I wasn't planning to have a new news post today, but it's amazing how rapidly some big news falls into place, so I felt I should slap one together! In that regard, don't forget my Defunct Local Band Profiles on From The Ashes Of Angels and TraynWreck from this morning, especially if you're from the Sault Michigan area! So today, we have a cool new audio clip from a local band, some updates to one of our monthly feature posts, and kicking things off, two SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!!
Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is indeed back at Service Grill Pizza TODAY! After a one week absence for a St. Joseph Island concert, Tym's back at the Korah Road restaurant today for two sets after he returns from his set this afternoon at The Searchmont Music Festival, and apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show earlier today. Also to note, the Facebook event page still says that he's there "every Saturday", so it looks like his weekly summer arrangement there has been extended into at least one fall month! With the Searchmont gig, his usual times at the Service Grill are slightly amended, as he'll now be hitting the stage a bit later at 4:30 PM, with a second set likely to start around 8:00 PM tonight. There's no announced cover charge, and I don't believe there's an age restriction. Check the above links for more details! Sounds good, hopefully Tym knocks it out of the park tonight, even if it's short notice! Remember to go see him TODAY, and for a preview, here's Tym (and a special guest) covering Extreme's "More Than Words" a few years ago!
Meanwhile, Sault Michigan hard rock trio Scofflaw will return to the local stage TONIGHT for a set at The Merchant's Bar! The popular band featuring singer/guitarist Jeff Barnes, Bucksaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and PowerSlug drummer Ivan Schliska will make their first advertised local concert appearance since LemmaFest when they rock The Merch for a night of drunken metal originals! They're a fun band and well worth hitting up shows for, but hearing them announced in advance is nice, so it's good to finally be able to plug a concert of theirs on here! That said, it's still short notice for the announcement, and I apologize for that. They'll be on at 10:00 PM tonight, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, click here! If you like and miss Scofflaw, you'll wanna be at The Merchant's Bar TONIGHT, so don't miss it if you're across the river! For a preview, here's Scofflaw playing their original song "Love Destroyer" at a 2008 jam session!
Thirdly today, I received a cool new audio track from Sneaky Pete frontman Bill Brouillard that I'd like to share with you guys! Yesterday, Bill e-mailed me an mp3 file of the band covering both Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" into a mashup that they call "Another Crazy Thing Comin'", and I decided to post it on The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel to show to the world! It basically starts as a "Crazy Train" cover, then segues into Judas Priest, then closes with the "Crazy Train" cover's last portion, resulting in over 10 minutes of hard rocking! The band sounds good, this is probably the best quality audio I've heard of theirs, and though the vocals aren't as rangy, there's added grit and heaviness to them, so it all works out! So enjoy this Sneaky Pete cover mashup, and hopefully it encourages you to check them out at their next live concerts! Give "Another Crazy Thing Comin'" a listen!
And finally, I've updated the info on a few of the profiles in our Defunct Local Band Profile Series & our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series to keep them more accurate, so here's what's changed! I've updated both the M7K and Death Rise defunct profiles to add references to Mike Vincent and Adam Brett's current band The Dead Kings, and slightly downplay the now-defunct Skull After Betrayl. I updated the Life's Eclipse* profile to refer to frontman Jason Mills' work in Swampghas, and to note that both he and and his brother, bassist David Mills, share vocal duties in the band. Finally for the defunct profiles, I edited the State of Misery* profile to mention that guitarist Ray Cowan was in the local band The Unforgiven, a band he won "Best Guitarist" at the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands with. As for the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, I edited the Sin Stereo profile to change the references to the members' later band Stiffler's Mom, as they broke up earlier this year. Lastly, I edited the Gates of Winter profile to condense things a tiny bit (mostly in the notes on their drummers), and I added references to my reviews of their two released CDs in lieu of substantial song critiquing in that profile. Check the above links for each of the updated profiles in those two monthly feature series!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, and in case anything doesn't go up tomorrow, pay your respects tomorrow on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and never forget. Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, here's one more post before tonight's Halloween concert at Coch's Corner, so get ready! We have a new page from a local band, updates on an article we'd heard about concerning CD Plus' closure, and some updates to some old SMS posts, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!
I apologize for the short notice of this show, it only reached my attention earlier today. Sault Michigan funk hard rockers Clownsack will return to the stage TONIGHT for their first show since the summer when they play a special Halloween weekend concert at The Satisfied Frog! Event pages on Facebook and MySpace confirm this. They'll be on at around 10:30 PM tonight, and will be on after a planned Halloween costume contest at The Frog this evening. There is no likely cover charge, but considering the seasonal appeal, there could be something. And of course, you must be 21 to enter. It's great to see Clownsack back on stage, hopefully they rock the house down! So if you're in Sault Michigan and need something to do tonight, make note of this concert! I'm booked tonight for a show on this side, but I'd love to go if I could! Check out all of the above links for more, I again apologize for missing this until now, and for a preview, here's a classic video from 2006 of Clownsack playing their song "Social Homicide"!
