Tarnished Updates, New Original Songs, And More News & Notes!!

In case there's no new post before then, I'll wish all of our readers a happy Valentine's Day! This post features some assorted updates, new original songs from some familiar hard rock artists, and some more updates from a prolific local band, so here's what you should know!

We'll kick things off with the latest (non-TikTok) updates from Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished, who revealed on their Facebook page on Sunday that they are working on a new single, with plans to release it to major music platforms next month. Former Chained Memories guitarist Ryan Nicklas (who mixed & mastered Tarnished's cover of "Run Rudolph Run") is back in studio with the guys for this new single, and given Gary's recent departure, I imagine frontman Alex Traynor will be behind the drum kit again, knowing that that the single is already being recorded. Tarnished are looking for fans to contribute to planned "gang vocals" on the track, and if you're interested, comment on their Facebook post from Wednesday for more details. Finally, a new video of Alex and bassist Josh Fair performing acoustically at Crooked Music was posted to Facebook last night!

Entitled "A Crooked Jam", this was filmed by Pick-Me-Ups alum Trevor Yake in what looks like an empty store (I don't think we missed a surprise gig), the video features Alex & Josh covering a fragment of Metallica's "Fade To Black" and all of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", across multiple camera angles. Well done renditions with much better audio than their acoustic live-streams from last year, and I like the camera-work and atmosphere shots that Trevor got in this video! Give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished, on or off TikTok, next week!

Next up, Sault Ontario hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has two new original songs to check out! Now, I want to preface this by noting that these are not hosted on YouTube, rather Rumble, a video hosting website that has been gaining popularity in recent months among conservative-leaning content creators. From what I understand, these two new songs ("COVID-19" and "Declassified") were pulled from YouTube due to being flagged for misinformation, and they each have very strong personal viewpoints. I try and keep the SMS apolitical, so I won't go into specifics on the lyrics or the detailed video content on these songs, especially as YouTube and Blogger (this site's host service) are both Google properties. On strictly musical terms, both of these songs are very heavy and will definitely please fans of Tym's old metal work, with some strong guitar solos included in both. Give them a watch if you want at the above links!

Also today, here's a new solo original song from Skeyes Of Seven/ex-Sense Of Truth frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel! Entitled "Sorry & Forgotten", this is about rising up against "the global elite" and their control on Earth. I won't get into the lyrics, but this modern hard rock song is intense and well performed (I can easily see one of his bands playing this), and Cory makes good use of multiple camera angles! It is an odd visual seeing him sing through the pop filter though. Give Cory's new song a look below!

 

 

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

 

• Veteran local musician Greg Simpson revealed on his promotional company (Choose) Maxx Entertainment's Facebook page on January 27th that he's closing the page "sometime in the next few weeks", and encouraged everyone to follow his personal Facebook page for continuing business needs in event promotion & graphic design. Greg's personal page indicated that it was "time for a change up", as "this pandemic has forced me to shut down the corporation & move on as sole proprietor." Hopefully we'll still hear more from Greg in the future! As of this writing, the Maxx page is still online, so "the next few weeks" clearly means more than two.
• In their first Facebook page update in nine months, local acoustic punk solo project Slumshine shared a picture of a box full of blank cassette tapes, and noted that "SllMSHN" is coming soon. The two lowercase Ls seem to imply that these will be used to record a sequel to their 2019 debut album "SLMSHN" (note the one L), which was only released physically on cassette. It's great to see Brent is still working on new Slumshine material, so stay tuned for updates!
• I have moved Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson's solo project to our inactive Sault Michigan band links due to a year's inactivity. The St. Ignace product only sporadically updated this page after it's May 2018 inception, and despite hyping it as his "new artist page" in January 2020, only three videos followed that month before updates quietly ceased. Of course, pandemic woes and his work with Heavy Lies The Crown may have slowed Ted's personal page's activity, but stay tuned for more updates as H.L.T.C. progress towards their new album!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post of some kind by Monday! Thanks everyone!

Rock The Block Fallout, Plus New-Ish Maxx Entertainment Concert Videos!!

After a quiet weekend, we are back with some new news and updates from both sides of the border, including a lengthy look back at three linked favourites of the cover bar circuit, but leading off, here's some fallout from the first major hard rock concert locally in four months!

