Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Eleventh Hour

As usual for the 10th of a month, here's our latest Defunct Local Band Profile on the site! This monthly feature spotlights one or two local bands (one this month) that, while no longer a publically functioning act, deserves a look back at their run and accomplishments! Once again, this month's band was randomly selected, and with Sault Michigan in our rotation for the first time in 2018, here's what you should know on this month's pick!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eleventh Hour

Genre: Hardcore/Metal/Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. Note that Sean Hanson was credited as their "mascot and cowbell player" back in 2012, but I don't believe he was a formal band member as such.)

Sean Roush (Chained Memories), vocals
Josh North, guitar/formerly bass
Joseph Farrish, bass
Joseph North (7/47), drums

Gus Burgos, harsh vocals
Cathy Burgos, clean vocals/keyboard
Zach Howe, clean vocals
Cody Reed (Hoist The Sails, Analog Deficiency), guitar 
Matt Randazzo, bass 
Alex Boyer, bass

Audio/Video: Material on the their now-deleted first Facebook page included short song samples and vocal demos by Sean Roush, and teasers at an eventual all-original set with songs like "The Weeping Angels". After relaunching in late 2013, The Eleventh Hour announced plans to record an EP named "Eyes of the Wretched", which would have featured a song named "I Have A Voice" (lyrics even made its way to their new Facebook page), as well as later teasing a softer, punk-based cover selection in 2014 ranging from All Time Low to Paramore to Wolfmother . That said, only two songs tied to this band are known to be public nowadays: a vocal/piano selection by ex-singer Cathy Burgos from November 2013, and this scratchy but solid instrumental guitar demo by Josh North from earlier that year!



Info/Analysis: Launching under the Angelic Genocide name in February 2012 (eventually adopting their best known name that fall), The Eleventh Hour were one of the more recent ventures into extreme metal from young Sault Michigan-area performers, with brothers Josh & Joe North the only constant members. A live concert debut was never publically confirmed, and much of their later updates reflected personnel and name changes, with their lineup fluctuating from 4-6 members at varying points. The band briefly became Changing You For Better Days in early 2013, and eventually changed their name to One Hour Till Dawn in early 2014 to coincide with their shift in genre, before settling on When All Fell Silent that July. The last name was ironically apt, as no public updates followed, with the band itself falling silent for good by year's end. With only solo clips surviving from The Eleventh Hour's run, it's hard to comment on the band as a whole, but they had talented musicians and strong ambitions, and it's a shame they could never get far off the ground in the early 2010s!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, we'll return to Sault Ontario for our next randomly selected profile, and for April 2018, we'll be looking at defunct local classic/hard rock quartet (and Soundcheck predecessors) Mourning Wood! Look for that at this time next month, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Halloween Party), A New Video, And Many Assorted Updates!!

With a new week in full swing, here's a packed news post for your Monday, including lots of assorted recent news & notes, a new jam video, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the end of October! Here's what you should know!

For the third time in four years, The Algonquin Pub will host J.D. Pearce's 11th annual Halloween Party on Saturday, October 31st! Yes, this show was previously covered on here, but we hadn't officially called it as a concert because the venue wasn't confirmed yet, which J.D. announced on the Facebook event page on Saturday. Fitting choice, seeing as (save for 2013 at The Rosie), this long running Halloween concert event has found a good home at The Gonq, so keep the familiar venue in mind! No word though on if this will be considered as an official Gonqshow series event, as it's currently slated to wrap up the week prior at the Ripcordz concert. A previously announced, the lineup will take on an all-tribute band theme for the first time since 2008, with Toronto extreme metal quartet Caym tackling Metallica, and two local tribute bands (identities to be determined) covering The Misfits and a hybrid of Rancid & NOFX songs.

