It's time for our first monthly feature post of August 2012, and as expected, it's this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! Today, we're looking at the current statuses, background, and whereabouts on the Sault Ontario metal/hard rock albums that have seen recording sessions begin, and unlike out last installments, there's a lot of edits this time, including one new album addition and 7 edited entries, so as usual, albums with updates are denoted with their title in
italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on to see what I know, and if anything's wrong or missing,
please tell me!
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As It Stands' third EPRumoured Songs: "Conception", "Big Problem, Little Lock City", "Rise Above", "One Last Chance", "One Less Than Wayne Gretzky", "Big Bucks, No Whammy", "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Ho", "Embay the Terrible", "Oh Herm, Herm Delish", "David & Goliath", "Stay Together For The Kids" (Blink-182 cover)
Background: Continuing their high success levels since their local re-emergence in 2010, hardcore quintet As It Stands started recording sessions for their third EP with
Metalworks Studios in Mississauga last July with producer
Kevin Dietz. The sessions lasted just a few days, but from what I hear, a lot got accomplished! You can see some of the happenings from the sessions on
their official studio vlog, which features some audio samples and video of some members recording their parts. The vlog also confirmed that their cover of Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids" was recorded in Mississauga, and that the songs will be part of an EP, not a full length album as was previously believed. It's currently unclear whether the songs they recorded at
Stereo Soul Studios in 2010 and/or in Stoney Creek last year will be featured on the EP in some form. A new track, oddly titled "Oh Herm, Herm Delish" was posted
onto SoundCloud in early 2012, with studio copies of "Conception" & "Big Problem, Little Lock City" also being uploaded to
their Facebook page this year, both of which you can stream at
this location. Mixing is underway locally with Brendan Clace at
Dimension Studios, so stay tuned for more news on this EP this year!
Current Release Status: As It Stands seem to have everything under control and well planned for the sessions and their studio work, and though nothing concrete has been explicitly said about it's release, things seem on track, despite recent delays and absences of updates. When might we see this EP? I don't know, but keep an eye out for updates, album information, and so forth, as I'm hearing good things!
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The Bear Hunters' full length demo
Rumoured Songs: "Bloodthirst", "Succumb To Eternity", "Dominate", "Overthrown", "Casualties Of War", "Collapse The Sun", "Render This Void", "Karma", "Deception"
Background: Local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters formally announced that they'd begun recording for their debut EP "Bloodthirst" last May, just days after adding guitarist Josh Stephney to the band. The news was broken on
their Facebook page, but details were extremely scant following that news, and the recording plans fell dormant until January, when the band announced plans to record material towards a full length demo release. Plans are for this demo (which won't be "slapped together") to feature at least 10 songs, with drum & bass recording for those 10 songs finished as of February 16th. This appears to be an independent production towards future better quality recordings, and plans are in place to release official band t-shirts along with the demos when completed. Stay tuned to the band's Facebook page for continued updates!
Current Release Status: The summer seemed possible in recent months, but updates on the album haven't came since the spring. Being a demo and independently produced, I could see this being a slow process, but who knows. Time will tell, and keep an eye out for news on The Bear Hunters' first release!
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Gates of Winter - PerihelionRumoured Songs: "The Stars Call My True Name", "Edin Na Zu", "Dimensions", "Time Warp", "Wormhole Mechanics"
Background: Despite a hiatus from live concerts lasting almost 4 years, Gates of Winter never broke up, and are slowly working on their follow-up to 2008's "Lux Aeterna". The first glimpse of the new album was unveiled in February 2010, when frontman/producer
Lee Maines uploaded a snippet of their new song "The Stars Call My True Name" onto
his YouTube channel, and he followed that up with more demo & rehearsal clips sporadically over the last couple of years, though all were later taken down. The band launched
a new Facebook page in August 2010 to keep fans updated on the sessions, including the unveiling of a new song title, "Time Warp", and while Sault native
Jon Morrison was announced as the album's drummer that fall, they are currently looking for a new session drummer. On November 6th, bassist Steve Furgiuele confirmed in
a YouTube video that the album, now titled "Perihelion", is planned for release in December 2012, with some older re-recordings likely for the summer. Another new song, tentatively called "Wormhole Mechanics", was previewed in
this video that Lee uploaded as well last year. Most recently, Lee announced on January 10th that vocal recordings had begun, but recent updates have been slow, and delays have been indicated. Whether Jon or ex-keyboardist Brian Holmes will be included in some capacity on the album is currently unknown.
