Hey guys, I have a stacked news post today to help round out the month of July, so we have a departure in a local metal band, updates to one of our monthly feature series, more assorted news, and a preview of a big concert taking place tomorrow night, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a recently renamed new local band!
Remember the new Sault Michigan metal band
MK-Ultra (featuring former members of
Absolute &
Riot! By Night) that we've been mentioning here and there this year? Well, they're finally making their live debut next month, and with a new name to go with it! The band announced on
their Facebook page on Wednesday night that they've changed their name to
NoXcape (pronounced "no escape"), launching
a new Facebook page to go along with it. It's bare at the moment, but what we do know is that NoXcape will make their live concert debut on Saturday at Dan's Place on South Tilson Road in nearby Rudyard, Michigan! The show will be at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit. Nice to see them finally debuting, especially with an improved name, but I wonder how they'll sound and look at the show next weekend? We know singer Nick Landreville, guitarist Ben Huyck, and bassist Bill Spence will be there to lay down some nu metal influenced originals, but we still haven't heard official word on their drummer or possible second guitarist, just that the drummer's first name is Justin (Lawless from Absolute?) Still, it's nice to see NoXcape on a local stage finally! Check the above links for more details, and I'll keep you guys posted!
Next up, here's a concert preview for a concert taking place tomorrow night, and if you love hardcore punk and metal, you'll wanna be at this one! Two touring hardcore punk bands from Victoria, British Columbia will hit
The Roosevelt Hotel's stage tomorrow night, including headliners
Alcoholic White Trash and "gnar rockers"
Lesbian Fist Magnet! They'll bring lots of crossover thrash goodness to The Rosie tomorrow, and I have a feeling you guys will really enjoy them! Two local openers are in store as well, those being local cello punk trio
RedD Monkey and extreme metal quintet
Winkstinger, who are both solid choices for this type of concert! Remember, this show was originally scheduled for
The Canadian Nightclub as an all ages show, but with the massive flooding there two weeks ago, the show had to be moved, so kudos to The Rosie for having it now! However, this show is NOT all ages anymore, and now has a later start time of 10:00 PM, but the $5 cover remains the same. For more details, visit
the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a great show despite the venue change, and hopefully there's tons of punk and metal fans in attendance tomorrow to enjoy the high energy music in store! For a preview, here's Alcoholic White Trash rocking a Vancouver stage in July 2008!
Thirdly today, it looks like local death metal band
Unleash The Blackened Sky have parted ways with singer Steve Rhodes. No official statements have been made as to his departure, but
his official Twitter page says his band is "none at the moment", and a recent posting on
his personal Facebook page says that he's not "in a show playing band anymore". Seems pretty definitive that he's left the band in some fashion, and with no real band page updates in almost a month, this could be all the proof we get. Steve is the third member of their original "Bring The Blood" lineup to leave the band in their brief two month existence, following the departures of Kory Derasp & Dan Souliere. I don't know why Steve left Unleash The Blackened Sky, but it is disappointing, as he was a solid death growler and left a good mark in the local scene this year, particularly during
State of Misery's half year run! His two shows with U.T.B.S. (as Bring The Misery) were works in progress, but the band had promise, and hopefully they come back soon with a full lineup again! Best of luck to Steve though, his growling talent would be an asset for bands looking for a death metal singer! Stay tuned for updates from Unleash The Blackened Sky as I hear them!
Now, here's a few assorted shorter stories from the last little while. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name.
- I've regrettably moved internet rock radio station Energy Rock Radio into our "Other Local Metal Links" because, at least right now, they're no longer based in Sault Ontario. Owner Ryan Kaarlela moved to Castlegar, British Columbia earlier this year and bases the station from there currently. The station still rocks though, definitely listen to it (as I still do), but it's not really "local" at the moment. Best of luck to Ryan out west though, I've heard positive things from him since the move!
- Local hard rockers Half Past are now selling official t-shirts! I believe they're black with their current logo on the front. They're $20 in sizes S-XXL and women's sizes M-L, and can now be purchased at The Rad Zone, directly from guitarist Alain Fletcher at this location, or at their concerts, presumably starting at Hempfest in two weeks. Nice to hear, I should pick one up one of these days!
- I'm badly late with this, but defunct Sault Michigan hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon have an official Facebook page that I only just recently found! It was launched and briefly maintained last spring before falling out of use, so there isn't much there beyond bio information and photos, but become a fan anyway and show your support!
And finally, I've made some more edits to make some of our Defunct Local Band Profiles more current and accurate, so here's what's newly changed in this monthly feature series! Both the
AtrophiA and
White Knights profiles have had minor edits to reflect the name changes of bands that members were later in (Bring The Blood to
Bring The Misery & Motion Carried to
Redundant.) I edited
Life's Eclipse's profile to reflect that their drummer's name is Casey Amo, now that frontman Jason Mills confirmed that they can now publically say who their drummer is. I made a minor addition to
Bad Side's profile to note that former drummer Mike Vollman is now in a local Christian rock band named
Seeking Reverence (also featuring
Intrepid bassist Mitch Goetz.) Here's
a video of them covering a Kutless song, which isn't a bad rendition! Interesting news, I wouldn't have assumed this would be their current band, but hey, kudos for following their faith! Finally, I've made a minor addition to
Out Of The Mouth Of Babes' profile to note that they recorded "Take A Walk With Me" at
idioRECORDS here in town with producer (and
For July frontman) Dave Hunter. Check the above links for more on the now updated profiles!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and updates very soon, including our August installment of the "Where Are The New Albums?" series on Tuesday! Thanks everyone!