As well advertised online, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished and local music store Crooked Music helped end the metal/hard rock concert drought locally by hosting the Rock The Block event at the Ashmun Street music store on Saturday night, and we definitely have fall-out from the festivities! Tarnished's Facebook page kept fans up to speed on everything going down on Saturday, including videos of all four acts, which also showcase how the stage was setup in the store (very Coch's Corner-esque, if you need a Sault Ontario reference.) This won't be an ideal look at Crooked Music's current locale if you want to see it as a music store, but the venue staging looks good! The first video shot on Saturday is of  St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham (a.k.a. Grayham Entertainment), who is seen covering "Goons (Baby I Need It All)" by the indie/alternative band Mona. A little shaky, but Austin definitely has talent, and I like that he picked a locally atypical song to cover! Hopefully he keeps at it!

And yes, note that Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor was behind the camera at this point in the show, and he was wearing a face mask (they were available for attendees upon entry.) The next video was of local singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney covering Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", and this very spare rendition is well done, though the very monotone, Tom Waits-esque vocals may not be to everyone's taste. As for the succeeding videos of Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel and Tarnished themselves, despite likely doing heavier songs, I will refrain from sharing either on the SMS. This is not out of any intentional effort on their part, but both videos only output a high frequency tone that is mildly unpleasant if heard for too long, and I have no idea what happened on these, especially as the opening solo acts sounded fine. No, this is not the same issue that plagued the audio quality on Tarnished's live-streams, you could still hear those.

I don't know if it is possible to fix or re-upload those videos, but hopefully something with working audio surfaces in some form. As best as I can gather, Rock The Block was a hit despite the obvious social distancing concerns (and 50 person maximum capacity inside Crooked Music), and hopefully this will help guide the way for further concerts of this nature in the short term, assuming no one got sick! Visit the above links for more on the show, and look for Tarnished's debut EP to go on sale this Friday!

Lastly, here is a new-ish video from his allegedly 1,000th YouTube upload from April 2nd, SaultOnline correspondent Mike Caruso's YouTube channel, as while he hasn't had any concerts to film at lately, he has kept up posting new videos! We'll have more later this week, but this comprises of footage of three linked local bands, namely country rock cover quartet Bone Yard and their side projects, blues trio Mojo and acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge! If you're gonna combine bands like this, these are the three to do so with, especially with their (Choose) Maxx Entertainment ties! The video starts with Bone Yard covering April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady" at Reggie's West on Halloween last year, and while this was previously uploaded on Mike's channel, that version featured added Halloween graphics in post, so if you want a clean look at this performance, here you go!

Other songs on offer include The Bearded Lounge covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee" and their slowed down version of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" at the Reggievelt in November, followed by Mojo covering Santana & Rob Thomas' "Smooth" at The Esquire Club in October. The rest of the video focuses on Bone Yard, including their cover Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" outside of Reggie's West during the Ride For ARCH festivities in August 2017, followed by their version of Billy Edd Wheeler's "Jackson" at The Rednecks Saloon in June 2014 (notably featuring Alex on lead vocals rather than Greg), and their version of J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" outside of the Memorial Tower on Queen Street East during the 2018 Queen Street Cruise (cars are a heavy focus of the video.) Bizarrely, the video ends with the exact same rendition of "You Could Have Been A Lady" from the beginning of the video, only this is the version with the Halloween post-production effects!

This is still a nice collection of performances, if very Bone Yard-heavy given the video's title and information, but Mike has filmed much more of all three bands that you can watch on his YouTube channel. Aside from the clean take of "You Could Have Been A Lady", all of these were previously uploaded on Mike's channel, but the songs are still effective, especially if you like Bone Yard's non-country cuts, so give this one a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (OZbourne), Two New Local Bands, A New Album, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Wednesday morning, and it includes some assorted recent updates, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and first, two new additions to our band links, one with a new album, so without any further adieu, here's what you should know!

We have another new band to add to our active links on The Sault Metal Scene, and they are Parabol, the name finally bestowed upon the local Tool tribute band that debuted last fall! Taking their name from the Tool song "Parabola" (though they were briefly known as Lateralus upon their Facebook page's launch), fans will remember this band's live debut at The Rockstar Bar during the second night of last October's Halloween Party, with a headlining encore taking place at the same venue last month. There's very little posted on their page as of yet, but assuming there's been no quiet lineup changes, they are comprised of former Redefined/Driving Dave Home singer John Barber, Wild Iris/Odd Man Out guitarist Steve Myers, Skeyes of Seven bassist (and John's former Fingerbone bandmate) Alain Fletcher, and ex-Groove Committee drummer Anthony Gagnon (who also played with John in Late Shift.)

