Fuck The Facts/Empyrean Plague Concert Review!!

Finally, we have our review of Sunday Night's Empyrean Plague concert on the site for you guys, so you guys can hear what went down at The Oddfellows Hall for this well anticipated all ages show! The turnout was decent and better than at Dank Fest, especially late, though compared to the last Fuck The Facts shows in the Soo, attendance was down, which could partly be blamed on being on a Sunday night. Now, to the bands!

Opening this show was the new/old metal project named This Is Your Band On Drugs (replacing The Strange Coyotes), so what should you know on them? They feature Strange Coyotes frontman Chase Wigmore on guitar and vocals alongside singer Nick Burns with programmed drums, and their sound reminded me of a hybrid of Rotopsy and Chase's older solo/band material. Chase's creativity & energy were a constant (again, he looked almost possessed at points), and Nick has growling ability, but something seemed rushed and improvised about their set, and I'd be curious to see if they expand their sound further. Interesting stuff though, and it was nice to see Crucify The Whore's Tyler Gibson and The Bear Hunters' Johnny Belanger join in for guest spots during their set! No word yet on if This Is Your Band On Drugs will essentially replace The Strange Coyotes or not, but stay tuned for more info on them this week!

Next up was the aforementioned Crucify The Whore for another Oddfellows Hall set of solo goregrind brutality! If you've seen C.T.W. live, there wasn't much variance from the norm, but devoted fans of Blood Shed Productions got the first mosh pits of the day going for Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson's set, which included familiar existing originals like "People These Days" and "Bunk, Shake, and Headache", untitled new songs, a guest spot from Tyler's Rotopsy bandmate Dylan Taylor, and even a surprise cover of a boss theme from Super Mario 64! It did seem unfortunate that he had to call in fans and friends from outside for certain songs, but there's growing pains for any young musician regardless of genre. Musically, Tyler's guitar skill got some nice showcasing via some solid solos, but compared to Dank Fest, there were some more technical issues and more of an informal feel.  Solid work though, and stay tuned for news concerning the next C.T.W. demo!

Third was the first live set from local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters in 3 months, and despite the relatively long break between shows for them, they didn't have any rust to show for it! Their 8 song set was mostly devoted to newer originals like "The Void" and "I Fear No God", though classics like "Collapse The Sun" and their cover of Amon Amarth's "Guardians of Asgaard" were there for longtime fans, and shockingly, they didn't end 'er with "Render" (This Void) for a change. The ending of that song drags on far longer than necessary, so I wasn't too hurt by that! Talent-wise, everyone was on form, with Nik Deubel's growling as brutal as ever, and Mitch Sirie showcasing his guitar riffs and solos strongly as usual, but fans didn't seem as into the set as I'd assume they would be. Every show's different, but I enjoyed the brutality here, and don't miss them at The Oddfellows Hall again on Saturday at the 4th Sewer Swampstravaganza!

Fourth on the bill was scheduled to be the Soo debut of local/London death metal band Saints & Serpents, but they did not perform at the event. While a reason hasn't been announced, keep in mind that the band has not updated their Facebook page since February, and at last word, still had a drummer vacancy (plus, Steve & Andrew have been very busy with D3athcharg3r lately.) You think they'd have told promoters about not being able to play, but hopefully things are alright in their camp, and we'll let you guys know if we hear anything! Due to the late notice, they were not replaced on the bill, so the show ended an hour earlier than projected.

After 8 months away from the local stage (and their relocation to St. Catharine's), local death metal/crust punk trio Shit Liver finally came back to the Soo on Sunday night for a brutal and fast paced set of originals in what effectively served as the release show for their long awaited debut CD! Their set featured 12 of the 15 songs from said album, along with 5 newer and non-CD tracks like "Matt Got Beat Up By Cops", "Hitting The Fan", and the brand new "Sir-Osis" (which they were still writing on Sunday), and fans definitely ate up every minute of their return, inciting the best mosh pits yet of the night! Despite the wait for their homecoming, they had no rust due to a steady run of Southern Ontario gigs in the interim, and the intense growling and screaming from all 3 members, plus Matt Baic's steady drumming and Josh Penno's hard hitting guitar riffs kept fans going throughout! Hard to believe how they've grown, but their livers are still shitty, but hopefully we'll see them back in town at some point this summer, and thanks again for the CD!

Co-headlining on Sunday was North Bay black metal quartet Empyrean Plague in their first local stop since the Ypres Metal Fest two years ago, and they definitely had a stronger showing due partly to the longer set and happier circumstances! Oddly preferring to play with the house lights on, the band put their own melodic and brutal spin on black metal, and in all honesty, the visual look and presence of the band reminded me of Gates of Winter at points (I may be alone on that though.) Empyrean Plague's set was a mixture of new material from their upcoming album and classic originals like "We Are The North", and while their music was great and true to the Northern Ontario black metal sound, I could barely hear Mike Burge & Kyle Tayler's vocals for most of their set. It'd have been nice to get more moshing, but their talents are top notch, with bassist Kye Bell particularly impressing, and hopefully we'll get to see the guys back up here soon!

