LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), Half A Man & AlterWhite News, And More!!

I wasn't planning to rush a news post tonight, but with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, I had to scrape one together, so along with that, we have some Half A Man-related media, a new song from a local metal band, and more assorted stories. Also check out our Rotaryfest main stage/Tym Morrison concert previews in the post below this one, but for now, here's our latest news!

Kinross hard rock quintet Banned are apparently playing another area concert TONIGHT in a place we've never covered concerts in before! Continuing with their widely scattered shows at venues all over the Eastern U.P. (most of which aren't commonly touched on here), they'll be hitting Todd's Tavern in Moran, Michigan (20 minutes northwest of St. Ignace, an hour southwest of the Soo) tonight for their first ever stop at this venue! Todd's Tavern is new to us entirely (and not only because of our coverage expansion) as it was only launched in May, after current owner Todd St. Andrew purchased the former Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill, and now they're in operation & hosting live music! Whether Todd's Tavern will become a frequent destination for local hard rock/metal bands is to be determined, but this could just be among the wide array of venues that Banned have been playing this year in the region. Either way, they'll have lots of covers and originals in store for fans and revelers in Moran, and hopefully some of you guys can head out there for this show! I don't believe they're playing there on on Saturday, but tonight's show should have a 21+ age limit and a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a cover charge has not been announced. Check the above links for more details!

And yes, I apologize for the short notice on this show, but Banned only announced it on their Facebook page earlier today. This should be a solid concert from this entertaining and hard working local band, so keep their Moran/Todd's Tavern debut in mind tonight! For a preview, here's Banned covering Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" in the Soo in January!



Next up, here's some assorted updates relating to Brimley metal trio Half A Man! Recent news has been slow, but some new Facebook-only videos have been posted this month to keep fans up to speed, including this one featuring words from frontman Erik Rintamaki and bassist Gary Croad mentioning some upcoming post-LemmaFest recording plans (and revealing some unexpected "temporary" drummers.) Nice enough video, and it's good to see some light humour in it! The other video is of the audio of their original song "Life Goes On" from LemmaFest, with assorted video footage from live concerts & practices (even from older lineups), so click here to give that a look! The footage is cool, though I'd have tried syncing up earlier videos of "Life Goes On" with it to make it look like it was all filmed together. Stay tuned for more Half A Man news as it comes in via the above links, and on a final related note, do you guys remember Set To Random, the mid-late 2000s acoustic rock trio featuring Erik on bass and Gary on drums? Well, as it turns out, they have one plugged in hard rock song named "Safe Mode" that sounds pretty good! The rest of their old material is on the softer acoustic side of things, but this has a slow deliberation that works in it's favour, and effective melodic singing from Jason Klein, so click here to hear it and more from Set To Random!

Also in the realm of newly posted media, Sault Ontario metal project AlterWhite posted a new song onto their YouTube channel yesterday! Entitled "1950", it sounds pretty good compared to their earlier originals, with a catchy heavy riff and nice drumming, but the vocals still sound like a forced attempt to sound like James Hetfield, and the song itself is slightly repetitive. I like where they Mike & Kevin are heading though, so check out AlterWhite's new song below!



And finally for tonight, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories have quietly confirmed that only drummer Mike Rynberg is left in their lineup, meaning that Sean Roush, Ryan Nicklas, and Mikaela White have all departed. Not surprising given some of their recent news, but best of luck to all of them in the future, and if you're interested in trying out for Chained Memories, message the band/Mike at this location!
• According to Frightlight's Facebook page last month, local film production company 62nd Chamber Productions (ran by ex-BeeFMouTH member Boyd Rendell) will be on hand at WEDNESDAY'S Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub to film their set for upcoming media uses, and the guys wanna see some fans in Halloween costumes for the occasion! Keep that in mind for the concert, it'll be a cool sight ig people follow through!
  
• In recent Twitter postings, Redundant frontman Justin Langlois noted that his local punk band would be playing at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 2nd, which is a Thursday. Will that be the 48th Rosie metal night, or just a conveniently timed separate show? If it's indeed in the series, it'll be Redundant's first official Rosie metal night in almost 9 months, but I'll keep you guys posted with updates if I hear of them!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow before I head to the Second Stage for Garden of Bedlam! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest Second Stage News, Concert Updates, And Much More!!

