Local Solo Performance Video Showcase!!

In our last post before we begin previewing this week's two battles of the bands, here's a special local metal video showcase that features recent solo performance YouTube videos from four local musicians, all notable from out of town work as well! This is a combination of overdue features and new finds, but there's solid talent throughout, and on both sides of the border, so check everything out below, and see this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post below this one! We'll start in alphabetical order with former Sativa Rose/Valentine's Day Massacre bassist Adam Veale, who's featured in two new solo cover videos from his dad John's YouTube channel! Uploaded last week, they're the first videos featuring Adam playing live to be posted there in over a year, and are of acoustic guitar/vocal covers of Bob Seger's "Turn The Page" and Nazareth's "Love Hurts" (both complete with dedications to a loved one.)

Both are well performed and softer covers, and they showcase Adam's diverse talent that we don't see a whole lot of, but his singing voice can be a little off compared to the original songs. Hopefully we hear more from him sooner or later, but check out his "Love Hurts" cover below and more above!



Next up, here's a new solo drumming video from London Gentlemen/former Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake Lalonde, who uploaded his first solo video in 2 years to his YouTube channel yesterday! A short 61 second video demonstrating linear grooves & fills, it's a nice showcase of Jake's talent, with solid rapid fire drumming on display, so fans of his Sault Michigan-area band work should be right at home! Also, it's nice to get a non-overhead angle for a change. Give Jake's new video a look below!



Heading back to Canada, here's a bunch of videos from Lethbridge, Alberta metal guitarist Paul Melanson, a Sault Ontario native who you may remember from past local bands like Frapperteterhead, Malediction, Gutwrench, and Under The Gun! Most recently seen in the Lethbridge cover band Bottoms Up and the Metallica tribute Damage Inc., Paul posted a steady amount of solo videos outside of his Alberta band work to his YouTube channel last year, so what can be seen there? Among the highlights, there's a bass cover of Metallica's "The Shortest Straw", guitar covers of the likes of Pantera & Ozzy Osbourne, and numerous solo guitar compositions, which partially are planned for a teased solo EP. Paul's a great guitarist, and it's nice to see him staying heavy with his recent solo work, which does showcase skill in both songwriting and cover knowledge! It'll be interesting to see what he has in store next, but see the above links for more, and here's his cover of the solos in Metallica's "Fade To Black"!



Finally, here's the newest solo acoustic vocal/guitar cover from former Elipzis/RedStone Riot bassist Ryan Harrison, as per his new YouTube channel (not his old "freakwoog" channel) last week! Despite the new channel, this cover of Counting Crows' "Goodnight Elisabeth" is similar to his past solo videos from his current Muskegon homebase, albeit in a sepia tone and sporting his impressive recent beard. I'm not a Counting Crows fan, but Ryan handles this cover well and with nice melodic vocals that fans of his old Riot! By Night work should appreciate, so give his newest solo cover a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our preview of Wednesday's night #1 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Suicide Kings), Plus Plenty More News & Notes!!

Before we get to this post, I just wanted to send my condolences to everyone affected by the school shooting in Connecticut yesterday. To do that to children right before Christmas is just disgusting, and hopefully something's done to prevent something similar from ever happening again. Now, it's time to clear out much of my current news cache, so we have lots of updates on this Saturday morning! Today, we have a new drumming video, a band's local concert search, the latest Haggith news, and more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT from a band we've covered a lot on recently!

The Suicide Kings have yet another new concert on their ledger for this month, as the new hard rock quartet will return to The Nicolet Tavern one week from today! Just announced on Facebook yesterday, the band is hyping this show as a "survival party", given that it takes place on December 22nd, the day after the supposed Mayan apocalypse (note that there is no Friday show next weekend, as bassist Mitch Sirie will be in Sudbury with the returning Bear Hunters for the Doomsday Massacre metal concert that day.) This show comes just two weeks after their most recent stop at The Nic, and hopefully their originals and hard/alternative rock covers go over swimmingly once again next week! Admission is likely free for this 19+ show, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Now with 6 advertised concerts on the horizon, The Suicide Kings are definitely staying busy, which is great for fans, but hopefully they can plug future shows a bit closer together or in clumps, just for convenience sake. Stay tuned for more from The Suicide Kings soon, including maybe more new concerts?

Next up, here's the latest studio updates from local grunge quartet Haggith! According to their Facebook page on Tuesday, the guys have completed the conversion and post production for their projected live album "Flight 75", which is on track for a release in January. An album cover has been chosen, but has yet to be publically revealed, so keep an eye out for updates! They also noted that they're working on upgrading recording equipment so they can hopefully record material in an analog format, and then digitize it, which would offer better sound quality on future CDs. If this goes through, their planned third studio album "Deuce" would be the first recorded this way. I'm all for improving the sound if this will help, as their recordings are good but can be muddled at times, so we'll have to see what comes of this! Also, I swear I saw on a band member's personal Facebook page that they were currently on a minor break (partly because drummer Mike Haggith is in his hometown of Windsor for the holidays), but I can't find the post to source it or cull other details. Still, look out for lots more from the Haggith camp soon!