And of course, your headliners were Ottawa/Gatineau grindcore standouts (and Juno nominees) Fuck The Facts in their first local stop in 2 years, and they definitely put an awesome capper to the evening with their unpredictable and psychotic brand of metal! Like their last few local dates, I again think that their set went by too fast, partly thanks to their generally short songs, but the 12 songs and intro that we did get definitely got a great reception and some awesome moshing going! Mixing established songs like "Kelowna" and "Everyone Is Robbing The Dead" with French language songs like "Vent Du Nord" & "Jour De Souffrance" from last year's "Amer" EP, their set was relentless, unique, and very heavy, with Mel Mongeon and Marc Bourgon showing their brutal vocals well throughout, and Topon Das and Johnny Ibay keeping things crushing on guitar throughout! Fuck The Facts have a very big local following, and hopefully it grows further and helps get them back here sooner than 2 years!

Overall, this was another great concert, and kudos to Tyler St. Amour and Heavy North Entertainment for putting it on! I just wish the attendance was more consistent. Also, our best wishes go out to Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger (cool mask!) after being hospitalized post-show due to a cellulitis infection. Hopefully this won't affect the Jack Spades EP release show, and get better soon! I got plenty of photos at the show, so check them out at this link or at the SMS' Facebook page (which also has this "Tag Yourself!" crowd shot), and I did get videos too! Embedded below, here's This Is Your Band On Drugs playing their song "Black Metal Is Too Hard" (followed by another original, title unknown), Crucify The Whore playing their sister songs "Batch Cones" & "Orthostatic Hypotension", The Bear Hunters playing "Transcend Judgment", Shit Liver playing their songs "Livin' In Shit" & "It's Not My Problem", Empyrean Plague playing their new original "Ethereal Forger", and Fuck The Facts playing their song "95"!













That's all for now, but stay tuned either tonight or tomorrow for a new news post! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Late Shift) & The Fuck The Facts Concert Preview!!

Today, we're devoting things to two topics: A SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT (along with a related new video discovery) and our extended preview of a big all ages show TOMORROW with some notable returning faces, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 8:02 PM)

Local hard/alternative rock cover band Late Shift are apparently returning to the stage TONIGHT for an acoustic gig at LopLops Lounge! Apologies for the short notice, we just heard about this one last night via it's advertisement on SooToday's Don't Say There's Nothing To Do In The Soo List, and Late Shift still lack an online page. Though we last heard of a public concert from them at their November debut at The Canadian (their cancelled Rockstar Bar gig in February aside), Late Shift have played a handful of private events like weddings and benefit fundraisers so far in 2014, and it will be nice to finally see them back on a fully public stage tonight! According to a personal Facebook posting by frontman John Barber, their lineup tonight will be sans drummer Anthony Gagnon for unannounced reasons, though it could be due to the acoustic setup, as not all bands use drums in this setting. John will still be joined his former Redefined bandmate Matt Sibilo on guitar and Northwest's Clint Wilson on bass for this set, and it will be interesting to see how things go tonight!

A 19+ age limit is in effect for tonight's show, which will begin at around midnight, and I'd assume there's a cover charge. For more details, check the above links! It's great to hear some new developments from the Late Shift camp, so hopefully tonight's show is a hit despite the unplugged theme! For a preview, here's a brand new live video discovery of Late Shift from one of their performances early this year, so what should you know? Uploaded to John's YouTube channel (which also features old Redefined videos) on February 23rd, this is of the full band playing three songs at a friend's wedding the previous weekend, location unclear. The video captures Late Shift covering Radiohead's "High & Dry", Modest Mouse's "Float On", and Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine", so click each song link to go straight to the song in question! These covers are noticeably lighter than most of their songs at their November debut, but it's unclear whether this is due to a shift in sound, just when the video was shot, or an intentional choice due to the event type.

There isn't much to look at, as the lighting's poor (though to be fair, this wasn't a public concert) and the filmer didn't come close to the band until late, but they didn't wear the wigs & sunglasses for this gig. The guys sound good and know the songs well, but we'll have to see how they sound at future gigs, and hopefully they play publically with drums again soon! Go check out 3/4ths of the band TONIGHT at LopLops, and here's the new video!



Next up, here's our promised preview of arguably the biggest concert in scope yet from Heavy North Entertainment, as a pair of prominent out of town metal bands and local favourites are hitting The Oddfellows Hall TOMORROW NIGHT! (No, the teased move of the show to a different venue did not occur.) The headlining bands are Juno nominated Ottawa grindcore standouts Fuck The Facts and North Bay black metal favourites Empyrean Plague, both of which are making their first local stops since playing at Dismembertainment shows at The Canadian two years ago! Both have an explosive and brutal sound, with F.T.F.'s unique technical themes and Empyrean Plague's battle-tested brutality sure to impress once again, so be at The Oddfellows Hall at 11:00 & 10:00 PM to see them! Note that this will be Empyrean Plague's first local stop since the departure of guitarist Dave Strba, now of Buried Out Back. The highest slotted local band are crust/death trio Shit Liver, who will be playing their first Sault-area date in over eight months tomorrow after moving to St. Catharine's last year!

