LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

We're back with another batch of weekend concert previews on this Thursday morning, so what lies within? A pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and some assorted recent news and notes, and yes, some big overdue stories are coming soon as well. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show only came to our attention via the Sault Music News Letter Facebook page's concert calendar post on Tuesday, and it was not included in their 2019 concert calendar that was posted online in February. That said, at least we heard about it with some advance notice, unlike their Reggievelt show last week! This will be Soundcheck's first Water Tower Pub booking in three weeks, and it is a one-nighter to go along with the venue's usual scheduling of different nightly acts, as seen on your right. No word on if bassist Paul Belair will be back in the fold after he missed their last gig, we'll let you know if anything is said on that front. You can take in their hard rocking blend of classic rock and newer covers TOMORROW'S concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert last year!



Next up, local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will return to The Rockstar Bar for a one-nighter of their own THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook event page on Monday, which the band has since acknowledged publically. Fans last saw Christina, Rob, and Jesse at this venue in early February, and this will be the band's current lineup's second gig at The Rockstar Bar. With their fan-friendly blend of hard rock covers and even some lighter and more top 40-leaning hits, The Wyld Stallyns should deliver another fun night of tunes for fans at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar on SATURDAY, so don't miss out! This show has a 9:00 PM-ish start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

Moving to previously announced concerts, prolific local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his long-term arrangement of concerts at Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street with matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! With no nighttime shows elsewhere this weekend, fans will have to go to the downtown steak & seafood restaurant to take in Tym's unplugged hard and classic rock covers this weekend, and with his well-tested live set and extensive playlist at the ready, why not consider a supper-time run to Gliss for all of this entertainment? Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have early 6:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and no age limits, but remember that this is a formal sit-down restaurant, not a nightclub. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

 
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:

• As documented in local news sources like The Sault Star as of late, City Council was asked earlier this month to approve a one year contract with California-based Venue Coalition towards booking more concerts and touring productions at GFL Memorial Gardens. Venue Coalition helps book events at dozens of venues in North America, including at fellow OHL arenas in Sudbury, Kitchener, and Peterborough. If this agreement takes, it'll be interesting to see what results come through, and click here for more details!
• I have moved Eckerman hard rock quartet Moss to our inactive Sault Michigan band links due to a year's inactivity, having last posted on their Facebook page in March 2018. After a prior run from ca. 1995-2005, Moss reunited in 2012 as a studio project signed to Werehold Records, and frequently appeared in the label's Friday the 13th new music posting events, but they were, sadly, the final Werehold act in our active band links. Moss were a solid band, hopefully we hear more from the Mills & Kabelman brothers and/or Werehold Records down the line!
• As per a news release shared by SooToday on Tuesday, organizers of the Rock On The River festival in Timmins, Ontario (6 hours northeast of here) are looking for "local and regional acts" interested in playing at the "Northern Roots Stage" at the fourth annual concert festival, which definitely has featured hard rock and punk bands on their past lineups, such as headliners Billy Talent last year. If you're interested in performing at Rock On The River in July, fill out the band entry form at this link within the coming week!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Michale Graves), New Videos, And Much More!!

Before everyone settles in for the Greyhounds' first playoff game, here's a new news post for your Friday reading needs! Along with some assorted recent news and notes, we have some videos from each side of the border, and to kick things off, a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

Former Misfits frontman Michale Graves will make his local concert debut on Friday, September 21st at The Canadian Nightclub!  Fans of the horror punk legends will recognize Michale as their post-reunion frontman in the mid-late 1990s, and as the voice as such classic songs like "Dig Up Her Bones", "Helena", and "Scream", it'll be great to see Michale perform songs like those and his newer solo material in person this fall! The tour proper is fully infused with horror punk entertainment, including "horror death/rock & roll" group Argyle Goolsby & The Roving Midnight (featuring the former frontman of Blitzkid) and Vancouver solo artist Nim Vind. The former have a solid darker take on this genre range, while Nim Vind have a Volbeat-meets-The Misfits quality that's intriguing, if that makes any sense! Local opening acts will include local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, who are a beyond-fitting choice given how often frontman J.D. Pearce has covered Graves-era Misfits with his old bands!

One more local opener is to be announced. Promoted by J.D. Pearce, this ALL AGES (and licensed) concert has $25 tickets that are now on sale at this link, and while in-person and in-store availability has not been confirmed yet, keep in mind that "limited quantities" of tickets are available. Also, note the availability of $40 VIP tickets, including a meet & greet session! This should be a huge concert to help kick off the fall with, so if you're at all a fan of 1990s-era Misfits and/or horror punk, do not miss this show! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's another new video from local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback as they continue work on their debut studio album! Posted to their YouTube channel on Wednesday, this behind the scenes video features Chris, Matt, and Nick discussing tempos and working in their jam room, as partially set over a song by the band Overlake. This is more of an off the cuff, "whatever happens" video, but you get to see A Dire Setback hard at work, and there is some levity from their banter! Give it a look below, and back them on Patreon for even more updates!



Also today, here's a new video from Eckerman, Michigan metal band Moss, in their first new public update in over three years! Last seen on the February 2015 Werehold Records Friday the 13th new music event, this band has finally resurfaced with a new song called "The Drive", as posted to the Werehold YouTube channel on Wednesday. An instrumental hard rock number, this doesn't have the technicality of some of Moss' labelmates, but it has a solid riff and an accessible sound, and it'd be interesting to hear vocals added! Give it a listen below, and Moss are back in our active band links!



