YouTube Channel Profile Series: Destroilet's Channel

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again shine a spotlight on a randomly selected YouTube channel whose public videos are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts! This month's channel takes us to another single-band offering, this time one of the most prominent local hardcore punk bands of the 2010s, so here's what you should know in this month's profile!

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Destroilet's Channel (http://youtube.com/destroilet)

Owner: A member of 2009-2021 local hardcore punk band Destroilet, exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 18th, 2009; Videos uploaded from the beginning of 2010 through October 2013

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for Destroilet, it captures their early run via five (generally short) concert videos and two uploads of songs from their 2012 self-titled album.

Why You Should Watch: Fans of Destroilet's ferocious hardcore punk attack will want to check out their content here, and while venue lighting isn't always ideal, you do get a sense of what made them special to subgenre fans of the era! Note that the channel was not used after 2013, prior to the release of the "Fed Up!" split, their brief 2014-15 run as a sextet, and their late-era slowdown in gigs, but numerous fan videos from their mid-late 2010s run can be found elsewhere, and drummer Matt Waples would later post songs of theirs on his own YouTube channel.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

DESTROILET - TENNESSEE DRIVER: The first four videos on Destroilet's channel come from their debut live set in December 2009, when they opened for the similarly named local/Toronto hardcore punk quartet Detroit (fronted by their future co-vocalist Brenton Ellis) at their CD release party at Coch's Corner. This was back when Coch's was located in the Days Inn on Bay Street, now the Holiday Inn Express. Destroilet were exclusively filmed here doing covers, including The Dayglo Abortions' "My Erection" and fellow locals Fistmagnet's "Evil God Hater" from a more distant filmer. Another attendee much closer to the band filmed part of GG Allin's "Murder For The Mission" and, as featured here, "Tennessee Driver" by Hank Williams III's band Assjack. Despite some tinny audio, this is good as you could expect local digital camera video from a concert 15 years ago to be, and Destroilet are already showing their intense attack at this early stage, no doubt helped by members' prior local band work!

Destroilet - Cockteaser Pleaser (4 songs): After putting out a self-titled six-song EP in April 2011, Destroilet opted to re-release it in December 2012 with six more new songs. To promote the reissue, "Eternal Fire" was posted on YouTube later that month, followed by this teaser upload of four of the seven original cuts in 2013 (it also had five covers). In order, you'll hear "Truly Infected", "R.O.Y.C.", and "Eternal Fire" again, followed by "End Me", which is the only song here that was on the original 2011 EP. Featuring Matt alongside late frontman Mike Hull, guitarists John Conway and Christian Foisy, and bassist Adam Larocque, this sampler is a good way to introduce new fans to their studio material, especially with "Truly Infected" leading off! All sixteen of Destroilet's released studio songs, including the four new cuts on 2015's "Fed Up!" split, can be heard on YouTube here and here.

Destroilet - Eternal Fire: The last and most popular video on this channel is a music video for the aforementioned "Eternal Fire", as filmed/edited by Fred Kember with the 705 Video Magazine. This was filmed across multiple cameras when Destroilet opened for The Bunchofuckingoofs at the former Roosevelt Hotel (now Jay's Piston Broke Pub) in August 2013, before being uploaded on Devil's Night that year. While the vocals aren't always lined up with the studio track, this was well put together and captures Destroilet at their relative local peak nicely with a raucous crowd! Of course, Mike was in his element here too with another intense performance with constant motion, and he is definitely still missed in the local scene!

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I hope you guy liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our next random channel selection is of local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp, so look for that on or around November 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: WeAreTheBearHunters' Channel

After a few days' delay during a very busy month, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again look at a YouTube channel whose video uploads are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians/concerts! This installment's randomly selected channel takes us to to one of the most prominent local extreme metal band of the 2010s, so here's what you should know!

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WeAreTheBearHunters' Channel (http://youtube.com/@wearethebearhunters)

Owner: A member of local death metal band The Bear Hunters, exact identity unclear (my best guess is guitarist Mitch Sirie)

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 22nd, 2011; Videos uploaded from that day until December 2018

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for The Bear Hunters, it features 33 videos, all but four of which being live videos from three concerts of theirs from the early 2010s, including an Oddfellows Hall headlining date in October 2013. The channel is bookended by three audio demos (including their live favouite "Squirrel Buddy", as later adopted by Mitch's solo project Sir Hell) and their only music video to date.