Shit Liver have stayed busy in the interim though, playing a number of Southern Ontario gigs and finally releasing their debut album last month, and they'll be selling physical copies tomorrow as well, so pick yours up then! (No word on the price yet.) They're on at 9:00 PM, while local/London death metal band Saints & Serpents are also slated to play this show at 8:00 PM, which would mark their local debut and the first Soo show from former Valentine's Day Massacre bandmates Steve Rhodes, Andrew Angelic, and Adam Veale since December 2012, but I'll note that they haven't posted on their Facebook page in 3 months, and still have not visibly replaced ex-drummer Ian Timmermans, so I'm not sure if they're still playing this show. We'll keep you posted, but their death metal/hardcore hybrid sound has been missed regardless of name! Fully local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters are definitely playing at 7:15 PM in their first local date in almost three months, and their well recieved originals should fit right in tomorrow night!

The band at 6:45 PM was slated to be local thrash band Pillory, but like their other recent concerts, they have dropped out of this one, though they have not been replaced. The opening bands include local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore at 6:15 PM, while local funk/metal band The Strange Coyotes have been replaced on the lineup by singer/guitarist Chase Wigmore's old side project This Is Your Band On Drugs in the opening 5:30 PM slot for unannounced reasons, though it could be related to The Strange Coyotes' recent drummer vacancy. Chase will be joined by fellow musician Nick Burns in this act, and this YouTube channel appears to be of them, so will we get an experimental metal sound similarly to what's posted here? Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow! Admission will be $12 in advance (through Tyler or C.T.W.'s Ringsnaps Gibson) or $15 at the door, this is absolutely an ALL AGES show, and things are currently slated to start at 5:30 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

If things hold together, this should be the biggest show yet from Heavy North Entertainment, especially as it's seemed like forever that we've seen many of the performers! It'll be a nice throwback, and with lots of brutal death metal to go around, you won't wanna miss it, so stay tuned for any possible late updates, and yes, I do hope to attend if all goes well! For a preview, here's Fuck The Facts live at The Canadian 2 years ago!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a big news post tomorrow, including lineup changes for another upcoming Oddfellows show! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Fuck The Facts) & Some New Concert Videos!!

In our likely last post of the month, we're keeping the recent busy news and big updates coming with some recent concert videos and a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring that you metalheads will surely be excited for, so read on below for what you need to know!

Ottawa grindcore favourites Fuck The Facts are returning to the Soo for the first time in almost two years for a headlining show at The Oddfellows Hall on Sunday, May 4th! Last seen at The Canadian in May 2012 (though we saw bassist Marc Bourgon with his other band Greber last spring), this Juno nominated quintet have developed a great reputation for their unique and extremely brutal live sets, and I'm sure the same will be said for their return in just over 3 months! Joining them from out of town are North Bay black metal standouts Empyrean Plague, also returning to the Soo for the first time since 2012 after their set at that April's Ypres Metal Fest! This will also be their first local stop with their current lineup, and if you know them well, their devastating blackened metal sound will be right at home once again, so it's great to see them coming back this direction! Fuck The Facts are slated to headline this ALL AGES show at 11:00 PM, though Empyrean Plague are actually slotted third on the bill at 9:00 PM, so who else is playing this huge show?

The second-last slot at 10:00 PM actually belongs to local/Toronto grimecore trio Shit Liver, in what is currently their first announced concert in over 8 months! We haven't heard a lot concert-wise since they moved down south, but it's great to have their crusty metal assault back in May, so keep their upcoming return in mind! A few more relocated Saultites are also opening, as local/London death metal quartet Saints & Serpents will also make their local debut in the 8:15 PM slot! Featuring the non-drumming members of the former Valentine's Day Massacre, it will be Steve, Andrew, and Adam's first local concert set since The V.D.M.'s last local date in December 2012, so this has been way too long coming, and hopefully they pick up where they left off in the early 2010s! As of right now, this show will also mark the debut of their new drummer (replacing the departed Ian Timmermans), though the search is still ongoing in the London area, so if you're down there or know someone who could try out, message Saints & Serpents A.S.A.P.!

The lineup's currently rounded out by resurgent local thrashers Pillory at 7:30 PM, local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters at 6:45 PM (though they're not 100% confirmed as of this writing), and local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore opening at 6:00 PM, and all should fit in well in their own rights, especially as both The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver have opened for the headliners! The second announced show promoted by Pillory bassist Tyler St. Amour at Heavy North Entertainment (though they have at least one show in the interim to announce), this ALL AGES show has a $12 advance ticket price (through members of the fully local bands starting on March 1st), though the door price will jump to $15, and as announced above, C.T.W. will open the festivities at 6:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tyler's already outdone himself, and hopefully this is a huge success for H.N.E. and the included bands, including some missed local talent, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

We'll close today in Heavy North Entertainment territory, as we have a pair of extra videos from last week's weather-affected all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall, both courtesy of Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, including this brand new clip of The Bear Hunters playing their original "I Fear No God"! Sadly filmed on the vertical cell phone camera angle again, the quality's otherwise fine with The Bear Hunters sounding as heavy as ever, but the small crowd was somewhat inevitable given that night's storm. Give this new video a look below though!



Finally for today is that video of The Strange Coyotes' set that we alluded to the other day! Featuring members Chase Wigmore & James Watterworth amusingly decked out in their best black metal and drag outfits, this video has 7 minutes of original jamming, and though the vertical angle is still used, the energy level and enthusiasm is great as usual! I know the guys are hoping to get on the aforementioned Fuck The Facts show, and if anything happens to accomodate that, expect another enthusiastic performance like this one, which you can see below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for some more exciting news and updates as we enter February, along with next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on Sunday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Turner Up), A Local Band's Return, Battle For The Blood Updates, And More!!