Also today, can you help bring a metal band here for a show on Monday? Short notice, yes, but I was only able to slot it into a post today. Reader Jeffery Mills brought to my attention in a recent e-mail that Vancouver hardcore quartet Machines were hoping to play a local concert on Monday during their current Canadian tour run, as they're passing between Hamilton & Thunder Bay that day. You may recognize Machines as featuring 3 ex-members of Callahan, who played at least once in Sault Ontario back in 2009, so there's a familiar sound and essence with this band, and it'd be good to see their melodic hardcore sound in town on Monday night! If anyone out there can help book, promote, or host Machines for a possible late notice concert on Monday night, message the band at this location, and give them a listen, as they have talent and a sound that would go over well with newer hardcore fans!

Let's not leave out Sault Michigan in this post, so here's a new solo performance video from London Gentlemen/ex-Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Tuesday, this is his cover of Halestorm's "I Miss The Misery", as filmed above his kit (similarly to his other recent drum covers), albeit in a sepia tone for some reason. Jake's drumming is on form as you would expect for this recent hard rock hit, and his skills are clearly visible, so check out Jake's newest solo drum cover below!



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

• I've moved Coch's Corner from our Sault Ontario Concert Venue Info section to the Other Sault Ontario Metal Links, as its been a year since a hard rock band last played live at 708 Queen Street East. While the last Coch's Corner metal show at the old Bay Street location was only in February, the venue's current acoustic direction & recent slowed band activity haven't boded well for metal acts. Hopefully heavier music finds it way back to Coch's Corner/708 Queen at some point in the future though!
• Keeping with their recent onslaught of updates related to their new CD release, local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet have launched a SoundCloud page featuring streaming copies of the 10 tracks from the iTunes release of their self titled album! Nice little bonus to preview their work, so check the above links to stream the songs (and contact band members for the two unposted covers from the CD pressings), and if you like what you hear, buy Destroilet's new CD!
• A recent Facebook campaign has begun to try and get local horror punk/metal standouts Frightlight as an opening band for Marilyn Manson's Sudbury concert on February 1st! If successful, it would be Frightlight's first ever Sudbury show & their biggest concert to date, and there are already 48 likes in support of the idea, so if you want to voice your support of this goal, click here! Fingers crossed!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including this month's poll and our first Christmas surprise uploads beginning next week! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Hey guys, this is a special auto-post while I'm at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion for the all ages outdoors metal show, and because I'm still trying to clear out a backlog of news, I thought I'd get these up on the site before the review! So here's our first local metal video showcase of the month, and today, we've got videos relating to one band's new album, a yet-nameless band's latest videos, and some new solo performance clips, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start with this latest video from Sault Michigan classical metal trio Theatre of Night, and it serves as a promo video for their upcoming second album! Uploaded onto their YouTube channel on Tuesday, it reveals that the album will be entitled "The Dawn's Early Light" (alluding to lyrics in "The Star Spangled Banner"), and it will serve as a "dramatic & haunting tribute" to the U.S. Armed Forces. Likely their last all instrumental album before beginning work with Gaby Koss, the video reveals that they'll cover songs like "The Star Spangled Banner", "Taps", "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic", and the themes of all of the American military branches among the 12 planned songs, along with playing clips from three tracks. The video itself isn't anything too shocking, just images of the nice album artwork with some filters and effects. My only gripe is that the intro seems very out of season, given that they included audio from their version of "Carol of the Bells" in a video from May, but I know it's more because it's from their last album than for anything else. Other than that, this is a great promo for their new album, which already sounds like it'll be on an even grander scale than "Christmas Night" was, so check out the full video below, and stay tuned for "The Dawn's Early Light" this summer!



Next up, remember the young local band from recent Superior Heights Collegiate sets that have been featured in videos uploaded by YouTube user adamscovers? Well, two more are now up of this young (but talented) trio, as posted late last month, including their covers of Shinedown's "If You Only Knew" and (as embedded below) Billy Squier's "Lonely Is The Night!" These differ from the previous 8 videos of this band in that multiple cameras are used: The normal one to the band's right, and a more central one, and lots of transitions, rotations, and zooms are used on these videos. Plus, the band members have switched guitar & bass this time around, so note that as well. The more we see of them, the better their video quality gets, but how does this band sound on these covers? They definitely handle harder material better than ballads, as their Shinedown cover sounded a bit off, but I'm still impressed with their talent! The bassist in these videos (who I believe is named Liam Seymour) has a solid voice, and these guys definitely can go far, but hopefully we can learn some more on them at some point! Check out their Billy Squier cover below, and much more at the above links!



Let's close this post with new videos, starting with a new solo performance clip from Trail's End & London Gentlemen drummer Jake LaLonde! Posted onto his YouTube channel on Tuesday, it's of him covering Godsmack's "Straight Out Of Line", and he definitely has it down pretty well! Like his other recent solo videos, this is from an overhead view in black & white, and his skills are as clear as ever! The original backing track sounds downtuned a bit though, but that could be to skirt copyright rules. Check out Jake's new video below, and keep an eye out for more news from his solo & band work!



And finally, here's the latest solo performance videos from ApolcayptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh! Both of these are Tom Petty covers on the acoustic guitar, as posted earlier this week, but they differ from most of his recent uploads in that Jesse does sing in them! He doesn't do a bad job on either "Free Falling" or "Learning To Fly" (as embedded below), but the limits of his vocal range can be felt, especially on the "Free Falling" cover. The video quality could be cleaner too, but overall, if you want some mellower covers, these might work! If you prefer Jesse and ApocalyptiCDistroyeR's heavier work though, you may wanna steer clear. Check out his newest Tom Petty covers above, and here's "Learning To Fly"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for my review of last night's metal show at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Sault Michigan Concert Previews For Today, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, it's time for our previews of this weekend's Sault Michigan concerts... actually, both of the metal/hard rock ones that I know about are TONIGHT, so pay close attention, especially seeing as the first major Dreammaker's Theater metal show of 2012 is near at hand! We've also got some new solo performance videos from a pair of Sault Michigan artists to round things out, so let's get things started!