It's very likely that J.D. will front the Misfits tribute, but will they be existing local bands, or one-off tributes for the occasion? A presentation of Tidal Records, this Halloween party will have a $10 cover charge, 19+ age limit, 10:00 PM start time, and presumably, a costume contest with prizes, so be sure to check the above links for more details! This is a great event for the Halloween season, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Next up, here's an almost 22 minute new jam session video from local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back! Uploaded to drummer Nathan Sauve's YouTube channel on August 9th (and shot the previous day), the video is somewhat unique among Bad Back jam videos in that frontman Jamie Vincent does not appear to sing at all for the duration, even though there's a microphone to his left (I wonder why?) More of a freewheeling jam that sounds at least partially improvised, it's a solid listen, but that glare through the window is a little much in terms of video clarity. Give it a look below, and don't miss Bad Back TONIGHT at The New A!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, including two more inactive band notes. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have been confirmed as the final opener for the Diemonds-headlined concert at The Rednecks Saloon THIS FRIDAY, as per recent updates on the Facebook event page. This is a bit surprising given that the band previously said they wouldn't play live again until their split CD release party, but they're a fitting choice, as J.D. Pearce & Tiffany Stocco opened for Diemonds with T-Rex Manning two years ago! Stay tuned for our preview of this show later this week!
• Frightlight alum & ex-Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking frontman Jeff DeRose is looking for a drummer for his new "rock/punk/metal" band, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Friday. Despite his own drumming background, he's on bass for this band alongside musicians named Mike and Ryan, last names to be confirmed (possibly Ryan McLaughlin from F.F.S.H.?) If you're interested in trying out, message Jeff above or at this link!
• Apologies for this being so late, but newer local grunge/punk duo The Red & Black (featuring Telephone & Address' Chris Shoust & drummer Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda) made their live debut at the IRN-headlined concert at The New American Pub on June 21st! Promoters never confirmed that The Red & Black were playing, or if they replaced or played alongside Telephone & Address that night. According to their Facebook page, Damjan came in from Wawa (where he's lived recently) for the show, and it apparently went well despite the two not jamming together any time recently. Good to hear, and hopefully there's more to come!
• We have moved Sault Michigan alternative hard rock trio The Spendthrifts to our inactive links due to a year's inactivity, albeit under their original name Plastic, as they were active far longer & accomplished far more under that name. The Half Stupid successors played a number of notable local concerts after debuting in 2013, but after drummer Paul Burns moved that fall, the band only played at last summer's LemmaFest, before changing their name & falling inactive. I liked what Plastic were doing, but hopefully they turn up again, and best of luck to Zac, Matt, Aaron, and Paul in the future (also, check out Zac Crook's active solo project at this link!)
• After less than a year as the Chinese buffet restaurant Waterfront Legend, the former Docks Riverfront Grill at 89 Foster Drive has change themes once again, and is now The River Cookhouse with a more general menu, though there are plans to bring back the Chinese buffet as a weekend attraction. This new SooToday article on the changes notes that the nightclub area formerly known as Club Current (or Club 89) will now be used as a hall for event hosting like weddings and banquets, which would presumably end concert bookings there if that goes through. Disappointing, but hopefully the new focus does well for them!.
• We've also moved Sault Michigan hardcore band When All Fell Silent to our inactive links, as they haven't posted an update since last summer's name change, after previously going as Angelic Genocide, The Eleventh Hour, Changing You For Better Days, and One Hour Till Dawn at varying points (we'll list them as The Eleventh Hour, which they were the most active under.) Active since 2012, this band has ambitious plans for albums & shows, but like most young extreme Sault Michigan metal bands of recent years, they sadly weren't able to get far off the ground. Best of luck to Sean, Josh, the Josephs, and other former members in the future!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more news and updates in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned) & Much More Recent Updates!!

Finally, we have a new news post today, and I apologize for the recent lack of updates, which is due to a combination of slow news in general, and my computer being in the shop for repairs (good thing I have a spare at hand!) Today, we have upcoming concert lineup additions, a lot of updates from a rising Sault Michigan band, and more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month across the river!

Kinross hard/classic rock trio Banned will return to the regional stage for a show at The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, Michigan on Friday, February 14th! As announced on their Facebook page last night, these will not be their first shows of 2014, as they'll actually be playing a date in Gould City on February 8th, but that's out of our coverage range, so if you live near there, head to the Michihistrigan Bar that night! Last seen in Hessel three months ago, Banned should be back to their usual prolific schedule next month after apparently taking January off, so keep their Hessel return in mind for a night full of originals and diverse covers! There's no announced cover charge for the 14th, you must be 21 to attend, and a start time of 9:00 PM is in effect. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more updates from the Banned camp!

Next up, here's some lineup additions for two notable upcoming metal concerts, both concerning punk bands we haven't seen lately. One is local veteran punk trio Redundant, who've been named as the final opening band for Late & Loud's one-off reunion show at The Rockstar Bar on February 21st, which will end a 6 month hiatus from the stage! At least partially related to drummer Rick White's recovery from a broken eye socket suffered last fall, it's great to see the guys back at it next month, and hopefully this is just the start of a big year for these talented punk rockers! The other addition is to the Skynet/Chronobot show at 180 Projects on March 16th, as fellow Sault Ontario punk trio The Northern Tragedy will play (as of today) their first show of 2014 as the final opening band that night! Last seen in October (conveniently also at 180 Projects), this rising young band released a demo last fall, and hopefully they build new momentum this year and give this metal show a punk flavour! Stay tuned for updates on each show as they come in!

Also today, here's the latest from Sault Michigan metal band The Eleventh Hour, who actually just changed their name yesterday to One Hour Till Dawn. A reason for the name change was not announced, but they had experimented with a name change last spring as well, so this isn't completely unexpected. Along with the new moniker, the band has had recent lineup changes, including adding Joseph Farrish as their new bassist (replacing the departed Alex Boyer) and parting ways with clean singer Zach Howe, who still lives out of town. I'm not familiar with Joseph musically, but hopefully everything works out well for the new lineup where earlier incarnations fell short! Finally for recent changes, One Hour Till Dawn unveiled a new cover setlist on their Facebook page that will see them play songs from everyone from Black Sabbath to Paramore, with new genre indications pointing to a punk/metalcore focus. Hopefully the new lineup and name serve them well so we can finally see the guys live, and stay tuned for more from One Hour Till Dawn as it comes in!