Let's keep the recent business at the SMS going strong with another packed news post, so here's what's on tap! Tonight, we have news on how YOU can apply to perform at a major upcoming festival, updates on a pair of upcoming metal concerts, upcoming album hints from a local band, and more stories, so read on below for this latest news, and check out this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post below this one!

Applications for bands for this year's Tenaris Second Stage at Rotaryfest are now open! The annual second stage for local bands with original material and select out of town acts outside of The Grand Theater on Queen Street East is back once again, and as usual, they're seeking applications for bands to perform at Sault Ontario's annual summer festival over the July 19th weekend. With Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's recent public campaign for a greater metal presence at Rotaryfest, there are hopes for either more metal bands or a third day for heavier acts this year, so the odds may be better than ever to see more than one heavy act among this year's Second Stage lineups! As you may remember, the last metal act to rock the Second Stage was 2010 headliners Garden of Bedlam, and with no heavy bands last year, we're definitely overdue. So, what do you need to know to formally apply for consideration for this year's Second Stage lineups? Click here to apply online, where you must include your name & e-mail address, your band's name & online pages, along with a full band photo & a brief biography & history. Once past there, you can submit your band's original material, where at least three good quality original songs must be submitted.

You can also submit Second Stage applications physically with press clippings and discs of your audio/video material to the mail address at this location, but note that you must include the listed materials there, and regardless of if you're selected, the materials you send to the selection committee can't be sent back. You have until May 31st to submit your applications for the Second Stage, and remember, you must send an application in to be considered to play there. With the recent campaigns for an increased metal element this year, there's even more optimism in the local scene to widen the general playing field beyond indie rock at the Second Stage, but no matter your genre, send in applications for your band with original material A.S.A.P. at the above links! I'm still of the opinion that original bands of any genre shouldn't be sequestered away from the main stage at Clergue Park, but again, I understand that all cover bands there is more familiar for a general audience. Still, let's try and make this the best and most diverse Second Stage lineup yet, so send in your applications today, and maybe you'll be rocking the Queen Street outdoor stage in July before you know it!

Next up, here's some more recent concert updates! First, this Friday's free all ages metal show at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion has had it's fifth band added to replace As It Stands, and they are local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger! This will be their first concert in almost three months, their first since their recent recording sessions wrapped up, and it should be their first outdoor gig as well, so they'll add to this concert nicely! They'll be the opening band, and for reference sake, previously scheduled openers For All That Is Lost have been shifted to the middle of the band lineup. Also of note: the start time is now given as 5:00 PM on Friday, and participants at the drag queen/king event "Drag It Out" at Sault College will be in attendance later that evening, so that'll add a unique touch to this concert! For all this and more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for our preview of this show! The other news that I had for a recent Sault Ontario concert was that next Thursday's Die Mannequin-headlined punk concert at The Roosevelt Hotel (featuring Frightlight & Pools of Booze) now has tickets on sale for $10 at Music Depot, Northland Music, and The Rosie itself, alongside some local band members and The Rad Zone. Get your tickets while you can, and stay tuned for more updates!

Also, here's an update concerning the next albums from the original crash band Sykotyk Rampage! As you may remember, this unique local alternative hard rock quartet are one of the most prolific bands in the area, and their back catalog currently includes no less than 28 albums, 5 of which were put on sale or posted within a 2 month span last year. Since then, the band has yet to release their (chronologically) 25th album "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts of Stupidity", but since then, they've also announced a new album named "Jonathan, Your Music Sucks" in January, along with posting a partial Proclaimers cover named "Roll A Doobie" on Reverbnation a few months back. Well, it looks like there's more where that came from, as guitarist Dirk Becker announced via this photo on his personal Facebook page in March that their 33rd album will be entitled "Smells Real Good On A Bad Night"! This appears to be the album cover, and the album is slated to feature 12 songs. More details on it haven't been announced, but if you count all of their released albums, the second "Genius Mushrooms" CD, and the two recently announced ones, that only adds up to 31 albums, meaning that to get to 33, there's likely another two in the pipeline!