Yes, the first major metal concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino of 2012 is almost upon us, and it's a triple header of classic 1980s and hair metal, headlined by Christian metal legends Stryper! Yes, this California quartet known for hits like "Free", "Honestly", and "To Hell With The Devil" will be sure to deliver a positive though hard rocking set of their classics tonight in this stacked concert! Joining them in their first trip to the area in almost 4 years are Las Vegas metal notables Slaughter, and with classic songs like "Up All Night", "Fly With The Angels", and "Gave You My Heart" in store, you know they'll deliver a quality set of old school favourites tonight as well! Rounding out the lineup for this show is original Dokken guitarist George Lynch's metal band Lynch Mob, who had hits in the early 1990s with songs like "Tangled In The Web" and "River of Love", and they should set the tone well for this huge show tonight! With all this talent and all these classic 1980s and 1990s material, a great show can be expected, but there's lots of local ties to take note of as well! Of course, we saw Slaughter open for Jackyl at the now-Essar Center in May 2008, while Stryper's Michael Sweet sang with Boston at Kewadin the following month, and Lynch Mob's Robbie Crane played at Kewadin with Ratt in 2006, so there'll be a bunch of familiar faces tonight for local concertgoers!

If you're interested in going and don't have your ticket yet, then good news, as there's still tickets available from the 9th row and back! They're going for $36 (or just $12 a band), so click here to buy some online, or visit the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN to get hooked up! A 7:00 PM start time is advertised, and I believe this show is all ages. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I'm not a huge fan of hair metal, but there's plenty of talent to go around from these three bands tonight, and I know a devoted crowd will turn out in full force at The Dreammaker's Theater to enjoy this tripleheader! Enjoy yourselves if you have tickets, and we'll have concert fallout for sure as it comes in, but for now, let's preview the show with Stryper playing their song "To Hell With The Devil" last year at a Nashville concert!



The other Sault Michigan metal show that I know of this weekend takes place in the same building as the Stryper show, as local hard rock quintet Swayze Train will hit The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tonight at around 9:00 PM! Originally, Swayze Train were to have rocked The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night as well, but Kewadin's showing of UFC 144 put that half of the weekend aside, so if you want your Swayze Train fix, make sure you're here tonight, not tomorrow! There's still a surpriising lack of Swayze Train media files to preview their sound with, but knowing who's in the band and their local resumes, it's safe to assume that they'll deliver a hard rocking good time to end Friday with, and if you're 21+ and just leaving the Stryper show, the party won't be near over! Swayze Train should be on at around 9:00 PM tonight, there's no cover charge, and as alluded to above, you must be 21 to attend this particular concert. Check the above links for more details! This should be another solid concert from Swayze Train, so don't miss it if you're in the market for local hard rock tonight, and stay tuned for more updates from them as they come in... like the one below!

The other day, we covered some new media from guitarist Mike Libertoski, and now, here's the latest video from his fellow Swayze Train axe slinger Scott Savoie! On Saturday, Scott posted this "classical(ish)" solo video of him playing a classical sounding instrumental piece onto his YouTube channel, and though it's not finished, it does have promise as a song intro, and he's playing it pretty well! Not too much to say, but give Scott's new video a look below, and stay tuned for more of his YouTube uploads if they come in!



Finally for today, here's the latest solo performance video from Trail's End drummer and Grooves Music instructor Jake LaLonde! Yesterday, he posted a video of his cover of Rise Against's "Saviour" onto his YouTube channel, which is filmed from the same angle and camera as his Breaking Benjamin cover from last week. I'm not a huge Rise Against fan, but he definitely knows this song well, and his drumming's on form and very proficient here, so give his latest solo drum cover a look below, and stay tuned for more videos from Trail's End members (including maybe the full band live?!) as they come in!



That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend hopefully, along with this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Mothership on Sunday! Thanks everyone!

New Videos, Changing Waves Updates, And Some "Woods V" Reviews!!

Let's get some more news and updates out there for you guys on this, our 1,000th post on The Sault Metal Scene's blog/website! I've got nothing special planned site-wise, but I do wanna thank you guys for supporting the SMS in the three+ years we've been based off of Blogger to help us get to 1,000 posts, and I appreciate all of the interest and readership! You guys are awesome! As for today's news, we have some new videos from a notable local band, another video from a Sault Michigan drummer, updates on the early days of a local hardcore act, and, finally, some "Woods 5" reviews, so here's what you need to know! (Updated Thursday at 1:12 AM)

Winkstinger drummer Jonas Gasperas posted four more live videos of Winkstinger in action onto his YouTube channel yesterday! Nice to see some new live footage, it always helps to get some new videos of this talented and brutal quintet! The newest upload comes from Winkstinger's concert at Foggy Notions (most recently known as Feedback) on December 18th, 2010, when they opened for Garden of Bedlam for Foggy's one year anniversary since their 2009 re-opening. Of their song "Feel All My Hate", it appears to be from the same filmer of their "From Bullshit To Buzz" video that we posted last year, and it's a nice quality and very heavy song, so click here to check it out! Most of the new videos, however, come from sets that Winkstinger played at various Roosevelt Hotel concerts in mid-2011 (specific dates weren't given, but I wasn't at all of them.) Of the three videos, we get amusingly titled songs like "Move It, Peenie-Weenies, My Hands Are On Fire!" and "Jimmy Got His New Legs (Derp)", but I've embedded their set opening performance of "Stop! You Can't Interrogate Someone With Brain Damage!" (preceded by an instrumental cover of Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose") below to check out!

