LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 421), Dour Concert Preview, And Much More!!

Another quiet weekend is now passed during our recent quiet stretch (is there a groundhog for the local music scene that saw it's shadow?), but we are back with a new news post on this Monday, so before you check out the solar eclipse, here's a new archive album find, a special Wednesday night concert preview some assorted updates, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local classic metal quartet Project 421 will return to The Canadian Nightclub for another headlining concert on Friday, September 8th! Marking just their third concert since their triumphant return to the stage last month, this show comes just under a week following their set opening for Diamond Head on September 2nd, so hopefully they're still riding high from that huge opportunity and deliver a solid night of old school metal renditions! Though ostensibly another toe into the water for The Canadian's return of solo bands on weekends, they will have an opening act, namely alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback, who also opened for 421 last month at the same venue among other bands. Can't go wrong with a punk appetizer, let alone from a band with A.D.S.' already high profile! A cover charge has not been announced for this 19+ event, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and don't miss out on this metal and punk double act next month!

Next up, here's a preview of a special concert going down THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT at The New American Pub, as Saskatchewan grindcore band Dour will make their local concert debut! Possessing a crust and sludge-infused attack, Dour's brand of power violence should melt many faces at The New A on Wednesday night, so if you're up for some mid-week extreme music, you know where to be! Local support will include death metal standouts The Bear Hunters in their first of two shows in a five night span (look for our Eye of Horus preview on Saturday, in all likelihood), while extreme metal quartet Winkstinger will end their 15 month stage hiatus when they kick off the action on Wednesday! I have no idea where Winksringer have been in the past year, but how will they look and sound compared to their run of shows last spring? Find out in a few nights' time! Co-promoted by Slumshine's Brenton Ellis and Gore Street Cafe owner Nicole Dyble, this 10:00 PM concert has a $7 cover and a 19+ age limit in effect.

Making one of the final stops of their No Sign of Grief Canadian Tour before heading home, Dour should brutalize the stage with their hard grinding and sludgy originals, and with two opening acts you don't see on stage nearly enough anymore, don't bypass this concert if you can help it! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Dour live!

Also today, I am proud to say that I have finally purchased a local CD that I've been seeking out for years, and that is defunct hard rock quartet Infrastrate's only EP "Phase I: Commencement"! After years of coming up empty for the long out of print CD, I happened to discover two copies on the front counter of The Rad Zone for around $6, and I of course grabbed one, so what should you know on it? Released in late 2005 after being recorded at Cherry Valance Sound that August with co-producer & current Northwest drummer Marc Santos, "Phase I" arguably marked their final act as a solely local band before moving to Ottawa shortly after sessions wrapped up. In terms of content, the EP has 5 songs, including "Smoke & Mirrors", "Tyrande", "Detached & Tied Down", "Causal Nexus", and "Hindsight", and while all but the middle track had previously been posted on the band's PureVolume page, the copies there of "Tyrande" & "Causal Nexus" were not the EP versions, and I now surmise that they were pre-release demos.

Is a review of Infrastrate's EP imminent on the SMS? Probably not, as the band (including singer Joey Paciocco, guitarist Patrick Webb, and Nick & Ben Ochoski on bass & drums) aren't in any active local bands to tie one in with, though Patrick & Ben have been active recently in Ottawa-area bands. That said, their progressive-tinged hard rock sound and solid chemistry is very present on "Phase I: Commencement", and as someone who very much cares about local music history, it's great to have a copy at last! Give "Detached & Tied Down" a listen below, and hear more from Infrastrate above courtesy of old & new uploads on our YouTube channel!



I have one more very cool archive album find to share on here soon once I get the tape converted (you read that right), but finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I have changed the link for local film production company 62nd Chamber Productions from their website (which was taken down earlier this year) to their YouTube channel, which is still up, but hasn't seen new content in three years. Ran by AlgomA frontman Boyd Rendell, 62nd Chamber was a prominent source of content from both local concerts and from short film production (remember "The Last Strand"?), and hopefully we see more from them soon in addition to much more from AlgomA & Six, Two, Oh.!
• I have moved local pop punk solo project Anthems vs. Oceans to our inactive band links, as the former For July have not posted a public update referencing their music since July of last year via their Facebook page (though, for full disclosure, posts have been made on non-musical subjects as recently as May.) Dave's a talented musician, and hopefully we hear some new updates on Anthems vs. Oceans material in the future!
• Just as a belated house-cleaning note, I have removed HMV from our linked pages entirely due to the now-closed music store chain's website now being reduced to an image and text about their final closures in April, a state that likely won't be reversed given the entire chain folding. HMV was a useful and reliable store when it lasted, but don't bypass Sunrise Records in it's old Station Mall location for your CD, vinyl, and DVD needs!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile and more this week! Thanks everyone!