Next up, local horror punk/metal quartet Frightlight have joined MySpace! Well, this page has been registered since last summer, but only this month has it been properly updated and launched. The page isn't too elaborate yet, featuring some basic info, band photos, and a fitting colour scheme, but the big story is that it has two new songs on it! Well, not "new", we've heard them before, but these are two of the tracks from their forthcoming debut album "It's A...Live!!"! Their songs "She Screams" and "C.H.U.D.", as performed at their concert on July 10th at Coch's Corner, are available to check out there, in great quality! Now because a CD release is anticipated, I'll wait for judgments on the songs until I do a review, but I will say that the production by Nick Jackson is great, and I have to say, these songs honestly sound different from what we hear in the crowd. That's good, don't worry! For more, check out Frightlight's brand new MySpace page at the above links, and remember to check them out TONIGHT at Coch's Corner for this year's Halloween party!
Thirdly today, I wanted to go over something I'm sure you may have been expecting from a local news source. As you may remember, local music store CD Plus officially shut down it's last Sault Ste. Marie location (in the Cambrian Mall) one week ago today. The Sault Star's Brian Kelly posted a video that same day onto The Sault Star's website, which previewed a planned article on why losing CD Plus will be a big loss for local music lovers. It's just 20 seconds long, and it features Brian talking and some exterior and interior footage of CD Plus. It's not embeddable, so click here to check it out. So, where's the article? Your guess is as good as mine. Nothing has popped up online referring to the piece Brian discussed in the video, which is odd when you consider that a video was posted hyping it. I'm fairly certain that anything that makes the paper tends to make it online, so unless there's some special print-only article on the CD Plus closure in last Saturday's paper, it didn't make the cut. If I'm wrong though, please tell me at robertfigures@hotmail.com! It still sucks that CD Plus closed, as they were a great source for more obscure titles, and of course, local albums too! Hopefully they return down the road!
And finally for today, I wanted to share with you guys some updates I recently made to one of our past series on the SMS. You may remember that we had our "GarageBand Profile Mini-Series" from June 30th-July 15th to profile and archive the pages of the six local metal/hard rock acts who were on the now-defunct music website. I've been wanting to update some of our older profile and feature posts to make them more current and factual, so I went back and checked all six of the posts in this mini-series to see if anything needed to be edited. The profiles for Recognition, Lee Thomas Maines, Mike Cliffe, and Gates of Winter have had no real changes, be it for inactivity, slow progress, or the lack of a major change to the band. Two of the profiles do have changes, so here's what's new! In the profile for THE ID, I edited the "SMS Analysis" section to reflect drummer Matt Hicks' current involvement in Riverin, as that's where he's currently plying his musical trade. Nothing else current has been added, as T.H.E.I.D have long since broken up.
As for Sin Stereo, the updates to their profile largely reflect info gathered from Stiffler's Mom's new Facebook page (remember, the two bands are one and the same, members-wise.) I added a link for that page, and referred to a Stiffler's Mom video from their supporting performance at the 2007 INXS concert at The Essar Centre there as well. I also de-emphasized the fact that they played Sin Stereo material at the Kiss Battle of the Bands because, really, we know that's common for them at any show. Also note that Stiffler's Mom's Facebook biography is largely taken from their Sin Stereo bio, but the latter half is much different. So click on the above band links to check out the newly updated profiles, and make sure to be on the lookout for updates to this series, and our other series, in the coming months!
That's all for today, but I will hopefully see you guys at Coch's Corner tonight! I'll be dressed up, hopefully you will be too! Hope to see you there! Thanks everyone!
It's time, everyone, as our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series draws to a close! It's been a busy, but fun couple of weeks, as I've archived the profiles of the local metal/hard rock performers on GarageBand.com, and with five of the profiles complete, we're down to the final band, and arguably, the biggest of them all! So let's kick off the final entry in the mini-series, this is a long one but a good one! (UPDATED: December 27th, 2011)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gates of Winter
Genre:Metal (Progressive Death Metal) Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio: 2010 marked a great shift in the band's direction. With all of our members focusing on education and finances, writing material for a second album has become a slow but steady effort. Stylistically, Gates of Winter will be moving to faster and heavier territory, abandoning the majority of its past canon. Vocalist/guitarist Lee Maines is currently working on our first demo material for this new project.
Members:
Lee Maines (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar)
Bryan Belleau (Lead Guitar)
Steve Furgiuele (Bass/Backing Vocals)
Brian Holmes (Keyboards)
(At the time of GarageBand's closure, Brian Holmes was still the band's keyboardist, so he's still listed above despite leaving the band in November 2011. Also, Gates of Winter had no drummer when GarageBand closed, and were using programmed drums on their new recordings. Jon Morrison wasn't confirmed as their new drummer for another four months, and ex-drummers James Chiverelli, Kevin Overton, Jonathan Harvey, and David Gold weren't credited as members, having already left the band by that point.)