Time will tell how Sykotyk Rampage's next albums come along, but if we get 5 new albums again this year, I sure won't complain! Note that the band has changed album names and plans in the past though (such as the planned 2007 release "Urges For Green"), but with their prolific nature, there's bound to be a lot more material to come, so stay tuned for more Sykotyk Rampage updates as they come in!

And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Brimley metal quartet Half A Man are looking for people to film their set on stage at LemmaFest on June 23rd, so if you're interested in helping record their first live concert footage in over a year, give them a shout at their Facebook page!
• It looks like Humane Society Battle of the Bands winners Late & Loud are taking another hiatus, and though specifics weren't announced, it's likely for similar reasons that led to their summer break last year. Their Facebook page promises a return in July though, so this break won't be as long, and get ready for their summer comeback!
• I apologize for being badly late on this, but in March, I heard that Sudbury hard rock band Set were looking to play here in the future, and were looking for possible bookings. Thanks to frontman Jamie Rowlings for letting us know on the SMS' Facebook page! Solid catchy hard rock sound, so if you wanna help book them in Sault Ontario this year, give them a shout at the above links!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Palms To The Sky), Plus Additions & Removals To Our Band Links

Happy Saturday, metalheads! We have another big post today, including three three bands removed from our band listings and three brand new additions, but kicking things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Here's what you need to know!

Two weeks ago, I first alerted you guys to a potential upcoming hardcore concert featuring Saskatoon metalcore band Palms To The Sky and Ottawa breakcore rockers The Breathing Apparatus. They needed a booking then for this show, part of their "WinTour Sucks" tour, and now they have it! On December 17th (one week from Friday), both of these talented hardcore bands will make their way to Foggy Notions for this hard hitting concert! A 10:00 PM start time is listed on the Facebook event page, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend this show. It's also interesting to note that Mike Gaetano, a former concert booker from The Other Place (now GLOW) is putting this show on! Nice to see him booking again, I remember him bringing some great bands to town a few years back! It's great to see these bands get a finalized concert in town, their hardcore sound will be sure to attract many fans to Foggy's on the 17th! Check out both bands and more concert details at the above links, and thanks to Mike for alerting me to this confirmed concert! Also note that on the event page, Mike alludes to a Garden of Bedlam concert at Foggy's on December 18th. I won't report this as confirmed until either the band or the venue do, but let me just say that there is something to that statement. I'll keep you posted!

Now, we'll discuss three newly found local bands! All are from Sault Michigan, two are older, one is new, and the new one links with an older one! Here's what you should know!

Firstly, it's the new solo project from Sault Michigan metal guitarist Nathan Switzer! You may recognize him from his work in the local metal bands Analog Deficiency, Traces, and Deprecor (more on them in a second), along with the fact that he's the son of Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer. Well, with updates on his bands slowing in recent months, it's nice to know he's still active in the local scene, thanks to this very new project of his! Nathan's playing instrumental progressive metal in his solo work, and is apparently hoping to release a solo album entitled "Life" in the future. He's currently writing original material towards that goal, with current song titles including "The Beginning", "First Breath", and "The End". Might this be a concept album detailing the progression of a person's life? Time will tell! We haven't heard much on the project since mid-November, but Nathan has uploaded two solo originals onto his official SoundCloud page! I have to say, I'm impressed so far! He's got a firm grasp of his instruments, he's playing at a very proficient level, and the production is surprisingly good! "The End" is especially heavy and technical, while "The Beginning" shows a nice melody and it's own heaviness! I can't wait to hear more, Nathan's solo work is very promising! Check out the above links for more!

While we're on the subject of Nathan Switzer, I came across another old band of his on MySpace! Entitled Deprecor, they only appeared to be active in February 2008, but played a style of industrial death metal. Nathan covered guitars while "T.J." played bass and drums. I'm not entirely sure who T.J. is, so if you can fill me in, e-mail me! Apparently, Deprecor formed out of boredom, and the band hoped to write heavy and melodic metal from varying influences. Honestly, their profile is pretty sparse (can't say if it's their fault or the new MySpace layout's), but one thing makes it worth posting on the SMS: A song! Entitled "Break", you can stream it on their MySpace page, and it has promise itself! It's slightly repetitive, but the riffing's solid and if expanded on, it could be a great base for a metal song! Quality's good too, Nathan has a good ear for home recording quality! Check the above links for more on Deprecor, who are now in our SMS band links as well!