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

• Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins is looking to join or launch a new band in the Sault Michigan area, interestingly as a bassist this time around. Joe has years of live & recording experience, can sing backing vocals if needed, is versatile for different genres, and has his own gear. This doesn't seem to mean anything negative for Project 906, who are still active with Joe on guitar, but if you're interested in enlisting Joe on bass, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Monday!
• The Northern Vibe Festival will return to Ophir, Ontario (on the former Hempfest grounds) for it's fourth installment over the August 25th weekend! $75 early bird tickets are now on sale at their website, but full details and lineups have not been announced yet. Though never a metal or punk hotbed, the Northern Vibe Fest has played host to bands like The Billy Bastards and Gianni Gagoots in the past, and hopefully we'll see a few SMS-covered bands on the 2018 bill, so stay tuned for updates as they come in!
• After a few days of cryptic teasers, Rotaryfest's Facebook page announced that Calgary classic rock/country trio The Stampeders (of "Sweet City Woman" & "Carry Me" fame) will be this year's announced headlining band on Stage 1 of our annual summer festival on Saturday, July 21st! While we have seen a handful of general cover bands from out of town since, The Stampeders will be the first non-tribute headliners on the main Clergue Park stage since The Road Hammers in 2009. This should be a solid attraction for fans of Canadian classic rock, so check the above links for early details on this year's Rotaryfest!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Moss & Neno Jovanovic

Here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, as we're once again looking at 1-2 defunct or inactive local bands (2 this month) that we randomly selected for a look back at their run, accomplishments, and material in the current day! This month's selected acts come from both sides of the border, including one band with a lengthy run and a talented solo artist we haven't heard much from lately, so here's what you need to know for each profile! (Updated on February 11th at 9:26 AM)
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Moss

Genre: Hard Rock

Hometown: Eckerman/Strongs, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics)

David Owen Mills (Life's Eclipse), vocals/ex-bass
Jason Mills (Life's Eclipse, Swampghas), guitar
Nicholas Kabelman, guitar
Terry Carrick, bass
Robert Kabelman, drums
Jason "Ogre" McConnell, bass

Info/Analysis: Moss were a Sault Michigan-area hard rock band that were originally active from 1995-2005, before reuniting under the Werehold Records banner from 2012-2015. Surviving information on their original run is in short supply nowadays, but Moss recorded a handful of demos and cited influences as diverse as Pantera and The Beatles at the time. After ending their 7 year breakup, Moss began work on a planned new EP, and saw four new songs posted to Werehold's YouTube channel (3 for their Friday the 13th music events), but have not issued a new public update in almost 2 years. The band's now-deleted songs with vocals (like "Undefeated") had a solid hardcore punk vibe, but their recent instrumentals had a nice mainstream hard rock groove with quality guitar riffs. Check out Moss' newest song "The Bright Lights Of Anywhere" below, and don't miss the Mills brothers in Life's Eclipse!


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Neno Jovanovic

Genre: Metal/Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Neno Jovanovic, all instruments

Info/Analysis: Previously performing under the project name Metallurgy, local guitarist Neno Jovanovic manned his own solo project from 2009-2012, primarily posting original demos and covers to both his Reverbnation page and his YouTube channel, though all solo performances have since been deleted from the latter for unannounced reasons. It's a shame that Neno hasn't been musically active lately, as he was a talented guitarist with a good ear for original metal compositions and solid covers of everyone from Rob Zombie to The Police(?!), though playing alongside the original track at that volume can mask his contributions. As seen on tracks like the death metal number "Cryogenic Freezer Department" (which you can hear below), Neno has some harsh vocal ability too, albeit underutilized on posted files. Most of his surviving clips are under 3 minutes long and/or visibly incomplete, but give his entertaining tracks a listen above, and hopefully Neno returns to music at some point!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month in this series, we have randomly chosen mid-2000s local punk band Mayadevi (featuring Ashoka At The Show, Shit Liver, and Undead Warriors alumni) for our next defunct profile, which should be an interesting installment, so look for that on or around March 10th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Heavy Head), A New Local Band, VM Radio Battle Updates, And More!!

Let's keep the news rolling along on the SMS for this cold Saturday morning! Ahead, we have some more updates to one of our past battle of the bands profiles, some assorted recent notes, and big updates on one of next month's battles of the bands, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT linked with a new local band that you should know about!

We have a new local hard rock quartet to add to our links, and they are Heavy Head, who feature many familiar faces in their lineup! Though not listed on their Facebook page yet, personal Facebook postings indicate that their lineup features ex-Suicide Kings frontman Mike Gaetano alongside Jack Spades bandmates Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger on guitar & drums, and Project 421 bassist Daniel Horton, which is definitely a talented collection of local favourites! Along with an Easter Island/Maoi statue motif, the band admittedly indicates that their sound is "a sweet mix of rock and pop", with the only covered bands listed to be The White Stripes and Maroon 5, but with these four guys, they're bound to lean towards heavier songs unless this is a huge departure from their norms (and, remember that The Suicide Kings covered "Seven Nation Army" in their cover medley.) As for their live debut, Heavy Head will take the stage for the first time at The Rockstar Bar on Friday, February 26th with pop punk quartet Stereo North as openers!

This should be a good concert, especially to see how Heavy Head sound in their debut outing, so keep it in mind in two weeks' time! There is a $5 cover charge for this 19+ concert, which Stereo North will kick off at 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I'm also curious to see how frequently Heavy Head play live, as Mike aside, the guys are all in at least two other active bands each (along with the above, Jesse's in The Elements & Winkstinger, Johnny's a Bear Hunter, and Daniel's in Eclipse), but no matter how often they play, this definitely is a local supergroup! Stay tuned for more from Heavy Head!

Next up, here's the latest on next month's second annual VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub, as two more bands have been confirmed to join Stereo North on the lineup, so who else is in? As per promoter J.D. Pearce on the official Facebook event page, one new band is local alternative/hard rock trio The Din, who will be making their third battle of the bands appearance next month, and are the second confirmed returning band from last year! In last year's VM Radio Battle, (Mike Haggith &) The Din competed in the third semifinal, with Curtis McKenzie then on guitar, but they did not advance to the finals. Can their new lineup make a bigger statement and move onto the finals the second time around? The other confirmed band is local acoustic rock quartet K.I.C.K. (short for Keep It Cool Kids), marking their first appearance at a local battle of the bands. Their lineup features singer/guitarist Simon Shearsby (ex-Starlit Sins), guitarist Tyson Letang, new bassist Kevin D'Orazio (ex-State of Misery), and drummer Aaron Dunn (ex-Cowboys & Indians)

K.I.C.K. don't play live all that often, and their members aren't recent battle veterans from other bands, but will they leave a big impression on judges with their unplugged attack next month? There are limited spots available for this year's battle, and if you or your band is interested in applying, remember that registration packages are available starting today at The Rad Zone and Case's Music, and while they are $100, you'll make that money back and more by selling your ticket bundles that come with it! Huge prizes and exposure await, so check the above links for all current details, and stay tuned for continued updates as they are announced!