Influenced By: Behemoth, Ihsahn, Meshuggah, Strapping Young Lad, Iron Maiden
Songs (With Top Awards):
From Nothingness (Ranked #80 of 425 in Metal on May 31, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on May 15, 2008) Burning Kingdom I: A Dark Affliction (Ranked #86 of 411 in Metal on January 12, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on January 6, 2008) From The Flesh (Ranked #91 of 411 in Metal on January 12, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on January 3, 2008) Omega (Ranked #94 of 427 in Metal on June 1, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on February 8, 2008) Burning Kingdom II: Heavenly Insurgence (Ranked #99 of 462 in Metal on March 26, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on March 6, 2008) Winter Flight (Ranked #123 of 432 in Metal on January 31, 2008; Awarded "Most Original" in Metal for the week of February 4, 2008) Burning Kingdom III: Lux Aeterna (Ranked #86 of 226 in Instrumental Rock on April 18, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Instrumental Rock on March 6, 2008) Life Force Rapture (Ranked #133 of 459 in Metal on February 26, 2008; Awarded "Track of the Day" in Metal on March 5, 2008) The Wildwood Pariah (Ranked #352 of 864 in Acoustic on June 10, 2008; Awarded "Most Original" in Acoustic for the week of March 24, 2008) Gates of Winter (Not submitted for rankings or awards)
Other Notes: Of the six local metal/hard rock acts on GarageBand, Gates of Winter were the only ones with a Gold Account, allowing them extra site privileges. This included the ability to sell merchandise, including band t-shirts, thongs, toques, buttons, and stickers, but the purchasing links died when their original website expired. A page was also featured where you could buy "Lux Aeterna" through CDBaby, click here to do so. If you're interested in purchasing the album, I recommend doing so by mp3 in case there's no physical copies left in stock, though check in case there is. The CD purchasing page on GarageBand featured this caption about "Lux Aeterna":
"Lux Aeterna" is an album which takes orchestral inspiration from Nightwish and Kamelot while providing the melodic and heavy elements of Strapping Young Lad, Dream Theater, and Opeth. In December of 2007, the band made a collective decision to leak their entire album, making front page news on metal webzines worldwide. The move prompted an internet flurry, which furthermore evolved into a cult following. Through it's sonic diversity, "Lux Aeterna" has appealed to a broad audience, prompting strong internet sales, thus making Gates of Winter one of Canada's leading symphonic melodic metal groups.
SMS Analysis: Gates of Winter were the first local headlining band I ever saw, way back in 2005, and I've been a huge fan ever since! No matter which drummer was with them, they always impressed as both a metal band and as a collective of very talented musicians that have grown in huge ways since their original E.P.! Sadly, they haven't played together on stage since late 2008, going on a year long hiatus before resuming work on their new album, but I'm sure we remember them fondly! Gates of Winter have underwent a very noticeable evolution since their 2003 debut, and have seen their musical focus shift from covers to symphonic metal to progressive death metal, getting heavier & faster all the way through! I won't individually comment on their songs here (read my reviews of both of their CDs at the links on the left), but the whole band show amazing talent that is very welcome locally! From the amazing bass to the great symphonic keyboard playing to the ever-improving vocals, I have little to complain about with Gates of Winter, who remain one of my favourite local bands! Hopefully you guys were around during their local heyday, cause they brought their A-game at each show! Here's hoping that their new album is as great as the first demos suggest, and that they hit the stage again down the road!
Videos:There are plenty of videos of Gates of Winter online, notably on YouTube, where you can find full songs, concert performances, and much more! You can also find videos of Gates of Winter members in other local bands, most notably Woods of Ypres. Check out the YouTube channels of Gates of Winter, Lee Maines, Bryan Belleau, former drummer David Gold, and The Sault Metal Scene for most of the Gates of Winter YouTube videos. Though there are plenty of Gates of Winter videos, I have uploaded three more to YouTube to ensure that the whole "Lux Aeterna" album is represented there. Remember, "Lux Aeterna" is OUT OF PRINT, the album is free online at various sites, and the band plan to abandon most of their past material anyway. Even still, NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! So here's the three Gates of Winter studio songs now on YouTube for the first time: "Life Force Rapture", "Burning Kingdom Part I: A Dark Affliction", and their self-titled song!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And so ends our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, and concurrently, so ends GarageBand.com as well. Today, the popular music site ended after over a decade of sharing independent music to the world, and though their focus shifts to iLike and MySpace, I'm sure lots of you guys will remember GarageBand.com fondly! I'll miss it, I loved the site, and there was loads of great music there from all over the world, and I'm glad that local bands made use of it often as well! Though this mini-series made the SMS unusually busy over the last couple of weeks, I'm glad to have done it, cause I wasn't gonna let these bands and their songs disappear like they were nothing! R.I.P. GarageBand, and if you wanna check out the local metal band profiles from there in the future, the SMS is the place to be!
That's all for now, stay tuned later tonight for weekend concert previews, including what's going down at the Rotaryfest Second Stage! Also, keep an eye out for reviews of the Frightlight benefit concert AND Garden of Bedlam's headlining performance at Rotaryfest, the newest SMS poll, and more!
It's time for our penultimate entry in the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! After almost two weeks, we have just two local metal bands left with pages on GarageBand.com to profile and archive on here, and you guys should definitely enjoy what we have in store today, cause this band is still around.... kinda. Remember, aside from spelling/grammar edits, link/video updates, award condension, and some additional useful artist info and analysis, this is a closely transferred copy of the original GarageBand profile, with everything relevant still intact. Enjoy this profile, and remember to check out the SMS on Thursday for the finale of this mini-series!(Updated: November 9th, 2012)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sin Stereo
Genre: Rock Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio:It all started in August of 1997 when a long haired drummer moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and got together with a couple of frustrated musicians that just couldn’t seem to find the right chemistry with other musicians in the city. After jamming in the guitar player’s kitchen, the chemistry seemed to boil over. Pulling together more than 40 years worth of experience between the three of them, you know that their professionalism and musical abilities are a cut above the rest! Their tightness is unparalleled due to their many years together and their 3 piece lineup. Throughout the Soo and surrounding areas, they hold most of the records for capacity and bar sales, but their experiences go beyond the bar scene. They’ve had the opportunity to open for some bigger names such as David Wilcox, Kim Mitchell, and Bret Michaels. The band played to over 800 people at the Molson Garage party as well.