Here's another news post for this Friday afternoon, but are you wondering where my review of yesterday's 45th Roosevelt Hotel metal night is? I was there, and it's definitely coming, but my Changing Waves video is out of sync for who knows what reason (blame my camera), so I've gotta edit it and re-sync the audio. It's noticeable, especially for the vocals, and you can see for yourself by clicking here until I replace the video. So until then, we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND, a local band's return under a new name, a prominent out of town band's search for a new local date, an upcoming battle of the bands' new updates, and more, so read on below for all of the new stories! (Updated on Sunday at 2:57 PM)

I apologize for the short notice on these concerts, but Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet Turner Up will hit the stage for two more shows TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT! These new dates, which will see them return to The Nicolet Tavern once again following their shows there last month, were only announced yesterday, so I again am sorry for the late word. Keep the weekend's shows in mind though, as if you wanna hear Turner Up rock some solid covers with a bit of a harder edge than most of the band's Havadder work, then don't miss them at The Nic tonight or tomorrow! They may be sans bassist Travis Sharpe this weekend according to their Facebook page, but that info was oddly put on the "About" section there, so I can't attest to if that refers to this weekend or not, or which member's playing bass instead. If anyone knows for certain, let me know! Admission should be free, both of these gigs should be 19+, and a 10:30 PM start time is advertised. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! These should both be solid concerts from Turner Up, as always, so don't miss their classic hard rock attack tonight or tomorrow! For a preview, here's the old Turner Up covering a Guns N' Roses classic at The Rockstar Bar last year!



Next up, do you guys remember the short lived Sault Ontario death metal band Bring The Misery, last known as Unleash The Blackened Sky? Well, they're back..... sort of! Their Facebook page has been reactivated to reflect the band's return (having last done any real band updates last July), although there's a lot of differences. They've changed their name to March Into Regression (no word on why they dumped the U.T.B.S. name), and their current lineup now only includes guitarist Ray Cowan & drummer Travis St. Amour, indicating that 2011 members Steve Rhodes, Daeson Lesage, and Travis's brother Tyler haven't been retained. Note that Ray's other group Social Suicide's Facebook page hinted that Ray was doing a "different band", though it's not clear how linked the two are otherwise. However, recent postings indicate that March Into Regression plan to write new original material and play shows once again, hopefully including some touring. While I thought that Bring The Misery's two concerts last June were works in progress, I'm glad to see Ray & Travis keep the band alive, and the new name is definitely an improvement! They're back in our active Sault Ontario band links, and stay tuned for updates from March Into Regression as I hear them!

Thirdly, here's the latest updates on the Battle for the Blood! The recently announced battle of the bands to find a second local opening band for 3 Inches Of Blood's show at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 9th will apparently be moving to a later date than the original placement for it this coming Tuesday. The move was necessitated due to scheduling conflicts with Desbarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, as guitarist Brook Moreau has to work on Tuesday night, according to postings on the Facebook event page. Originally, F.A.T.I.L. just dropped out of the battle, but I'm glad to see that they're looking into rescheduling for a few reasons. F.A.T.I.L. deserve the opportunity (and singer Tyler Sperry suggested the battle concept early on), you need at least 4 bands for a good battle (none recently in the Soo have had less), and if it's postponed, it gives more time to advertise and get the word out, so this can only benefit the battle itself! Stay tuned to the SMS for more details on the Battle For The Blood & when it will take place as I hear of it!

Also today, a prominent Northern Ontario metal band are looking to come back to Sault Ste. Marie for another concert, but they need help and/or contacts to make it happen! Empyrean Plague frontman "Builder" Mike Burge contacted the SMS' Facebook page earlier this week asking if I could help the North Bay black metal standouts get a concert booked for the Soo, presumably later this year. I forwarded him some contact information, but I don't believe they have anything firm set up yet, so I thought I'd spread the word on here! As you may remember, Empyrean Plague headlined the 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night last September, and were among the featured out of town bands at the Ypres Metal Fest in April, so they're certainly no strangers to Sault Ste. Marie! Their brutal black metal stylings fit in very well at local shows, and it's be great to see the guys back here, so if you can help Empyrean Plague get a new local booking later this year, contact Mike at this location or the band at the above links! Let's get some more Northern Ontario black metal up here!

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

• New local grunge band Haggith posted an acoustic version of their original song "Rage Train" onto their Facebook page yesterday! I can't embed it here, as it's a Facebook video, but it's a nice different take on the song, so give it a look at the above links, and remember to see Haggith's debut at The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday!
• Mike Gaetano from Docks Riverfront Grill (and a former metal booker at The Other Place) is looking for a guitarist and bassist for a current band project that he's a part of that primarily plays 1990s alternative rock covers. If anyone out there is interested in trying out for this band, message Mike at this location or through his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last night!
• YouTube user Toxic Doll has uploaded 8 videos from the David Gold memorial concert in Toronto on April 5th at this location, including all 7 songs from Chicago doom metal headliners Novembers Doom's set (including their cover of Woods of Ypres' "Wet Leather") and frontman Paul Kuhr's guest spot with Musk Ox covering "You Are Here With Me", so give them a look at the above links! Fuzzy video quality, but the audio's very good!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of last night's Rosie metal night later tonight! Thanks everyone!

The Ypres Metal Fest Extended Preview!!