Current Release Status: According to Lee's posting on
the Musicians Wanted Facebook group relating to their session drummer search, he's hoping for the work to be done "within the next 4-12 months", which alone hints that "Perihelion" has been pushed back to at least 2013. That, and the lack of hoped summer re-recordings suggest delays from the November 2010 projections, but good art takes time, and knowing Gates of Winter's talent and attention to detail, they won't wanna release this until everything's perfect, so keep an eye out for updates!
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Late & Loud's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "Whisper Of The Damned", "Fast As A Bitch", "Rock N' Roll", "Heavy Or Bust", "Machine Gun Maiden"
Background: Late & Loud surprisingly announced plans to being recording a demo in January 2011, despite their relative newness to the scene at the time, not having launched internet pages until November 2010. Alternately described as a demo and an EP, it does appear to be packaged more like a standard album, with a photo shoot for it having taken place in February 2011 (
click here to see the photos.) I believe this is being self-recorded, and updates towards recording sessions have been sporadically posted on
Late & Loud's official Facebook page in recent months. The band released
a video last year indicating a now-passed release date, with instrumental samples of three songs, and a confirmed tracklist of at least nine songs, which has since been pared down to five, omitting frequently played songs from recent shows like "Live For Excess" & "Love Letter Lockdown". Recent updates have alluded to a release
last month, and a music video is apparently in the works towards the release, but stay tuned to the above links for more details as they come in!
Current Release Status: Their summer break lasted past July, where they hoped to return and release their EP, so things were definitely delayed, but where the album currently stands isn't clear. Late & Loud are scheduled to return to the stage at The Canadian on August 31st, so unless that will serve as a CD release show, a fall release is looking more likely, but keep an eye out for Late & Loud EP news as it rolls in!
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Mike Haggith - Neighbourhood WatchRumoured Songs: "To Whom This May Concern", "Room 822", "Door To My Mind", "The Man In Green" (Black Hole Suns cover), "The Ballad of K2/K3", "Wicked Midnight Ride", "Limb Coast", "It Takes Time" (Black Hole Suns cover), "Fading", "Leon The Janitor"
Background: Scheduled to be local solo musician Mike Haggith's
45th full length studio album, "Neighbourhood Watch" (previously titled "Space 82" and "410 To Scotland) is scheduled to be a concept album based on differing human experiences. Originally planned for release on January 25th through Galactic Records (formerly Rotten Records), "Neighbourhood Watch" should be available on both mp3 and CD formats, and ten tracks have been announced for it, including the already unveiled
"Limb Coast", two covers of Kincheloe project The Black Hole Suns' songs (an instrumental mix of one of them can be
heard here), and a mixture of previously heard & new material, though previously announced songs "Orion", "On A Cloud", "Who Owns Space 82?", "Standing On The Edge", "Stalking Booze & The Raptor", "Nightmare On Reed Street", "The Day The Lights Went Out", "My Angel", and the album's title track
were removed from the track listing in previous months. Some full and demo tracks from the album are now online for streaming, so stay tuned for more details on "Neighbourhood Watch" at
this location, as Mike's generally good for keeping fans up to date on his upcoming solo projects!
Current Release Status: Originally planned to come out at varying points over the last few months, Mike confirmed this spring that illnesses have caused it to be delayed to an unknown future date, and activity with his new local grunge band
Haggith has been prominent recently as well. That said, postings and cover artwork have been posted on his solo Facebook page over the past month hinting towards a closer and closer release date, so might we see "Neighbourhood Watch" this month? Mike has always been forthcoming & honest about album release details and hangups, so stay tuned in case anything changes!
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Riverin's self-titled debut EPRumoured Songs: "Attitude", "They Lost You", "A Cold Wind", "Deflower", "Valentine", "Raining In December", "Trenches", "Something Else"
Background: An industrial hard rock project from former
Dirty Virgin & Silver Dream bandmates Matt Hicks and Matt Clement, Riverin slowly worked on their debut EP for much of 2010 at Matt Hicks' Quartertone Studios. The original recording sessions for this self-produced EP have finished, and it was said to be released "soon" as of July 2010. All six songs to initially be included on the EP are now featured on
their MySpace page to stream for free! E-mail correspondence with Matt Clement that fall detailed how the band were looking into the CD development process to release the album in time for a planned CD release show in the future featuring guest musicians. Two new songs, "Trenches" & "Something Else", have been announced, with "Trenches" later posted online in May 2011, but it's unclear if they'll be on the EP or not.