Also, here's three assorted shorter notes from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• While we await new updates from local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back's camp, drummer Nathan Sauve uploaded two new recordings to his Soundcloud page last March that we only just discovered (out apologies for the nearly year-long wait!) One is an "unreleased banger" that he wasn't sure of the title of, while the other features a slowed down abstract take on Aerosmith covers. Both are interesting listens from the jam room, with the "banger" capturing them in their true element, so check them out at the above links (and A.S.A.P. too, given the rumours of Soundcloud shutting down!)
• We have moved Strongs/Eckerman, Michigan hard rock quintet Moss to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band hasn't posted an online update since unveiling a new song during label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th music event one year ago today, though in all fairness, they rarely posted updates that didn't relate to the Friday the 13th events, which didn't occur in November due to "downtime" for many label acts, so they may re-emerge if Werehold revives the event on Friday, May 13th. They're a solid band, so hopefully they do come back, and best of luck to David, Jason, Nicholas, Terry, and Robert in the future!
• Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night have posted a new song named "Metal Mozart Concerto 11" to their Reverbnation page! Basically a metal version of the title work by the acclaimed composer, it's well performed and up to Craig and company's usual standards, so give it (and more) a listen above!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to one of our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles, namely our profile of 2012's Battle For The Blood! There, we restored all photos, and updated notes on the bands' current whereabouts, namely winners Winkstinger's reunion last fall and the demise of The Valentine's Day Massacre's successor band Saints & Serpents. In the section on performers' later bands, we added Infinity Grinder and London's Rattlesnake Hotel (featuring The V.D.M.'s Andrew Angelic), and noted that Winkstinger guitarist Jesse Cook is a member of both The Elements & Heavy Head. The trivia section now has notes on host venue The Roosevelt Hotel's transition into Reggie's West, the demise of non-competitive performers T-Rex Manning, Changing Waves bassist Terrence Gomes run in last year's Speak Easy Battle with his current band Infinity Grinder, and Winkstinger guitarist Jesse Cook's run in last year's Rock N' Roar Battle in Spanish with his current band The Elements.

Lastly, we added a "Sources/More Info" section at the end to list the battle's Facebook event page, it's only substantial surviving online page outside of the SMS. Hopefully that's updated now, so stay tuned for more battle profiles soon, and for more news and notes in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 8)

Yesterday was the first Friday the 13th in 8 months, so it's once again time to look at another new music event from Sault Michigan-area metal label Werehold Records, in their sixth straight Friday the 13th with new song uploads to their YouTube channel, and first of three for 2015! It should be noted that for this installment of the Friday the 13th Werehold postings, there are just four new songs, with label head Jason Mills credited to Scholomance Studio currently being "torn up", which impaired their larger plans for today (source here in a comment thread.) The next Friday the 13th is actually next month, so might things be fully realized then? For now though, we'll look at yesterday's songs, which don't include new material from Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, East Branch, or Swampghas, but Werehold loyalists should like what we got, so here's the new songs in alphabetical artist order!

We'll start with Jason's solo metal project The 1,000,000,000s Who Died (remember, they weren't really from Isle Royale), whose new song is called "Allegiance to Nothing". An instrumental that morphs from dramatic horror movie music to crushing epic metal in short order, it's a solid track with great guitar work, but it's not that long, and it does sound a bit too processed at times. Give their new track a listen below!



Flagship Werehold metal band Life's Eclipse are next with their song "Cell Differential", to be included on their long gestating album "Invasion". It's not new (originally written in 2005), but it's still a strong addition to their original material, with a more melodic take on their usual brutality and a nice catchy feel that would go great for driving in a fast car! However, it too is an instrumental at present. Check out Life's Eclipse's newest posted song below!



Also from Friday the 13th is the newest song from Strongs/Eckerman hard rock band Moss, entitled "The Bright Lights of Anywhere"! Apparently recorded in less than 45 minutes (though it's the longest of yesterday's songs), it's also an instrumental, but takes on more of a mainstream hard rock sound, albeit with a dark edge that would still lend itself well to aggressive vocals. I can picture a vocal melody in my head for it, which is probably a good sign for it's composition! Strong work from Moss, so give it a listen below!



The last new song is "Snake Eyes" from Brimley electronic project Palaver, which isn't metal, but it again harbours the "dark video game music" sound that they've done well in the past, with the latter hald reminding me of music from a movie fight scene. Strong work if you're into techno genres, so check it out too! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news over the weekend, and keep watch for more new music from Werehold Records on Friday, March 13th! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 7)

As promised, our second half of our feature on Sault Michigan area label Werehold Records' newest Friday the 13th new music is now up on the site! Though this is the fifth time that Werehold have posted new music from their affiliated artists on Friday the 13th, this is just the second where we can't fit everything into one post of a reasonable length, so we saved the last four alphabetically for this second post. As a result, visit yesterday's post to hear new music from The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, the long awaited Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, and East Branch! Moving further down the alphabet, let's first look at the newest song from Werehold's flagship band, Eckerman metal quartet Life's Eclipse, which is entitled "Firebreather", so what should you know? To be featured on an upcoming album named "Invasion", this is an instrumental metal track that has a nice heavy riff and solid groove & melody, plus extra guitar effects and keyboard parts for good measure, and it lives up to Life's Eclipse's past standards! Give "Firebreather" a listen below!



Next is Life's Eclipse frontman/Werehold owner Jason Mills' regional hard rock band Moss, whose Friday the 13th song is a rough version of their original "Trilobite". A mid-paced rocker, it's suitably heavy and has a solid rhythm, but it's also an instrumental. I will say that it's not as rough as the YouTube description implies, and fans of Moss and local hard rock should definitely take to this track, so check it out below!