The Rotary Club in Sault Ste. Marie requested them to headline the final night of the Rotaryfest weekend, and they rocked to over 2,000 people. In the summer of 2005, they played the largest motorcycle rally (Alley Rally) that the area has ever seen, and saw over 3,000 people come through the gates. Right now, they have decided to take the party to the next level and start writing and recording. The music, lyrics, and arranging of the songs are done by all three members of the band. Pulling from all of their influences, these guys have developed a unique sound. Their originals consist of a heavy rock sound with ripping guitar solos, harmony vocals and a driving back beat. Look out, Sin Stereo is on their way up! Members:Greg Simpson (Vocals/Drums)
Michael Davies (Vocals/Guitar)
Jon Ferguson (Vocals/Bass)
Artist URL:None (This was Sin Stereo's only internet page, though the members of Sin Stereo have a Facebook page for their later band Stiffler's Mom, who did cover Sin Stereo material live.)
Sounds Like:Green Day, AC/DC, Metallica, Black Heart, Van Halen
Influenced By: Metallica, AC/DC, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue
Songs (With Top Awards): Sweet Juanita (Live) (Ranked #537 of 1,079 in Rock on January 8, 2006) Enjoy The Show (Ranked #260 of 389 in Hard Rock on June 16, 2006; Awarded "Feel Good Track" in Hard Rock for the week of March 27, 2006)
SMS Analysis:If Sin Stereo look & sound familiar to you, especially by the lineup, then you're not alone. This same exact lineup is in the popular local rock cover band Stiffler's Mom, who are a frequent sight at area concert spots! You may also recognize Greg Simpson as the frontman of Bone Yard & That's Chester as well! I'm not sure if Sin Stereo morphed into Stiffler's Mom or if they were two separate bands, but it's interesting to see the transformation! Luckily, Stiffler's Mom didn't forget their metal roots, and did play some heavier stuff sometimes, including their two Sin Stereo originals! Both of the Sin Stereo tracks have a noticeably upbeat & fun nature, yet still heavy enough to raise horns to. "Sweet Juanita" has a fast energetic fun pace, with some nice guitar work, especially when they start with the galloping riffs! "Enjoy The Show" is my favourite of the two, with a nice beat, entertaining lyrics, and a very cheerful nature! The production needs work, the songs feel short, the bass seems downtuned, and the vocals could use extra grit, but if you want some fun 80s-inspired hard rock, Sin Stereo would be a great choice! I do prefer Sin Stereo to Stiffler's Mom, but if you can find the Stiffler's Mom CD, you'll enjoy it, and you'll no doubt have fun at any future shows!
Video: Though I haven't seen any Sin Stereo videos online, a video exists of Stiffler's Mom covering "Enjoy The Show" when they opened for INXS in 2007 at The Essar Center, so click here to watch it! Not long after I launched The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel, I uploaded "Enjoy The Show" by Sin Stereo, and because I'm profiling them today, I'll doing one better! So embedded below is both "Enjoy The Show" and "Sweet Juanita", which I just recently uploaded onto YouTube to make sure you can hear their songs online following GarageBand's closure! Check out Sin Stereo's songs below!
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Five down, one to go! The last profile is just three days away, on the closing day of GarageBand.com, and we'll cap this mini-series with a profile on Gates of Winter! Probably the biggest of the six local acts with pages on GarageBand, make sure to be here Thursday to check out the final entry of this mini-series! And remember, you have just THREE DAYS LEFT to enjoy GarageBand.com and get the songs you want from the bands you like, so take advantage of the limited time and click here to visit GarageBand.com TODAY!! Also stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days, there's lots of good stuff coming real soon!
It doesn't seem like we just started this special mini-series just 9 days ago, does it? Time's flying by! Well, it's July 9th, and as promised, it's time for the fourth entry in our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, where I continue to archive and share the profiles of local metal/hard rock acts that had pages on GarageBand.com, which will soon be shut down. Today, we take a look at a local hard rock solo artist that I'm VERY surprised I haven't discussed in detail on here before, even though he's been listed in the band links since this blog was launched. Remember, aside from spelling/grammar edits, link/video updates, and some additional useful artist info and analysis, this is a closely transferred copy of the original GarageBand profile, with everything relevant still intact. Enjoy today's profile, and of course, stay tuned to the SMS through Thursday for the last two profile entries! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Cliffe
Genre:Experimental Rock (Metal/Industrial/Rock/Blues/Jazz) Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio: I play guitar and write and record my own music. I welcome any collaborations. I also run the AudioFumes label on Reverbnation and the PaudioFumes venue. Musically, I am inspired by Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, John Du Cann, John McLaughlin, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Carlos Santana, Uli Jon Roth, Frank Marino, Spike Jones, Frank Zappa, Ian Anderson, Lenny Breau, Johnny Winter, Pangaea's People, etc.