These are good quality for the audio, but the videos from the Rosie are very dark, with only the old lighting brightening most of the band. You can't even see guitarist Jason Ladouceur most of the time, but that's not the filmer's fault. Solid videos, and kudos to Jonas for posting them finally! Check out the first video from their Roosevelt Hotel show below, and remember to see them and their new singer there THIS THURSDAY!!



Next up, here's some assorted news from local hardcore quartet Changing Waves (well, these are older, but they're new to me!) Following their surprise debut at the Total Chaos-headlined Oddfellows Hall show in November 2010, it was some months before they finally posted an official band page... or so we thought. While doing research for another SMS post the other day, I came across a MySpace page for a local band named FallsColour Turn Spring that were active for about a month in the fall of 2010, and as it turns out, they appear to be an early incarnation of Changing Waves, judging by the inclusion of their original lineup (including ex-bassist Devan Lauzon) and the posting of early versions of some Chaging Waves originals! Two ("Tital" and "Divine Intervention") are frequent sights at their concerts, but an extra song named "Hands of Gid" (did they mean "God"?) is posted there, and it has some familiar elements while still bringing some heavy metal! It'd be cool to see that in their live sets more, but overall, it's cool to find their early incarnation's MySpace page, even if their old name doesn't quite roll off the tongue! Check out more from Changing Waves at the above links, and also check out their SignMeTo page which I also just recently found at this location!

Thirdly today, Trail's End drummer Jake LaLonde has posted a new solo performance video onto his YouTube channel, and unlike his well performed though unexpected cover of Cee-Lo Green's "Fuck You", this goes back to some hard rocking, as he covered Breaking Benjamin's "The Diary Of Jane" in his newest video that went online yesterday! Filmed in black & white from overhead of him & his kit, he definitely has the original song down well, and the drumming's nice and audible! Very good work once again, so give Jake's new drum video a look below, and stay tuned for more from him and Trail's End very soon!



And finally for today, I wanted to finally share some of the recent reviews for Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" on here, which we're way overdue for as it is. I had to do some searching to find some of these, and there's much more to come, but this is at least a start! On Friday, "Juular" from the metal website Heavy Blog Is Heavy gave "Woods V" a perfect 5/5 stars in a lengthy review exploring Woods of Ypres' evolution, the doomier sounds on this new CD, and how bleak and depressing it is, even suggesting that David Gold's death may have helped with that vibe. Overall, he called it the band's crowning achievement and "nearly flawless", so check out that full review at this location! Also, David Gehlke from the metal site Blistering gave "W5" a 7.5/10, dismissing what he percieved as David overly copying late Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele, while highly praising the music and themes, saying that the album stands on it's own regardless of the circumstances. Read his review by clicking here! Finally for today, David Perri of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles gave "Woods V" a perfect 10/10 that he explicitly said it was deserving of, not thanks to sentimentality. He called it the band's "artistic pinnacle" and a rebirth for Woods of Ypres, even suggesting that some songs induced shivers when listening. Another great review, click here to check it out, and stay tuned for much more "Woods V" updates soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including weekend concert previews, a likely review of Thursday's Rosie metal night, last month's poll results, and this month's new poll! Thanks everone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Just a week ago, we devoted a whole post to new videos, and now, we're doing it again! A bunch of new local metal-relevant videos have came to my attention over at YouTube, so today, we have another local metal video showcase for you guys! Included below are new solo performance videos from members of a Sault Michigan band, more archive audio from a 1980s Sault Ontario band, and a solo original from a local band frontman, so let's get things rolling!

Splitshot guitarist Chris Hubbard has posted two new solo performance videos onto his YouTube channel! Uploaded yesterday, the videos feature Chris rocking out some very nice solos on his Peavey EVH Wolfgang guitar, one of which is a cover of Van Halen's "Eruption"! Comments from viewers on YouTube say it all, but this is a great cover of the classic Eddie Van Halen solo, and if you like Van Halen, definitely check it out at the above link! Chris has clear skill, and he puts it to use here! For length and content though, I've embedded his other new video below, where Chris tested out his new pickup. It's 10 minutes of varied solo guitar jamming and very cool soloing, and he's on fire through the whole video! Chris deserves more credit for his guitar work locally, and remember, you can next see him live with Splitshot on December 9th and 10th at The Rapids Lounge! Definitely check out his new videos above, and you can watch his new 10 minute video below!



Meanwhile, Chris' Splitshot/ex-Nixxon Dixxon bandmate Jake LaLonde has posted his own new solo video onto his YouTube channel yesterday, but it's not what you might expect. In this video, Jake is covering Cee-Lo Green's "Fuck You", surprisingly enough, but honestly, Jake seems to have the drum track for this song down well! I'm no Cee-Lo Green fan, but "Fuck You" has a catchy element going for it, and it beats that Auto-Tuned garbage, so it could be a lot worse. Jake sounds good here, nice and clear, and he knows the track well! Nice performance overall, so give Jake's cover of "Fuck You" a look below!