Brimley electronic project Palaver also contributed a new song this year, named "3636", and while it's not a metal song, it is dark and has the vibe of a boss theme in a 16 bit video game, for what that's worth. As far as electronic music goes, Palaver deliver the goods, so check out their new Friday the 13th song above! Finally for this latest Friday the 13th is the newest song from Strongs "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas, and it's entitled "The Starving Rust". To be featured on their long gestating debut album "The Raco Tower Incident", this song is similar to some of the other songs from Friday, but it has a slower and more straightforward sound with less frills (and no vocals again either.) Existing Swampghas fans will have little to complain about, and Jason, J.R., and Doug are in usual form, so give their newest song a listen below!



Although this is the only Friday the 13th of 2014, Werehold fans may want to buckle their seats, as there are three Friday the 13ths next year, including two consecutive in February and March, so if Werehold Records keeps up the tradition, 2015 will be the biggest year yet! Look out then and before for more news and material from Werehold Records, and stay tuned for more local metal and hard rock news and notes soon as well! Thanks everyone!

New Sault Michigan Video Uploads, Including New Werehold Records Tracks!!

To keep news from falling too behind given some recent delays, I've got another new post for today, but of course, check out some big concert updates and band dissolutions/inactivity descents in the post below this one! Tonight's post is another all-Sault Michigan area installment, mostly concerning new song postings from a local label, but at the end, we have a live hair metal cover from a recent community event across the river, so read on below for what you need to know! We'll start with the latest from prolific Eckerman label/studio Werehold Records, as owner/performer Jason Mills has uploaded a handful of new songs from three Werehold-signed bands onto their YouTube channel on Saturday as part of what's being called "spring cleaning", and these constitute the first YouTube uploads of new songs from the label in almost a year! Now, with no Friday the 13th coming until September to tie in an upload spree with, it's great to see some songs come before that, so here's what got posted this weekend!

Two of the songs come from (arguably) the label's flagship band, local metal quartet Life's Eclipse, as the tracks "Aphelion" & "Welcome To The Vortex" were uploaded on Saturday! Both were written circa 1996 or 1997, and are/will be included on the band's album "The Chemicals To Make You A Better Person", though note that they were uploaded as instrumental tracks. Each has a lot of melodic groove metal intensity and catchy riffing, though "Welcome To The Vortex" (the album's opener) is a fast and short number, while "Aphelion" is slower but longer. As usual, I'm impressed the quality and talent on both tracks, and I'd love to see Life's Eclipse expand further locally if possible! Also, as a side note, an aphelion is the point in the Earth's orbit when it's furthest from the Sun, which is the opposite of a perihelion (which Sault Ontario progressive death metal notables Gates of Winter are calling their long awaited new EP.) It's definitely a coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning! As it's the longer of the two, I've embedded "Aphelion" below, so give it a listen, and keep an eye out for more Life's Eclipse updates!



Also among the new videos are samples of two new songs from Strongs hard rock quintet Moss (featuring Jason & David Mills from Life's Eclipse), as uploaded in one video on Saturday! Neither are titled yet, but they're the first audio clips posted featuring returning bassist Terry Carrick, and neither clip is longer than a minute. The first one has a better groove and aggression than the second one, which seems to be a bit more dramatic, but each clip is heavy and well played, and like the video says, hopefully something will get finished before the guys are in nursing homes! Check out both clips below!



The other new Werehold upload is Swampghas guitarist J.R. Johnson's East Branch solo project's demo "Paradox Confliction", which Jason (also of Swampghas) said was the first East Branch song he had heard. Like the other new videos, it's instrumental, but it's a much slower and more deliberately paced track than Swampghas are known for, though it's unquestionably heavy! I think it'd get repetitive if any longer, but it's solid, so give East Branch's new demo a listen below as well!

Finally for today, this live performance video comes from the Music In The Park event in Brimley, Michigan last Thursday (the Fourth of July), which featured numerous regional musical performers, with sound provided by Half A Man frontman Erik Rintamaki's new live sound company/recording studio Superior Sound Company. Most (if not all) of the performers were acoustic, so this didn't seem ripe for metal performances, but looks can be deceiving, as this video (one of 9 uploaded to Erik's YouTube channel on Friday) features musicians Steve & Skip (identities not clearer beyond that) covering Tesla's version of "Signs" at the event! It's definitely the Tesla version, not the original by The Five Man Electrical Band, as the vocal style definitely recalls the hair metal cover. It's well done and has a good harshness to it while retaining the unplugged qualities, and I like the colour filter that Erik put on the video, where it's black and white except for red things (a'la the girl's coat in Schindler's List.)

Note that the second song in the video is (I think) an original with a lot of lyrics about putting jeans on, which is alright for what it is, but the lyrics can get a bit repetitive. Check out that and Steve & Skip's cover of "Signs" below, don't miss Tesla themselves when they return to the Soo on July 27th, and stay tuned in case I'm missing any more heavier covers from Brimley last week!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more Sault Ontario news shortly, plus this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Sneaky Pete! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Powerslug & Dirtbag In A Dress), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Our first post of the day is 100% Sault Michigan (and area)-centric, and it includes news on a recent album release across the river, previews of this weekend's known heavier concerts (including one for the Fourth of July), and much more, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for some upcoming dates in the region!

Local hard rock trio Powerslug have been newly confirmed for three upcoming dates in the region with some advance word, and neither are at Kewadin Casino! One will see them make their first ever live appearance (barring a missed late notice gig) at The Back Door TOMORROW NIGHT in a rare hard rock-leaning set for this venue, which will see Powerslug play live after the Fourth of July fireworks conclude, so how's that for a capper to the evening? Apologies for the short notice on that one, I held it a bit longer to avoid redundantly plugging it twice in a short span. The other new shows will be a full weekend at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill on August 2nd & 3rd where they'll share the stage with local rock cover band/Swayze Train successors Toast (drummer Bob Helsten is in both bands), though no word on if these will be outdoor or indoor gigs. It's unique to see local band sharing a weekend engagement like this, but with their own varied and proficient sets, this should be a fun weekend next month!

