-Thin Ice frontman Nathan Albidone, Sault Michigan's Tyler Dettloff (ex-Insipid Brutality), Rising Tide guitarist Liam Seymour, Al Wood (minus The Woodsmen), Papa Fogals Chair alum Andy Chillman, Lindsay Pugh, and Jacob Quarrell. Facebook live-streaming has picked up a lot of steam this year as a stop-gap while concert venues remain closed, and hopefully SMAC-19 will deliver more entertaining music performances! Tune into Mike's Lunch Music linked above to watch!

We'll close today with the latest YouTube channel uploads from local death metal solo project Black Cloud, as Peytan quietly uploaded each individual song from his debut demo "Abstract Sounds" there earlier this week, though some have amended titles (like "Wanders" rather than "Wanderers".) However, two brand new instrumental demo tracks were posted there too, entitled "Bloodbaiting" and, as embedded below, "Ghost Stomp". It's not yet clear on if these songs will be part of his next release "Ambient Silence" or not, but if that title isn't ironic, these obviously wouldn't be applicable there. These are works in progress that would benefit from louder and more focused drums, but it's good to hear new stuff from Black Cloud, and while we haven't heard from them on social media in the past month, the new YouTube activity seem like a good sign for fans. Check out "Ghost Stomp" below, and hear more above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for either our A Dire Setback CD review or part 2 of our WLS0 9O.1 FM retrospective series on the site tomorrow, but both are coming in the near future! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Woodhawk & The Sick Sons), The Return Of Black Cloud, And More!!

I have quite a backlog of stories to tackle right now, so let's keep things rolling on the SMS with a post half devoted to new songs and updates from a prominent independent label's camp, but first, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring at the same venue that you punk fans will want to take notice of!

New local punk supergroup The Sick Sons will make their 2020 debut and first ever headlining concert appearance on Friday, March 20th when they rock LopLops Lounge! Returning to the site of their December concerts opening for established local punk acts,  this will be their fifth live concert total and will be a quality tune-up gig before they help open A Dire Setback's CD release show at LopLops the following weekend. With a stacked lineup of name punk artists from the past 20 years, genre fans won't want to miss The Sick Sons next month! The opener will be masked local folk punk solo project Slumshine in his/their second concert of 2020, and this should be a good platform for Brent to get his material back out there after a few months off! Stay tuned for more on Slumshine in the near future. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has a $5 cover charge. This should be a fine concert for punk fans to check out next month with many familiar faces, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details as they roll in!

Next up, Calgary stoner hard rock quartet Woodhawk will make their local concert debut on Tuesday, April 21st when they headline at LopLops themselves! An unusually heavy headliner for this venue, Woodhawk are touring in support of their new album "Violent Nature", and this should be a fine platform for their melodic yet riff-heavy brand of original rock, and they straddle a couple genre lines, so many different fans should take to their sound! Local support will include alt-punk trio A Dire Setback in their first announced show following their CD release party at LopLops next month, so will they have hard copies for sale three weeks later? In any event, momentum will be on their side! Adding to the hodgepodge of genres here, DJ Seith is advertised to kick things off with another set of his turntable mixes, so what vinyl will he be unveiling for the occasion? Be there to find out, if you can swing a Tuesday nighter in two months! This event is brought to you by the Oh!No Collective in their first announced concert booking of 2020.

A 19+ concert as usual for LopLops, doors open at 8:00 PM on April 21st, and admission is either $10 at the door or the "pay what you can" model. Nice mix of sounds in store for this concert, and Woodhawk definitely sound promising alone, so keep this weeknight concert in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Also, here's something we briefly alluded to in this month's poll write-up last week, but haven't included in a formal post yet, as local experimental/death metal solo project Black Cloud are back! After quietly closing all of their social media accounts and deleting their "Abstract Sounds" demo from Bandcamp late last year, project leader Peytan Andreola reversed course by launching a new Facebook page on January 31st, with a new YouTube channel to match. Posts on Facebook have been minimal since, but Peytan revealed on Saturday that he's "close to finishing lyrics" for some sort of release called "Ambient Silence", while he is apparently planning to revisit songs from "Abstract Sounds", which could explain why it was taken off of Bandcamp. In any event, "Abstract Sounds" in it's original form can be streamed on the new YouTube channel. The other video there is actually a podcast interview with Peytan where he talks about Black Cloud's existing and future projects. This is a 27 minute interview, so be warned before listening.