It's great to see the guys keep this tribute going with a permanent name, and as anyone who saw them at The Rockstar Bar in late 2018 will attest, their brand of Tool covers was extremely proficient and entertaining, and they put in the time to ensure that the songs sounded just right! If Coral Fang and Poison Girl can become actual bands following Halloween, why not Parabol? Become a fan of theirs at the above links!

Next up, here's a surprise: A Chase Wigmore solo album with a paid online release! Rather than his free EP postings and sporadic physical pressings, he has released an apparent paid debut album for his experimental metal project Awokest via their new Bandcamp page, which is sufficient to add them to our active band links as well! Still using the ribald alias "Dick Jerkins" in Awokest, he describes this project as an "experimental metal band (that) shifts between genres", with "old school industrial" cited alongside phases of black metal and grind. Though ostensibly a solo project, Chase/Dick alluded to frequent membership changes, despite never indicating any identities. The album itself is not the forthcoming "12 EPs of Christmas" entry named "The Mostest Awokest", rather a full studio album named "Enter the Nightlands", which features 10 songs, including "The Tweakening", a carried-over title from the free EP of the same name.

Chase certainly knows how to stay busy, doesn't he? Strange Coyotes aside, Bandcamp wasn't on my radar for his studio work, but it's great to see a digital download album of his there, and you can buy it for $7 right now. Also, "Enter the Nightlands" is now the favourite to be our next CD review on The Sault Metal Scene, so look for that later this month! I'll hold comment on the album until then, but fans of his diverse material will want to check it out above or below via a new upload on Chase's YouTube channel!



Also, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Winnipeg-based Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath tribute band OZbourne will make their local concert debut on Friday, March 29th at The Canadian Nightclub! To my knowledge, this is the first Ozzy/Sabbath tribute band to hit Sault Ste. Marie since Blizzard of Ozz played at The Canadian in 2011, so fans of the Prince of Darkness have been waiting a long while for a comparable local tribute show, and this should make up for lost time. OZbourne call themselves "The Ultimate Ozzy Experience", and from the videos I've seen, they look and sound the part, and Ozzy lovers should definitely consider a trip to The Canadian in March for their faithful brand of old school metal! A cover charge is not yet advertised on the Facebook event page, but a 10:00 PM start time and 19+ age limit are expected. It's great to see The Canadian hosting a metal tribute again, so visit the above links for current details!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, promoter, or event name:

• Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback revealed on their Facebook page two weeks ago that they have finished pre-production on vocals for their debut album, and were getting ready to record the final vocal tracks. They also teased that they'll return to the stage "this summer when it's all done." Hopefully things are on track for the album, and stay tuned for updates!
• Elliot Lake promoters AstroRabbit Entertainment are planning on hosting a major metal concert of some kind at the Elliot Lake Airport in early August, with hopes being to attract 10,000 fans. Elliot Lake is over 2 hours east of Sault Ste. Marie, well past our coverage area, but I mention it here because SooToday did cover it yesterday. There are a lot of unknowns regarding this event, including lineup, ticket prices, and the exact date, but there is clear ambition here, and might this be a spiritual replacement for Rock 'n Roar in Spanish? Follow AstroRabbit for more details!
• Local promoters Choose Maxx (or Maxx Entertainment) posted a photo on their Facebook page on Monday featuring the logo for a teased Bon Soo concert event called "Soo-Lebrity Showcase Saturday", which will take place at The Machine Shop on Saturday, February 2nd, and will feature local entertainment, artists, and brew. No word as of yet regarding the full format, lineup, prices, or Bon Soo frills, but there's already some positive buzz, so visit the above links for more details, especially if hard rock bands are in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Inner City Surfers & Toystock Updates, And Much More!!

This was a quiet weekend regarding the SMS, but we are back with a new news post on this Monday night, so what's on tap? A lot of assorted notes, mostly regarding cleaning up our own links, but we do have some big updates for a major concert this weekend, and to kick things off, a surprise album release, so here's what you need to know!