All three shows (including TOMORROW'S Back Door set) are 21+ with 9:00 PM-ish start times, and I'd bring cash for a cover just in case. For more details, check the above links and the Facebook event page for next month's "PowerToast" shows! Despite their lack of online pages, Powerslug have a good thing going, and hopefully tomorrow's Fourth of July show starts with a bang, literally! I have no videos to preview it with, but don't miss the action to kick off the holiday weekend, and don't miss their shows next month either!

The other new-ish show is something unique for our Sault Michigan coverage, as it's an outdoor concert (and publically attendable, I'll emphasize) being hosted at someone's house THIS SATURDAY! Think the old F.A.T.I.L. outdoor shows in Thessalon and Laird for a reference, but this one's in Sugar Island, and it will be headlined by recent LemmaFest performers Dirtbag In A Dress! The former Bucksaw (who are apparently looking to change their name once again in the near future) will play their first show that I've ever gotten advance word on for something other than LemmaFest on Saturday at the new home of Brandon McKerchie (a friend of the band) as part of a big outdoor party, though I don't know if there's other causes for the event. On Saturday, Dirtbag In A Dress will be joined by a band named "Bill & The Bare Bottom Boys" (I assume the Bill is D.I.A.D. guitarist Bill Ogston?), though I know nothing else on them at present. Like the F.A.T.I.L. gatherings, attendees are welcome to attend and camp out, and as far as I can tell, there's no admission costs or explicit age limits, but drink responsibly if you do go.

The full event has a 1:00 PM start time, but no explicit band times have been made available. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Also note that I have not posted details about the finite address of the event out of privacy concerns (it is a man's house, after all), but the event page will give you directions for when you get to Sugar Island. This should be a fun and unique weekend for sure, so don't miss the action on Saturday, and for a preview, here's Dirtbag In A Dress covering some heavier songs at LemmaFest last month!



Now to a previously announced show (and our last of the known heavier gigs to preview through Saturday), Kinross classic/hard rock quintet Banned will return to the region for a one night only show at The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel THIS SATURDAY for their first concert at this venue in almost 5 months! This also follows a quiet June for this generally busy band, during which their only dates (in Blainey Park and Gould City) were all outside of our coverage range, so it's great to have the Traynors and company back within an hour of the Soo for their expanding variety of covers and originals! Saturday's show in Hessel (a half hour northeast of St. Ignace, 50 minutes south of the Soo) will go down at 9:00 PM, with no announced cover charge, and a likely 21+ age limit. For more details, visit the above links! Banned should deliver once again as they return closer to home, so keep this show in mind, and for a preview, here's Banned's current lineup covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" earlier this year!



Finally for today, here's three assorted Sault Michigan-regional stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Memphis hard rock band Devour The Day (featuring ex-members of Egypt Central) have been confirmed as the openers for the Shinedown concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 21st, as per Allstar Promotions' Facebook page last week. They should be a good fit with their high energy hard rock sound, so check them out above, and get your tickets A.S.A.P., as they're going fast!
• In their first bit of public updating since August 2012, Eckerman/Strongs hard rock band Moss have welcomed original bassist Terry Carrick back into the fold, replacing frontman David Mills, who will remain as their singer (making them a quintet.) I'm not familiar with Terry musically, but hopefully he adds well to Moss, and hopefully they'll have more news sooner than it has been coming!
• The first live video of local hard rock quintet RamWagon's live debut at LemmaFest was posted on their Facebook page last week, and it's an incomplete cover of Cameo's "Word Up" (or is it the KoRn cover?) Shot on a cell phone camera from a far distance, the guys do seem to know the song and rock it well, but I'd like to see longer, closer, and more videos of them in action before really judging. Check it out at the above links, but note that as a Facebook video, I can't embed it here.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new Sault Ontario-centric post later tonight! Thanks everyone!

Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 2)

As promised, here's the second half of our look at the Friday the 13th song uploads by Eckerman, Michigan label/studio Werehold Records from their roster of local bands and artists! As uploaded to their YouTube channel on Friday, we already mentioned the posted material from Life's Eclipse, East Branch, The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, and Palaver, but four more songs by four more local metal-relevant acts remain to share on here (and there's vocals to hear on most!) For the sake of fairness, we'll go in alphabetical order by band/artist name for the remaining videos. Read on below for all you need to know, and check out the first half of our look at the Friday the 13th uploads at this location, and check out the post below this one for the latest David Gold/Woods of Ypres stories!

We'll start with a new song from the Eckerman/Strongs metal quartet Moss, in what amounts to their first new song posting since the deletion of their old PureVolume page! The recently reactivated band featuring the Mills brothers of Life's Eclipse fame made this original song tentatively named "Call Me Nothing" for the Friday uploads, and though it's not complete (it's an instrumental demo), it has promise as a hard rock number! It's a bit slower paced and not as blistering as some of the new Werehold songs, but I like it's sound well enough, and hopefully a complete version makes it online at some point! Check out Moss' new song "Call Me Nothing" below, and the next three tracks have vocals, I promise!



Next up, one of the new songs on Friday came from veteran local musician Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten! The former I.S.O.M. singer and ex-Clownsack/Elipzis drummer has been quiet on the local scene since leaving End of Existence in February, and while his solo project's MySpace page hasn't seen a recent update, this song is credited to him alone, so it's good to see him still doing music, and allied with Werehold Records! That said, this song is actually a solo rendition of an earlier End of Existence song named "12.21.12" from their debut album that came out in February (yes, the review's coming soon), and with this being written by Orb, a solo cover does make sense! The backing music sounds very simplistic and artificial compared to the End of Existence version of this track, which alludes to the Mayan apocalypse theories on December 21st, but Orb's singing voice is on brutal form from what I'm used to, and hopefully we hear more from his solo work soon! Check out Orb's new solo version of "12.21.12" below!