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

• Punch bandmates Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton are looking for a bassist & drummer to complete a new project that they're working on that would cover a mixture of classic rock artists, including heavier acts like Kiss & Van Halen down to bands like Foreigner & ZZ Top. If you're interested in trying out, message Curt via his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from last week!
• On Friday, Curt & Dan's former Haggith bandmate Mike Haggith updated fans to the status of his next solo album "A Place Of Our Own" on his Facebook page, where he confirmed that half of the instrumental tracking is now complete, recording is on schedule, and a release next month is still in the cards. Great to hear, so follow the updates on his new album above!
• Advance tickets for the all ages TheKillingField/Buried Out Back show at The Oddfellows Hall are now available through members of Pillory & Crucify The Whore, so message members or contact them at the Facebook event page linked above! Remember, tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door, so consider getting a ticket early to save $3, and stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and this month's new poll TOMORROW! Remember, the delay from the 18th was due to the poll accidentally being set to allow multiple votes at first, so we bumped the end date up to make up lost ground. Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tantrym Tyme), A New Album Release, And More From Sault Michigan!!

As promised, today's post is completely focused around the Sault Michigan scene, so what's in store for this Independence Day weekend? Today, we have news on a band who DIDN'T break up (and their recent updates), a new band on two upcoming Kewadin Casino concerts, and a brand new album release, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS relating to an upcoming community event, so here's what you need to know!

Young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme have announced two new concerts that I can 100% verify and source! Often, their shows either get late or no notice, and take place on an outdoor stage at various regional locations, but we do have some info on their next dates, starting with sets outside of Harmony Health Foods on July 26th & 27th as part of Sault Michigan's annual Downtown Days! Also known as the Sidewalk Sales, this is a yearly community event featuring outdoor sales from local merchants, kids games, and live music (you may remember that Free Refill frequented the Downtown Days during their run), so shoppers and Saultites in general should find something to like! Tantrym Tyme's location for the shows isn't random either, as drummer Ethan Twardy's parents own Harmony Health Foods (at 217 Ashmun Street, just seconds from The Corner Pub), and the band have played, been sponsored by, and sold merchandise there in the past. No times for their sets have been announced, but given the outdoor setting, there's obviously no cover charge or age limit. Check the above links for more info!

One more show was announced too on their Facebook page last month, but I'm waiting for more info before plugging it on here (especially concerning other bands.) Tantrym Tyme on rising fast in prominence and talent, so don't miss their next (announced) shows during Downtown Days in three weeks, and stay tuned for possible updates!

Next up, a new local album was just released on June 30th, so it's time to give it some overdue press, as Dafter solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton's sixth original studio album "Perception" is now on sale! Independently released through and recorded at the Waterfall Recording Studios earlier this year, this is a much longer album than it's predecessor "Doo Hickey", featuring 10 songs. In terms of personnel, it looks like Ken handled all instruments (I don't believe collaborator Scott Schroen is featured this time), while one song ("Pages the Break of Dawn") was sang and co-written by Plastic drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns (formerly of Bent Rollercoaster & Hammerspace). Ken describes the album as "a fun rock n' roll album with a summer feel to it", and the album's page on his website describes some of the songs' themes. "Perception" is now available to buy for $9.99 in mp3 format (or $12.97 on CD) at this location, while all 10 tracks are streamable at this link as well, but buy it to support SweetKenny's work! With that all said, when is a review of it coming to the SMS?

Not until the fall, as it's still too soon from our review of "Doo Hickey" in March, but I'm currently leaning towards the fall for it (as the summer's booked up, and I don't know finite dates for Mike Haggith's next solo album to be exact otherwise.) SweetKenny's newest CD will get a fall review though, so don't worry! I'll hold full thoughts on the album until we review it, but pick it up above, as Ken's a very talented veteran guitarist who deserves the support!

Also in recent news, Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way will apparently return to Sault Michigan for two opening dates at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino later this month, as they've been announced as openers for Shinedown & Devour The Day on July 21st AND Tesla on July 27th! My source is guitarist/Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on Fifth Way's Facebook page on Thursday, though note neither the promoters or venue have officially confirmed their addition. The Shinedown gig will be Fifth Way's first local appearance since opening for Evans Blue at The Dreammaker's Theater in September, while it will also see yet another bassist change, as this will be their first local date since Anthony Palsgrove replaced Victor Wooten in the band last fall (by my math, that's 5 bassists in a 4 year span!) As for the Tesla show, that's familiar ground for Fifth Way, as they opened for Tesla at their last local concert in June 2010, so hopefully their modern hard rock blend will be welcomed back after 10 months away from the Soo in time for these huge concerts! Stay tuned for more if it comes in!

