It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, as we give our monthly update as to where upcoming local metal, hard rock, and punk albums, CDs, and EPs are from Sault Ontario acts! All must have had publically confirmed recording sessions commence, not just songwriting, live performance of new material, or optimistic talk. This month, we have one new entry, so it and the album with updated info have their titles in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!
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Bone Yard 225's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "F.A.F.O.", "Gypsy Spell", "Fuck!", "Welcome To The ShitShow", "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" (Mike Posner cover)
Background: After months of teasers, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225
began releasing their own songs on major streaming services in July
2024, fifteen years after the pre-225 band debuted as a
country cover quartet. Their first three singles (all recorded at their
home studio) were posted online by January 2025, though it took until last May for the band to confirm on their Facebook page
that they were indeed working on a proper album. As of August 11th, it was reportedly "album tracking time", while this video
from three days later shows bandmates Alex D'Ettore & Warren
Reville recording backing vocals for their cover of Mike Posner's
"I Took A Pill In Ibiza". That will be one of "a couple of covers" for
the album, as confirmed by frontman Greg Simpson during recent concerts.
"Fuck!" was renamed "The F Word" on streaming services in December, but
it's not clear if the less explicit name will stick on the album. The
band was still "in the studio finishing shit" as of December 4th, source here, and a new single "Welcome To The ShitShow" was released on streaming services last month.
Current Release Status: In
that Facebook post from May 2025, your local 225 said that "the album
is coming along nicely", but announced release timeframes of "by the end of 2025" and "early 2026" have came and went. While
singer/drummer Greg Simpson did release an EP with his old band
Stiffler's Mom, it's hard to compare the release methods and schedule
given that "The Demo" came out in 2004. It is neat to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren are going all in on a studio album, and stay tuned for updates!
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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite
Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"
Background: Ever
the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work),
originally named
"A Story
About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo
albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy
elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page,
as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has
hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more
than his prolific original material.
Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.
Current Release Status:
Chase elaborated on Facebook in mid-2024 that the album was 95% done
earlier that year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard
drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or
recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs
uploaded to Facebook in 2023 were clarified as not being
planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP.
Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out
when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of
it!
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Convergence's self titled album
Rumoured Songs: "Gemini",
"The Ebb", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon",
"Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh", "Dead & Dreaming", "Dig Up Your
Ghost", "Glass Statues", "Awake"
Background: After
previously teasing a third instrumental EP named "Gemini" for much of
2024, local progressive/djent metal group Convergence wiped most most
prior media as they retooled as a full
band, now including singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio and drummer David
Peredun. Convergence worked in studio last year with
producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in
Facebook "Reels", eventually confirming in concert that the now-full
length album (then named "In Bloom") is still in progress, with Adam
Roxner mixing the songs in Sweden. A new version of "The Ebb" (from their delisted second EP "Dead And Dreaming") was released to streaming services on Christmas Day, while the song "Gemini"
followed in April. As "Dead And Dreaming" was pulled from streaming,
the possibility of Convergence doing full versions of its
other four songs for this album has been hinted at, and other songs from
that EP have been played live with the full band. Now self-titled, you
can sample the studio sessions for the album in this video.
Current Release Status:
No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent
studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for
this album to come out, depending on what angle you take. David also
moved out of town late last year to further his own music career, and
while he hasn't left Convergence, that could help explain their slowdown
in activity in 2026. Since their
modern studio cycle commenced in 2023, things have been relatively
steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that
Convergence keep that up for their third offering!
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Eden Plague's third album (and first under that name)
Rumoured Songs: "Primogenesis", "Colony Of Parasites"
Background: Local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters had teased plans to record a "final album" on their Facebook page in July 2024, during the band's long slowdown in activity dating back to late 2017 (which included the unceremonious release of their second album "The Dead Testament" during the pandemic), but they surprised many by relaunching under the new name Eden Plague in May of this year. Nik, Mitch, Justin, and Johnny immediately signalled that they were working on new original music, debuting at least two songs during their mid-2026 concerts. They were recording two singles in studio in July (with Nik seen tracking vocals at Mission Control Studios in a Facebook "Story"), and the guys are currently on break from the stage, as they're "shifting all gears to our debut LP" (as Eden Plague).
Current Release Status: Time will tell, but the former Bear Hunters are no strangers to album recording sessions, and with no pandemic and band activity uncertainty clouding things in 2026, here's hoping that this gets a deservingly widescale release when things are done!
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Fort Creek's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road", "Sweet Rosie"
Background: Local
southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples
until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of
their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page.