Our second last song from the Werehold Records Friday the 13th spree is a short new song from Strongs metal trio Swampghas (featuring members of other Werehold bands), and it's a solid metal number named "Struggle"! Presumably to be on their debut album "The Raco Tower Incident" (whose pretty cool album cover was posted onto their Facebook page yesterday), this is a dirty and straight forward metal track with some nice aggressive singing, and it lives up to their earlier posted originals well! I'm curious to hear more from Swampghas, but if you're in for some quick and heavy aggression, give "Struggle" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from Swampghas as it comes in!



Finally, this is a song called "Minion" by a newer local metal act named Wearwithal. This band features the aforementioned Bob Helsten on vocals & drums, along with Swampghas/ex-Half A Man drummer Doug Reed (also of Drayton Fever) on guitar, but fans may recognize the two musicians as former bandmates in the short lived local metal band Great Bodily Harm! When shared on Werehold's Facebook page, Wearwithal were described as "the half of Great Bodily Harm that decided to continue on" (ex-GBH members Kirk Labadie & Chris Leask are not a part of Wearwithal), but it's good to see Bob & Doug still making music together! "Minion" keeps on the same groove metal path as Great Bodily Harm's originals did, though maybe with less of a hardcore influence, and the vocals flow really well with the very heavy riffing! Solid first track from Wearwithal, and hopefully we hear more from them soon, so check out their song "Minion" below!



I hope you guys enjoyed the songs and postings from Werehold Records' Friday the 13th blitz of new material! I needed two posts to do the wide array of bands' and songs justice, and hopefully these acts are gaining some more fans and attention as a result! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news, last month's poll results & this month's new poll, and much more shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (That's Chester & Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And The Return Of Moss!!

Alright, who's ready for weekend concert previews? I've got some for you guys in our first concert preview post of 2012, but it's supplanted by a notable band reunion across the river and the face that most of the weekend's shows are newly announced, making them LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know! (UPDATED: Friday, 2:52 AM)

Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet That's Chester are returning to the local stage TOMORROW NIGHT!! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only just announced yesterday. Almost two months after their last concerts, this talented veteran local outfit will return to Docks Riverfront Grill for their first gig of 2012, in what appears to be a Friday-only engagement this weekend (but if hear of a Saturday concert, I'll let you guys know!) No matter what though, it's great to see That's Chester back on the local concert stage, and they apparently have four new songs to add to their live setlist tomorrow night, so you know you'll wanna be at Docks to hear the new stuff (along with their old standards!) Admission is likely $4 for this show, you must be 19 to attend, and there's an announced start time of 11:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! If you're in the mood for some solid classic hard rock covers, Docks is definitely the place to be tomorrow night, so consider a trip down to the riverfront to rock out with That's Chester! For a preview, here's their cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" at Docks in 2010!

Also in new concerts, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's solo acoustic show is coming back on SATURDAY (and next week), but not at The Service Grill. One month after his most recent solo concert took place, Tym will break out his unplugged covers at Bossy's Pub & Grub on Pim Street (seconds from The Canadian Nightclub) over the next two Saturdays in what is hoped to be the start of another weekly concert arrangement for him! These concerts do have a unique early listed start time of 1:00 PM, so if that's accurate, the Bossy's arrangement won't impact likely night concerts from Tym or Caveman Morrison in the future, which is handy! Notably, this Saturday's show will also be Tym's first appearance at Bossy's (formerly Smack Daddy's) since the Hollow reunion gig in August, and it's good to see him back there for an unplugged show! As I mentioned above, both this Saturday & next Saturday's shows are at 1:00 PM, I'd bring ID just in case you're carded, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, click here & here for each show's respective Facebook event page.

Hopefully this is the start of another successful concert arrangement for Tym, and I live pretty close to Bossy's, so maybe I'll drop in one of these Saturday afternoons to check out his solo work! It's been too long as it is. As this new arrangement starts THIS SATURDAY, let's preview his return to the solo stage with this 2008 video of Tym and ex-Half Past singer Luke LeBlanc covering Extreme's "More Than Words"!

Finally, here's the two weekend hard rock shows I already knew about, and they're courtesy of Sault Michigan hard rock quintet Swayze Train! One weekend after rocking The Rapids Lounge for the first time, this talented local supergroup will return to Kewadin Casino's bar for a second consecutive weekend of proficient metal and hard rock covers, and I'm hearing great things, so you know this will be worth attending! Notably, the band will be featuring End of Existence frontman Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten on drums in lieu of the absent Tyler Tidwell for this weekend's concerts. A reason for Tyler's absence wasn't publicized, but the news was announced on the band's Facebook page last night. Good choice to fill in, as Orb is more than capable as a drummer (his recent work with Elipzis and Great Bodily Harm is proof), so watch out for some great drumming this weekend! As usual for Swayze Train's increasingly frequent stops at Kewadin Casino, these concerts (tomorrow & Saturday night) will be 21+ affairs with no cover charge and 10:00 PM-ish start times. For more details, visit the Kewadin Casino entertainment page and the above links!

It's always good to see Swayze Train gracing the local stage, and though I still have no media of theirs to preview them with, I know their talent will speak for itself, so consider their shows this weekend for your concert planning! Visit the above links for more, and I'll keep you posted as Swayze Train updates chug into the SMS station!

And finally for today, we have a band return to note on here, as Eckerman/Strongs, Michigan hard rockers Moss are back! You may remember them as "Moss of Eckerman" from their now-deleted PureVolume page, though that name was just to distinguish themselves from similarly named bands on there. Information was lacking on them back then, partly owing to their mid-2000s breakup, but they're back after 7 years away as part of Werehold Records! Moss' current lineup features 4/5ths of their old lineup, including Life's Eclipse members & brothers David Mills & Jason Mills on bass/vocals & guitar respectively, along with Nicholas Kabelman on guitar & Robert Kabelman on drums, with only a former member named Jason (a.k.a. Ogre) not a part. According to the bio on their new Facebook page, Moss were originally active from 1995 onward, are influenced by bands like Pantera & The Beatles, and describe their sound as "rock from a better time". Media isn't posted there yet, and though I do have mp3 copies of songs they posted on PureVolume, I know that members weren't entirely satisfied with the quality, so time will tell how the new Moss sounds!