The final new band that we have to share today is BlisteringBane, a solo death metal project out of nearby Kincheloe, Michigan! Active since August, the sole member of BlisteringBane is local musician Jordon Jones, who supplies all instruments on his original material. He's influenced by everyone from Slipknot to The Smashing Pumpkins, and has 10 original songs uploaded on this project's MySpace page! The recording quality isn't sparkling, but Jordon has talent! He has some good riffing talent, and the addition of keyboards on some songs is interesting, but a lot of the BlisteringBane songs sound very similar, and have a few too many sections where it feels very empty except for the guitar playing. His singing, what little of it we get, needs work too, though I think on songs like "Look Into My Eyes", he does succeed at a more experimental sound! I think Jordon does have promise, and it'd be interesting to hear these songs with better production and a fuller more fleshed out sound! Check out BlisteringBane at the above links!

And finally for today, I have deleted a handful of bands from our band links. Do you remember late last month when I mentioned that MySpace had converted all profiles on the site to the new layout, regardless of existing themes or preference for the old style? Well, for the most part, this didn't affect band specific materials beyond custom themes, but some bands have seen their profile hit harder than others. In the past, I've only added bands to our links that had were currently active, had audio/video material, sufficient bio information, and/or professional-looking page design elements. That being said, after looking at older MySpace pages of defunct local bands recently, I've found a few defunct/inactive band profiles that are just too bare and lacking compared to the vast majority of other bands we list on the SMS. This is partly because of their old profiles being crippled by the new MySpace layout, but their sound descriptions and lack of qualitative information were major too. With that said, I have removed these three defunct local bands from our listings: the local hardcore bands 9MM of Hate and Bloodshed At Dawn, and local metal trio Eyes Set Fire. No offense is meant to the members or fans of these three bands, there just isn't enough information or material there for them to be worth keeping on the SMS. There might be more coming, so keep an eye out!

That's all for tonight, but I will have more news and notes very soon, and yes, our next CD review will be over the coming week at some point! Stay tuned for more!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Black Dog & Subsistance), A Possible New Show, And New Videos!!

(EDIT: 3:56 PM) The Sault Metal Scene sends the deepest condolences possible to the family, friends, and bandmates of Ronnie James Dio, who died this morning at the age of 67. He had been battling stomach cancer since last year. If it's working when you click the link, a statement from his wife Wendy has been posted confirming the news on his official website. Dio was a multi-platinum selling heavy metal singer whose prolific career included stints in Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf, Dio, and most recently, Heaven and Hell. I and thousands of others had the privilege of seeing Ronnie James Dio live at the now-Essar Center in March of 2007 when Heaven and Hell played here live on their Canadian tour with Megadeth and Down. It was hands down the best concert I've ever seen at the arena, and I'm certainly not alone in saying that. He's always been one of my favourite metal frontmen, and he kept the horns flying til the end. R.I.P. Dio, your incredible body of work lives on!

It's Sunday, and you know what that means...actually, I didn't have anything special planned. But I do have a packed new post for today with more assorted news and updates! Two new videos from a pair of local metal bands, a possible new show that needs a venue, and kicking things off, two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! (Also, check out my re-review of Garden of Bedlam's debut E.P. immediately below this post!)

Attention Led Zeppelin fans! Black Dog, the Toronto-based Led Zeppelin tribute act last seen here in April 2009, will be back in town on June 26th! Unlike last year's two weekend dates at Coch's Corner, Black Dog will rock The Canadian Nightclub this time, and it will only be one concert, on June 26th. Their MySpace page says they're playing at "The Knights Inn", which is the hotel that The Canadian is downstairs from, so I'm pretty safe in assuming they mean The Canadian. A start time of 10:00 PM is listed, and knowing concerts there, I'd expect at least a nominal cover charge. Make sure you're 19 too, this is a bar. The Canadian have yet to announce this show, but it appears to be a go! Black Dog even launched their own Facebook event page for it, click here to confirm your attendance and get more info! I heard they did a good job at their shows last April at Coch's Corner, but if you still want to hear how Black Dog sound, there are audio and video samples at their MySpace page, which aren't bad! They've been paying tribute to Led Zeppelin for years, and promise an authentic Zeppelin experience, so hopefully you guys can make it out! If I hear more, I'll let you guys know!