Finally for today, I have an apology to make, as in April, I incorrectly reported that local hardcore band The Eleventh Hour (formerly Angelic Genocide) had likely broken up due to the deletion of their Facebook page. Usually, that's a good indicator, but instead, they quietly launched a new Facebook page last fall and didn't delete the old one right away, hence the confusion. Their current lineup credits singer Sean Roush, guitarist Josh North, and drummer Joe North as still being in the band, alongside new addition Zach Howe on clean vocals (replacing Cathy Burgos), while guitarist Cody Reed left the band as well last year, and a Google cache of their Facebook page indicates that former bassist Alex Boyer had briefly rejoined before leaving again. The band was temporarily named Changing You For Better Days earlier this year before reverting to The Eleventh Hour, and while news has been slow (partly due to Zach living in the Traverse City area), they have rough plans to release an EP called "Eyes of the Wretched", with lyrics to an original song named "I Have A Voice" posted on Facebook as well.

The new Eleventh Hour page features one original sample via a Facebook video (as a result, I can't embed it here), but it's a rough instrumental that suffers from staticy audio. It's heavy enough though, and I'm curious to hear newer material of theirs with better quality and vocals! It's great to see The Eleventh Hour are still together and plugging away, and hopefully they can get over the hump that many recent extreme metal bands have been stopped by in Sault Michigan, and make a big name for themselves! Check the above links for more, my deepest apologies for the mix-up, and they're now back in our active band links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some Sault Ontario news and updates tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Recent Sault Michigan Updates, Including Band Breakups, Songs, Page Deletions, And More!!

While I'm out at The Algonquin Pub with The Ripcordz and local metal openers, I have a special auto-post for you Sault Michigan/Eastern U.P. readers on our 48th straight day of SMS posts, so what do we have today? Along with some recent assorted news, we have two likely band breakups and two other familiar hard rock band page deletions, but first, let's start with some more upbeat news courtesy of new material from a regional solo artist, that being Dafter solo musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, who posted a couple of new original songs onto his YouTube channel in the past couple of weeks! One is "I'm Lost Without You" from his most recent EP "Doo Hickey", but the other is a brand new track named "Burn Notice" (title inspired by the show), and the song comes complete with an epic action movie-style graphic! A hard rock instrumental, it's not blisteringly fast, but it's well performed and has a nice groove to it's riffs (though no word on if it will be on an album of the same name or his announced next disc "Perception".) Check out "Burn Notice" below, and stay tuned for more SweetKenny updates!

Next up, we have two band breakups/descents into inactivity to note across the river, starting with the news that young Sault Michigan hardcore band The Eleventh Hour have apparently parted ways. A reason wasn't announced, but their Facebook page (and only online page, sadly) was recently deleted, which usually indicates that a band broke up. Featuring Hoist The Sails & Chained Memories alumni, their early demos showed promise, but I've found that newer extreme metal bands in Sault Michigan have often struggled to get off the ground. Hopefully the guys all stay active in music, and best of luck to Sean, Cathy, Cody, Josh, Joe, and their other former bandmates in the future! The other likely defunct band is Elements of Madness, a Sault Michigan/Newberry hard rock project that was active from June 2011 through last April, and they'll have hit a year since their last Facebook page update on Thursday, so it's very likely they've fallen inactive too. Their YouTube samples had glimmers of promise, but I don't think they ever were able to get off the ground beyond those clips. Like with The Eleventh Hour, I wish Cody, Tyler, Joe, Kyle, and Landon nothing but the best going forward, and hopefully they get in new bands down the road!

Also today, here's notes on two defunct Sault Michigan hard rock bands that now have no surviving online pages, those being the early 2010s Nixxon Dixxon-successor bands Splitshot & Trail's End. Both had their Facebook pages deleted for unknown reasons at some point in recent months, though both haven't been active in a year or more anyway, so that's likely linked. As you may remember, Splitshot saw Nixxon Dixxon's Chris Hubbard & Kyle Beaumont joining forces with their dads and singer Dave Menard for covers-centric shows all over the Eastern U.P. from late 2010 until the end of the next year, later adding Nixxon Dixxon bandmate Jake LaLonde on drums after he returned from the Musicians Institute in California. After Chris, Kyle, and Jake launched Trail's End in the fall of 2011, Splitshot disbanded by the end of the year, and Trail's End (who had some original material) played live a handful of times in early 2012 before quietly parting ways, with Chris joining Dave from Splitshot in 415E, and Kyle & Jake joining forces with Fallen Heroes in The London Gentlemen.

These page deletions haven't meant a loss of major info, and aside from Trail's End's song "Run" (which was deleted from their YouTube channel for unknown reasons too), they had no media, but these (and The Eleventh Hour) still contribute to a pet peeve of mine, which is broken up bands deleting any trace of their existence. Fans still wanna read up on & check out defunct bands, and I wish old pages would be left alone so that we didn't rely mainly on memories for our old band remembrances. Still, I know their current bands have already accomplished a lot more than Splitshot & Trail's End did, and hopefully they see much more success soon, but maybe down the road, "Run" or some videos of either band will finally surface!