Moss always piqued my interest with their 1990s-styled hard rock/metal sound, and if they can build on the promise I heard on songs like "Undefeated", they'll definitely make a mark in the Sault Michigan area once again! As always, I'll keep you guys updated on Moss as news comes in, and they're now back in our Sault Michigan band links on your right! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news & our Defunct Local Band Profile on Bring The Fallen over the next few days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Half Past), The Isosceles Project Concert Preview, And Much More!!

One more news post before Victoria Day, and if you're home not camping or vacationing for the weekend, you can enjoy today's slate of news on The Sault Metal Scene, including new songs from a handful of local hard rock acts, some assorted stories from across the river, and a preview of a big metal concert taking place tomorrow night, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local hard rockers Half Past are returning to the stage in July! The band will make their long awaited debut with new singer Jordan Rains when they return to The Rockstar Bar on July 23rd for what should be an interesting return show! This will be their first concert appearance in five months, following their return from a lengthy hiatus in February, in what would also be their last concert with then-frontman Luke LeBlanc. Though hinted at without a concrete public date late in a post on their Facebook page last month, they've since quietly posted the show with date on their Reverbnation page, and cause it's publically viewable, it looks official enough to call it. This show has a listed start time of 10:30 PM start time, it is a 19+ show, and a cover charge isn't listed. Check the above links for more details! It's great to see Half Past getting back out there, and with this show and their sets at Hempfest lined up, here's hoping they'll be back in their rightful spot in the scene very soon! And yes, the curiosity about how Jordan will sound with Half Past will be in full force as well, but I have faith he'll do just fine! I should be at their July return, and stay tuned for updates as I hear them!

Now to a big concert preview, as Dismembertainment are bringing you another high quality package of metal tomorrow night at The Roosevelt Hotel! Three out of town bands are making their way here tomorrow, all of which are very familiar with the Soo, including headliners The Isosceles Project! Last seen locally in August at The Canadian Nightclub, this Toronto-based all-instrumental progressive metal trio will be sure to turn heads tomorrow night with their highly proficient and technical sounds! North Bay experimental metal trio Thekillingfield (who also played at that August concert mentioned above) are also scheduled for tomorrow night, with a highly brutal and relentless sound that will surely get us moshing! Toronto hardcore punk band The Endprogram are also on for tomorrow as a late replacement for Orillia metal band Like Animals, who dropped out for unexplained reasons. Also no strangers to Sault Ste. Marie, The Endprogram just headlined at Coch's Corner last month, and their punk-inspired hardcore attack will find lots of fans tomorrow! The local openers are extreme metal quintet WinkStinger, who'll look to unleash a bottle of fury on their fans just two weeks after opening for Fuck The Facts! Check the above links for more on each band playing tomorrow night!

Admission is $4 for this concert, and before you complain about the price, keep in mind that it's just a dollar a band, it's worth the money! Doors open at 9:00 PM with it likely starting not long after, and it's definitely a 19+ event. I should note that, at least as recently as Thursday, The Rosie was increasing security on checking ID, so make sure you have ID cards on you. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! There's no better way to spend Victoria Day on the long weekend then by rocking out with 4 great bands at The Rosie, so I hope to see all you guys there tomorrow night! For a preview, here's The Isosceles Project playing their original "The Factory" from their 2008 live DVD!



Now, we have some new songs from a handful of local hard rock acts, and first, former Browbeat mainman Dutch Vanderploeg's new Training Snakes project has finally posted their first song! Posted on their Reverbnation page earlier this month, it's a solid hard rocker, though the production seems slightly off, and the drums don't sound all that clear. Dutch's voice seems impaired too, possibly due the vocal issues he had that helped cause Browbeat's demise earlier this year. I'd like to hear this song with some better production and possibly with a different singer, but I see a lot of promise with it, and check the above links to hear it! As well, local industrial project Riverin (featuring past & present members of Dirty Virgin) have posted a new song named "Trenches" onto their Reverbnation page! A slower and more deliberate song, Matt Hicks' vocals are getting more aggressive, and it still has some industrial flourishes to set it apart! Parts feel empty, but it has good pacing and would be a good addition to their EP if they opt to include it when it's released! Check the above links to hear "Trenches" and many more songs from Riverin!

Also for new songs, veteran local guitarist Mike Cliffe has three new songs on his Reverbnation page to mention as well! One's called "Cinderella Run", as inspired by my comments on his surprising semifinal run in our March Mayhem tournament, and it's a softer experimental guitar track with a dreamlike quality, though not skimping on some good guitar playing either! Not a whole lot to say on it, Mike's showing his impressive guitar range here! Also posted is a cover of Frank Zappa's songs "Wedding Dress" and "Handsome Cabin Boy", which has a more energetic bouncy pace fitting of a Zappa song like this, though it does go by too quickly! I like it, but if you're looking for heaviness, you'll wanna hear his other new song "Vote No To Elections", which has a hard charging riff, though it seems layered under some higher experimental sounds for much of the song. Pretty good though! Mike's varied work continues to impress, and if you check out his material at the above links, you're bound to find lots of stuff to enjoy, so check his work out at the above links, and watch out for more from him soon!

And finally for tonight, let's close with a trio of shorter stories from the last little while! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• In case you were wondering, Sault Michigan hard rockers Clownsack's new EP "Funny Farm" is indeed on sale at Grooves Music across the river! This is the only place I know of that's physically selling the EP at present, and it goes for $5 American. Thanks to Schloppy for the info, and definitely give it a listen!
• I deleted the defunct Eckerman, Michigan metal quintet Moss (of Eckerman) from our band links, as band member Jason Mills (of Life's Eclipse fame) opted to delete the page due partly to his lack of satisfaction for the material. For archival sake, I did save the posted songs & bio information, just in case, as I didn't want everything lost for good. So if you're wondering where Moss went, now you know!
• Sault Ontario metal band Skull After Betrayal are looking for a full time singer. They're looking for one with a hardcore base, as the band are hoping to transition away from a death metal sound, though growling and clean singing are also being sought in their ideal singer package. If you (or someone you know) are interested, contact frontman Mike Vincent at this location!
  