Today's post is focused entirely on one major concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as one of the biggest local metal events of 2012 goes down tomorrow at The Canadian Nightclub for the planned first edition of the Ypres Metal Fest! Stemming from existing plans for a yearly metal festival between Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland and late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, this will not only be the realization of that goal, but it will also double as the local tribute concert in David's memory following his tragic passing in December. It's the second of two official David Gold tribute shows (following yesterday's "Woods V" CD release party in Toronto), and both shows share many bands, themes, and goals. The Ypres Metal Fest is Dismembertainment's first concert in about four months, but they've outdone themselves in securing a 12 band lineup featuring 6 bands based out of town, and from what I understand, most (if not all) of the bands tomorrow night will be covering David Gold compositions, be they from Woods of Ypres or his pre-Woods local band Proposition 86, which should be intriguing to say the least! So, who's on tap for this massive tribute concert event?

Going in rough order from the poster, the headliners are Chicago doom metal notables November's Doom, who headlined the Toronto tribute show and have shared the stage with their good friends at Woods of Ypres numerous times in the past on their American tour runs. Their mix of death metal, doom, and Gothic influences have helped them achieve a noted following, and they'll fit perfectly as headliners tomorrow night! Co-headlining the Ypres Metal Fest are gold selling London all-female metal quartet Kittie, fronted by David's close friend Morgan Lander, and since their 1999 debut album "Spit" became a major success, they've just gotten heavier and faster, so you know they'll be worth the wait tomorrow in their local debut! I'm curious to hear their Woods of Ypres cover especially, knowing Morgan & David's friendship, and hopefully they'll hit the perfect balance between mourning and face melting tomorrow! North Bay black metal standouts Empyrean Plague will also hit The Canadian tomorrow night for their first local concert appearance since the 34th Rosie metal night last September! Despite being the last confirmed lineup addition, their brutal black metal sounds will be welcome, as they surely were at the Woods of Ypres concerts they opened, so don't miss their fast paced "Against The Seasons"-esque set!

Also on the bill are Windsor stoner metal outfit Gypsy Chief Goliath, and though they're not an outward genre fit with the black, doom, and death metal surrounding them, they have an interesting slower and catchy metal sound that Down fans will appreciate, so don't sleep on these guys tomorrow night! Toronto melodic death metal quartet Hallows Die will also hit The Canadian tomorrow in their third local stop in the past year, following sets opening for Farewell To Freeway & Napalm Death under the Dismembertainment banner in 2011! I've heard rave reviews from their local sets last year, and hopefully they shred some brutal originals tomorrow night, as they have at the Woods of Ypres concerts they've opened in the past! The out of town bands are rounded out by Sudbury black metal standouts Wolven Ancestry, who are the only non-local band not at last night's Toronto memorial show, but they'll absolutely rock the Ypres Metal Fest tomorrow! Fronted by Mark "Lord Defiler" Howitt (whose company Archaic North Entertainment are helping produce the Woods of Ypres tribute CD), Wolven Ancestry are local favourites stemming from many local appearances in the mid-late 2000s, and tomorrow's set marks their first Sault Ste. Marie appearance in 3½ years, ironically at a show headlined by Woods of Ypres!

Notably, a special acoustic tribute set is also planned at this concert featuring Joel Violette and Rae Amitay from Woods of Ypres' final lineup, though details on it specifically are scant. Will we see special guests or surprise covers? I don't know, but it's fun to speculate over!

The local contingent of this concert is headed up by the 2012 debut of Garden of Bedlam, in their first concert since their "Everything Will Die" CD release party on Boxing Day (and frontman Buzz's back injury that postponed their Rockstar Bar gig last month.) They should deliver a great set tomorrow night, and it'll be good to see them again no matter what, so don't miss their metal fury! Local punk standouts Redundant are also scheduled, and though they might seem like an anomaly, frontman Justin Langlois was a very good friend of David Gold's since childhood, and that alone makes them perfect to be on this concert, so expect some great music from them tomorrow night! Musicians who opened for Woods of Ypres at their last local concert last March will also feature at the Ypres Metal Fest, including ex-State of Misery singer Steve Rhodes (with his current deathcore band The Valentine's Day Massacre) and the very last local band to open for Woods of Ypres (melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, in their Canadian Nightclub debut) so expect fast and furious sets of their quality original material tomorrow evening, and hopefully they'll leave huge marks!

The local bands are rounded out by grimecore trio Shit Liver in their first concert set of 2012 after a 4 month break (and their first Canadian Nightclub appearance), so it'll be a long time coming to see these guys brutalize the stage! Check out all of the above links to hear the entire lineup for the Ypres Metal Fest! With all of that said, how can you go to this major concert event? Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at The Canadian Motor Hotel's front desk, Northland Music, Bossy's Pub N' Grub, or through Rich Moreland, David's sister Marie, and possibly some of the local band members playing tomorrow (contact them on Facebook if you can!) Tickets will be available at the door pending availability, the show starts nice and early at 5:00 PM, and unlike last night's memorial show in Toronto, the Ypres Metal Fest is ALL AGES!! Yes, if you're 18 or younger, you can go, and it's still licensed for those of you legal to drink, so hopefully this ensures a huge turnout! Like last night, all proceeds from tomorrow's event will go towards covering David Gold's final expenses and the David Gold Music Scholarship at Sault College, and from what I can gather, band merchandise (including "W5") will be on sale tomorrow as well. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This is going to be one of the biggest metal events we've ever had locally, and it's all for a great cause! Sure, David sang about not wanting to be posthumously immortalized, but he's far from undeserving. All of these bands are very talented and entertaining, and whether it's the rememberances of David, the Woods of Ypres covers, or just the glory of 9 hours of metal, this is definitely a can't miss event! Hell, I'm currently battling my third cold in four months, and I'm not missing this for the world! Will we see any surprises, special announcements, or anything like that tomorrow? We shall see, but all I know is that this could be the best concert for the best cause of this year, and I will 150% see you guys there tomorrow evening! Stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow featuring more on this event and some other stories from the local scene, and for a preview, here's November's Doom's video for their song "Harvest Scythe", but definitely check out all of tomorrow's bands to get hyped up for the Ypres Metal Fest! Thanks everyone, and see you guys there at 5:00 PM tomorrow!