Peril Concert Previews, The One Year Anniversary Of David Gold's Passing, And Our Latest Christmas Surprises!

We're back with another news post on this Friday afternoon, and while we're still mourning Andres' loss (remember to attend his services The O'Sullivan Donnelly Funeral Home on Sunday afternoon!), the news continues rolling in, so what's in today's post? We have our latest Christmas surprise song uploads, as well as a memorial note for a sad anniversary being remembered today, but first, here's previews of this weekend's only known Sault Michigan metal concerts!

Charlevoix classic metal trio Peril are returning to Sault Ste. Marie for concerts TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT! These will be their last shows at any location of 2012, and the last heavier shows in the area that I can 100% source for this year, so if you're up for some metal, head on down to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino tonight or tomorrow! Peril's heavy metal cover assault is sure to entertain local fans once again this weekend, so don't miss Jeff, James, and Brooks in their last shows of the year! Admission should be free for these 21+ concerts, and I'd expect both to have 10:00 PM-ish start times. For more details, check the above links! If you're in Sault Michigan this weekend, don't miss Peril, as they are certainly local favourites with their entertaining classic metal sound, and for a preview, here they are covering Ozzy Osbourne' "Crazy Train" a few years back!



Next up, we need to address a sad anniversary, as it was one year ago today that we lost Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, at just 31 years of age. As you may remember, David's passing deeply shook the local metal scene and beyond, especially considering his talent, success, and promising future with Woods of Ypres and his other projects, and I hope over this holiday season, his family takes solace in the love and respect many of us had for him and his music. 2012 was poised to be Woods of Ypres' biggest year yet, and posthumously, it was in many ways, thanks to their highly rated final studio album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" and the well regarded tribute shows both here and in Toronto this past spring. Personally, I wouldn't consider "W5" to be my favourite of their albums (I'm still partial to "Woods III"), but it's important, well performed, very emotional, and a fitting close to Woods of Ypres' 10 year run. I hope that somehow, somewhere, David knows the impact he left and how much he's regarded and missed locally, in Ontario, and beyond. As he said in "The Will To Give", "there is no destination, there is only the journey." Like with the Duchesne family, keep the Golds in mind over what's sure to be a bittersweet holiday season. R.I.P. David, and stay tuned soon for our first taste of next year's Woods of Ypres tribute album!

And finally for today, here's our third of five surprise Christmas song uploads, those being four songs from defunct Sault Ontario hard rock quartet Infrastrate! Active from roughly 2003-2007, they made a solid name locally before relocating to Ottawa in 2005 for school, and they are sure to be fondly remembered during their mid-2000s run here and there! Infrastrate's lineup featured singer Joey Paciocco, guitarist Patrick Webb, and Nick & Ben Ochoski on bass & drums respectively, and this is the same lineup that recorded their debut EP "Phase I: Commencement" in August 2005 at Cherry Valance Sound. The following year, the band began work with former Laris Records owner & Northern Rocks Magazine founder Chris Rancourt on a full length album at Audio Valley Studios in Perth, with the CD to be released in 2007, but only a couple songs from their 2006 sessions made it online before they quietly dissolved, and the members are largely not in music currently from what I can tell.

Their EP is one of the most elusive recent local albums that I've ever tried to find, with few leads for a physical copy & only two songs ("Hindsight" & "Smoke & Mirrors") from it available for streaming, but at least some extra songs from Infrastrate's 2006 output are online, those being "Causal Nexus" (a better quality re-upload on our channel) & "Tyrannade", so I thought I should post what I had online for Christmas, and in the hopes of gaining some leads to finding "Phase I: Commencement in full". Infrastrate were talented, with a melodic hard rock sound and longer well stocked originals that suited their talents, including solid vocal work and nice guitar melodies! The 2006 songs are arguably better for skill and recording quality, but all four tracks are worth checking out, and hopefully down the road, the guys will turn up again (or at least publicize more old tracks.) Check out "Hindsight" below, and stay tuned for our last Christmas surprise uploads (hint: they're two full albums) on Sunday and Tuesday!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles TOMORROW, and for more news this weekend! Thanks everyone!