Why You Should Watch: If you were there for and enjoyed The Bear Hunters' early run as a quintet, you should be very interested in seeing the ample live footage on their channel, and the demo tracks are an interesting look at songs in progress before they saw their final form! Their music video is also a quality realization of earlier activity, though be advised that it's this channel's only upload since 2014, and with the band teasing this summer that they plan to disband after a final concert and album, who is to say that this channel will see any further content.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Bear Hunters - Casualties of War (live at the Odd Fellows Hall, 01/28/2011): On January 28th, 2011, The Bear Hunters joined four other local bands for a show at the former Oddfellows Hall in honour of then-rhythm guitarist Mike Vincent's 20th birthday party, with their entire set filmed by yours truly at the band's request! Due to camera limitations at the time, I did have to split some songs in half. The songs recorded include their own "Dominate", covers of Slipknot's "Psychosocial", Amon Amarth's "Guardians Of Asgaard" and "Pursuit Of Vikings", Arch Enemy's "End Of The Line", and Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" (parts 1 and 2), their originals "Bloodthirst" (parts 1 and 2), "Condemned" (parts 1 and 2), "Overthrown", "Succumb To Eternity", "Casualties Of War" (the longest of the single video originals), and "Collapse The Sun", before closing with a cover of System Of A Down's "Fuck The System". The video quality isn't amazing, and singer Nik Deubel is often hard to hear, but this full set is a neat watch, both for Mike's presence and to see where The Bear Hunters basically began, especially via many covers that didn't stick around in their set long-term!

The Bear Hunters - Karma: The Bear Hunters' other concert videos here come following Mike's exit from the band in May 2011, with Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney replacing him. Josh debuted with the band at The Roosevelt Hotel (now Jay's Piston Broke Pub) when they headlined the eighteenth Thursday metal night there on June 2nd. While I was present for this show too, someone else filmed their full set this time, including "Overthrown", "Condemned", "Bloodthirst", "Casualties Of War", "Karma", "Succumb To Eternity", their cover of "Guardians Of Asgaard", "Dominate", "Collapse The Sun", and "Render This Void". A more distant but higher quality angle captured The Bear Hunters in strong early form here, with much more audible growling from Nik to boot, and Josh acquitted himself well on night #1, so fans of prime Bear Hunters should like how brutal they were sounding at this point!

The Bear Hunters - I Fear No God: After Josh moved out of town in 2014 and left the band outright in 2016, The Bear Hunters pressed on as a quartet, whereupon they released their second album "The Dead Testament" in November 2020. However, the advance single and music video for "I Fear No God" was released back in December 2018, becoming their last and most popular YouTube upload (so far?). Also featuring ex-Jack Spades bandmates Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger on bass and drums, The Bear Hunters filmed the music video at Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn, where they'd eventually play a formal set at a private event last summer. Filmed by Johnny's Golden Scoundrels bandmate Josh Penno at Spacebag Productions, it features the guys entering the church and performing among candles for mood lighting. This is an expertly shot and edited video that captures the late-era four-piece Bear Hunters at full power!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series should be more on schedule next month for a post closer to August 26th, when our next randomly selected channel to profile will be DogRun Stray's channel, featuring lots of Chase Wigmore's original music from a few years back! Look for that then, and for much more news and notes this week as we end a very busy July! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard), The Future Of Reggie's West, And PROV3RB5 Updates!!

For our first post of the month, we're diving into two topics that each kinda branch into some interesting subtopics, one being updates from a local original metal project, and the other being LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard have announced a batch of upcoming concerts taking place in the next month+ via this photo on their Facebook page earlier today, so what should know here? Not counting the Esquire Club dates and Toystock (which were already announced by the venue & organizers respectively), seven newly confirmed shows lie ahead, but we'll save the one on SATURDAY NIGHT for this weekend's concert previews to avoid redundant coverage. Otherwise, Bone Yard will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for concerts on Friday, November 11th (yes, Remembrance Day, no word on any memorial tie-ins) and Saturday, November 12th, before returning there three weeks later on December 2nd & 3rd! Next weekend's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the downtown Reggie's in over a month, and hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren deliver more solid weekends of southern rock and heavier covers ahead!

All four dates have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, so visit the above links for more details! The other two brand new Bone Yard shows will take place on Friday, December 9th and Saturday, December 10th when they perform at.... Jay's Piston Broke Pub?! As it turns out, this is the brand new name for Reggie's West (née The Roosevelt Hotel) at 306 Korah Road, which did indeed get sold by Reggie Daigle to new ownership, as Soundcheck confirmed in their promotion for their gigs there this past weekend. Reggie's West's Facebook page hadn't been updated in almost two weeks before today, but Jay Scott is the new owner of the venue, and rather than stick to the existing name like Reggie's Place did or throw back to The Roosevelt Hotel, Jay's going with new vehicle-themed branding. Full disclosure, there is a Piston Broke Pub already in Brantford, no word on if it was an inspiration, but it is locally unique compared to other bars.