Finally for today, here's four shorter recent stories from the Sault Michigan area, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or artist name:

• Toast guitarist Mike Libertoski is looking for a singer to provide vocals for at least three of his solo technical/progressive metal original songs ("Information", "Matter", and "Particles"), all of which are streamable on his Soundcloud page. If you're interested, send vocal samples or a message to Mike at this location, and hopefully he finds someone who can match his noticeable talents!
• Local classical metal standouts Theatre of Night have posted a new song named "Winter" onto their Reverbnation page, which may be a reworked variant of the deleted "A Wintery Mix", but it has a very heavy symphonic metal feel that fans of their earlier original work should appreciate! Check it out at the above links, and look for more Theatre of Night originals soon!
• After a few months of quiet activity, Eckerman studio/label Werehold Records revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that they may find some new material to share online during "spring cleaning", and it may not have to wait for another Friday the 13th posting spree in September to get unveiled. Might we finally hear Awaken Eidolon in these plans, among their diverse metal/techno roster of Michigan artists? I'll keep you guys posted!

That's all for now, but stay tuned later today for my review of the Ripcordz concert! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), New Videos, And More Assorted Updates!!

While we wait for fallout from the April Wine concert to trickle in, let's cover some recent stories in this evening's news post! Today, we have new archive videos from the band we profiled in this morning's Defunct Local Band Profile (in the post below this one), a new video from a newer Sault Michigan band, and more assorted stories, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Sault Michigan hard rock trio Powerslug will return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in Barbeau this coming Saturday! Normally, I'd only hear about this short notice due to the band's continuing lack of an online page to promote concerts in advance, but thanks to The Cozy Corners' Facebook page recently starting to put up Facebook event pages for their live bands, we know about this one! Fresh off a road trip to the Kewadin Casino in Manistique yesterday, look for Powerslug to tear up the stage on Saturday in this visibly one night only gig with plenty of hard rocking covers, as is usually the case! There's no announced cover charge, a 9:00 PM start time is advertised, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the above links! While I still wish Powerslug would launch a larger online presence, their talent and frequent local appearances bode well for this weekend, so take the drive down to Barbeau (40 minutes from the Soo, an hour from St. Ignace) on Saturday to chug your mug with Powerslug!

Next up, here's a new video relating to newer Sault Michigan hardcore band The Eleventh Hour! Clean singer Cathy Burgos uploaded this video onto her YouTube channel in November of her playing a short piano composition named "That's Not the Wind Howling, It's the Wolves", which is apparently for an Eleventh Hour original song. Just 80 seconds long, it's nicely done, yet reserved, and it would add well to one of their tracks, even if she was a bit nervous when filming this! Also of note, this video is the first real confirmation that The Eleventh Hour will include keyed instruments in their material, while it also indicates that Cathy hasn't fully left the band (despite her removal from their Facebook page's lineup and her current residence in Indiana), so we'll have to see where this all goes! Check out Cathy's new video below, and keep an eye out for Eleventh Hour updates as the new year rolls on!



Thirdly today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's recording sessions are actually being done at the Smoke & Oak Room Studio with producer Dave Pihlaja, similarly to Late & Loud's recording sessions towards their EP. The band hasn't formally confirmed this, but the studio's Facebook page has mentioned Crimson Crusade a bit this past weekend. This is bigger than I was expecting, and I can't wait to hear what the guys have in store from this!
• Sault Michigan hardcore band Hoist The Sails quietly broke up late last year. A reason wasn't announced, but the news was confirmed in a comment reply on their Facebook page on December 13th, where they said that they're "not a band anymore." Featuring Analog Deficiency & Highest of Fives alumni, Hoist The Sails had promise early last year with some well recorded demo material, but best of luck to Travis, Luke, Mitch, Nathan, Cody, Joe, and Marcel in the future, and hopefully the guys all stay active in music!
• I can now confirm the full lineup of new Sault Michigan band Toast, as veteran local singer & drummer Bob Helsten is on drums with this band too, reuniting him with former Clownsack/Chord On Bluz bandmate Tony Rogers. The jury's still out on if they're essentially a successor to Swayze Train, or if they take a heavier or lighter slant from that band, but if I hear anything, I'll let you guys know! My source is recent personal Facebook photos from Bob's Powerslug bandmate Chris Leask.

Finally for today, I wanted to share a couple of new archive videos that I recently uploaded to our YouTube channel! As you may remember, we profiled late 2000s Sault Ontario grunge trio No Arrow in this morning's Defunct Local Band Profile, and I like I often do in this series, I wanted to post some new media of theirs on YouTube that wasn't there previously. As these weren't featured on the profile itself, they deserve a spotlight on here, so these are two early clips of No Arrow live at Madison's Pub! The videos are of them covering Nirvana's "Breed" on New Year's Eve 2006 (when they were still known as Murder Playground) and, as embedded below, them playing their original "Colder Side of the Sun" in April 2007 after their name change. I think both feature their "classic" lineup (Dann Pichette, Harley Syrette, and Joe Falco), and both had edits made to the video quality to fix poor lighting. The quality on both is mixed (though the audio is clearer for the original), but it's good to see these videos all the same, especially as clips from Madison's Pub metal/hard rock concerts aren't plentiful from my experience.

Both of these videos were uploaded to the band's MySpace page in early 2007 at this location, and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for both of these videos go to No Arrow, I'm just trying to share these with a deserving wider audience! No Arrow are on form with their grungy alternative hard rock on both videos (despite patchy video quality), so check out these videos above & below, and our No Arrow defunct profile in the post under this one!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, including hopefully some fallout from this past weekend's April Wine concert! Thanks everyone!