Lots Of Assorted News & Videos From The Last Little While!!

It's time to clear out some of the stories from our recent news cache today, as this post is dedicated to assorted stories we've missed over the last week! I know that there's a new concert tomorrow and another cancelled for tomorrow, but I don't want to redundantly cover both almost identically for consecutive days, so stay tuned early tomorrow for weekend concert previews. For now, we have news on a relaunched solo project, Ypres Metal Fest news, new Half A Man updates & this week's classic video, so here's what you need to know!

Former Browbeat frontman Dutch Vanderploeg appears to have relaunched his solo project! He posted new Facebook & Reverbnation pages on Thursday to promote his latest musical ventures, while also deleting his short lived Training Snakes project's Reverbnation page. The pages mostly reference Dutch's musical past (specifically Browbeat, who he said would probably return in the future), while discussing a bit of recent work, like the Saturday jam nights he hosts in his basement. His Reverbnation page linked above features three audio recordings, those being new versions of the Browbeat originals "Walk Away" and "Sorry", and a softer new original song named "Brighter Day", and all appear to feature Dutch's former Browbeat bandmate James White (Redundant/Caveman Morrison) on bass & backing vocals. Nice to hear these songs again, and fingers crossed that Dutch continues to work on his original material and make local waves again!

His music (Browbeat or otherwise) has always been entertaining, and I hope these don't end up deleted like his other past projects and sites! The new song "Brighter Day" is a bit light for my tastes, but it's well performed, and hopefully there's more to come, so become a fan at the above links, and Dutch's new solo work has replaced Training Snakes in our active band links!

Next up, here's the latest updates for the Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian Nightclub on April 7th! A 12th band has been added to the lineup for this massive David Gold memorial concert, that being North Bay black metal quartet Empyrean Plague, who were previously confirmed for the David Gold memorial show in Toronto on April 5th as well. My source is the official Facebook event page. With at least 5 common bands now on both memorial concerts, it's good to see a lot of symmetry present in David's memory! Empyrean Plague are no strangers to the Soo, having headlined the 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night last September, and they've opened for Woods of Ypres in the north on a few occasions, so they'll be excellent fits here and in Toronto next month! The other news relating to the Ypres Metal Fest is that tickets reportedly went on sale for $20 yesterday, as per a post by promoter Rich Moreland on the event page linked above. You can reportedly buy tickets through him, David's sister Marie Gold, The Rad Zone at The Wellington Square Mall, Northland Music on Queen Street East, and The Canadian Motor Hotel's front desk, but I'll note that nothing 100% about the ticket sales has been said since Monday. You can try to get tickets now if you want, but as soon as official word on their availability is made, I'll let you guys know! Keep posted for more Ypres Metal Fest updates as they come in!

Thirdly today, here's the latest from Brimley metal quartet Half A Man! A new unmixed demo original song named "Bad Way" was posted onto the band's Facebook page on Sunday, and though it's an instrumental, it has a solid groove and is pretty heavy all around! Unfortunately, this particular file is only online via a Facebook video right now (it's not on YouTube yet), and Facebook videos are sadly unembeddable, so check it out at the above links! Not all is lost though, as a solo acoustic version of this song (with vocals) was posted onto guitarist Erik Rintamaki's YouTube channel earlier today! It's got a noticeably different tone, but it's good to hear singing on this version, and Erik lined up the words with images he found on Google to link everything nicely! Erik's singing is better suited to heavier material, I find, but you can feel emotion in his voice on this track, so check out his solo unplugged rendition of "Bad Way" below, and check out more from Half A Man at the above links!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With Garden of Bedlam's first concert of 2012 coming up THIS SATURDAY at The Rockstar Bar, I thought I'd post another older video of theirs that's not on YouTube yet! This comes from an early concert of theirs, when they opened for inactive Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band Sikamikanico at The Other Place (last known as GLOW) in April 2008, and it's of Garden of Bedlam covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither"! Now, better quality video from this concert exists, and you can hear their "Slither" cover in full and in higher quality at this location, but it never hurts to get new views on things! This video isn't of the full song (starting during the second verse), and the audio's very scratchy, but the filmer got a good angle of Garden of Bedlam, and their talent's audible underneath the quality issues! This video was filmed by an attendee and was later uploaded to the band's Facebook group by bassist Evan Belleau at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=17889665931. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Garden of Bedlam and the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this video with a wider audience like it deserves! With that said, check out this early Garden of Bedlam video below, and stay tuned for my preview of their concert on Saturday night!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow, our next entry in the Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series on Friday, our Defunct Profile on Paraside on Saturday, and yes, our "Woods V" review is coming soon as well, along with more news! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Metal/Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview this weekend's slate of metal and hard rock shows! Barring some late notice shows on the Sault Ontario side (odd that I haven't heard of anything from Full Circle or Tym Morrison yet), most of the shows this weekend on the heavier side of things are in Sault Michigan, so if you're across the river you'll like that! There's also lots of updates relating to these shows, including a relocation and a half-cancellation, so let's get things started, and check out our YouTube Channel Profile on Garden of Bedlam's YouTube channel below this post!