Unlike the sea change of 2014 when Reggie bought The Rosie, things look like the status quo for Jay's as far as bands go (cosmetic changes aside), with Jus' Chillin playing first this Friday & Saturday night, followed by Fort Creek next weekend, and Thursday jam nights will reportedly continue as well. Of course, I hope things go well at the pub in this new era! Sad to see Reggie divest himself of both of his bars (he sold Reggie's Place to separate owners in 2020), but hopefully he's doing well and it was just time to step back. Bone Yard will rock Jay's at 9:30 PM on the 9th & 10th with no cover and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Toronto progressive metal project PROV3RB5, who we haven't talked about on here in way too long, so what's new to report from them? Over the summer, much of their updates on their Facebook page were about milestones for views and followers, plus the reach that their first three singles were getting from djent-friendly outlets, including video reviews from JMR Music Reviews and I Built The Sky guitarist Rohan Stevenson. In August, a band member(s?) guested on "Distant", a new song by Minnesota progressive metal solo project Stelliferous, whose leader Kevin Xiong previously guested on PROV3RB5's third single "Particles". The links are obvious as such, but the technical prog metal attack will absolutely appeal to genre fans! The Chinese company Dimension Music also interviewed them for this article.

Benjamin & Bryan are asked about the meaning of the band name, how they formed, their lyrical messages, how the music scenes in Canada & China differed (Ben lived in China for five years), and their future plans, among other topics. Not the best formatted review, but there are good insights that many fans won't have known, so give it a look above! Last month, they announced plans to re-issue their first three songs as instrumentals with no vocals (original singer Josh Ratliff left the band in April), and those evolved into what they're calling their debut EP, entitled "What Dreams May Come", which was posted onto Spotify & Apple Music earlier today! Links for both can be found at this Distrokid page. While streaming platforms are emphasized (i.e. no Bandcamp or Amazon availability yet), you can buy "What Dreams May Come" on iTunes for $2.97, so it is on sale!

As such, I can confirm that this EP will be reviewed on the SMS this month! Originally, I had pencilled in Chase Wigmore's new album, which was slated to be released on Saturday, but he has since confirmed that it was postponed, more on that in the coming days. Give "What Dreams May Come" a listen above, stay tuned for more proficient prog metal from PROV3RB5, and check out this new teaser video featuring the instrumental version of "Sea of Tranquility"! Alas, I can't embed it here because Facebook content matched the song to PROV3RB5' own streaming copies of it. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: ForAllThatIsLost Fatil

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our ongoing monthly spotlight of 1-3 YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk videos, be they of musicians, concerts, or anything of direct relevance! This month's randomly chosen channel is one from a regional metal band who many fans still miss seeing on stage, so here's what you should know in this month's feature!
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ForAllThatIsLost Fatil (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnStCnd6WPDzXYqMDBWaKPg) 

Owner: A member of early 2010s Central Algoma death metal band For All That Is Lost's 2011-2013 four-piece lineup (exact identity unclear)

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 4th, 2012; Videos posted from the next day through the following month

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for 2010-2013 death metal standouts For All That Is Lost (or F.A.T.I.L.), this channel features 11 videos, all taken from varying live concerts during their heyday.

Why You Should Watch: This channel is worth checking out as arguably the best source for F.A.T.I.L. videos, and given that it was launched late in their run, you get a nice swath of footage from their early CASS Cafe days through to their prominent run of Sault Ontario concerts! However, the band has been broken up for over four years now (despite reunion teases on social media throughout 2014), so further updates on their channel aren't likely.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

For all that is lost: The earliest filmed but second-to-last uploaded video on this channel is of an early F.A.T.I.L. set from April 2010 at a CASS Cafe event at Central Algoma Secondary School in nearby Desbarats, where the band got their public start. Previously uploaded as a MySpace exclusive video, this features For All That Is Lost's original quintet lineup, including singer Tyler Sperry, guitarists Graeme Caughill & Allen Piche, bassist Ben Deslauriers, and My Dear Malice drummer Kameron Nicholson. Performing an untitled original & "Viscosity of Blood", this was obviously early in their run & the lack of polish shows, but it's sufficiently heavy and it does show the promise that the guys would bring to their Sault Ste. Marie debut the following year! More footage of F.A.T.I.L. and their members at CASS Cafe events can easily be found on other YouTube channels.