The guys would play it regularly at concerts from 2022-2023, with
studio sessions taking place in early-mid 2023 as well. After the
departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer
Anthony Fabiano in the fall of 2023, Fort
Creek opted
to start the album over, and
have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the
past three years. Their first single
(the acoustic "One For The Road")
was posted online in January 2025, with the band confirming plans to now
record a 10 song album at then-drummer Phil Greco's own Jettison Studios prior to returning to live
concerts. Their new single "Sweet Rosie" was being recorded as of August 31st, and a teaser of the song was posted to their Facebook page
on New Year's Eve. Whether for that song or not, a music video shoot took place last month with new bassist Arthur Lacasse and drummer Sam DeDominicis, but it's not yet clear how involved they (let alone Phil) will be on the album.
Current Release Status:
Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s
lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and crew have largely kept things
somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road".
There are a lot of
unknowns,
especially given the 6+ years of production time and their decision to
basically start over in 2023, and that this is a band
that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit
before their rhythm section left. It
will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for
updates!
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Mike McCleary's new album
Rumoured Songs: "Carousel"
Background: Background: A
talented studio hard rock musician who has released multiple solo
albums in the past (albeit almost entirely delisted from streaming
services as his musical approach and personal life changed), Mike announced plans to record an instrumental album in 2023, but
after a year+ public hiatus, he opted to shelve that unfinished album in
2025 in favour of a new album with vocals. He signed with Swedish indie
label Rexius Records,
with plans to put out an 8 song album covering "a variety of topics"
and featuring "some fun, catchy, and energetic rock music for everyone
to enjoy". A teaser video from the sessions was posted onto his Facebook page
on December 6th, and the
planned first single ("Carousel") was released online in June.
Current Release Status: Your
guess is as good as mine, but as this is is a one-man project likely
aimed at streaming services, this album could pop up at any time, and
may be close given that an advance single is was unveiled this summer.
The
Rexius Records connection is a variable, but Mike is a strong
musician with morals and a lot to say about himself, and hopefully this
album comes out successfully in the near future!
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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return on or around October 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, likely hitting the site around next Thursday. That's all for now, but stay tuned for Labour Day weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced three concerts for next month, as per this concert calendar on their Facebook group! The first of the shows will be a one-nighter at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, October 2nd, marking their first show of any kind since a private event last week, and their first at this central venue since early August. They're not scheduled anywhere over the Thanksgiving weekend, but Generations will return to Reggie's Place for a full weekend on Friday-Saturday, October 15th and 16th as well, after playing there late last month. No word yet on if we will see Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony anywhere over Halloween weekend, but keep all three shows in mind for their talented mix of classic and hard rock covers next month! These are all 19+ with no cover, with the Water Tower Pub show at 8:00 PM and the Reggie's gigs at 9:30 PM. See above for more details!
Next up, here's the big new show announcement that caught many extreme metal fans by surprise, as Finnish folk metal sextet Korpiklaani will make their local concert debut on Saturday, November 7th at Blaster Powerhouse! A veteran staple of metal in Finland for over two decades, Korpiklaani (which means "The Backwoods Clan") deliver an effectively folk-inspired sound that often sounds like a medieval party, complete with a violin and accordion(!) in their live repertoire, but they are decidedly a metal band with harsh vocals, and certainly not something we see often in this part of Ontario, so welcome them to the Soo in six weeks' time! Opening on their Canadian tour in November are Toronto melodic death metal quintet Crimson Shadows in their own local debut, and their power metal-influenced brutality should get the pits going in their own right, so definitely give them a listen as well!
Also today, here's a surprise new EP release, as local progressive metal quartet Convergence quietly dropped their long awaited first studio effort with their current lineup on major streaming services on September 7th! After previously teasing that it'd be self-titled or named "In Bloom", the EP has reverted to the "Gemini" name that they were planning to use in 2024 before Stephen and David came on board, despite "Gemini" being their third release. "The Ebb", the title track, "You Are Not Flesh", and "In Bloom" are the four included songs, with "The Ebb" being a holdover from their de-listed all-instrumental 2024 EP "Dead & Dreaming" (now with a full band) and the other three songs all originated in the planning for album #3 in any form. Convergence have been very quiet this year, partly due to drummer David Peredun now living in Southern Ontario, so hopefully the abrupt release of "Gemini" isn't a bad sign re: their future!
In any event, you can actually buy this EP for $5.99 on Bandcamp, or hear it for free there and on the usual streaming haunts. Our review backlog remains quite large, so "Gemini" is currently pencilled in for April, so look for that then, and hopefully we hear more new songs and re-recordings alike from Convergence when able, as they were teasing a full album as recently as the spring! To promote the release, new videos have been posted to the band's YouTube channel in recent months, including guitar playthroughs from Brendan and Jake of both the title track and "You Are Not Flesh" in amusingly suburban locales, complete with on-screen tabs if you want to try and play along or learn how the songs were constructed. Watch for Rocky the dog in the latter video! Completing the set with prior lyric video uploads, Convergence also uploaded lyric videos to their channel for both "You Are Not Flesh" and "In Bloom".