We'll start TONIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel for the 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night, and for the 6th time in the past 7 weeks, we have an out of town headliner for this show! This time, it's North Bay black metal quartet Empyrean Plague, making what might be their first ever stop in Sault Ontario for this concert! Brutal folk inspired sound, and if you crave some black metal, you'll absolutely want to see Empyrean Plague tonight! Also, they're coming off of their CD release show in Sudbury yesterday, so keep an eye out for "Imprint Evidence Destiny" at the merchandise table! The opening bands have also been confirmed for tonight, and for a second straight weekend, young local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters and Shit Liver will rock The Rosie on a Thursday metal night! Odd to see the exact same openers in consecutive weeks, but these frequently seen bands will deliver some awesome metal to kick off the night's proceedings! Admission is $3 for tonight's show (totally affordable), you must be 19 to attend, and there's a 9:00 PM start time, possibly later. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Sounds like an awesome concert, and hopefully everyone's face is melted with a heavy dose of Northern black metal! Definitely hit this show if you can, and for a preview, here's Empyrean Plague's video for their song "We Are The North!"



Now to the Sault Michigan metal and hard rock concerts that I know of, and first, Charlevoix classic metal quintet Peril are back at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino this weekend, though with a reduction. Originally scheduled to rock Kewadin tomorrow night & Saturday night, Peril confirmed on their Facebook page on Tuesday that they would only be playing at The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night, meaning that their announced Saturday night show there is now cancelled. No reason was given for why the Saturday show is off, but seeing as they're still playing tomorrow, I assume it's as simple as a scheduling conflict. Regardless, it's been four long months since Peril last rocked our local Kewadin Casino, so you won't wanna miss their proficient classic metal originals & covers tomorrow night! They should be on at 9:00 PM tomorrow, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a good show, so if you want to rock out with Peril, get down to the casino tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Peril covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" last year!



Also this weekend, Sault Michigan hard rockers Powerslug (formerly River Witch) are back on stage for two shows, but there's some stuff to address. Originally, the band were booked before their name change for a full weekend at The Cozy Corners Tavern in nearby Barbeau, Michigan, and the Cozy Corners Facebook page backed this up this afternoon, sans the name change. However, The Merchant's Bar's Facebook page confirms that Powerslug will be playing there on Saturday night only (Fallen Heroes are booked there for Friday.) So, what's up with all that? Seeing as Cozy Corners don't seem to be aware of the name change, I assume at least the Saturday booking is off, cause I can't see them being able to play two concerts in two towns in the same evening. That, or Powerslug is a separate band with old River Witch members, but I've heard nothing to indicate that a such a division happened. For what it's worth, I know Chris Leask & Chris Gurnoe are in Powerslug, and the logo on your right comes from Chris Leask's personal Facebook page, so I assume they're the same band, but I could be wrong. I wish the band updated pages more often so we could get publically verifiable news, but for now, I'll assume that they're at Cozy Corners tomorrow & The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan on Saturday.

I had assumed that the also-scheduled walleye fishing tournament at Cozy Corners on Saturday would be a schedule conflict, but I can't verify if that's why the switch occurred. Nonetheless, they'll be on at around 10:00 PM for both shows, no cover charge is advertised for either venue, and you must be 21 to attend either night. Check the above links for more details! Regardless of all the confusion and conflicting news, Powerslug will deliver some great hard rock this weekend, so check them out either night at either bar, they should impress! If I find any video or audio of the band in action, I'll let you guys know!

And finally, Marquette hard rock quartet Nudge will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan for their first local concert appearances in over a month! This talented and frequently seen band will be sure to deliver two great nights of hard rock and metal covers at The Frog tomorrow night & Saturday night, so keep their local return in mind for your weekend plans (or frontman Danzo McCracken's solo acoustic show there TONIGHT too!) They'll be on at 10:00 PM for both shows, you must be 21 to attend either concert, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Great to see Nudge back and rocking it in the Soo this weekend, and if you check them out, you'll no doubt have a great time! Modern hard rock fans won't wanna miss Nudge! For a preview, here's Nudge covering Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" in 2008!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes tomorrow, including lots of big news from Frightlight! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Napalm Death & Empyrean Plague) And Much More!!