For All That Is Lost The Return of Dionysus: Eight time veterans of the former Roosevelt Hotel's Thursday metal night series, it's no surprise that The Rosie figures into their channel's content, including this footage from November 2011's 39th installment, where they played their original "The Return of Dionysus". Now featuring Brook Moreau as their sole guitarist (replacing Graeme in late 2010, while Allen left in mid-2011), this was filmed by myself for our review of this concert, alongside videos of Late & Loud & the future Valentine's Day Massacre. F.A.T.I.L. were still working out some of the kinks after contracting to a quartet, but the technical aggression comes through very nicely, and it's another solid example of what For All That Is Lost had to offer locally during their Sault Ste. Marie dates!



Murmaider Dethklock cover by For All That Is Lost: The most viewed video on F.A.T.I.L.'s channel is their cover of "Mermaider" by cartoon death metal band Dethklok (via the hilarious Adult Swim series Metalocalypse), as filmed during their final concert set at The Locals Attack! at The Canadian Nightclub in November 2012. Yes, For All That Is Lost were wearing white masks, that was a frequent staple of their live shows late in their run. The video quality isn't great, and it's largely filmed from a poor angle to see the band clearly, but the audio comes through well, and the guys deliver a brutal cover that headbanging fans clearly enjoyed! A video of their original "Northern Metal" from this concert was the channel's final upload a month later.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us the channel of Thunder Bay musician Peter Bastedo, whose channel largely features an assortment of Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide concert footage from their early 2010s tour cycles! Look for that on or around October 26th, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Project 906 Concert Preview, New Vol. Videos, And More News & Updates!!

With no public confirmation about the previously advertised 3 Day Millionaires show at The Canadian (which we are now treating as cancelled), we'll move on with some news and updates on this Friday morning, including some assorted notes, preliminary details on a benefit concert next month, and some new concert videos, but first, here's one more weekend preview!

We'll start today with our last verified hard rock concert preview of the weekend, as Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Project 906 will return to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Bay Mills Bands Together's softball tournament fundraiser in Brimley earlier this month, this will be Project 906's first show at The Strongs Tavern in over five months, so if you've missed this talented group there lately, here's your chance to see them in action again! Notably, this is their last announced show from their most recent concert calendar posting, though I would assume they'll have more shows in the works, so stay tuned for word when it rolls in. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect for this show, which has a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this night of hard rocking cover favourites, and here's Project 906 live!



Next up, here's the first concert videos that we've seen from the Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in Leeburn whose colours weren't inverted, all of new Sault Ontario indie/hard rock trio Vol.'s set! Four videos of their set were posted to their Facebook page yesterday, all of original songs planned to be on their debut album, including tracks named "Dislocation", "In The Night (Part Two)", "Inspiration By The Ration", and as embedded below, "Early Bird". If their own write-ups are to be believed, these four songs were Vol.'s entire set, though no word on if there exists an "In The Night (Part One)". All filmed on a vertical camera angle (though the whole band's in frame), the songs showcase a variance in tempos, but all have a harder bite, especially the fast paced "Dislocation", and on "Early Bird" below, you get to see some dancing from attendees! Sort of grungy at times, and other times harbouring a 1980s indie influence, Vol. are off to a good start, so give their Leeburn videos a watch above and below!



Also today, here's some preliminary details on a big benefit concert event next month. The show is in support of Cherry Crush/ex-The Chosen singer (and former Foggy Notions owner) Taryn Bugyra, who was unfortunately diagnosed with kidney cancer last month. Taryn will need surgery in Hamilton on Halloween to remove the tumour, and will have to be off work while recovering in November, including a 2 week post-op stay in Hamilton. With no family ties there, and two children to support, her family is looking to raise money to cover accommodations in Hamilton and travel costs to and from there. As such, there will be a benefit concert at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, October 14th, which will feature bands to be announced, pizza, a door prize, games, and a prize table, with $10 admission via advance ticket sales and at the door. Prize donations would be appreciated by the family, and if you can't make the concert, you can donate $10 or more for the cause by messaging Taryn's mother Donna DeSimon at this link or via e-transfer at divadola@hotmail.com, so you have many options to help.

A band lineup has not yet been announced, but will be as soon as confirmations are received from those donating their time (though I'd be shocked if Taryn's Cherry Crush bandmates didn't play in some form.) Cancer sucks, there's no two ways around it, and my best wishes are with the Bugyra family during this difficult time, hopefully Taryn beats this thing! Stay tuned for updates on the lineup when they come in, and visit the official Facebook event page for more on the benefit next month!