SMS Analysis: If you visit an online music site, chances are Mike Cliffe's on there either for his prolific solo work or for his AudioFumes projects. A veteran of many local bands, Mike self-produces, mixes, and records numerous solo songs of varying styles for online release, mostly of the instrumental variety. And for the sheer versatility and output of all this, he deserves credit! Musically, he has loads of talent, and I don't think people notice it like they should because he doesn't gig regularly. Mike's output is too huge for me to individually go through each song he had on GarageBand, but from the progressive mellowness of "Rengbe" to the heavy groove of "Night of Day", to the dark undertones of "I Don't Care", he shows a lot of musical diversity on each song! There's honestly something for everyone in Mike's back catalog, and luckily, he has the guitar and bass skills to back it up! Though face melting solos aren't a general sight, and his music far outshines the vocals we do minimally hear, his technical ability and eye for good melodies and riffs is always present! Don't let Mike Cliffe slip you by in local music searches, he's a real hidden gem with some very good instrumental stuff that deserves to be heard! Check all the above links for tons of material and much more!
Videos: Mike Cliffe is an active YouTube user, so naturally, he has a YouTube channel among his vast collection of internet pages! Because there's active Mike Cliffe videos online, I won't upload anything new for this profile, there's ample material from Mike himself on YouTube already! From uploads of solo recorded material to some live video performances, his channel's another good source of original music! Click here to check out some of Mike's videos, and I'll embed three below that I recommend you check out: His song "In Equity", a live demo performance of what eventually became "Bitter Fruit", and an eight-minute long piece named "Darch"!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope you enjoyed my long overdue look at Mike Cliffe! I'll make sure to talk about him in normal posts from here on out, cause he deserves it! We're on the home stretch of the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, with our last entries coming on Monday and Thursday! On Monday, we'll take a look at the GarageBand profile of defunct local hard rock trio Sin Stereo, who've since morphed into Stiffler's Mom! And then, the mini-series concludes on Thursday, so keep an eye out! Also stay tuned for a new news post tonight or tomorrow, and of course, I'll see you guys Saturday night at Coch's Corner for Frightlight!
As promised, it's July 6th, and that means it's time for our third installment of our six-part GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! As we inch closer to popular music site GarageBand.com's shutdown, my quest to keep the local metal bands on there alive is in full swing, and today, we head back to 2006 to discuss a pair of very closely linked hard rock bands! Aside from spelling/grammar edits, link/video updates, and some additional useful artist info and analysis, this is a closely transferred copy of the original GarageBand profiles, with everything relevant still intact. Also note that, because these bands are very similar in name and members, much of the content is combined. Enjoy, and remember to watch out for the last 3 profiles over the next 9 days! (Edited: May 26th, 2013)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E I D (formerly known as MY ID)
Genre:Alternative Rock (Dirty/Bluesy Rock) Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio:Casey wrote some songs & played them on the guitar. Matt said "Lets do it." Matt and Casey got together & started jamming these songs off. Chris said "Hey, I'll sing", then Chris came in and added the vocal perfection that the songs deserve. Casey said "Let's record." Matt & Chris said "Cool." Throw in Kay on the low end, and everything worked out perfect.
Members:
Chris Luxton (Lead Vocals)
Casey Gallant (Lead Guitar, also bass in MY ID)
Kay Castellani (Bass in T.H.E.I.D only)
Matt Hicks (Drums)
Artist URL:None (Aside from the GarageBand pages, neither incarnation have an internet page to my knowledge.)
SMS Analysis:T.H.E.I.D/MY ID never seemed to take off very far past GarageBand in their 2006 heyday. I never heard of them playing live & I can't even think of most of the members being in other bands, save for Riverin singer/drummer Matt Hicks, who's also known for his work in Dirty Virgin. I can't comment on T.H.E.I.D's sound because that incarnation had no audio, but chances are they were quite similar to MY ID, who had 3 songs online! I noticed after listening to MY ID's material that their sound was really varied on each song. "Bleed" is a mid-tempo hard rocker with solid Eddie Vedder-esque vocals from Chris Luxton and really good drumming from Matt Hicks, but the guitar & bass (though good) are mixed WAY too low. That takes away from the song, but it has loads of promise! "Laid" is a complete departure soundwise, a soft ballad about, well, getting laid. It has a Hawaiian vibe to it from the backing melody, and the singing is slightly monotone and repetitive, though the lyrics are funny at parts! "Four" is also a ballad, and definitely a better one, with well written lyrics about a child's view of parental conflict. Great singing from Chris, and Casey's instrumentation is good, though it could stand for less repetition. I don't know what happened to T.H.E.I.D/MY ID, but they sounded very promising, just needing some more heavy songs and a better mix.
Videos:None to speak of, though almost all Dirty Virgin videos will feature Matt Hicks on drums. For that reason, and because no other band pages exist for after GarageBand's closure, I have uploaded all three MY ID songs onto The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel for you guys to check out! Remember, these songs would otherwise be deleted from the internet on July 15th if they weren't uploaded somewhere, and this stuff should be heard! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! With that in mind, here's MY ID's songs!