Are you an Inner City Surfers fan? Did you think that the defunct local punk quartet only had three studio albums? Well, think again, as a fourth album was put on sale via iTunes in May! Posted at the same time as their other released CDs for sale there (as well as on Spotify and Soundcloud), the album is called "Time To Travel On", and while it's actual recording date isn't given, Spotify lists it coming out between 2002's "Laughing On The Outside" and 2007's self-titled CD, though I have never seen it referenced as an album release prior to May of this year. Even official links and posts don't reference the back story of "Time To Travel On", but it's 10 songs are not shared with other Surfers albums. My theory is that the album just didn't get released for one reason or another, was shelved indefinitely prior to recording their last album in 2007, and was released posthumously as a fan bonus this year. If so, kudos to the guys for finally sharing it! With all of that said, it is a paid album release ($9.90 on iTunes), so when might we review it?

As we didn't find out about "Time To Travel On" until just recently, it's no longer a "new" release (assuming it didn't have a limited release run at the time), so now, precedence would go to their debut self-titled album from 2000. Surprisingly, we have yet to review an Inner City Surfers album on here, which definitely has to change! Check out "Time To Travel On" via the above links for more of The Surfers' energetic punk originals, and hopefully we see them back on stage in the future!

Next up, here's some late updates concerning THIS SUNDAY'S fifth annual Toystock charity concert at the Northern Grand Gardens! As per the new Facebook event page, local Christmas-themed punk outfit The Rude-Offs have quietly dropped out of this year's Toystock for unannounced reasons. Hopefully it's as simple as a band member being unable to attend, it'd have been fun to see them back! However, guitarist Greg Simpson will still pull double duty on Sunday, as his acoustic rock duo Guitars & Tequila (listed on the event page as Tequila & Guitars) will replace them in their own Toystock debut. Greg plays in this act alongside That's Chester bandmate Gabe Tessaro, and their mellower blend of covers should be a solid attraction in their own right, especially if you've missed That's Chester in recent months! With that said, the lineup has been almost completely overhauled, with country rock cover quartet Bone Yard (now the only returning band from any prior Toystock) the only band to retain their old time. Check the image on your left for the new order!

The same picture (which is the Facebook event page's cover photo) also newly confirms that there will be cotton candy, some type of appearances from the Elf on a Shelf and (Disney?) princesses, plus a play center on site, adding to the family-friendly vibe of past years. Toystock V is shaping up to be a fun event, especially with the varied and largely different lineup from past years, and remember, entry is via Christmas Cheer donations! Stay tuned for our full preview of this year's Toystock this weekend!

Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last while, mostly focusing on updates and deletions from our "Other Local Metal Links" section on the bottom right! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name:

• The teased amalgamation of Stiffler's Mom drummer Greg Simpson's event promotion and graphic design companies Maxx Entertainment and Maxx Graphix under the Choose Maxx banner has taken place, with the former retitled under the new name on Facebook and elsewhere, and the latter deleted as planned, so our links have been updated as a result. Choose Maxx is a clunky name to me, but it tells you what to do if you need an event booked or a logo designed, so it works that way, and don't miss Toystock on Sunday!
• Project 421 bassist/Eclipse guitarist Daniel Horton launched a search to find a replacement for singer Curtis McKenzie in at least one of the bands last weekend via a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group. He noted that he's looking for someone with stage experience and a high & "fairly large" vocal range, while paid gigs will start in January. No word on which band he means (or if it's for both), but for what it's worth, neither has posted anything on Facebook since Curt's departure and it's immediate fallout. Message Daniel here or above for more details!
• We have removed local music management agency Escape Into Music from our "Other Local Metal Links" section due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only online) page in recent months. This somewhat ambitious attempt to have a local company to manage musicians and assist in their expenses never visibly got off the ground, but best of luck to Stephanie in the future!
• In another page deletion from that same section, we have removed defunct local grunge/hard rock quartet Haggith's official online store from our band links, as it's Facebook (and only online) page was also deleted in recent months. The band had still been posthumously selling some merchandise through there after dissolving, and while it's a shame that it's been taken down, message their Facebook page if you want to see if they still have merchandise or albums available!
• Also now deleted from the same link section is Pure Sonic Audio, a short-lived concert promotion agency that would have marked Autumn Roots singer Jeremy Hannah's return to putting on concerts in 2014, as he memorably did with Big Voiced Records in the mid-late 2000s. Despite ambitious plans, Pure Sonic Audio's online pages have all been taken down or repurposed for other uses (their Facebook group is now a general use group on the local music scene), but hopefully Jeremy returns to promoting down the road!
• One last change to our "Other Local Metal Links" section is to update our links to SooToday's classified sections that are relevant to local musicians, plus their entertainment page, as those received new URLs when the site received it's overhaul and new design earlier this year. Those have been updated and work as normal once again, so give them a look and make use of them if you can!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results, Plus Lots Of Assorted Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing Mourning Wood's latest Reggie's Place shows on Thursday, Friday, and yesterday for coverage on the SMS this weekend, as they were announced on late notice after our weekend concert preview post, but before we had time for a new post. I wish they'd plug Reggie's shows publically more often, but we did plug the latter two on our Facebook page, and hopefully they were a blast!