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 venue name:

• Local alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback have been added as a second opening band for the Special Ops-headlined concert at The Rockstar Bar on Friday, November 3rd, and they will take on the middle slot that night between Special Ops and fellow locals Vol.. Not a bad choice to add some punk flavour mid-show, so check the above links for more on this intriguing event in over a month's time!
• Local alternative/hard rock trio Handsome Sandwich have been added as openers for The Din's Canadian Nightclub concert next week, as per the show's new Facebook event page. Solid choice, including with one final reunion of ex-Haggith bandmates Mike Haggith and James White on the same bill, so don't miss out... if the show is still on. Mike indicated in a comment that "there have been some issues" with bookings there, and that there's a chance that the concert may be cancelled. If that is the case, we'll let you know!
• We have removed The Roosevelt Hotel from our inactive concert venue links due to the deletion of it's Facebook page (their last remaining official page under that name) in recent months. Of course, the Korah Road venue was bought by Reggie's Place ownership in early 2014 and turned into the country-leaning sister tavern Reggie's West, though hard rock cover bands still play there on occasion. Hopefully fans don't forget the memories of The Rosie's original run, including their metal nights!

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

Gates Of Winter & Roosevelt Hotel Updates, Plus New Videos!!

Before we get to our review of last night's Sewer Swampstravaganza, we have a new news post today, so what's on tap? A new video from a local metal band's out of town performance last year, new studio tracks from an upcoming album, and the latest word on a recently purchased and renamed concert venue, but first, here's some long awaited updates on a prominent local metal band's next studio work!

After an almost 6 month wait for a new public update from their camp, local progressive/death metal standouts Gates of Winter finally updated their Facebook page last week to update us on their current studio work, so what should you know? According to frontman Lee Maines, the final recording process for their upcoming EP "Perihelion" is "well underway", with guitarist Bryan Belleau recently visiting back home from British Columbia to record guitar parts for the disc, while Lee also confirmed that Bryan's fiancee Melinda Cobbett will be providing some level of backing vocals. Lee noted that despite the short length of "Perihelion" and what has been revealed of the songs, he thinks the album will be a pleasant surprise for fans following the slow progress, noting that many parts and the songs' overall feel have drastically changed and been improved, before closing with "Fair winds and following seas" (perhaps a lyric sample?)

We're now over 4 years into the recording and songwriting that began shortly after their 2009 hiatus ended, and though things have been incredibly slow (especially with Lee, Steve, and Bryan living in separate provinces at the moment), the work never stopped. Indications last year suggested that 2014 will be a big year for Gates of Winter, so hopefully there's no more dry spells or delays, as their talent and presence has been missed in both studio form and on stage! Stay tuned for updates when they happen!

Next up, here's the latest on the former Roosevelt Hotel! As you may now know, it's new name is Reggie's West (as it was bought by popular downtown country bar Reggie's Tavern), and appropriate signage is now up, but what else is new and different from this Korah Road venue? According to this SooToday article by Donna Hopper from Wednesday, Reggie's West quietly (re-)opened last week, and according to new bar manager Tyler Wilson, the bar has seen extensive kitchen renovations, a facelift in the main area, and new carpeting in the past month. The article indicates that Reggie's West will have "a similar entertainment format" to the original Reggie's, including live music on weekends like usual, as well as wing nights Mondays-Wednesdays, and Sunday evening karaoke, but they haven't closed the door on hosting out of town touring acts there. Tyler is quoted in the article that promoters can contact him or the venue regarding out of town show ideas for off days, and they can be contacted for booking inquiries at their phone number ([705] 253-1411, which is the same as before.)

I hope that Reggie's West does continue to host some out of town bands, and at least try to diversify their sound and band roster from the downtown Reggie's, so it's not just a carbon copy and can have it's own unique vibe & clientele. I know many metalheads may still be skeptical or worse about the purchase, but we'll have to wait and see what happens, and it should be noted that Reggie Daigle did a great job turning around the downtown bar and ridding it of it's "divey" elements, so hopefully the old Rosie can see similar results. Stay tuned in case we hear more!