Current Release Status: Not sure, but things did seem to be on the right track, given that the EP's tracks are all recorded. The way it's sounding to me, the release of the EP would likely tie in to their debut concert as a CD release show, but we haven't heard anything official from the band since last fall, and could be approaching us labelling them as inactive in a few months, so I'm starting to doubt if it'll ever be released. Just in case though, stay tuned for updates!
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Shit Liver's debut EP
Rumoured Songs: "Contribute or Perish", "Fabricated Nonsense", "Hateroleum", "Helen Kellers", "It's Not My Problem", "Pennotration", "Sewer Livin'", "Shift Liver", "Shit Liver", "Shit Will Prevail", "Survival of the Shittest", "Unabomber", "(Friendly Old) Uncle Joe", "You're Scared"
Background: Curiously not plugged at all on their online pages, I have heard from those close to the band that local grimecore trio Shit Liver are independently working on a debut EP which is supposed to have 14 songs (knowing how short most of their songs are, that's not a typo.) I can confirm that there are unmastered recordings of at least some of the album tracks floating around, but as they have not publically acknowledged EP plans online, it's not clear how far along they are, but I'll keep you guys updated if they say anything!
Current Release Status: Your guess is as good as mine. Most bands that stay mum on recording plans are behind schedule or not proceeding further, but from what I have heard, Shit Liver are well into the recording process and have finished up at least much of the material. Hopefully we hear some big news on this front soon, so stay tuned for updates!
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Sykotyk Rampage - "Jonathon, Your Music Sucks!", "Sykotyk Ramp-age", "Anal Disruptions", "Smells Real Good On A Bad Night", "The Cross", and "Will Do Anything, Seriously?"Rumoured Songs: "Roll A Doobie"
Background: On May 6th, "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage unveiled plans to release no less than
six new albums this year, mirroring the announced output of material from last year. Though little is known yet on the material for these albums beyond
the album covers on their Facebook page, these six will push Sykotyk Rampage's discography to 35 releases in total, and all will feature 11-12 tracks. Similarly to their recent albums, it's expected that these new albums are or will be recorded with their current lineup at River Front Recreation Studios, and they'll likely be put on sale and/or uploaded for free streaming on
their Reverbnation page when they're actually released. Aside from a potential album track named "Roll A Doobie" on Reverbnation, no song identities or media have been released yet, but stay tuned for updates on all of Sykotyk Rampage's new albums as information comes in!
Current Release Status: These albums are listed on Facebook as coming out this summer, but know to take that timeframe with a grain of salt, as most of Sykotyk Rampage's recent albums have been publically released well after dates that were indicated beforehand. For example, "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Stupidity" was delayed 8 months from it's 2011 companion albums, making their 25th album come out 29th in release order. I'd love to see some or all of these come out this month, but a wait & see attitude might be the best route to take. No matter what though, keep an eye out for plenty of Sykotyk Rampage material this year!
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Tym Morrison's second solo albumRumoured Songs: "Moon Patrol", "Dungeons & Dragons", "Nag Hamedi", "The Reason Why", "The Dark Shred", "Song For Jen", "No Name", "Amy", "Lay It On The Line", "Someday", "How I'm Wanting You More", "The After Life", "9/11", "His Sacrifice", "Termination of Exystence"
Background: I honestly don't know a lot about the background for Tym Morrison's second album, but he has posted samples of nine songs for his "next album" onto
the music player on his official website. The songs are all of good quality, and feature Tym in familiarly good form! Original information about recording sessions for his solo album are either very sparse or were made quite a while ago, so I don't know a lot about it, but the songs were likely self-recorded at Morrison Studio Productions with Tym on all instruments save for the programmed drums. He's worked on the album sporadically since, including scattered song postings (including some of a comedic or acoustic nature) and Facebook hints at a double album release, but it's unknown how close we are to seeing a second Tym Morrison album release, or if all of the originally announced songs will make the cut, but keep an eye out!
Current Release Status: I don't have any real idea, but the song postings last month hint towards good things! Hopefully Tym does release these songs in the near future, as his older samples and newer material deserve an audience, but for now, check out the above links to hear what he has to share that could make the cut!