Now, today's lead story is the results of last month's poll, which asked this question: "When attending a concert that doesn't solely feature bands, what kinds of entertainers would you most want to see?" The poll sadly only got 4 voters, and only 1 chose to vote for two options (we tried a multiple choice method last month), and the only choice to win 2 votes was solo musicians and/or rappers. One vote each went to open mic/jam performers, stand-up comedians, and "I just want to see live bands", while no one chose DJs/turntablists, spoken word/poetry, performance art, bingo/live audience games, "Indifferent/no opinion", or "Other". Obviously, with such a low voter turnout, it's hard to gauge this as a representative sample of readers, but you do most often see solo artists alongside bands over the other choices, and while their sound is usually more reserved (C.T.W. aside), their talents often speak for themselves. This all adds to a nice variety at local concerts, but thanks to everyone that voted!

With that said, I am reluctantly putting our regular monthly polls on hiatus due to increasingly low voter turnout. I 100% intend on continuing with our "favourite ____ of 2015" polls, but regular monthly polls aren't attracting the attention that they once were, and admittedly, there have been times where I struggled to come up with a new topic that we hadn't previously tackled. As a result, I'll likely shift our Defunct Local Band Profile to the 14th of each month just for balance, but might our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile return in the near future? Time will tell, but look for our year-end polls in a few months, and who knows, regular polls may come back down the road!

To close this Sunday morning post, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or show name:

• If you had noticed that the short-lived 7L arts/music podcast had re-emerged via the restoration of it's Soundcloud page, that appears to have been temporary or reversed, as the page is down again. That said, host Teddy Syrette has since moved to Southern Ontario (no word on if that is a direct reason for 7L's apparent end or not), and the 7L Facebook page is being used to promote a reading he's doing in Toronto at the "Salon 203" event next weekend, notably at ex-Gore Street Cafe owner Sam Decter's new place. Sounds like a good time, hopefully it goes well!
• Local alternative/hard rock trio (and debut 7L podcast guests) The Din have posted three studio songs from their debut CD "Give In To The Din" to their Bandcamp page! Though The Din have opted not to post a full downloadable copy of the album there yet, fans can stream "In Search of The Perfect Moment", "Alleyways & Apartments", and "Potato" there to their hearts content in the meantime, so don't bypass it! This was briefly mentioned in our review of the album proper, but not in a news post, in case you're wondering why it's being covered twice.
• In a minor update to our "Other Local Metal Links", we have switched the link for local event promoters Maxx Entertainment from their website (which is down) to their Facebook page. Also, a planned amalgamation of their graphic design wing Maxx Graphix into the entertainment page under the "Choose Maxx" name won't affect our links unless the Maxx Graphix page is closed, though new customers would want to do their business on the combined page. Stay tuned for more from them, particularly regarding Toystock!
• We have removed local hardcore punk band Programmed To Fail (formerly The Transjenners) from our band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook and Soundcloud pages in recent months. The band didn't expand far beyond a pair of demo recordings and their name change, but they seemed to have some potential. Hopefully we hear more from Craig & Justin in the future!
• The eighth annual Soo Zombie Walk will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on Saturday, October 22nd for a fourth year at the downtown museum, and bands will be a part of the pre-walk entertainment again at 4:00 PM! No word yet on who to look for, or if there will be an afterparty, but visit the official Facebook event page for details when they come in! For reference, last year's entertainment at both the walk & afterparty were an unplugged Sykotyk Rampage, Sudbury's Aggressive Acoustic, and Greg Callaghan.
• Speaking of Sykotyk Rampage, the veteran alternative/blues rock quartet have posted a new free "album" to their Reverbnation page! Entitled "50 Amazing Tales", it'a a greatest hits re-recordings package that would be 4 CDs in length if released in that format, split among a faux-live album, drinking songs, "blue Chinese" songs, and "metal crash punk" songs. This is a fun release that all Sykotyk diehards should check out, especially if you want to hear studio recordings of older songs with Tony Briglio on bass! However, note that it loads very slowly due to it's size.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tantrym Tyme), The Newest Tuned Episode, Haggith's Next CD, And More!!