We'll close this post with some new video finds, including a tip on an early This Is Your Band On Drugs video that we hadn't seen before! Uploaded by YouTube user David Saari in June of last year, this is among a number of videos that David has shot featuring buskers and outdoor music performers in Sudbury, Ontario, though I'm not sure why the guys (credited just as "Your Band On Drugs") were there for this clip. Presumably very early in Chase Wigmore & Nick Burns' run under this name, this is of the guys playing an original song (name unclear) with Chase on vocals & guitar and Nick on percussion, and while the acoustic outdoor setting is different from what we saw last week, Chase (complete with Shit Liver shirt) fully adding his own personality and intensity to the video! No word on the identity of the man behind Nick tapping his foot along with the music though. Check this clip out below, and thanks to Mike Boychuk for the heads up!



Finally for today, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith posted the remaining two finished tracks from his upcoming studio album "A Place of Our Own" onto his YouTube channel on Friday! Though the formal paid release has not came out yet, all 6 tracks can now be streamed on YouTube for free, with the new songs being the amusingly titled "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" and (as embedded below) the 12 minute long "To Kansas: The Ballad Of K4/K5", which I assume is a sequel to his song "The Ballad of K2/K3". I'm surprised that the track listing hasn't changed since his initial word for "A Place of Our Own", as he usually radically changes it to add, remove, and re-title the included songs, but who knows if he has anything extra. As usual, we'll hold formal thoughts until our full review of this album, but check out all 6 songs at the above links, here's "To Kansas: The Ballad Of K4/K5", and stay tuned for our thoughts on Mike's rare solo set at last night's Swampstravaganza!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our review of last night's Sewer Swampstravaganza next! Thanks everyone!

Mike Haggith & This Is Your Band On Drugs Updates, And Much More!!

Let's get some more news going on the site today, and be sure to check out our review of Sunday night's Fuck The Facts show in the post below this one! Today, we have more new media from a band at said show, new original material from an upcoming album, and more assorted recent news items, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start today with some more recent media from the new-ish jam/death metal duo named This Is Your Band On Drugs that we saw at the Fuck The Facts show at The Oddfellows Hall this past Sunday! While they don't have an online band page yet, they've actually had a YouTube channel since last July, with a 13 second video posted then featuring singer Nick Burns and guitarist Chase Wigmore playing an acoustic song named "Arthurs Everywhere", though it's very minimal and repetitive, and therefore, hard to comment on. Their other video is brand new though, and it's of their song "Get Fucked In The Sewage", which was actually the name of the second song we filmed at their set on Sunday. This is closer to the sound we heard at the show, and it's clearer but mostly retains the reckless jam spirit of their sound, which mixes death metal and Strange Coyotes-esque styles. If anything, Nick's vocals are more prominent and higher pitched, but check out the full song below, and stay tuned for more on This Is Your Band On Drugs!



Next up, Haggith drummer/Din frontman Mike Haggith has posted two more songs from his upcoming 48th solo album "A Place Of Our Own" onto his YouTube channel in the past week! One is the album's title track, while embedded below is the longer "Long Talk", and while we won't comment on the songs yet due to our likely full review coming in the summer, the themes are similar to his earlier preview tracks, so be sure to check them out if you're a follower of Mike's prolific solo career! Check out "Long Talk" below and more at the above links, and don't miss Mike in a rare solo set at the Sewer Swampstravaganza on Saturday!



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

• The other day, defunct regional death metal band For All That Is Lost posted a guitar track by Brook Moreau of their song "Blood Law" onto their Reverbnation page, following another similar posthumous posting of "Black Ritual" in December. This doesn't appear to indicate a band reunion (especially as drummer Kameron Nicholson recently moved out of town), but it's a solid isolated track that shows Brook's talent, so give it a look above!
• According to a personal Facebook post by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan, he and Bankshot alum Lucas Schmiedendorf (a.k.a. Sal Velinus) joined local hard rock band Late Shift at their LopLops Lounge concert on Saturday, though it's not entirely clear whether they were in a specific band or just performed solo alongside. Hopefully things went well!
• After a year of mostly sporadic activity, Blood Shed Productions cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm are planning to return with new material in the near future! They are definitely one of the more unique and experimental bands on the label, so hopefully things work out as they get back to work, and keep an eye out for updates! My source is their Facebook page in recent days.
• In news from the former Roosevelt Hotel on Korah Road, we now know that it's new name is Reggie's West, as per new signage outside of the bar. The vertical "Hotel" sign was also removed in recent renovations, though I'm not sure what work has been done to the interior. No word yet on if it's re-opened for business yet, but hopefully Reggie and crew find success with Reggie's West where the downtown location has in it's return to a full country theme!
• Also in terms of non-public word from Saturday, recently dormant hard rock band The Side FX (featuring Papa Fogals Chair alumni Derek Turner & Mike Bird) reunited to play Mike's stag & doe at The Moose Lodge that night! No word on who their new guitarist was yet, but aside from their brief advertisement for last month's Medi-Fest, they've made no public updates since last summer. Hopefully we hear more soon, but I have added them back to our active band links, so stay tuned! My source is frontman Rob Speers' personal Facebook page.
• In advance of their return to the stage on Saturday at the Sewer Swampstravaganza, "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage have quietly posted a new original song onto their Reverbnation page! Entitled "Came In Like A Storm", I assume it will be on one of their 2014 "albums" to be posted. A bluesy hard rocker with drummer Paul Becker on vocals, fans should take to this track, so give it a listen above, and maybe we'll hear it live this weekend!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow, along with weekend concert previews as well! Thanks everyone!