New Garden Of Bedlam Videos & Tons Of Assorted Notes!!

Today's post is different from the norm in it's content, as we only have one major story, and the rest is completely made up of short assorted stories from recent days, more than we've ever grouped together in one post! Before all of those though, we have some new videos from a recent metal concert, so here's what you need to know! (Updated on October 28th, 2013)

If you missed Garden of Bedlam's Devil's Night concert in honour of The Rad Zone's 18th birthday party, then this might help make up for it, as the Wellington Square Mall music/skate shop posted two videos from the show onto their YouTube channel yesterday! The first video features assorted footage from the event, including Garden of Bedlam on stage, attendees in & out of costume, and the various prizes that were given away, as set to their song "Stand Your Ground". It's very well packaged, and it makes me wish I could have made it even more so! The video posted below is similar (though longer & more band-centric), and it features real audio from the concert, including clips of Garden of Bedlam playing "Three Days" and what sounds like their cover of The Deftones' "Be Quiet & Drive (Far Away)"! The video quality on each works well, but the original audio is very scratchy compared to the one with "Stand Your Ground" dubbed over. Awesome to see these both though, so check out the longer of the two videos below, and hopefully we'll see Garden of Bedlam back on stage sooner rather than later!



Lastly for today, here's TEN assorted shorter news items from the last little while (yes, 10!) Might as well cover them all while they're in mind, so as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist, website, location, or show name:

• The 705 Video Magazine forums appear to have been compromised in recent days, with tons of recent posts flooding their message boards in the past month from spam accounts spreading spam links. This attack is something I don't remember happening on the 705VM's old forums. If you're browsing there, DO NOT click on any suspicious links, and let administrators know about the spam infiltration if you can!
• I've added the Facebook page for the old WLSO radio show CRaMPS to our Other Sault Michigan Metal Links section. A 2 hour classic rock & metal show hosted by Lake Superior State University students Pat Reed & Seth Witucki, CRaMPS ran on 90.1 FM locally Fridays at 11:00 AM from October-December 2010. There's not a whole lot to say on it, but I remember catching it occasionally, and become a fan if you wanna above!
• Local metal band Crimson Crusade may have found a new guitarist to replace the departed Brock Pinder, as recent posts on their Facebook page credit "Rob #1" & "Rob #2" as band members. One is drummer Robert Crossley, but I can't yet confirm who the other Rob is (possibly Robert Sartini from Pillory?) If we don't get confirmation before next weekend, we'll know for sure when Crimson Crusade return to the stage at The Canadian Nightclub on the 26th, so stay tuned!
• You may have noticed that the electronic marquee board in The Rockstar Bar & this Facebook event page indicate that Crush: The Best of Bon Jovi returned to the Sault on October 27th, but The Rockstar Bar never visibly plugged it online, and their advertising for that night on Facebook only credited it as the Halloween-themed "Night of the Living Bar Crawlers". I'm not entirely sure whether they played here or not, but if they did, I apologize profusely for missing this show!
• New Sault Michigan hardcore band The Eleventh Hour have apparently parted ways with clean singer Cathy Burgos, as per her quiet removal from their Facebook page's lineup. No reason was announced, but Cathy's personal Facebook page lists her as living out of state, so she may have moved recently. Best of luck to her in the future though! Also in lineup news, guitarist Josh North is currently handling bass duties as well in place of the departed Alex Boyer, so we'll have to see how he handles both roles in the interim!
• Former Dark Salvation singer Kevin "Kevyn Kross" Calder has posted some metal tracks onto his current solo project's Reverbnation page! Though primarily an instrumental electronic project, Kevin's song "Celestial Warcry" as well as a metal track with collaborator John "Morkryd" Verdone are definitely heavy and show some promise, so hopefully he makes some more metal tracks like this! Check them out above!
• I forgot to mention this last week, but some lucky local metalheads got to meet members of Hellyeah when they stopped in at Joey's Twisted Italian Grill at The Station Mall on Thursday! T-Rex Manning guitarist Tiffany Stocco was among the lucky few who got to meet Pantera alum Vinnie Paul & other band members on their off day between tour stops, and I am extremely jealous! (If only they'd played here too!) If you know Tiffany, check her photos out on Facebook!
• Sault Ontario music store Northland Music finally has their own Facebook page, which was just launched on Sunday! Though minimal so far, it already features posts referring to new instruments and items in stock at the Queen Street East storefront, so hopefully this new Facebook page picks up steam, and become a fan of Northland Music at the above links!
• I edited our GarageBand Profile on defunct local metal trio Sin Stereo to note that their successor band Stiffler's Mom appear to be back full time! They originally broke up in August 2011 but have played and scheduled a number of 2012 concerts, Toystock included, so it looks like they've effectively reunited. Great to have them back, and hopefully they still have some heavier songs up their sleeves!
• Among recent photo album uploads from Kewadin Casino concert meet & greets are shots of the meet & greets with Stryper, Slaughter, and Lynch Mob from their Sault Michigan show on February 24th! There are 4, 8, and 10 photos with each band respectively. Click here to check them all out, and if I hear anything on future meet & greets or photo uploads from them, I'll let you guys know! 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for Adelitas Way concert fallout soon, along with weekend concert previews and anything else new down the pipeline! Thanks everyone!