Next up, here's some cool new recordings of a 1980s local hard rock band! Like his earlier upload of a Satric song, these come from Sneaky Pete guitarist Mario Carlucci, who uploaded two audio recordings of his mid-1980s band Exodus onto his YouTube channel over the last two days! These came from a live cassette that he recently found from a concert circa 1985, and they featured Mario along with then-bandmates Steve Scali on vocals, Ernie DiBerardino on guitar, Tony Rota on bass, and Angelo Foggia on drums. The posted songs are of Exodus covering Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" and, as posted below, Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", but how do they sound! Pretty good, they seem to know the songs well and inject their own flavour, but the recording is slightly muddy. This was the 1980s though, so I'm not expecting the world, I'm just letting you guys know.

Sounds like they were a talented band with chemistry, but the Blue Oyster Cult cover needs more cowbell.... too obvious? Good stuff, so check out more from Mario's past and present output above, and here's Exodus covering "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" from the mid 1980s!



And finally, here's another new solo performance video from ApocalyptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh, who posted this video of him playing an acoustic original song named "You Mean The World To Me" on the band's YouTube channel on Monday. It's rough and slightly repetitive, but it does have some emotion and meaning in the lyrics, and everything's clear enough. Not the heaviest thing that Jesse or the band have released, but if you wanna hear a rough take of an acoustic song, this is worth a listen, so give Jesse's new video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news over the next few days, including another metal-relevant Sault Star article, our next YouTube Channel Profile on Garden of Bedlam guitarist Josh Belleau's old channel, and more! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Hey guys, I'm back from Detroit, and I have a local metal video showcase to get to, first things first! I have a lot of videos in the backlog to share, so no better way to start then right now, and today, we have this week's classic video, a new promo video from a Sault Michigan band, some interesting videos from an area drummer, and kicking things off, our first video footage from a recent major concert, so here's what you need to know! (Also, apologies for not getting a proper announcement of Tym Morrison's show on Saturday night at the Service Grill on here, I was fairly busy this weekend. Hopefully some of you made it out!)

Looking for videos from the Napalm Death concert at Feedback on Saturday night? Here's the first one I've seen! This comes from local guitarist Neno Jovanovic, who filmed part of local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters' set from the big show, and his first video was put onto his new YouTube channel yesterday! In what looks like "part 1" of at least two videos, this is of The Bear Hunters playing their original song "Bloodthirst", and the quality's nice! Neno was behind a lot of people, but the audio's clear and the band are on form (you'd have to be for a show of this size though.) Nice and brutal all around! As for Feedback itself as a concert venue, I still need to judge firsthand, but the stage looks nice! The lighting's great and the lines down the back wall are a nice touch and flow with the lighting on their own. Looking at the brightness on the sides, the stage may still be beside the front windows, but I'm not positive (remember, I wasn't there, but family calls.) I'll get a 100% look at Feedback soon, and from what I've heard, Rich has done great things with the old Foggy Notions location, so things are only gonna grow from here! Check out The Bear Hunters playing "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more Napalm Death concert videos as I hear of them!



Next up, here's some videos from Sault Michigan metal talent, and first, remember last week when we mentioned that former Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde had rejoined some of his former bandmates in Splitshot earlier this fall? Well, as you may remember, Jake had spent the previous two semesters attending the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, and while there, he launched a YouTube channel, which now has some videos of live performances he had with fellow MI students in the spring! The videos are live covers of "Barracuda" by Heart and Rick Derringer's "Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo", so click the above links to check them out! Jake's on fire here (though I miss his long hair), and the different lineups have clear talent, though the guitar on "Barracuda" sounded a bit off. Sounds like his time in Los Angeles was a benefit to his drumming career, and Splitshot are sure to benefit from that as well! Check the above links for more, here's Jake and fellow MI students covering "Barracuda", and go see Splitshot this coming weekend at The Rapids Lounge!



Now, here's some news (and a video) from Kinross hard rockers Banned! Firstly, they appear to have parted ways with singer/bassist Alex Schrovenwever, who was recently removed from Banned's lineup on their Facebook page. No announcement was made as to why he left, but hopefully nothing bad happened, as he's a good bassist! That said, Banned are still advertised for next weekend at The Sundown Lounge in Pickford, only the show has now been moved to Saturday, October 29th. Again, no reason was announced for the date change, but really, most Halloween concerts this year are on the Saturday, so it's a better fit. With that in mind, singer/guitarist Alex Traynor is the focus of a new promo video for next Saturday's Halloween weekend concert, as uploaded by his sister Ashley this past Wednesday. It's of Alex shredding a pretty nice guitar solo outside in what looks like a yard, and it includes intertitles plugging the Pickford show and the attached Halloween costume contest. Pretty good, and it's a clear indicator of Alex's talent too (he's got a lot of promise), so give the Banned promo video a look below (and at the above links!) Stay tuned for more on Banned's bassist situation and next weekend's concert!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! Early, yes, but knowing the bigger shows of the weekend already, it made sense to post it when I could. For the first time ever, this week's classic video is of the original crash band themselves, Sykotyk Rampage, who'll of course rock The Grand Theater at this Saturday's Soo Zombie Walk afterparty! Most videos of theirs are on YouTube, but when crawling the band's Facebook page recently, I came across 6 shorter videos filmed by Jason-Jessie Cleary at a jam session in "The Cave" circa March 24th, 2009. Presumably all from different songs on the same night, the videos aren't very high resolution, but the lighting and audio are just fine, and the four band members are playing as well as you'd expect such a unique band to! With the longest clip lasting just 1:40, I decided to combine all six videos into a single 4:50 long video with a clear attempt at putting them in chronological order (or at least in a good flow order) and posted it on YouTube to share with a wider audience. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! All credit goes to Jason and the band, they did all the hard work on these videos, I just combined and promoted them!