The End Of The Roosevelt Hotel, Plus New Project 421 Videos!!

Today's post has some new videos you guys might wanna see at the end, but the main topic relates to the confirmation of some rumours from recent weeks that we only now have proof on, and it's definitely bad news for local metalheads, so read on below to get caught up.

The Roosevelt Hotel as we currently know it will close tomorrow, as the popular Korah Road bar and concert venue has apparently been purchased by a new owner, and will soon be changing it's name as well. Though rumoured for a few weeks, the news was only just confirmed on The Rosie's Facebook page last night, where they also plugged yesterday's karaoke night prior to the changes. An official statement has not been made to elaborate further, but numerous online reports state that Reggie Daigle (owner of the popular downtown country bar Reggie's Place) is the new owner, and The Rosie will be reverted back to a country-leaning bar upon it's relaunch, though it's not clear whether that will be on Friday or if there will be a period of renovations first. If we get any firm announcements or clarifications, we'll have them here! If true, this will mark the second local bar/concert venue in under 5 months to have a name change and subsequent shift to a country theme after The Nicolet Tavern became the Rednecks Saloon in November.

Assuming the new focus of 306 Korah Road ends all metal and punk shows, it is safe to say that the Heavy Thursday series at The Rosie has ended as well just two months after it's inception. To that effect, promoter J.D. Pearce confirmed in a personal Facebook discussion that the Tribune show on April 17th and the Cross Dog show in July are now off from their originally intended forms, and while he apparently has a new plan for Cross Dog, the Tribune show will depend on a venue being secured in the next few weeks. Until a new venue is announced for either, I'll remove them from our concert listings, but stay tuned for official word on them (also, remember that the Babysitter show on April 3rd had already been cancelled last week.) J.D. was exploring the late notice possibility of hosting one final Heavy Thursday tonight as a send-off & thank you to The Rosie's staff and management for all they've done for these kinds of music in the past 3½ years,  but the venue opted for another karaoke night due to time constraints, leaving Griphook's headlining show on Saturday as the last hard rock concert at The Roosevelt Hotel.

No matter what your views were on The Rosie (location, certain incidents, the on-stage pole, etc.), this will be a huge blow to local metal and punk bands and concerts if the reports of an all-country bar go into effect. Beyond just the Thursday night series', The Rosie became a reliable home for metal and punk shows since the fall of 2010, and while I know Reggie's is a very successful bar with a working formula, I hope they don't completely lock out rock bands and continue to host a mixture of styles and bands once the new look and focus takes effect (though in all fairness, an official statement is hopefully forthcoming to fill in any gaps.) If this is the end though, I'll offer my thanks to Robin Istace and the rest of the staff at The Rosie for their hospitality and support throughout the last 3 years, and to Rich Moreland, Typhoid Meaghan, Stephane Vincent, J.D. Pearce, and Mitch Sirie for their work in promoting the 64 Thursday night metal & punk shows (and more) at The Rosie during that span!

We'll close today's post with some happier news courtesy of one of the last metal bands to play at The Rosie, local classic metal quintet Project 421! Like their Black Sabbath cover that we shared the other day, these come from last weekend's set at the Medifest fundraiser at The Grand Theatre, and were shared via their Facebook page yesterday. One was filmed by (and shared from the account of) attendee Joey Phuckel, and it's of Project 421 covering Kiss' "Cold Gin", which sounds really good and has a nice angle, but with one big problem: the video's sideways for the entire duration! Couldn't he have flipped it to the right angle before uploading? The other video is filmed by the same attendee who shot their Sabbath cover (I think), and it's a cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight"! Solid quality again, but the angle does dip on an angle for much of the early runtime. Check out the new Project 421 videos above and below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow morning, if all goes well! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Commencing Human Desperation & Griphook) And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It might not feel like the first day of spring, but let's keep things rolling at The Sault Metal Scene with most of this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews! Now, due to the amount, we'll be previewing Saturday-only shows (namely, Medifest and Tym Morrison's postponed Harp gig) tomorrow, along with any extremely short notice events, so look out for those then! We'll start these previews with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend, so here's what you need to know! (Updated on Friday at 1:48 AM)

