Double Down & Separate Wayz/Guilty Party Updates, Plus A New Video Interview!!

Before we tackle another round of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday night, which includes lineup updates for some bands on the weekend rock cover circuit and a new interview discovery with a musician who had a brief but noteworthy stint in a local band, so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have some big lineup news from two (kinda three) local classic/hard rock bands, as Half Past drummer Johnny Amendola has joined both Separate Wayz and The Guilty Party, replacing Brent Royer. As per Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Sunday, Brent amicably left due to being unable to "commit (to) the amount we want to play in both bands" (not unlike why Steven left), and while the statement was only made on one of the two bands' pages and didn't directly say that Brent left The Guilty Party too, singer/guitarist Terry Eaton confirmed that he did in a Facebook e-mail yesterday. Brent had been a founding member of The Guilty Party last fall, and only just joined their sister band Separate Wayz three weeks ago, but he played just one weekend with each group before opting out. He's a talented musician (you have to be to drum and sing at once), and hopefully we see him in a new band soon!

The son of Headrush bassist John Amendola, Johnny has been a familiar face in local rock bands like Cherry Crush, Tripod The Dog, and Skeyes Of Seven since the mid-2010s, and he reportedly is gelling well with Terry, Jim, and Nicole so far, so we'll have to see how things go for the two bands in 2026 now that they have a drummer who is purportedly more available! Terry also confirmed that Johnny will take over for Glen Thomas behind the drumkit for Soundcheck's reunion gigs next weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, which only makes sense. Stay tuned for more on the two full-time bands' next shows when they roll in, let alone Soundcheck next week!

Next up, here's the latest from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who confirmed on their Facebook page on Monday that this past Saturday's concert at Beck's Bar was their last with Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz as a fill-in, as their regular bassist Dan Beaupre is finally returning after being AWOL since the summer for medical and travel reasons. Apologies for erroneously covering that Dan was on bass for their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on December 12th, the band never said either way who was on bass that night. It will be good to have Dan back for their Water Tower Pub gig on February 21st, if not sooner! While we're on the subject, the band posted three videos from their Beck's gig on Saturday to their Facebook page, one with each regular band member on lead vocals. Alas, all three were shot vertically and none are full, but what was filmed?

The uncredited attendee filmed Double Down & Lori covering Collective Soul's "Gel" (with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals) and Weezer's "Island In The Sun" (with drummer Ric Datson on vocals), but embedded below is the longest of the three, of their take on the Thin Lizzy version of the Irish standard "Whiskey In The Jar" with guitarist Beej Syrette on vocals. Nice sampling of their live sound with everyone singing well when called upon, and while I wouldn't have shot these vertically, the filmer at least got some close-up angles from all over the stage, including the band's view of Beck's! Give Double Down's new videos a watch above & below, and kudos to Lori and Alex for filling in with them since last fall!

Finally for today, I figured this was worth sharing, even if the musician in question was only briefly a local band member, and only became publically known as such after the band dissolved. As you may recall, after Woods Of Ypres frontman David Gold passed away in December 2011, it came out that he and guitarist Joel Violette had enlisted American musicians Brendan Hayter & Rae Amitay to serve as their new bassist and drummer the previous month. Obviously, their 2012 tour plans never came to fruition, but Joel would add both Brendan and Rae to the lineup of his studio-only black metal band Thrawsunblat, and Brendan appeared on their albums through 2019. Brendan is otherwise best known for his New England-based atmospheric black metal band Obsidian Tongue, who predated his brief Woods tenure and are still active today.

I bring all this up now because Brendan was interviewed about his career (including Woods Of Ypres) by Shayan S. of the Iranian/British interview series/podcast Iblis Manifestations last year! You can watch the whole hour+ interview below, but if you want to jump straight to the Woods section, that begins 34:40 into the 67 minute interview. Here, Brendan talks about how he and Obsidian Tongue got the chance to open for Woods of Ypres on their last tour in May 2011 and how he befriended David and Joel afterwards, how he got the bassist gig, and his perceptions of "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" before it came out. He outlined plans for him and Rae to drive to Ontario in January 2012 to rehearse with the band before flying to Great Britain for label dealings, a music video shoot, and European tour dates, which leads into how he processed learning about David's death and the lost opportunities therein.