You do get some interesting insights from this still relatively new project, but how much of this will see the light of day as described in the interview? Time will tell! Embedded below is Black Cloud's first new song post-return, as uploaded to their new label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Spill The Blood (And For All I Care Let The Blood Spill In The Air)". More of a noise rock song with no growled vocals and almost too much percussion, there is definitely musical and production growth, and signing with Blood Shed makes perfect sense! Give Black Cloud's new song a listen below, and they're back in our active band links!



Finally, let's close with another new video posting on the aforementioned Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel, which has been posting new sampler material from assorted acts with releases in the works in 2020 as of late, including established rapper Miracle Man and an electronic project named Nothing Good. However, metalheads will be most interested in the new song from the label's flagship solo project Crucify the Whore, entitled "Whorticulture". Planned to be on a full length release called "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buying It", it gives 73 seconds of punishing grindcore, minimalistic as it may be, so fans will want to give it a listen below, and stay tuned for more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished), Mike Haggith's New Song, And Much More!!

With a special Wednesday night concert on the docket, it's only fair to preview it today, with that band's other shows this weekend and related LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS attached, but we also have a new song upload and some more recent updates to fill things out. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have a busy stretch ahead, with four shows in four days, most prominently including their debuts at The Double D Bar & Grill at Dondee Lanes TONIGHT, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY NIGHT! Yes, they are playing a rare Wednesday show here tonight, and no, they are not rocking the local bowling alley's on-site nightclub tomorrow for unannounced reasons. It's not immediately clear whether these will have the full now-quartet lineup or if these will all feature Alex (and company?) unplugged, but Tarnished should have three great nights of hard rocking covers in store, no matter what form they're taking here! These are all 7:00 PM shows with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charge. If you want to see Tarnished TOMORROW, then head to Biggby Coffee for the latest stop in their "every Thursday" run there, and while we're on the subject, let's add their likely matinee gigs on December 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th shows there to our calendar!

Approach the December dates with caution, especially if they/the coffee-shop have a holiday break, but "every Thursday" means what it means until otherwise stated. All of these dates, tomorrow included, have 12:00 PM matinee start times, no age limits, and no cover. Visit the above links and the Dondee Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Tarnished at Biggby Coffee two weeks ago (I think), courtesy of the venue's Facebook page! This video features frontman Alex Traynor alongside new rhythm guitarist Nathan Webber in his first footage with any version of Tarnished, and the two are seen here covering Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" for tips and coffee. The 2 minute video is well shot and framed well for the vertical camera angle, and Alex and Nathan sound good together, so give it a look below, and look for much more from Tarnished in the Soo tonight in the coming days!



Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario (well, technically Thompson, Manitoba), where local alternative/hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith unveiled the final studio copy of his new original song "The Best You Never Had" on his YouTube channel on November 1st! Apologies for the delay, this fell between the cracks for far too long. Planned to be the opening track on his upcoming studio album "If Ever Comes The Day", I will hold full comment pending our review of the whole CD, but the song will please long-time fans of his, especially if you've been craving some more upbeat, plugged-in material. Give it a listen below, and keep watch for more updates from Mike's camp!



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

• I have removed local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud from our active band links due to the quiet deletion of all of their social media and online pages, sadly also including their "Abstract Sounds" album on Bandcamp. There was room for improvement, but Black Cloud had promise and a unique musical approach that would have been especially effective at the peak of Blood Shed Productions' live run, and hopefully Peytan resurfaces in a new project when the time is right!
• Popular downtown nightclub Reggie's Place apparently closed permanently on September 15th, as per Facebook advertising for Maxx Entertainment-affiliated concerts there that weekend. A reason for the closure has not been announced online that I know of, but Reggie's had only re-opened less than 4 months prior after lengthy renovations following the August 2017 fire above the venue. We only covered a handful of Mourning Wood & Soundcheck shows there due to it's country cover focus, but Reggie's was a long-standing and fan favourite bar for decades, and best of luck to Reggie and company at the still-open Reggie's West! 
• I have also removed defunct local alt-metal duo Troubled Mind from our inactive band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past year. Spiritual successors to Skull After Betrayl, this project was only sporadically active in 2015, posting one video and hyping some irreverent original content in the process. They had talent, and hopefully Mike & Adam stay active musically!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for full weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Black Cloud - "Abstract Sounds" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 122nd monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and for a second straight month, we're looking at a new release from a solo artist, namely new local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud's debut demo album "Abstract Sounds"! Independently released on June 27th, this is the first full length release from this project, as led by local singer/guitarist Peytan Andreola, who is the only credited artist on the album. On sale via Black Cloud's Bandcamp page as well as a homemade physical pressing, copies are available to download for $5 or more, but you can also stream the whole thing for free there as well. That said, consider buying the whole thing to support Peytan's work! As usual for albums on there, song names below are linked to their Bandcamp copies. With 9 songs running for about 43 minutes in length, let's begin our review of "Abstract Sounds" with it's opening track "Death March", which is also it's shortest song overall.