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We're now officially half done our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! But we're far from over, as we have three more profiles to go, the last of which coming one week from Thursday! Our next profile comes on Friday, when we take a long overdue look at Mike Cliffe, a local hard rock solo artist that I'm amazed I haven't talked about much on here! Stay tuned for that on Friday, along with a new news post later today!
It's Saturday, and you know what that means: It's time for our second installment of our special GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! As we inch closer to the impending shutdown of GarageBand.com, I'm continuing my quest to make sure the local metal bands there don't have their material lost as a result, and today, our attention falls to a prominent local metal frontman's solo projects!
Aside from spelling/grammar edits, link/video updates, and some additional useful artist info and analysis, this is a closely transferred copy of the original GarageBand profile, with everything relevant still intact. Also note that, because this artist had two pages for basically the same project, parts of this profile are combined & others are separately labeled, depending on the content. Enjoy today's second GarageBand profile, and remember, we have four more to go over the next twelve days! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lee Thomas Maines (also previously under the project name Septicon)
Genre: Progressive/Melodic Death Metal Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio (Lee Maines):A year after his pioneering release with Canadian metal band Gates of Winter's "Lux Aeterna", Lee Thomas Maines is beginning work on a new progressive solo project. Loaded with crushing rhythms and futuristic themes, Lee hopes to reach a new level of diversity and technicality. Currently, Lee is laying the foundation of an untitled 5 track EP, working with new gear, a new vision, and a sea of new inspiration. For the meantime, go to www.myspace.com/leethomasmaines and check out the posted Gates of Winter tracks ‘From Nothingness (demo)’ and ‘Life Force Rapture’, or visit www.gatesofwinter.com! For questions or comments, please write to leethomasmaines@live.ca.
Bio (Septicon): Septicon is my solo project, which I would eventually like to expand to a full band, when all my songs are recorded and ready for the road.
Influenced By: Mnemic, Soilwork, In Flames, Wintersun, Dimmu Borgir, Meshuggah, Ihsahn, Strapping Young Lad, Samael
Songs:None. (Lee didn't upload solo material onto either the Lee Thomas Maines or Septicon GarageBand pages. There IS one solo Lee Maines song to share though, which you can check out after the following paragraph.)
SMS Analysis:As the singer and rhythm guitarist of Gates of Winter, Lee Maines has a good level of notoriety in the local scene, and the fact that he was briefly in Woods of Ypres can't hurt either! I'm sure we've all been hoping for some exciting things from Lee's solo projects, no matter what name they've been under. However, we haven't heard much from Lee on his solo stuff since mid-2009, likely because of his work on Gates of Winter's new album. Under the name Septicon, I can't do much other than speculate on it due to lack of material, but it likely would have been similar to his latest solo work. From what little I've heard from his solo stuff, I'm very impressed, and Gates of Winter fans will no doubt enjoy it too! No major stylistic changes, just straightforward progressive metal with lots of dynamics and great instrumentation, but it could use guitar solos and vocals. Though the project's been dormant since 2009, my fingers are crossed that Lee will find his way back to his solo material some day, cause there's too much promise there to just let it go! Check out lots more from Lee Maines at his official MySpace page!
Videos: Your best bet to finding videos of Lee Maines is to search for Gates of Winter on YouTube, there's lots of audio and video recordings there! If you find Woods of Ypres videos from late 2008, Lee will be on guitar for those, but remember that he didn't write any of their material. As for his solo projects, I couldn't find anything, so I have uploaded his only publicly unveiled solo song to YouTube! Entitled "Sol", it was ripped from his MySpace page and uploaded onto the SMS channel with the BEST POSSIBLE INTENT to spread this song to world even further like it deserves! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! With that in mind, check out "Sol" below, see what you think!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two down, four to go in this special mini-series! Hope you guys enjoyed reading up on Lee's solo stuff! Our next entry in the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series will be posted on Tuesday, when we'll take a look at defunct local hard rock band T H E I D, formerly known as MY ID! Stay tuned for that, and much more news on The Sault Metal Scene, especially tomorrow, when I review tonight's Phatstick concert AND we celebrate the SMS' 3rd Anniversary! Big day tomorrow, hope you're here for it! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, it's time for the first installment of our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, where we post the GarageBand profiles and songs of the six local metal/hard rock bands on the site, which as we know, is shutting down on July 15th. This is today's first installment, and the mini-series will continue for the next 15 days with five more profiles to go at 3 day intervals. Remember, aside from spelling/grammar edits, link/video updates, award condension, and some additional useful artist info and analysis, this is a closely transferred copy of the original GarageBand profile, with everything relevant still intact. Enjoy today's first GarageBand profile! (UPDATED: December 26th, 1:53 PM)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recognition
Genre: Hardcore Metal Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Bio: N/A (There was no posted Recognition biography)
Members: N.J. (Composer; I can't identify the full name of "N.J.", but their online handle on their user page was "nenadsrbija", if that counts for anything)
Artist URL:None (This was Recognition's only internet page. If the band or it's creator have other pages, they're likely other under names)
Sounds Like:Snot, System of a Down
Influenced By:Snot, D.R.I., Pantera, ...older metal bands
SMS Analysis:Recognition never appeared to take off beyond an instrumental solo project in the summer of 2006, which is a shame, because "N.J" (whoever he is) has some good guitar skills! The songs above show it, he has a taste for good riffs and the rest of the instrumentation is solid in backing roles. Nice use of sound effects on songs like "War Zone" and "Rev It Up" too, they were great to set the tone of the material! My big complaint, and it is big, is that the songs are repetitive. They feel like endless riffs, and a few share extremely similar structures, like "War Zone" & "Sacrifice". From what I've heard, "N.J." would have been a great rhythm guitarist in a band back then, and hopefully his lead skills and originality have gotten better since, cause "N.J." has real promise! Of course, if you can tell me more about Recognition and the man behind it, let me know by e-mail at robertfigures@hotmail.com!