After a few days of just battle of the bands recaps and concert previews, we still have a little of each for today's post, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW, but this is more of a regular news post, with an upcoming local album and some assorted updates rounding things out. Now, here's what you should know!

Young Sault Michigan metal trio Tantrym Tyme are apparently playing at The Elks Lodge in Sault Michigan TOMORROW AFTERNOON! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show on their Facebook page yesterday, and only clarified the Sunday scheduling today. Barring possible unannounced gigs, Tantrym Tyme were last seen playing at a Soo Eagles hockey game last month (which completely slipped us by, our apologies!), and while a Sunday afternoon show at The Elks Lodge may seem atypical for a local metal band, remember that the former Abstract often play unique all ages venues, and they rocked this lodge on a Sunday in January too. Tantrym Tyme's skill and sound have steadily improved over the years, and though the hair is shorter, they'll be sure to deliver some solid music this weekend!

This show (at 1111 East Portage Avenue) will start at 3:00 PM, and there's neither an announced cover charge or age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tantrym Time live in 2012!



Next up, here's our latest look at Local2's video coverage of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub, via their newest episode of the popular webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper! Following the format of last week's episode, the first segment features a recap of week #2's action and forecasts of what's to come via judges Rob Speers and myself (Dustin Jones was absent again due to Rising Tide tour commitments), and this judges segment will be featured in next week's Tuned episode as well, so keep an eye out then for them! The second half switches to Wednesday's last semifinal in the month-long battle, and it features performance footage and introductions from all four of this week's bands (Mike Haggith & The Din, Project 421, winners The Apocalype Afterparty, and wild card finalists Gnaeus), though X is missing from The Apocalypse Afterparty's introduction.

More performance footage of them caps off the episode, and it's another strong, entertaining look back at week #3! The finals this coming Wednesday (also featuring The Bear Hunters & Mannapool) should be excellent, so be sure to join us then for all of the action as all of the prizes are handed out! Check out the newest Tuned episode above, and remember, their video host doesn't allow external embedding, hence why we can't feature it here.

Also today, here's the latest from one of this battle's competing bands, night #2 runners-up Haggith, who have recently completed work on their new album "Apocalypse II"! The long awaited sequel to 2012's "Apocalypse", it took two years, a band breakup, and two bassist departures for this to be completed, and in advance of the official paid release of the album, you can stream the whole thing on their YouTube channel! The last songs from the planned album went up there yesterday, including the linked "Home (Parts 5, 6, and 7)" as one upload, the album's own title track "Apocalypse II", and the metal track "Hands of Death" that has been a mainstay at recent concerts. In terms of lineup variances, bassist Jordan Leach plays on all of these songs (and co-wrote "Apocalypse II"), synthesizer & keyboard parts are included on all but "Hands of Death", Curtis McKenzie is not featured at all on "Apocalypse II", and Daniel Horton's Project 421 bandmate Frank McGillivray guests on the "Home" songs.

As we haven't even reviewed the first "Apocalypse" yet, and with our review of Telephone & Address' "Rust Orchid" likely coming in the next week or so, I can't say yet when we'll look at this album, but there's lots of varied material from this talented hard rock quartet to check out, so definitely do so above! We'll let you know when CDs and sale copies are released, so stay tuned for updates, and here's "Hands of Death"!



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

• If you were wondering who was drumming for Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide during their local shows this weekend, then we can confirm via personal Facebook posts that Late Shift bassist Clint Wilson filled in with The Tide for their Sault-area shows at LopLops and Searchmont, like he did at some dates last year. No word yet on if Mikey Hawdon is still their official drummer or not though. Hopefully this weekend's gigs went well!
• This is honestly very overdue, but we've added local event planners & organizers Maxx Entertainment to our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" on the site! Ran by That's Chester & Stiffler's Mom frontman Greg Simpson, Maxx Entertainment have been instrumental in local concert events like Toystock along with helping out at the annual Ride For Sight, this month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands, and more, so check them out above for info on them!
• Local singer Michaila Ward is looking to start a band (preferably with all female members), and while she didn't specify intended genres, she does like some heavy/alternative bands on Facebook. If you're interested in trying out, message her at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on March 6th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Driven, Peril, And Powerslug) & Some SMS Link Updates!!