An instrumental track with a very deliberate pace, this song feels like it's going somewhere, but it's not overly polished, and it could really use a percussion track. The bass work isn't up to the guitar's promise, and while it has an ominous tone, it strikes me as the intro to a song that was cut, and the 7 second break in music at the 63 second mark wasn't placed well. I like where it's going, but it needed more time. Second is "Undead Hordes", which is more of a fully realized song that has good guitar work, and there is a percussion element via what sounds like a shaker of some kind in the background, which adds a bit of flavour! That said, the production quality isn't great, and I think Peytan needs to revise the structure of how this song is laid out, as after a while, it starts to wander around too much. It's an improvement on the opener, however!

Song #3 is Black Cloud's eponymously titled "Black Cloud", which is also the first song on the album with vocals. Peytan seems to have a good death growl with clear enunciation (I prefer clarity in my harsh vocals), but they're not mixed well with the music, so they can be hard to make out. Structurally, this song has the best layout and pacing yet, but I'd have had more substantial percussion than what's on offer here. The guitar work is solid, and overall, the album is steadily trending upward, which is a good sign! That's followed by "Meet/Greet The Reaper", which is much quieter and scratchier in sound than it's preceding tracks. I don't know what happened, but this sounds like it was Peytan's first recording ever and he chose not to re-record it with the rest. This is unfortunate, especially as this song has the best and fastest percussion track yet, but the vocals and guitar work are so inaudible, it negates the song's pacing and aggression, as there is a good song here!

Fifth up is "Stream of Dreams", which opens with a softer and more melodic guitar intro before diving into full death metal territory, a sequence which reprises twice later before ending softly as well. The song has far better sound and production than "Meet/Greet The Reaper", and has good aggression, with vocals mixed in a little cleaner, but the lack of percussion doesn't help at all. The song's pacing and structure could stand to be addressed again, but there's things to build on! Then we have "Wanderers", which has some of Peytan's most ferocious vocal work yet, which is nice to see being built up, but the music is more reserved and doesn't come across as heavy and in your face as you would expect. Percussion does return, albeit more like a hand drum effect in the background, but at least there's something. The song proper appears to be laid out better, but I wish the guitar was louder and more forceful, as the vocals far outshine them here.

Song #7 is the album's title track "Abstract Sounds", which has a solid and heavy riff, and the vocals are suitably aggressive, but this is a song that needs more structural variance and care. This has a few stop/start transitions too many, and the guitar can wander a bit, but the song isn't overly long, and the light percussion (which sounds programmed) does speed up fittingly to go with the guitar. Not a bad song for what it is! That's followed by "No Bares Holded (Soaked In Blood)", which is it's correct title with that spelling, including the presumed spoonerism of "No Holds Barred." Opening with a hand drum, the song proper gives Peytan a chance to showcase his guitar talents for a couple of minutes before vocals kick in. This is probably my favourite song on the album for intensity and compostion, with his guitar work particularly solid, and the vocals matched up well, but of course, this song could be filled out with more instruments.

"Abstract Sounds" closes with it's longest song "Nature's Wrath",  which also gives a good showcase to Peytan's guitar riffs, though here, they almost feel like parts of a few songs stitched together. I like the clear, enunciated vocals, and the song has a lot of good points, but I think it could have been tightened up musically, and some of the extended instrumental sections in particular could have used some editing, or at least added musical elements.

So, what are my final thoughts on Black Cloud's debut album? Overall, this album has a lot of promising components that I'd love to see Peytan Andreola build on, but it is a work in progress, at least at this juncture. Peytan is a good guitarist with death metal vocals to match, but much like earlier Blood Shed Productions solo projects, his music would sound a lot fuller and more complete with extra musicians, particularly a bassist and full-time drummer (even a drum machine more regularly would help.) As these songs stand, they are generally well performed, but the structure and pacing of many of them could use another pass through, and I don't know what happened to "Meet/Greet The Reaper." One thing I noticed is, despite Black Cloud's own advertising of having trance and world elements, I didn't get much of that here beyond the hand drums, and if Peytan implemented them more, he'd immediately stand out locally.

I did like a lot of the album though, especially later songs like "No Bares Holded", and if Peytan can iron out some of the kinks and give these songs some extra production and time, he'd have even more to showcase here. There's work to do, but Black Cloud are on the right track, and I hope they can build on things on future releases, but see what you think at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what's coming on the site for our September 2019 album review? At the moment, I'm not sure, but our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post will give some hints as to new album releases that may be in line! In any event, our next review will not be of an Awokest, Inner City Surfers, or Treble Charger album due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer period between reviews of the same band. If we review an archive album next month, could we dip into the Oh!No artist well for something we haven't reviewed yet? Stay tuned for updates, and for more news & updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Ripcordz & Soundcheck), A New Album, And New Videos!!