It's interesting to hear how Brendan balanced his thoughts about grief and loss from his place in the band, especially as he didn't know David that well yet, and he approaches things at a very mature and respectful level while not asking for pity or playing the blame game. The Woods of Ypres section takes up about 15 minutes, and it's an interesting look into the tail end of the band's all-too-short run, so check our Brendan's entire Iblis Manifestations interview below, and black metal fans shouldn't bypass Obsidian Tongue!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

X's & Y's - "The Obsidian Dream" CD Review!!

It's now time for our 184th monthly CD review on The Sault Metal Scene, but with another change of plans. Due to the comic book tied into Sykotyk Rampage's new album still not arriving, I'm bumping that one more month, so today, we're looking at Sault Michigan metal solo project X's & Y's' debut album "The Obsidian Dream"! Officially released on October 11th through the AFR Records imprint (also credited to the former Werehold Records on physical copies), X's & Y's is the current original metal project from former Life's Eclipse frontman and Swampghas guitarist (among other projects) Jason Mills, finally fulfilling long-held plans to release a paid physical CD. "The Obsidian Dream" has been in the works since at least 2019 at Scholomance Studios in Brimley, and features Jason on all instruments aside from guest appearances on two songs. Jason produced this album alongside local alt-rock musician, ex-Plastic frontman, and Crooked Music owner Zac Crook.

Mastering was done in Lansing by Mitchell "Mitch Michelle" Wells, who previously performed with Jason in the short lived project Shatterhand, and guests on "Houses" on an unexpected instrument. X's & Y's album is on sale on CD through Jason (contact him at this link) for $10 USD, and while it was carried at Crooked Music, the store is liquidating in advance of its closure later this week, so I wouldn't count on copies still being there. Digitally, the album can be streamed for free on YouTube Music, Amazon Music,  and a handful of smaller streaming services, though not Spotify or Apple Music that I have found. With eight tracks running for about 41 minutes, let's begin this month's CD review!

"The Obsidian Dream" ominously leads off with "Just Above Under", whose droning intro and sudden spoken word interjection leads into a pounding industrial metal number with the distinctive guitar tone that Werehold loyalists will recall from their heyday! Jason delivers some nice melodic guitar passages in between the riffs, but I will admit that some of the backing sound effects and samples really feel out of place, especially what sounds like clanging pipes in the first half. Effectively brutal instrumental if you can get past the noises in the background! Next up is "A Flow Of Touch", which is a faster but more straightforward number accentuated by a somewhat trippier intro and more rapid drum beats, and crucially, much less in the way of background samples. Jason also lets loose with a more of a technical and complex solo, which is definitely welcomed! Solid track that is an improvement in terms of what I like out of metal, so we're moving up already!

Third on the CD is "Ursa Minor", which is more of a deliberately paced song that really shows off the bass more than anything else. For me, I prefer songs to be faster and heavier than this, let alone fuller, as the guitar really isn't prominent in this at all, but as a showcase of what Jason can do on the low end, it definitely succeeds! It's rare where local bands put bass on this high of a technical pedestal, and short of slapping it, he did as much as you could ask for! I would like to hear some guitar in the background, as it's kind of an empty song beyond the bass playing, but a definite curio for fans! The first half of the album is met with "Solid Glass", which is the only song on offer to run for under 4 minutes. Guitar is definitely back on this song, which is the most djenty (is that a word?) song yet, so progressive metal fans will want to sit up and take notice!