The other new show I have today is courtesy of Montreal old school hardcore band Subsistance, who will be at Foggy Notions (or "Foggy's Bar", as they put it) on July 21st! This hasn't been officially announced by Foggy's, but Subsistance list an 8:00 PM start time for this show. I'd expect a cover charge of $2-$3, and it will almost certainly be 19+. This seems like the type of show that might have extra bands tacked on later, so if I hear something in that regard, you'll hear it here! Their sound is about on the border of what counts as "metal" on the SMS, with a heavy punk influence, but they're just metal enough for coverage here! They have some fast heavy songs that recall old school hardcore pretty nicely, and they list Megadeth and Motorhead as influences! Good stuff, I imagine this show will go over well, check out some of their original material at their official MySpace page! I'm comfortable confirming this show, but if I hear changes or updates, you'll be sure to hear about them here!

Next up, I have came across another band that looks to play here in the near future! And when I say "near future", I mean that. Kitchener progressive hardcore band Set Anchors have a "TBA" date announced for May 27th for Sault Ontario. Sure it's short notice, but maybe someone out there could help? E-mail the band at their official MySpace page if you'd like to book them somewhere on May 27th! I like their sound, they're heavy and have some good instrumentation, while being hardcore enough for mosh-loving hardcore fans! I guess I should note that the date they listed is during a tour with another Kitchener band named Kingdoms, who you'll recognize as being the advertised headliners for that Out Of The Mouth Of Babes show they tentatively listed for May 28th at Foggy Notions. Remember, Kingdoms were booked in Etobicoke on that same day, so might OOTMOB have meant for the show to have been on May 27th? Are/were Kingdoms and Set Anchors set for a show here on the 27th? I'm not gonna say, there's not enough evidence to point to a definite concert, but I'm just throwing that out there. Still, contact Set Anchors and see if we can get them here!

Capping today's post are two new local metal videos! And first, we have the first full music video from local hard rockers Stillbroke! It's for the song "No Reason" off of their debut E.P. "Never Enough" from November of last year! It mostly features the band in and around an abandoned and heavily damaged house, throwing things, exploring the surroundings, and of course, playing the song! Though he didn't play on the E.P., new Stillbroke guitarist Chris Villeneuve gets lots of time on camera, including playing half of the guitar solo, and it looks like he has a firm grasp of it! I wonder how he sounds live? The video's actually a bit more than I was expecting, I figured it'd just be a performance clip, so kudos for Stillbroke for going the extra mile! The video was filmed by Paul Grimard from Extreme Airbrushing (check out some of his amazing artwork at that link), who was also responsible for the YouTube videos of Helix's 2008 concert at The Canadian Nightclub (click here to visit his YouTube channel!) Check out Stillbroke's video right here!



The second new video is one of three new demo clips from new local metal band WinkStinger! They've sure been loading up on YouTube videos, haven't they? These three are also on YouTube user joeyvelcro's channel, and let's go through what's now posted! The first video is for the song "Fuck The Rest", which is nice, fast, and heavy, very moshable! I can picture this getting lots of people to the front of the stage! Second is "In Other Words", which is a bit slower, but honestly, catchier! I'm detecting a Pantera-ish influence in it, and I completely welcome that! The third video, which is the longest, and the one I'm embedding here, is "The Taker" which has more of a punk rawness than the first two, but still has lots of hardcore rage and heaviness! With some polish and live experience, these guys could be something very special, here's hoping they keep it up! Check out "The Taker" below, and the rest of the new clips by clicking the above links!



That's all for today, but the fun's not over yet for this busy stretch on the SMS! Tuesday, we have a new poll coming up, my newest profiles of out of town bands with local members will be up by next Monday, my review of "Castle Stories" will be somewhere in that stretch, and as always, news and updates littered throughout! Lots of excitement around here in the next week, hope you come back real soon to see what's in store!