Videos: Recognition had no videos at all, and because there's no other official band pages, I have uploaded all 10 Recognition songs to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel! Because I didn't think they were substantial enough to warrant individual videos, I have combined all 10 songs into three YouTube videos, and you can check out the entire Recognition catalog below!
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Hope you guys enjoyed our first installment of our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! It returns on Saturday as we'll take a look at the solo projects of Gates of Winter frontman Lee Maines, who has made his presence felt on a couple of GarageBand solo pages. Remember, the series continues for the next two weeks through July 15th, so stay tuned for more archives of GarageBand profiles of local metal acts! Stay tuned to the SMS tonight for more news and updates!
Lots of assorted news for today, including fall out from a few locally-relevant concerts, a tiny smidgen of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and a new SMS profile mini-series announcement that you guys should read. But first, here's some stuff from a recent major concert!
The first videos have popped up online from Saturday's Tesla concert at Kewadin Casino! Duane Roy, author of "Castle Stories" and a frequent sight at major local hard rock concerts, has uploaded five videos from the concert onto his YouTube channel, and I gotta say, I like the quality! He got very close to the band and got some good looking and sounding video footage! Before I show the videos he got, I have to mention the really nice photos he took too, now available on his Flickr account! He got tons of photos of both Tesla and openers Fifth Way, including a pair of pics of Tesla band members reading "Castle Stories" (including Jeff Keith and Frank Hammond on your right.) Now that's cool! Click here for dozens of photos from the show, the first 7 pages are almost entirely Tesla-concert related, all of great quality! Now, back to the videos, 5 in total! No full songs, but Duane shot clips of Tesla performing "The Way It Is", "Hang Tough", "Cumin' Atcha Live", "Love Song", and "Signs", which I'm embedding here because it's both their best known song and the longest of the videos! Nothing from Fifth Way's set, but these Tesla videos work nicely! Check them all out at the above links, and "Signs" right here! Great stuff, and if more stuff from the Tesla show pops up, I'll have it here!
Next up, we have brand new videos from Woods of Ypres' current North American tour to show you guys from some new YouTube uploads! Woods drummer Evan Madden has uploaded two brand new concert videos from their shows in Calgary and Edmonton onto his YouTube channel, both of which are filmed from the "drum cam angle", so Evan's the main focus of each clip! We've seen similar videos on his channel last year from their 2009 Canadian tour dates. Oddly, the new clips are of the same song performed on different nights, "The Sun Was In My Eyes (Part I)", which is a really good song, but kinda disappointing to get the same song twice over. Still, both are great quality and worth checking out! Click here for the Calgary performance, which is shorter and the audio's a bit more muffled, but the footage is clearer! Embedded below is the Edmonton performance, which has better audio and is longer, and though it's definitely darker, we get a better angle of the band and crowd. Check it out!
Thirdly today is a tiny bit of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, though I'm not plugging it first because I already did...kinda. What do I mean? Well, remember when I alerted you guys to Phatstick's return to Foggy Notions on Saturday? Yeah, it turns out they're playing on Friday too! A Foggy Notions Facebook status update and the discovery of an event page for a Friday concert confirmed this. It's great to see them playing two shows this weekend, this more than makes up for the May show that got cancelled! Nothing appears drastically different for the Friday show compared to the Saturday one, both have a 10:00 PM start time, both are 19+, and I imagine the cover for both (likely around $3) will be the same. So if you wanna see Phatstick this weekend and had a conflict on Saturday, now you have an alternative! I'm still debating which day I'll be there for, but I guarantee I'll be at Foggy's for one of this weekend's Phatstick shows! After years of waiting to be old enough to see them, and then waiting for them to come back at all, now's my chance! I'll keep you all posted!
And finally, in case you haven't heard, you guys should know about this because a few local metal bands use this site. Popular independent music site GarageBand.com is shutting it's doors on July 15th. The people behind GarageBand.com are switching their entire focus to their other music site, iLike, as well as to work better with MySpace, which I would say is the most popular independent music portal on the Internet. I mention this here because there are a handful of local metal bands who have pages on GarageBand, most notably Gates of Winter, though there are other local metal acts who have used GarageBand to get their music out to the world, and on July 15th, their pages will vanish from the internet unless they forward their accounts to iLike, which given most of their current statuses, doesn't seem likely. GarageBand was a great site for music promotion, and unlike many sites, the fact that you could vote on and review bands and songs was a feature that was really handy, so this is very disappointing.