That's all for tonight, but have a good Victoria Day, stay tuned for my Soo Stories review this week (along with more news), and I'll see you guys at The Rosie tomorrow night1 Thanks everyone!

Frightlight Concert Review, A New Local Band, And More Bassist Departure News!!

Happy Sunday, local metalheads! As you're aware, I was at the Frightlight concert/CD recording session last night, so my review of that is top story for today's post! I was hoping to tweet a bit more during Frightlight's set, but I was rocking out too much up front, so my apologies! Afterwards, stay tuned for a newly discovered local metal band and ANOTHER local hard rock band's bassist search!

Good crowd last night at Coch's Corner for Frightlight, everyone looked ready to have a good time, and the openers, Marshmellow Gun, kept everyone rightfully entertained as the openers! Remember when I said that they had a "punk meets Tom Waits" style after seeing their jam videos? Nothing's changed, but I think playing live brings out the best in them, cause I honestly wasn't really digging their videos. Live, they had more energy and they shown off a couple of songs that deviated from form a bit, so they have some versatility! At points, frontman Eric Priest sounded a bit like Dirk Becker from Sykotyk Rampage, which was oddly cool! My biggest complaint about Marshmellow Gun's set was that most of their songs sounded exactly the same, the songs with different styles were minimal and mostly near the end of their set. Even still, they weren't bad for a first time seeing them, we'll have to see what's in store for them next! (Sorry for the photo quality, I was in a far booth.)

Frightlight were next, and despite some false starts for amp issues (remember, they wanted this perfect for the CD recording), they were great! Decked out in their best horror costumes and with a whole bunch of originals, they were on top of their game last night! It took them a bit to get their energy going, but eventually, band members were mingling with the crowd mid-song, jumping on chairs and tables, and generally having a great time! J.D. Pearce sounded as good as ever on lead vocals with a good punk energy and heaviness, well complimented by Rick White on guitar, who definitely knows his pink riffs and managed a couple good solos! I was also really impressed with Mike Gingras on bass, his lines were catchy and audible and he was clearly enjoying every minute of the concert! And of course, you can't forget about Jeff Richards on drums, he was awesome throughout the night! I don't think anyone's going to put Frighlight high on the list of the most technical local bands, that's not their style. They're horror punk/metal, and they nailed that!

The majority of their set was originals like "Fright Night", "Dead Town", and "Scream", which you'll no doubt here on their upcoming debut album, literally! But a good portion of their set was focused on covers from bands like The Misfits, The Ramones, and G.G. Allin, and it was during the covers were I felt transported back to the good old days of seeing J.D. and Rick's old band Fitswitch rocking out at The Oddfellows Hall! Hell, they even played "When Eagles Dare", which was a hidden track on Fitswitch's "Rust Angel E.P."! During the covers, everyone seemed to join in with the band to help sing, from former Fitswitch guitarist Andrew MacDonald to former D.O.T.H. drummer Johnny Lowrie, and others! It was just a pure party atmosphere during the covers portion, and that was awesome, though I wish I knew more Misfits songs so I could have sang along better. Now if they played some Danzig, I'd be all over that, but it was pure raw fun regardless!

Overall, it was a fun concert, and it was great to finally see Frightlight live after over eight months of waiting and bad timing! It's the next best thing to a Fitswitch reunion, but with enough horror additions to make it stand out even brighter! If you missed them, don't worry, they're playing a special benefit concert at Foggy Notions this coming Saturday at 5:00 PM, so head on down there before you go to Rotaryfest for Garden of Bedlam! And of course, I'll keep you posted for when their album comes out! Yes, I got photos, click here to check them out, and I of course got a video! So here's Frightlight playing their original song "Dead Town"!



Now, two more news stories to cap today's update, and firstly, I have found another local metal band! They are Moss of Eckerman, a defunct metal band from Eckerman, Michigan, which is just outside of the Soo! Eckerman's also the home of inactive local bands B3nt Rollercoaster and Life's Eclipse, and Moss of Eckerman are another very talented band to come out of there! They were a five piece metalcore band that appear to have only been active in the mid-2000s, but from what I'm hearing on their PureVolume page, they have promise! Reminds me a bit of Sick Of It All vocally, and the two songs they uploaded ("Undefeated" & "Dreams and Nightmares") have nice grooves, though the production doesn't effectively show their heaviness. Their page suggested they were working on pre-production of a CD, but they haven't updated their page in a few years either, so it looks like they've broken up, but they are a promising band! Check them out at this location!

And finally, throw another local hard rock band onto the list of bands searching for bassists! Half Past have parted ways with bassist Arthur Lacasse. Frontman Luke LeBlanc confirmed with me on Facebook that it was due to personal commitments of Arthur's, and there's no bad blood at all. Arthur was originally the band's rhythm guitarist when they began as Fingerbone, and eventually switched to bass after the departure of Harley Syrette from the band. Sad to see him go too, he's a great musician and a very nice guy! So the band currently are on the hunt for a new bassist, and unlike with Stillbroke and Sneaky Pete, the band haven't launched a public bassist search yet, though Luke told me that they have a couple names floating around. Still, if you play bass and would be interested in playing for Half Past, message the band on Facebook, it'd never hurt! I'll keep you posted on the Half Past bass situation as updates come in! Oh, and just to add, I've recieved word on the reasons for the bassist departures in Stillbroke and Sneaky Pete. Apparently, Kyle McKey wants to explore some non-musical ventures right now, and Dave Grimaldi moved to Sudbury. Thanks to Laurie Frigault and Brian Cattapan for the updates!

That's all for today, here's what's coming up on The Sault Metal Scene! Tomorrow will be the second-last entry in our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, as we take a look at the sorta defunct local hard rock trio Sin Stereo! The series concludes on Thursday, you'll wanna be here for that too! And yes, lots of news and updates will come throughout the week, along with a review of the Frightlight benefit show AND Garden of Bedlam at Rotaryfest in exactly one week, and the new SMS poll will be up that day as well! Keep your browsers pointed here!