It's time for another new post in our 15th straight day of updates at the SMS, and we're mostly gonna focus on the local Kewadin Casino branches today, as they've confirmed the upcoming concert schedules for The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace for concerts through June, via each venue's respective entertainment page! Not counting the previously announced shows in April & earlier, the new dates largely don't skew to heavier bands, but via the above links, you can read up on new dates from local solo musicians Jimmie Cowles & Perry Hatch, country rock band Bittermoon (with ex-Monkey's Uncle bassist Jim Belleau), classic rock bands Chump Change (featuring Oddfellow & Bucksaw alumni), Crossorads, and Handsome Sam & The Homewreckers, indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen (with half of Nixxon Dixxon's old lineup), new local rock quartet Toast (featuring Swayze Train & Clownsack alumni; genre confirmation forthcoming), and a yet-unknown band named Sir Charge (let me know if you have any information on them!)

As for the heavier-leaning new concerts, we'll start at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven will return on May 3rd & 4th! I believe these will be their first shows in the region of 2013 (if I missed any, my apologies), and these will also be their first shows since drummer Kurt Beard returned to their lineup, so loyal Driven fans should be sure to welcome him back later this spring! No word yet on any other regional shows (including possible returns to Sault Michigan or Timmy Lee's Pub), but hopefully we hear something on that front soon! Admission should be free for these 21+ concerts, and 10:00 PM-ish start times are to be expected. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see Driven bring their hard rocking cover sets back to the area for two more shows to kick off May, and hopefully their fans are out in full force for their first local show in too long! Stay tuned for more on Driven's next U.P. plans as I hear of it!

Next, we'll travel north for the only new metal shows in May & June at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as Charlevoix classic metal standouts Peril will return to the region for local shows on June 7th & 8th! These will be the band's first Sault Michigan concerts of 2013, and they come over 3 months after their first regional dates of the year at the St. Ignace Kewadin, so either way, we're due for Jeff, James, and Brooks to rock the area with some hard hitting covers! I'd expect 21+ age limits, no cover charge, and 10:00 PM start times to be in effect for Peril's June dates here as well, and like with Driven, check the above links for more information! Peril always deliver a solid weekend of metal classics when they make their way north for some U.P. action, so don't miss their next regional shows in June, and keep an eye out for local-related updates from Peril as they roll in!

Finally for the newly announced Kewadin Casino gigs, we'll head back down to St. Ignace for Powerslug's next Northern Pines Lounge dates, as the Sault Michigan hard rock trio are scheduled to return there on June 21st & 22nd! Their first St. Ignace dates in 5 months, these join the guys' upcoming Sault Kewadin gigs on March 22nd & 23rd, along with whatever shows we hear about in between via personal Facebook pages (they really need online pages to promote their shows.) Still, with members of Toast & Kilacel in their lineup, the talent is there for a solid night of hard rock covers (and perhaps originals?), so don't miss out on Powerslug's St. Ignace Kewadin dates in June, especially with this much advance word! Like the above shows, expect a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and 10:00 PM-ish start times for both shows. Powerslug have the talent and veteran success to ensure a great show, so circle the June 21st weekend on your calendars, and stay tuned for Powerslug updates as they come in!

Finally for today, here's some assorted updates to links on the site, namely what's been added & replaced. In terms of additions, I've added links to local graphic design company Maxx Graphix (who have done work with and for metal/hard rock bands & shows) and inactive music management agency Escape Into Music into our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" section, while I also added The Sault Metal Scene's Twitter account into the new section listing SMS accounts on other music/social media websites. Me and Twitter have a love/hate relationship, and it's not widely used among local metal bands anyway, hence why I've phased out updating it frequently, but feel free to tag and follow, as I still log in to check for occasional Twitter-exclusive news! Finally, I replaced the link for the yet-released Woods of Ypres tribute album "A Heart of Gold", as it's Facebook page was quietly deleted for unknown reasons in the past few months, but it's Facebook group is still alive & well. If we find more links to add, remove, or change, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!