Check out all 6 videos ("Shane Sweeeet Guitar Solo", "Road Runner", "My Girl", "Dirk Solo", "Wacked On Valume Insert", and "Fav Band All Soloing") at http://facebook.com/pages/Sykotyk-Rampage/5932997695?sk=videos or by clicking the above video names. With that said, give all 6 together on our YouTube channel a look below, and go see the intense soundscape at the Zombie Walk afterparty on Saturday night!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our new poll tomorrow and more news very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Frightlight & Sativa Rose), A New Woods Of Ypres Video, And More!!

After our last Woods of Ypres-dominated news update, we're still not done with updates on them, but today, we have a lot more to discuss as well! I originally wanted to hold off until tomorrow, but we have TWO VERY SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know, along with some new videos and a local drummer's contest! So here we go!

Despite the postponing of the Pauline's Place benefit show (yes, I know there was no rain after 12:00 PM, but remember, no human can 100% predict weather a day ahead), Frightlight's show goes on, and it goes on TONIGHT! The horror punk/metal quartet WILL indeed hit the stage tonight, this time as newly added entertainment for tonight's Art In The Parking Lot event on Queen Street East! They'll be playing at the parking lot between White Space and Hogan's Office Equipment and across from The City Meat Market at 9:00 PM sharp! The Arts Council of Sault Ste. Marie has been putting on this art event since 4:00 PM today, and the addition of Frightlight appears to be a last minute thing following the Pauline's Place postponing. There's no announced cover charge, it appears to be all ages, confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page! See if you guys can make it out! Should be fun, and unique! Note that this concert is RAIN OR SHINE, so if it rains, Frightlight will play on! Also, note that the picture is former Fitswitch guitarist Kevin Powe's entry in Frightlight's album cover contest! Voice your opinions on it at this location! I think we have a winner! Considering that this is also a preview for the show, here's a video to show you guys, of Frightlight playing their song "Fright Night"!



Next up, here's another short notice concert, also taking place TONIGHT! Remember that band Sativa Rose that I mentioned last week from recent Foggy Notions jam nights? Well, they have booked an actual concert at Foggy's TONIGHT! They actually played yesterday too, but I missed that one, my apologies! Sativa Rose, the new local metal trio featuring singer/guitarist Andrew Angelic, singer/bassist Adam Veale, and former Dreamscape drummer Alex Palmer, made their live non-jam night debut last night, and return there TONIGHT! They'll hit the stage for a set of metal covers at 11:00 PM tonight at Foggy Notions, and according to the Facebook event page, they've got some Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Misfits, and Dokken covers in store, among others! They sounded promising in the first live clips we saw on YouTube user MrJohnveale's channel, and should do great tonight, as they surely did last night! Remember, you must be 19 to enter Foggy's tonight, and there will be a likely cover of $3. Check the above links for more information, and for a preview, here's Sativa Rose's newest video, uploaded last week, of their jam night cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon", featuring none other than Tym Morrison on lead vocals!



Thirdly today, it's the fourth and last installment of Woods of Ypres' tour vlog! This was uploaded onto frontman David Gold's YouTube channel not long after he posted the third installment, detailing the last chunk of the band's likely final North American tour, as the band traversed the East Coast of The United States and closed the tour in Toronto! You'll see, as you saw in the previous vlogs, lots of concert clips and road footage, but you'll also see such notable moments as Woods of Ypres' encounter with a taxi, David Gold's ladder descent in Brooklyn, the band's happy visit to Peter Steele's favourite bar, their van break-in incident, and which band member was the bassist for "Gales of Winter" according to border documents! Good stuff, David even says this could be the "best yet" of the vlogs, so check it out below! More Woods of Ypres news to come very soon!



And finally for today, it's one final push to vote for Jake LaLonde! Nixxon Dixxon's drummer has been floating around the top 3 for a few days now in The Musicians Institute's Full Ride Scholarship Contest (including periods in 1st place), and the contest ends TOMORROW, so you have limited hours to vote for him to help send him to Hollywood for the live finals to earn a full scholarship and $10,000 cash! The local community has rallied behind Jake in HUGE ways to help him get to the upper echelon of the vote totals, and of course, the higher he finishes, the more likely that Musicians Institute judges will pick him for the live finals! Remember, with the remaining time you have, CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR JAKE!!! If you don't have an account, you have to register to vote, but it's free and easy! Best of luck, I hope Jake makes it and wins it all!