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Winkstinger's debut EPRumoured Songs: "Sadist", "Fuck The Rest", "Cheese Grater Face", "Chudnugget", "From Bullshit To Buzz (Lies = Weed)", "Where'd We Go Wrong", "Poop", "In Other Words", "Stop! You Can't Interrogate Someone With Brain Damage!", "The Devil's Hand", "Feel All My Hate", "Move It, Peenie-Weenies, My Hands Are On Fire!", "Jimmy Got His New Legs (Derp.)", "Bidniz", "Nunya", "Of Steed & Steel"
Background: Little is publically known about this EP, but Winkstinger initially confirmed on March 15th on
their Facebook page that recording had begun. Anything else from official band pages is open-ended or minimal, but guitarist Jesse Cook has also kept fans posted on the recording sessions for the band's first EP on his personal Facebook page, noting that recording took place from the 15th through the 27th, with mixing done and some lyric finalization left. I assume this EP is being self-produced and recorded, but again, the band hasn't said much publically about it or it's possible track listing, length, release formats, or anything else. In May, the band posted 5 demos from the sessions onto
their new SoundCloud page, so stream them there in advance of the full release! Whether ex-rhythm guitarist Jason Ladouceur's recordings will remain on the final product or be redone by his replacement Anthony Orazietti is not publically known yet.
Current Release Status: I'm not sure, especially with the limited public information as of yet, but at this point, a fall release would make sense. No matter what though, I'm curious to hear more of Winkstinger's creative and often amusing material in studio form, so hopefully this does come out relatively soon! Stay tuned for updates!
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Woods of Ypres - "Woods 4.5: You Were The Light"Rumoured Songs: "You Were The Light", "Falling Apart"
Background: Recording for what was intended to be Woods of Ypres' fifth album took place in August 2010 at Stereo Soul Studios. Intended to be a 5 track EP, producer
Miguel Gauthier's Facebook page kept fans updated on the sessions, along with Woods of Ypres' pages. Originally titled "Woods V: You Were The Light", release plans noticeably changed when the band signed with
Earache Records in the fall of 2010. With the label desiring a full length follow-up to "Woods IV", frontman David Gold & guitarist Joel Violette hit the studio in August to record a new full length album, now known as "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", which left the August 2010 material (now called "Woods 4.5") temporarily shelved. Though definitive release details for that EP aren't known, two of the songs were issued in a limited edition vinyl single release named "Home" through Practical Art Records last April (
get ordering details here), and you can stream them at various online pages as well. However, no updates on the remaining material have come since then, and it's future status is in limbo following David Gold's passing in December 2011.
Current Release Status: I have no clue. I originally thought it would either come out after "Woods V" or with it as a bonus disc, but knowing it's length and status due to the "Woods V" sessions, it may have depended on a release through David Gold's own Practical Art Records label, which is likely considered defunct following his death. I know David preferred this material to stand on it's own as one complete unit and not with other material tacked on, but it may only realistically see a release now as either a free posting or as part of a rarities collection, given that future band activity is likely restricted to putting out old material. Joel Violette has indicated in interviews that the only future Woods release he can see being produced would be an album of piano-based re-recordings, further muddying the waters of a "W4.5" release. Whether we ever see the remaining "W4.5" songs is up in the air at best, but if I hear anything on a release or posting of this EP, I'll be sure to let you guys know!
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That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Sault Michigan weekend concert previews tomorrow, and I'll see you guys at The Rosie TONIGHT for The Jamestown Massacre, featuring out of town headliners The Shotgun Dolls and three local openers! Thanks everyone!
Riverin
Info/Analysis: Presumably named after Riverin Avenue in the Soo's east end, Riverin were an industrial metal project from former Dirty Virgin bandmates that was active off & on from 2009-2014. Inspired by bands like Nine Inch Nails & Marilyn Manson, Riverin were a departure from the two Matts' past glam/punk work, including material featuring piano, synthesizer, and orchestral elements. Despite clear optimism & hype for their EP, a planned release show, and intended expansion with new band members, the band went on hiatus in 2011, and only posted sporadically after re-emerging the following year, last providing a music update on their Twitter page in October 2014. Riverin were a unique band that showcased some inventive and varied material, with Matt Hicks & Clement both using existing chemistry and talents well, though the songs did sound empty at times, and Matt Hicks' vocals were hit & miss. Riverin are definitely worth a listen though, and hopefully the Matts revive them down the road!