Another Inactive Local Band, New Ashes To Dust Videos, And Much More!!

Six posts in six days, that's a good way to start off the month to me! News has still been slow-ish from many of the usual sources from early 2012, but there is still stuff to cover, and today, that includes a rare vocal cover by a local metal frontman, our first glimpse at a local band's new lineup, and some assorted news and notes, but first, here's notes on another likely inactive local band!

First, I've reluctantly opted to move another band to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, that being local experimental grunge trio SBD. While we're not at a year's inactivity threshold for them yet (their Soundclick page was last visibly updated in December), they haven't played live since the end of 2010, and frontman Dann Pichette's move to Terrace Bay earlier this year leaves a reunion unlikely for the immediate future, especially with the "D" in SBD being out of town. SBD left a quick impact on the local scene, especially at their 2010 peak, which saw them play a few notable local concerts (including the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands & RedD Monkey's first Green Christmas Party), as well as releasing two versions of their only album "Sonic Experiments", before activity slowed to just song postings in 2011, with the band dropping out of some announced concerts. However, I will note that Dann is already working on a new solo project out of Terrace Bay named The Dann Pichette Multi-Track Recording Extravaganza, whose own Soundclick page features some similar original material and at least one older SBD track.

I've been a fan of Dann's local music dating back to No Arrow's peak, so I'm disappointed to see SBD fade out locally. While a lot more experimental and varied than his & bassist Brad Griffith's No Arrow work, there was a lot of heavier & faster material mixed in with SBD's originals, and the guys seemed to have good chemistry & momentum during their live heyday! Hopefully everything works out in Terrace Bay for Dann personally & musically, best of luck to Shane, Brad, and Dann in the future, and stay tuned for more on the members' next local work if I hear it!

Next up, here's the latest videos from local hard rock quartet Ashes To Dust! Uploaded to their YouTube channel yesterday, these are from a recent set at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School, and make up the first video footage of the band with with new second guitarist Liam Yeomans & with frontman Noah Morden on bass. The videos are of Ashes To Dust covering Blink-182's "Up All Night" (sans Liam) and The Foo Fighters' "The Pretender" (with Noah on vocals only), so click each link to check them out! Not the heaviest songs in their repertoire, but from what I've seen, their school sets aren't as heavy as ones elsewhere. They handle both songs well, and Noah seems like a capable bassist on stretches when he's playing it only, but the choruses on "The Pretender" don't fit his vocal style. Liam seems to be a good fit himself on guitar, and he helps fill out their sound, but I have to ask, why were all the extra guys on stage during "Up All Night"? Couldn't the sound have been worked on before A.T.D.'s set? Check out their cover of "The Pretender" below, and stay tuned for more Ashes To Dust news as I hear it!

Also today, here's something we don't share much: A vocal cover by a local metal singer! Yesterday, Valentine's Day Massacre singer Steve Rhodes uploaded this video to his new YouTube channel of him covering the Black Dahila Murder song "Deathmask Divine" (as recorded at his current London homebase), and it sounds pretty good! I'm not a huge BDM fan, but Steve's growling and screaming fit well for the song, though I'd have boosted the original audio more if possible, it's very quiet. We haven't heard much from The Valentine's Day Massacre since they all moved to London for college last month, but it's good to see new activity from any of the members, so check it out below, and if you like what you hear, give Steve some recommendations for new songs to cover!



And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or site name:

• New Sault Michigan metal band The Eleventh Hour (formerly Angelic Genocide) have posted new band logos and art onto their Facebook page, all of which were done by clean singer Cathy Burgos. Not bad at all, so check them out above, and stay tuned for updates from them hopefully soon!
• In case you guys haven't noticed lately, Facebook recently made new mandatory changes to photo albums on Facebook pages, personal or otherwise, to flow better with the Timeline profile format. This affects any local bands with Facebook pages, and while I'm OK with the changes, I wish the default photo page would be albums and not in direct order of upload (and a video tab would be nice too.) Other than that, it's clean and well integrated, so keep it in mind!
• I recently added two new links to our Other Sault Michigan Metal Links section after we split them from the Sault Ontario links, and those are The Soo Evening News & The St. Ignace News! They are of course the regional newspapers in the Sault Michigan area, and both sporadically cover local metal/hard rock concerts and bands, and like Sault Ontario papers, articles do go up in print & online, so follow each to stay in the loop for local news and maybe some music talk!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for even more news and notes over the next while! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), The End Of Dismembertainment, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, but of course, remember to never forget the tragic events 11 years ago today, and please pay your respects for the sacrifices that have been made for our freedoms if you can! On the SMS front, we have news on a new Sault Michigan metal band's new name & latest lineup news, the likely end of a local concert promoting agency, and a new video from a notable Eastern U.P. hard rock band (along with a strangely high amount of talk relating to Sault Michigan-area musicians named Alex), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this coming weekend across the river and updates relating to their lineup, so here's what you need to know!