Also, while we're on the subject, you guys know that Jake IS going to The Musicians Institute regardless of how the contest finishes, right? Well, are you still wondering how this impacts Nixxon Dixxon? Well, frontman Brandon Carr's most recent status update on his personal Facebook page says this: "Last Casino Gig, for God knows how long.", referring to tonight's show at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino. A later reply says "...Jake is leaving for school. So our very last gig is at The Bird next weekend." So from that, we could surmise that, at the very least, Nixxon Dixxon are going on hiatus while Jake's at MI, if not breaking up. I hope they don't break up, cause they're too promising of a band to up and quit like that! I'll keep you posted on both Nixxon Dixxon's future and Jake's quest for the full ride as I hear more! And, of course, VOTE FOR JAKE!!!

That's all for today, stay tuned for updates from The Barking Eye, Woods of Ypres, Kiss, and much more very soon, so be on the lookout! And GO TO TONIGHT'S SHOWS!!

Faithless Sin's Return, The Latest Kiss Updates, And More!!

One final post in the lead up to the local concert event of the year, and yes, we have new Kiss updates, along with the latest on a local drummer's entry in a major contest, but first, the return of a notable local metal band! And remember to check out this morning's post with new concerts, a Skull Fist preview, and the latest from Woods of Ypres in the post below, and for an extended preview of the Kiss concert, click here or check two posts below this one!

Faithless Sin are BACK! Last seen on stage in 2006, the local thrash metal band that (more or less) evolved into Time of Ruin have officially reunited with new internet pages in tow! Currently, the band includes three of their old members, including former Time of Ruin/Operation: Killdozer frontman Jason Bourcier (you'll also recognize him as a former bassist in Fitswitch & SIGHdEFECT, among other bands), No Arrow drummer Joe Falco on guitar (you may remember him as part of the local cover band Flashback), and bassist Ryan Gratton! The other two band members from their last incarnation, drummer Mark Parent & Quite Frankly guitarist Frank LaTassa, are apparently not taking part in the band's return. Not a lot to say yet about Faithless Sin's return, they have launched a new Facebook page and a new MySpace page, but their old MySpace page is still online. Their Facebook page has some descriptions of their sound, and claims that we'll hear some updates and songs soon! We'll have to see, but I know I'm happy to see them back! I remember seeing them once or twice locally, and Jason's thrash projects are always worth seeing, though I wish they lasted longer! Check the above links for more, including their original MySpace page, which has an live jam session clip of their original song "Chaos Reigns"!

And now, the latest Kiss updates as we inch ever closer to this major concert event! Firstly, I can guarantee you that there was no inclement weather to stop Gene Simmons and company from making it to town for this show, as this photo will attest. A SooToday reader spotted one of Kiss' trucks on The International Bridge at 11:45 this morning, took a picture, and submitted it to SooToday, so if there's any skeptics out there still doubting this concert, voila! Next, videos have been posted on The Sault Star's official website featuring interviews with two subjects recently quoted in Kiss-related Sault Star articles! One is Rachelle LaBrecque's interview with The Rad Zone's Len Ward about the Kiss concert, the festivities surrounding it, and their extra stocking of Kiss merchandise at The Rad Zone in the lead-up to the show. You can check it out by clicking here! The other is Brian Kelly's interview with Ward 2 Councillor Terry Sheehan about his Kiss/Sault Ste. Marie t-shirt, and his hopes and plans for meeting with the band and attending the concert! Click here to watch, and note that I can't embed these videos here, so you'll have to visit the links to view the videos.

Two more notes. Firstly, I can confirm that my ticket says that camera are NOT allowed at the concert. That being said, people are bound to break that rule, so do so at your own risk. And, one more Sault Star article for you guys today, this being an interview conducted by The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler with Kiss drummer Eric Singer! Eric discusses the pressure and reaction he still faces from replacing Peter Criss, Eric's take on our original December date's cancellation, how their tour is going, his past work with Alice Cooper, and he dropped a few hints as to what we might expect tonight as well! He vows that there'll be bigger and better effects and more pyro than we would have got last year, so watch out for that! Good article, check it out at this location, and stay tuned to this post over the next few hours if any new updates about the Kiss concert come to light!

(UPDATE 5:15 PM) Kiss are in Sault Ste. Marie! SooToday's David Helwig reports that the band landed in Sault Ontario at 3:39 today via a Raytheon Hawker 800 twin-jet aircraft. They left from a show in Indianapolis at 2:25 PM today. Click here to read the update, and click here for Donna Hopper's photo of a familiar face! And remember, a pre-show gathering featuring Len Ward, Terry Sheehan, Josh & Evan Belleau, and tons of Kiss fans will take place at 5:00 PM at Foggy Notions, so head on down there to get ready for the concert!

Finally for today, here's some more updates on Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde's quest to earn a full scholarship from Hollywood's Musicians Institute! Fans have really jumped on the bandwagon to support Jake and vote for him in the Full Ride Scholarship Contest, because he was in SIXTH PLACE out of 600 musicians yesterday! When I checked today, he was in third on the daily count, so it shows that people, fans, family, and supporters are really getting the votes in! The higher Jake gets, the more likely that The Musicians Institute will select him for the live finals in Hollywood on September 3rd! You have just FIVE DAYS TO VOTE, so click the above links to get on that! Remember, you have to register first, but that's simple and no different from most sites that need an account. It should be noted that in one e-mail sent to people supporting Jake through a Facebook event page for the campaign that Jake is apparently going to attend The Musicians Institute this fall regardless of if he wins or not, so I wonder what this will mean for Nixxon Dixxon? A new drummer? A hiatus during the school semesters? A breakup? I can't say, but the band don't have scheduled concert dates past this month, for what that's worth. Fingers crossed they're not breaking up though, they're too good of a band! I'll keep you posted on Jake's quest for the full ride, and of course, VOTE FOR JAKE TODAY!!!