The long rumoured Heavy North Entertainment-promoted ALL AGES show that has been teased for this month at The Oddfellows Hall goes down TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the event was only just confirmed yesterday. The concert will be headlined by Winnipeg deathcore quintet Commencing Human Desperation in their local debut, and fans of hardcore & death metal music should enjoy their very heavy and intense hybrid sound tomorrow night! Local openers include local thrashers Pillory, Blood Shed Productions death metal projects Rotopsy and Brutaly Fatal while, a band labelled as "Them" dropped out due to the show's short notice, and they'll be replaced by sets from fellow Blood Shed grind act Crucify The Whore and a dual set by Strange Coyotes bassist James Watterworth (credited as "Delusionair") and someone named "Spider Fingers" (possibly Chase Wigmore?) The concert will be opened by the local return of acoustic indie trio Like Father Like Son (featuring former local metal artists Jeremy Hannah and Nathan Bouliane), who have moved to Ottawa and worked on material there since their last local dates in 2012, and while they're definitely outliers on the bill, it'll be nice to see them back home!

This concert has an $8 cover charge, no age limits, and a 6:30 PM start time, so for more details, visit the official Facebook event page! The short notice is somewhat worrying for the attendance and potential success of this show, but Tyler St. Amour sounds very happy to bring C.H.D. to town for this one! Yes, I believe this is the show Crimson Crusade turned down a slot on due to their hiatus. Stay tuned in case there's a late lineup change (or if we find out who "Them" are), and here's Commencing Human Desperation live last year!



Also in late announcements, local hard rock cover quartet Griphook will return to The Roosevelt Hotel for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed these shows on Tuesday. After almost two months off earlier this year, these shows fall over the third out of four weekends that Griphook will be playing live in town, so it's definitely nice to see their new lineup staying busier as we enter the supposed spring! Just to get it out of the way now, I have heard a rumour about The Rosie getting new ownership, but unless there is an actual confirmation of that, we won't comment on it, as we're not TMZ. Griphook will be on both nights at The Rosie at 10:30 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Griphook's wide ranging and often heavy covers should go over well this weekend, so keep their next shows in mind, and for a preview, here's Griphook covering AC/DC last year!



Moving to previously announced shows, fellow local cover quartet Glitch will make their first appearance at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! A rare non-Rockstar Bar appearance for them, this will be just their second show at a different venue (following Toystock in December), and their first show anywhere since January, and it will be very interesting to see how things go at the former Madison's Pub tomorrow! Since the name and theme changes last year, The Harp has generally focused on acoustic and open mic performers (a'la the new Coch's Corner), but Glitch have made no statements implying this will be an unplugged show, so is this a first toe in the water for having electric bands there again? It remains to be seen! Remember, Glitch's concert has forced Tym Morrison's regular weekly gig at The Harp to be postponed to Saturday night, so we'll preview that tomorrow. There's no announced cover charge tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

I'm curious to hear how Glitch do tomorrow at The Harp, and if all goes well, hopefully things will open up more for full rock bands! In terms of heavier acts, I don't think a non-acoustic hard rock band has played there since Garden of Bedlam's celebration of their Kiss Battle win in December 2009. For a preview, here's Glitch (featuring Lion Ride, Sneaky Pete, and Tripod the Dog alumni) covering The Rolling Stones last fall!



Finally for today's previews, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E are scheduled to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This is according to Kewadin's entertainment page, which is generally a great source, but I will add the disclaimer that 415E have not publically promoted these shows at all, nor has their Facebook page been updated in two months. If I hear anything that contradicts what Kewadin Casino's website says, I'll update this, but we'll treat them as on. This weekend's shows are 415E's first scheduled dates in St. Ignace in eight months, and just their second weekend of live dates since last summer, so if you've missed Chris, Dave, and company, keep their return in mind for this weekend! Admission should be free, there is a 21+ age limit in effect, and 9:00 PM start times are likely. For more details, visit the above links! Hopefully 415E are playing this weekend as advertised, as they're a very talented band with a lot of promise, so go check them out, and for a preview, here's the guys playing their self-titled song!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Thanks everyone!