Alright, we have some really awesome news to share today, mostly concerning upcoming metal shows, but we have some assorted notes at the end, including some YouTube housekeeping youy guys might like. Now though, let's kick things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Hold on to your hats, metalheads, as a HUGE metal show is hitting Sault Ontario on October 15th, headlined by none other than British grindcore legends Napalm Death! You read that right! One of the top ten highest selling death metal bands of all time, Napalm Death have made waves since the 1980s on the backs of influential albums like "Scum" "Fear, Emptiness, Despair", and their latest "Time Waits For No Slave", and you know their brutal and respected sounds will not want to be missed next month! Huge kudos to Rich Moreland and Dismembertainment for bringing them here, this should be their biggest show yet! Four bands have been secured as openers, including two out of town bands, so who's opening for Napalm Death? Toronto death metal band Hallows Die, for one, in their first Sault Ontario stop in five months, following the Farewell To Freeway-headlined Rosie metal night in May! Nice choice, they sounded great from what I heard the first time around, so you won't want to miss them! The other out of town band is Calgary grindcore outfit Wake, who'll fit right in at this show with a hardcore and grind mixture that's guaranteed to melt faces in what I think is their local debut! How's that for an intense trifecta of great out of town death metal?

The two local bands confirmed as openers are melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters and grimecore trio Shit Liver, who are probably the best local fits for a show of this style and magnitude, and you know they'll turn some heads in the process! Also, I should note that Oshawa death metal band Strings of Ares had announced their participation in this show on band pages in August, but unless Dismembertainment confirm additional bands, I wouldn't read too far into that (though they'd fit well if added!) With the bands out of the way, what else should you know about this huge metal show? It will be held at The Riuniti Hall on 1324 Great Northern Road (at the corner of 4th Line East, down the road from The Trading Post), which isn't a familiar concert venue, but it has the size needed for a show of this magnitude! Crank Sound Distribution will be on hand to do sound, and it will be an ALL AGES concert, but a bar for 19+ attendees will be open. Doors open at 6:00 PM, and tickets are $20 in advance (ticket details to be announced), or $25 at the door, which certainly isn't steep for this level of bands, including the one and only Napalm Death! For all current details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Now THIS is one hell of a metal concert, Rich has outdone himself once again! There's a chance I might be in Detroit that weekend, but if I'm not, you can guarantee I'll be at The Riuniti Hall on October 15th for what should be one of the biggest metal concerts of the year! There's likely much more to come related to this concert, so stay tuned to the SMS for more details as they're confirmed!

So while Napalm Death stole much of the attention last night, Dismembertainment kept busy announcing another concert yesterday as well, that being THIS THURSDAY's 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night! Keeping with recent trends for Dismembertainment's Thursday night showcases, there will be an out of town headlining band, and this week, it's North Bay black metal quartet Empyrean Plague! Nice to see them come to town, and if you enjoy folk inspired black metal, you'll be right at home with these Northern Ontario standouts, especially if you're more into black metal than other types! Local opening bands are scheduled for Thursday, but none have been confirmed as of this writing. When they're announced, I'll let you guys know! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, there will be a $3 cover (very affordable), and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Even without knowing the openers yet, this is shaping up to be an awesome concert, and huge props to Rich for booking out of town headliners for the Thursday metal nights in six of the past 7 weeks! Consistent brutal metal shows, gotta love em! Stay tuned for updates on THIS THURSDAY'S Empyrean Plague show as they come in!

Now to some more news, so here's three assorted shorter stories from last few days. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or station name:

• I moved Sault Michigan metal quintet Analog Deficiency to our inactive band links yesterday. Featuring Traces guitarists Nathan Switzer & Cody Tidwell in their lineup, Analog Deficiency were last visibly active on September 19th, 2010, which was when they last logged into their MySpace page. They were a promising band with a cool KoRn-inspired sound, though hopefully the members' current projects work out!
• Sault Ontario solo hard rock guitarist Shane "The Shaner" Solomon has posted a new "in progress" original demo named "Underdog" onto his Reverbnation page. Promising slower hard rocker, I like the riffing, and hopefully he expands on this to make a fuller track! Click here for more of The Shaner's original material!
• WLSO: The Sounds of Lake State (the college radio station at Lake Superior State University in Sault Michigan) has launched an official Twitter account! Not a lot of activity there yet, but a recent tweet implied that they're running a Saturday night rock show of some type this semester with a DJ named Aaron as host. If I hear any more details on this and other programming on WLSO, I'll let you know, but tune in today at 90.1 FM!

And finally for today, I wanted to let you guys know about some interesting edits being made to the videos on our official YouTube channel. A few days ago, YouTube unveiled a new feature that allows channel owners to edit their videos after uploading, and I don't mean the title and description. Now, you can adjust the lighting, colour, shakiness, length, and audio of videos after uploading them, and I'll tell you guys right now, this is awesome of them to finally add! Now I can go back and edit all of the videos I've filmed and uploaded that had bad/no lighting, dim/washed out colour, and other odd or non-realistic lighting. I've edited many videos, mostly from concerts, since YouTube unveiled this feature, and now many older videos are brighter & better lit than they once were! This doesn't boost the quality (dark footage doesn't brighten up very cleanly), but this way, many older videos look nicer and more detailed. I plan on using this feature more often, and I do recommend it for you readers with YouTube channels, as who wants to watch a black or washed out video?

To show you guys an example, here's Scofflaw's video for "Love Destroyer" (as originally uploaded to their MySpace page in 2008), and my weekly classic video upload of it from March, which I colour corrected a couple days ago. See what you guys think!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new local band and more news later this week, along with our next YouTube Channel Profile Series (on Garden of Bedlam's channel) on Thursday, and more! Thanks everyone!