Before we dive into Rotaryfest fallout, let's tackle some recent and overdue news and notes, including a surprise album release, new videos, and leading off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this fall!

With our Sault Ontario concert calendar now listing shows through early November from other bands, let's add three more concert weekends from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's own 2019 concert calendar to our listings! As revealed there (with new promotion hopefully following closer to showtime), fans can see Soundcheck back at Reggie's West for Friday & Saturday nighters on September 13th & 14th, and then on October 18th & 19th, shows which sandwich a return weekend at The Esquire Club on October 4th & 5th. Of course, there will likely be more shows coming from Soundcheck that aren't on the Reggievelt/Esquire-heavy concert calendar above, not to mention shows beyond October, so stay tuned for word on those if they come out. You can enjoy Travis, Terry, Paul, and Glen's hard rocking classic hits on all six nights at 10:00 PM-ish start times with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz will return to Sault Ste. Marie for one night only on Saturday, November 9th when they headline at The Rockstar Bar! Yes, this is advertised as being upstairs at The Rockstar Bar, not The Algonquin Pub, where they've played thrice before. After playing a local venue annually in the latter half of the year from 2013-2017, Paul Gott and company did not play a Soo date at all last year, so the anticipation is high for hardcore punk fans to take in The Ripcordz' extensive setlist, albeit later into the year than ever before, I think! Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will open this concert, marking their sixth straight time opening for their "Fed Up!" split-mates locally, with at least one additional opening band to be announced (for reference, the other opening act in 2017 was Stegadeth.) Once again promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, this 19+ concert will have $10 advance tickets (availability details forthcoming), but unlike in 2017, the price jumps to $15 at the door.

Not seeing a Ripcordz show locally last year was very unusual, but better now than never for their seventh and final Sault Ste. Marie concert of the 2010s, and I know there will be a great turnout this fall! Visit the official Facebook event page for continuing details on this concert as they roll in!

Also, here's some long overdue updates from new local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud, who quietly (and surprisingly) released their debut album onto their new Bandcamp page on June 27th! Entitled "Abstract Sounds", the Peytan Andreola-led act recorded nine songs for the album, which is available for $7 (or more) at the above links, eschewing the recent trend of "name your price" payment models for local bands on there, though you can stream the whole thing there for free too. While lo-fi in this state, the songs all have substantive length and don't have overtly provocative lyrics, so keep "Abstract Sounds" in mind if those aspects interest you! As a new paid album release, this is absolutely eligible for an SMS review, perhaps in the coming week, so stay tuned! Now, elsewhere from the Black Cloud camp, Peytan had posted a handful of new videos onto their Facebook page a couple of months back, so what is there to see from these?

Most recently, Peytan shared a video of him covering Devildriver's "Swinging the Dead", though it's hard to discern his performance over the original song. You get a better sense of his skill on this solid acoustic jam clip, plus two live streamed videos from May 28th (a 4 minute clip linked here, and the 43 minute long video embedded below.) Your best bet for audio clarity is the first 10 minutes, as Peytan's guitar was turned way down for most of it. He has growling ability and guitar skill, but he could stand to fill out the songs and improve on the structure and pacing. Is this present on "Abstract Sounds"? Find out soon, and see more above & below!

Finally for today, here's some new footage of local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith, courtesy of his Facebook page earlier this month! Over the Canada Day weekend, Mike played at a private event with Thompson-area musicians, and he posted two videos from that set onto Facebook afterward, featuring him on vocals & rhythm guitar alongside guitarist John Ham, drummer Kory Wickdahl, and Mike's Between the Ditches bandmate Justin Fuciarelli on bass. For what it's worth, there are personal Facebook videos floating around of Mike and many of the same musicians from a more recent outdoor jam concert, but at press time, those haven't been publically shared that I know of. In terms of the Canada Day private gig, Mike and friends can be seen covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (a fine pick for the then-impending Fourth of July), and as embedded below, Mike's own solo original "The Nature of the Times."

These performances sound good, and the extra rock base from the full band (temporary as it may be) does help the song, in this listener's view! I'm not a huge fan of "Free Bird", but that cover's handled well also. The videos' biggest issue is the tight camera angle which only captures Mike and Justin with any regularity, though Kory's head does come into view when Mike moves to his left. Solid renditions, so give them a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for Rotaryfest fallout on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!