Still harbouring the distinctly tuned guitar sound of earlier tracks, the guitar playing alone makes this song recommendable, and while there are better showcases on the disc for proper guitar solos, I definitely appreciate Jason's technical skill set on this song, and the percussion is well timed throughout! Fifth on the album is "The Starving Rust", which opens up a very eerie and spacey intro before the metal is unleashed, and while bass is again a lead instrument like on "Ursa Minor",the song is fuller and feels more like a realized final product. The drawn out ending is way too reserved and spare for my liking, but until then, it's a solidly brutal track that bass fans won't want to miss! Sixth is "Houses", which features the aforementioned Mitch Michelle on mellotron (basically a keyboard using magnetic tape to play sampled notes). You can hear Mitch's involvement throughout this song, with the mellotron being used to create a very folk/bardcore sound.

Progressive rock fans will be very familiar with the mellotron, and with Jason largely backing Mitch up here, this definitely feels the most different of the songs on offer, but certainly not in a bad way. A casual listen that almost feels like a boat ride through the countryside (if a nighttime one in the medieval era), metal-or-bust fans may want to steer clear, but "Houses" is an intricate and well composed prog rock piece, and good on Mitch to get involved in this way! The penultimate (and last guest-less) song is "Oculus", and this is a full return to guitar and bass-laden metal, which is definitely welcomed! Not sure that the springy backing sound effects in the breakdown are necessary, but we get some good guitar work and more prominent bass action, and it comes together well, so this is a strong return to X's & Y's usual form! The album closes with its longest song, the almost 9 minutes-long "Never Left", which has lots of guests.

Described as "a song for Jeremy" in the liner notes, the Jeremy in question is Illinois-based guitarist Jeremy Belter, who is joined here by former Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson, Florida-based musician Thaddeus Mitchell, and French metal guitarist Dorian Pied. The amount of guests shows in how the guitar parts are layered and implemented, with the longer length letting everyone show their stuff, but if I didn't know going in that there were four guests, I may not have assumed that there was anything radically different beyond just being more technical. The spoken word samples late are well utilized though, and the guitar skill levels are clear as day! As things change a fair amount, it never gets boring across its long run-time, but I'm not sure if the ending rough guitar outro (which sounds like a jam room demo) adds to it or not. A fittingly grand closure to the album in any event, and hopefully a harbinger of more big things from Jason musically!

So, what are my final thoughts on X's & Y's' debut album? I'm just glad to see Jason finally get an album out after all these years, but even beyond that, this is a very good instrumental metal album that fans of progressive and technical metal will take to! His guitar and bass skills were on full display here, and his bass-led songs will be a particular revelation to fans who are so inclined! Myself, I liked the fuller, more aggressive and speedy songs, but nothing on here is bad, and if you're a fan of Sault Ontario's Convergence, you'll find a lot to like here, and even "Houses" worked for me for how unique and fitting it was at setting its mood! I didn't find that all of the background sound effects and samples worked very well, I did find that "Ursa Minor" could be quite empty, and I would be curious to hear vocals on some tracks, as Jason wasn't averse to having vocalists involved in his old Werehold Records bands in the 2000s and 2010s.

It's great to see new extreme metal of any kind coming out of the E.U.P. in the 2020s, and while just a solo project, hopefully this is the start of more big things to come from Jason, be it with further X's & Y's material or something else! If you like instrumental prog metal, do check them out and buy/stream "The Obsidian Dream" for yourself above! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and I'm hopeful that I'll get the comic book for Sykotyk Rampage's "Waerlogas Saga 1: Konfysion Of Fyck" so that I can finally give it a proper review next month, so stay tuned in any event for that and more news & notes as well! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Scarkazm, Rhythm & Brews, And Tarnished), Plus X's & Y's Updates!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as we have a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE with a related apology) to take note of, along with big news on an upcoming album release, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TONIGHT after previously playing there last night! Apologies for the short notice and for missing yesterday's show, they were only announced on the band's Facebook page yesterday morning, with the band admittedly calling them a "surprise show", despite there being two gigs. According to (temporary?) bassist Chris Leask's personal Facebook page, yesterday's and TONIGHT's shows came about after "a last minute cancellation". The originally scheduled Rapids Lounge band this weekend was Traverse City dance rock quartet Risque, who confirmed on their Facebook page that they withdrew due to "unforeseen circumstances", but "we are all okay". Hopefully that is the case, and that Risque's scheduled return to the Soo Kewadin in December goes on!