Well, you know what? I'm not going to sit back and let these local metal band pages just go up in flames, cause we're going to lose a lot of stuff that way. Making note of that, I'd like to announce that starting on Wednesday, The Sault Metal Scene will run a mini-series of GarageBand profiles, focusing on the six local metal/hard rock acts with a GarageBand profile that has enough info or material to warrant SMS attention. Aside from updated links & grammar corrections, I will make these profiles as close to the the original GarageBand profiles as possible, though I may add some extra info you guys might like in brackets. This includes each and every posted song from the six bands, with links, some of which will be from brand new YouTube uploads I'm making to archive these songs which would be otherwise lost. The only things I'm not copying over are lyrics from one band for space reasons (the singer's clear anyway) and the complete rankings/awards of two bands, because that'd be a lot of info that I don't think would be paid much attention to. I'll just cover the absolute top awards for each to get across how big they were on GarageBand!
The profiles start on WEDNESDAY with the inactive local metal band named Recognition, and will continue every three days through July 15th (GarageBand's last day.) I also wanna recommend that you guys download and copy the songs and bands from GarageBand that you like and want to save while you can. There's tons of great non-metal bands from here on the site, and many more from around the world that don't deserve to have their work dumped like this. Click here to visit GarageBand today and check this stuff out and save what you like before it's too late!
That's all for today, stay tuned for more news likely tomorrow! I have some more news stories laying around that I should get to, including a band looking to play here, some Rock 101 updates, and lots more assorted stories. Tuesday WILL be my next profiles of out of town bands with local members, I am 100% certain it will be on Tuesday, and my first GarageBand profile in this mini-series WILL be on Wednesday, followed by weekend concert previews and more news on Thursday. Stay tuned for all that, this is going to be a very busy stretch on the SMS, hope you're along for the ride!
Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is indeed back at Service Grill Pizza TODAY! After a one week absence for a St. Joseph Island concert, Tym's back at the Korah Road restaurant today for two sets after he returns from his set this afternoon at The Searchmont Music Festival, and apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show earlier today. Also to note, the Facebook event page still says that he's there "every Saturday", so it looks like his weekly summer arrangement there has been extended into at least one fall month! With the Searchmont gig, his usual times at the Service Grill are slightly amended, as he'll now be hitting the stage a bit later at 4:30 PM, with a second set likely to start around 8:00 PM tonight. There's no announced cover charge, and I don't believe there's an age restriction. Check the above links for more details! Sounds good, hopefully Tym knocks it out of the park tonight, even if it's short notice! Remember to go see him TODAY, and for a preview, here's Tym (and a special guest) covering Extreme's "More Than Words" a few years ago!
Meanwhile, Sault Michigan hard rock trio Scofflaw will return to the local stage TONIGHT for a set at The Merchant's Bar! The popular band featuring singer/guitarist Jeff Barnes, Bucksaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and PowerSlug drummer Ivan Schliska will make their first advertised local concert appearance since LemmaFest when they rock The Merch for a night of drunken metal originals! They're a fun band and well worth hitting up shows for, but hearing them announced in advance is nice, so it's good to finally be able to plug a concert of theirs on here! That said, it's still short notice for the announcement, and I apologize for that. They'll be on at 10:00 PM tonight, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, click here! If you like and miss Scofflaw, you'll wanna be at The Merchant's Bar TONIGHT, so don't miss it if you're across the river! For a preview, here's Scofflaw playing their original song "Love Destroyer" at a 2008 jam session!
Thirdly today, I received a cool new audio track from Sneaky Pete frontman Bill Brouillard that I'd like to share with you guys! Yesterday, Bill e-mailed me an mp3 file of the band covering both Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" into a mashup that they call "Another Crazy Thing Comin'", and I decided to post it on The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel to show to the world! It basically starts as a "Crazy Train" cover, then segues into Judas Priest, then closes with the "Crazy Train" cover's last portion, resulting in over 10 minutes of hard rocking! The band sounds good, this is probably the best quality audio I've heard of theirs, and though the vocals aren't as rangy, there's added grit and heaviness to them, so it all works out! So enjoy this Sneaky Pete cover mashup, and hopefully it encourages you to check them out at their next live concerts! Give "Another Crazy Thing Comin'" a listen!
And finally, I've updated the info on a few of the profiles in our Defunct Local Band Profile Series & our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series to keep them more accurate, so here's what's changed! I've updated both the M7K and Death Rise defunct profiles to add references to Mike Vincent and Adam Brett's current band The Dead Kings, and slightly downplay the now-defunct Skull After Betrayl. I updated the Life's Eclipse* profile to refer to frontman Jason Mills' work in Swampghas, and to note that both he and and his brother, bassist David Mills, share vocal duties in the band. Finally for the defunct profiles, I edited the State of Misery* profile to mention that guitarist Ray Cowan was in the local band The Unforgiven, a band he won "Best Guitarist" at the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands with. As for the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, I edited the Sin Stereo profile to change the references to the members' later band Stiffler's Mom, as they broke up earlier this year. Lastly, I edited the Gates of Winter profile to condense things a tiny bit (mostly in the notes on their drummers), and I added references to my reviews of their two released CDs in lieu of substantial song critiquing in that profile. Check the above links for each of the updated profiles in those two monthly feature series!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, and in case anything doesn't go up tomorrow, pay your respects tomorrow on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and never forget. Thanks everyone!