That should be all for now, but as I said earlier, if new Kiss information comes out prior to when I head downtown for the concert, then I will edit this post with the news! Stay tuned if something does come out, and if nothing does, I will see you guys at The Essar Center TONIGHT and at The Rockstar Bar after the show! It's time to rock n' roll all night, and party every day!!!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Phatstick & Tym Morrison), Plus More News!!

Hey guys, I have some more local metal news to share with you all today, including a new concert video, the possible fate of a classic concert venue, and a local drummer's contest entry, but first, here are three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Phatstick are coming back to Sault Ste. Marie... again! Just a month after they last rocked Foggy Notions, the St. Catharines hard rock band featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne will be back there for two shows THIS WEEKEND! Both concerts have scheduled start times of 10:30 PM, with a likely $3 cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Sorry for the short notice, they were only just announced a couple of days ago. If you want to hear some very good covers of songs from all genres (and metal, of course), head on out to Foggy's this weekend! Phatstick deliver the goods musically, but I really wish they'd play their own originals in their recent concerts, cause they have some great stuff on their albums! Still, go see them this weekend if you can! Confirm your attendance for the Friday concert at this location, and the Saturday concert by clicking here!

Meanwhile, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another solo concert, this time back at The Bottoms Up Lounge! Come rock out and mellow out at the same time on the long weekend, as Tym plays acoustic renditions of your favourite metal songs, and more! According to the Facebook event page, Tym's voice is stronger than ever, which is great news for the show! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, there's NO cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. Tym always delivers a great might of music when he plays his acoustic solo shows, so consider making it out, especially if you can't go see him THIS WEEKEND at The Roosevelt Hotel! Get more details at the above links!

Next up, a new concert video has popped up online from a recent show! No, it's not from the Kewadin Festival (I'm really surprised at the lack of videos from there), but it is from one of the bands that played it! This video is of Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way from their June concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino, when they backed up Tesla! Now you've definitely seen the first video from their set already on the SMS (their performance of "Rock N' Roll"), but we have another! This was uploaded onto Fifth Way's YouTube channel on Sunday, and it's a performance of a brand new song, "Burn Like You"! Good stuff, but the guitars really overpower the vocals. It's from the same footage shot that gave us the video of "Rock N' Roll", so it's got a nice view from above of the stage! Check it out below!

Also, as a side note, I found out last month that Fifth Way have more of a local connection than I realized! Did you know that guitarist Zak Stelmaszek is a graduate of Lake Superior State University, and lived here while he was going there? Yeah, he told me that through e-mail correspondence, and through some back checking, I can confirm that he earned an electrical engineering degree there in 2000! I think we have another subject for our out of town bands profile series! And of course, check out the new video!



Fourthly today, one of the more notable young musicians in the area has entered a major online contest, and he needs YOUR help! Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde has entered the Full Ride Scholarship Contest that's being run through Hollywood California's Musicians Institute, a major American music college that has tons of famous alumni to have graduated from there, including (among many others), notable metal drummers like Judas Priest's Scott Travis and Primus' Bryan Mantia. The Full Ride Scholarship Contest will give one lucky young musician a full complete scholarship, no strings attached, at The Musicians Institute along with $10,000 cash. For Jake to make it to the live finals in Hollywood, he needs tons of votes to get the attention of the MI judges, so this is where YOU come in! You have until August 15th (ONE WEEK FROM SUNDAY) to vote for Jake at this location! The more votes he gets, the better the odds! Note that YOU MUST REGISTER TO VOTE, but it is completely free and has similar criteria to other sites you register for, so don't be scared off.

On his page on the Musicians Institute site, you can hear a drum solo track named "Grooving", and if you click "Visit Backstage", you'll get a bio about Jake and a video of him playing Godsmack's "Bad Religion"! Best of luck to Jake, it'd be awesome to see him win, though I don't know what would happen to the drum position in Nixxon Dixxon if he did. He's a great drummer, and one can only imagine how much better he'd get with Musicians Institute support! VOTE FOR JAKE TODAY!!!

Finally, this is a story that I haven't followed in depth on the SMS because it doesn't have much relevance to the local metal scene nowadays, but really, I should have talked about it before for it's past connections. A lot of discussions have come up this summer over what should happen to The Eastgate Hotel on Queen Street East. Local music lovers will no doubt recognize The Eastgate as a very popular venue for concerts in the 1980s, especially metal ones! Concerts continued through the mid-2000s, but they noticeably slowed down into the new millennium. More recent notable metal/hard rock concerts there included headlining bands like Nazareth, Econoline Crush, and probably the last show of note there, Bret Michaels in October 2005. Now a vacant unused building, the city is hoping to gain control of the building and have it demolished. A decision on that could be made at a City Council meeting on August 23rd. According to SooToday articles, word is that the building is structurally sound (doesn't really look it though), and there is at least one buyer interested in saving it. If you were hoping for it to become a concert spot again, don't hold your breath, as the prospective owners want to turn it into a retirement home, but that proposal was already rejected once by City Council. Discussions about the fate of The Eastgate Hotel are expected at the August 23rd City Council meeting. Keep up to date with this situation at this link, this link, and this link, and if something of note comes up later on, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but I have much more news in the coming days, so keep an eye out!