Kinross hard rockers Banned will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY at Todd's Tavern in nearby Moran, Michigan! One weekend after a packed weekend in Gould City and at the Sault Riverview Music Festival (more on that in a bit), the Traynors & company will rock the former Bullwinkle's on Saturday night (yes, the date is 100% confirmed this time) for what should be an entertaining night of hard rock covers & originals! Admission should be free with a 21+ age limit, and an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM is advertised on their Facebook page. Todd's Tavern is quickly becoming a favourite stop for Banned's widely varying Eastern U.P. gigs, so take a drive down to Moran (20 minutes from St. Ignace, an hour from the Soo) on Saturday to rock out! Also in Banned news, I can confirm why guitarist Alex Schrovenwever was absent from their Rock Till You Drop battle set last month, as it looks like he moved to Marquette for college last month, as per postings on his personal Facebook page. I don't know what this means for his Banned status, but he is still listed in their lineup, and enough local bands have stayed active with a member out of town for an extended period for us to not assume the worst. Best of luck to Alex in Marquette though, and hopefully we'll see him back on stage with Banned sooner or later!

With that said, Alex Schrovenwever was definitely absent for Banned's Sault Riverview Music Festival sets this past weekend, but they kept at it to rock City Hall as part of this new local music festival, and we have video footage of Banned in action during their set on Friday night! This is of most of their still-local members (singer Mike Straw is absent) playing a brand new original song named "Cocaine Riot", as filmed by Ashley Traynor and uploaded to her YouTube channel on Sunday, but how does it look & sound? It has a nice classic hard rock sound, and it's melody & groove are better to me than on their other available originals, but it's not a shredding metal track. Lead guitarist Alex Traynor provides vocals here and uses them to maximum effectiveness with some extra grit & nicely ranged falsetto parts late, and everything comes out well here! You can tell it's later in the day though by the brightness of the video, and some extra lighting would have been nice, as well as the crowd reaction after the song ended. Check out Banned's newest original below, and go check them out in Moran on Saturday night!



Next up, I wanted to note on here (if you guys hadn't already heard) that Sault Ontario concert promoting agency Dismembertainment is more or less defunct now. The company ran by local promoter/guitarist Rich Moreland hasn't put on a show since May, and while I won't go into major details on what's happened since, Rich left town this past weekend for work opportunities in Alberta. He's of course well known for booking all kinds of metal & punk concerts in Sault Ontario since bringing Behemoth here in 2005, featuring notable bands like Kittie, The Dayglo Abortions, Napalm Death, Cattle Decapitation, Novembers Doom, Fuck The Facts, Wolven Ancestry, and Beyond Within, just to name a few. In the last couple years, he ramped up on bookings, including starting the Roosevelt Hotel metal nights in November 2010 & promoting 37 installments of that series, formally launching Dismembertainment in March 2011, briefly owning what's now Coch's Corner under the Feedback name late last year, and helping organize the massive Ypres Metal Fest in memory of the late David Gold this past April. Also, you're bound to remember him as a musician too, including a notable stint as a guitarist in Time of Ruin in the late 2000s, and many guest vocal appearances with assorted local bands.

It is disappointing to see Rich move, as he did wonders for the scene in the 7 years that he promoted local concerts! I know the response and turnout for some could be hit & miss, but he went above and beyond to give us tons of brutal metal concerts, and a Dismembertainment/Rich-promoted concert tended to be the heaviest event going down on any given week! I know I'm grateful for all he's done, and hopefully more locals can pick up the slack to ensure more major bands stop here for more than just sleep. That said, I hope Alberta works out for him, as Rich is a nice guy and has the talent & drive to go far if he has the opportunities available for him, so best of luck to him out west, and hopefully this won't be the last we'll hear from him in metal!

Finally for today, here's the latest updates from the new Sault Michigan hardcore band Angelic Genocide... or, what used to be them. Last week, they changed their name to The Eleventh Hour (Lamb of God reference?), and though a reason wasn't announced for the change, they did refer to the Angelic Genocide name as their "last idea at a band name", for what that's worth. I actually like the new name better, so hopefully it sticks for them, and hopefully they'll update their logos & Facebook page URL soon to match it! Also in recent news, The Eleventh Hour appear to have quietly parted ways with bassist Alex Boyer, as per his removal from their lineup on Facebook. Again, a reason for this hasn't been announced, but Alex does still list himself as a band member (on vocals, no less) on his personal Facebook page, though that might be an old posting to begin with. Still, if he is indeed gone, best of luck to Alex in the future! The Eleventh Hour do list the bass spot as vacant now, so if you live in the Sault Michigan area, it's worth giving the guys a shout if you wanna try out, so visit the above links! Finally for Eleventh Hour updates, the band indicated on Wednesday that they're working on a new original song named "The Weeping Angels", so stay tuned for updates on that and more from The Eleventh Hour as it all comes in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including some news on upcoming album releases, hopefully our "Yooper Bars" book review, weekend concert previews, and more! Thanks everyone!