Kudos to Tarnished for stepping in last night & TONIGHT on late notice, and this means that The Rapids Lounge hosted the same band in consecutive weeks, which is not common but a big thing for fans of their hard rocking covers and originals! TONIGHT's (and yesterday's) shows are 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for missing yesterday's show (surprise though it may have been), and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, let's stay with new Kewadin Casino shows, as the entertainment pages for both regional Kewadin branches have been updated to reflect bookings through the end of November! Not a ton of new hard rock-leaning bookings ahead there, and we already knew about Peril's St. Ignace shows next week and Fyrbird's Thanksgiving weekend there too, but Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return north for two concert weekends at both Kewadin lounges next month! The Peril sister band will first rock The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin on Friday, November 1st and Saturday, November 2nd, and in case you're wondering about a potential Halloween theme, I wouldn't bet on it given that their general events calendar points to their parties and costume contests at all branches being on Saturday the 26th (Sault Ontario's Touch of Class will be in St. Ignace that weekend).

As for The Rapids Lounge, fans will be able to see Adam, Dave, and Jeff back there on (Black) Friday, November 29th and Saturday, November 30th as they light things up over the Thanksgiving long weekend. That may be the last time you can see either Scarkazm or Peril in the E.U.P. this year, so don't miss out on Scarkazm's hard hitting covers before December rolls around! All four of Scarkazm's November gigs up here have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. See above for more details!

The only other verifiable new hard rock shows at either local Kewadin branch will come on Friday, November 1st and Saturday, November 2nd once again, but this time at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo, where local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews are slated to return to the stage! Rhythm & Brews (featuring current Tarnished performers Chris Leask and Ron Suchey on bass and drums) don't play live all the often right now, with next month's shows being their first publically advertised gigs that I have seen since June. It will be good to see Brandon, Chris Hubbard, and crew back in just under a month's time, and hopefully their hard rocking covers provide a strong kickoff to the month! Once again, I don't believe Kewadin Casinos are celebrating Halloween a day late at all based on their event calendar listings, and if you come there on the 26th to celebrate, that night's Rapids Lounge band will be local country duo Perry/Hatch.

As with Scarkazm in St. Ignace that same weekend, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits for Rhythm & Brews' Soo shows. Visit the above links for much more on Kewadin Casino's regional lounge gigs for the rest of the fall season!

Let's close today with the latest from local metal solo project X's & Y's (led by former Life's Eclipse guitarist and Werehold Records founder Jason Mills), who has been very busy in recent months! As of September 11th, their long-gestating debut album "The Obsidian Dream" was complete, and unlike every Werehold release from their heyday, this actually is done and dusted, and Jason sent the album to be printed on physical CDs the following week! The full album will be released on Friday on all major streaming services and on CD while supplies last. The first 30 CDs come with an NES-inspired band sticker, and if you order it early, it will immediately ship, so you may get yours before October 11th if you're quick/close enough. Jason posted the video below onto X's & Y's Facebook page on Thursday to preview the packaging for "The Obsidian Dream", which will have eight songs, and note the Werehold logo on the back!

I'm not sure if this is a first step for the label's rebirth or just to have a label for the release even just in name, but it's neat to see it on a real physical CD in 2024! Two of the songs have guest musicians (pause it 19 seconds in to see their names clearly). If you've been following Jason's original metal music over the past couple decades, you'll wanna pick up "The Obsidian Dream", so visit the above links to get your CD and/or more details, and click here to see guest guitarist Jeremy Belter playing a riff from the final cut "Never Left"! Very incomplete, but very promising at the same time!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!