A New Northwest Music Video, Border City Rock Talk, And More!!

Before we dive into fallout from last night's big concert, let's clear out some more backlogged news stories in today's post, including new material from a rising young metal guitarist, some very belated details on a local rock journalist's return to interviewing, and leading off, a new song from an upcoming album! Here's what you should know!

The second single from local indie/punk quintet The Northwest's upcoming third EP "All In" can now be heard on major streaming services and within their new music video! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Thursday, the video (directed by Andrew Sowka) features hands holding Polaroid photographs framed over the widescreen view of the picture-in-hand, and the song's lyrics progressively appear on the bottom of the Polaroid. If that's not your speed, the lyrics are also in the video description. Interesting approach and it's well made for what The Northwest were going for! They got a second interview with Niagara Falls music website From The Strait yesterday, where writer Kris Goetz asked an unidentified band member about this song's inspiration, their songwriting process, who they'd like to tour with, getting played on Hockey Night In Canada, and what helps The Northwest stand out as a band.

While the repeat coverage from an out-of-town site rather than a local one may seem a little odd, remember that The Northwest are getting more and more eyeballs on them thanks to the Hockey Night In Canada appearances and their own acknowledged talents & experience, and the interview gives us some good insight into what they're aiming for nowadays! I'll hold comment on "Shorelines" for now, pending our eventual review of "All In", but give The Northwest's new music video a watch below!

Next up, I wanted to give a long overdue spotlight to a local journalist and interviewer who we had talked about pre-pandemic, namely Ernest "Che" Skinner, who wrote the Rock Talk column for SaultOnline in the late 2010s before moving over to Wawa-News.com in February 2019. Well, he left that site as well and has since went independent, via last summer's launch of Border City Rock Talk, which specializes primarily in coverage of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and his own classic-leaning rock music reviews, interviews, and opinion pieces. For the most part, his rock articles on Border City Rock Talk so far have not been hyper-focused on local bands or concerts, but remember that the pandemic has been a steady concern. Still, Ernest has gotten some very big gets for both print and video interviews that you can read on their website and their YouTube channel! For example, who all has Che interviewed for YouTube in the past year?

Among others, you can check out interviews with Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, Triumph's Rik Emmet, Spinal Tap and The Simpsons' Harry Shearer, Great White's Jack Russell, and Helix's Brian Vollmer, so clearly Ernest is doing the right things to attract some big names! I will embed one here, as it crosses both the hard rock and local concert line, namely Ernest's 15 minute interview with Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd from last August, which was obviously in advance of Buckcherry's headlining date at Soo Blaster in October. Apologies for this being so late, I didn't know Ernest had resumed his rock interviews and writing until very recently. The interview has Ernest asking Josh about their new album "Hellbound", Josh's fandom of Minor Threat, how the tour was going at that point, what to expect from Buckcherry's setlist, what critics think, the struggle with alcoholism, Josh's work as a phlebotomist, ...

...and how the pandemic personally affected him. While there are a few hesistant points with Ernest's questions, this was a casual and well handled interview that goes along well with what he's been doing for so long now, and at least the Buckcherry show went on as planned last fall! Hopefully we'll see more from Border City Rock Talk that crosses over with local concerts & musicians as bookings tick up this year, but give his Josh Todd interview a watch below, read and view much more above, and Border City Rock Talk is finally linked on the SMS!

Finally, I wanted to give another spotlight to local metal guitarist Shane Desjardins, who has recently resumed working on original material under his project name Red Ruins Me! We've mentioned him on the SMS in 2019 and in 2020, and while I don't believe Red Ruins Me has a social media presence beyond their YouTube channel, Shane did post a "full album" there last month named "Resurrect", followed by a pair of instrumental deathcore tracks & two live videos. One is a compilation of guitar riffs, while the other sees Shane & a friend covering Killswitch Engage's "Rose of Sharyn" (albeit with the original song very loud). I don't know if Red Ruins Me will ever expand beyond free YouTube postings, but Shane is a talented songwriter with a good ear for brutal riffs that honestly remind me of something you'd hear in an action video game soundtrack at times! Give his music a listen above & below, and look for a surprise Rolling Stones cover!

That's all for today, but if all goes well, we will start looking at B.L.S. concert fallout tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

COVID-19 Pandemic Updates For The E.U.P., Plus More News & Notes!!

To end a quieter but eventful month, here's a new news post that mostly takes us to the Sault Michigan area for recent news, positive and negative alike. Here's what you should know!

Hopes of more indoor concerts taking place in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula in the near term have taken a hit, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed executive orders that will limit indoor gatherings to 10 or fewer people in the state as of today, including in the U.P. and Northern Michigan regions. As well, nightclubs and bars in the state are now restricted from indoor service if they earn 70% or more of their income from alcohol sales. Read more on the executive orders at this link or your preferred state news services. Obviously, this is a step backwards, but if you've been following local or Detroit news as of late, you will know that COVID-19 cases are rising in Michigan, so this is to try and slow the spread of the virus once again. Noting that this is the SMS, I won't comment further on the non-musical aspects of the pandemic, other than to remind everyone to stay safe, wear your face masks, and use common sense out there.

Given how the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the local concert calendar, this news won't affect too much in the way of announced hard rock concerts, but we can confirm that the planned Spun-headlined concerts at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino next weekend have been cancelled, as per their their Facebook event page. Publically, a reason wasn't given for the cancellations, but I do know that they were called off before Governor Whitmer's announcement, as they had announced on Sunday that they would be playing an outdoor benefit gig in northern Wisconsin next weekend. Also, note that the Marquette hard rock quartet weren't prior Kewadin regulars, but hopefully Spun come back when the time is right! As of this writing, Kewadin's entertainment page still says they will "tentatively" resume their live concert schedule next month.

Lastly, what does this mean for Tarnished's planned Rock The Block sequel in the Soo next month? A 10 person limit for social gatherings would theoretically wipe out any indoor crowd, but assuming they were planning to host it at Crooked Music again, would they try and chance it, given that stores are not affected by the executive order? Tarnished have not posted on their Facebook page since before their EP release, but if they confirm a cancellation, postponement, or relocation of the event, we'll let you know. Stay tuned for more relevant updates on the COVID-19 pandemic!

Next up, let's stay in the E.U.P. for the latest from St. Ignace progressive metal band Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page! On July 2nd, singer Brandon West was featured in this short video plugging an upcoming interview that he and guitarist Ted Olson would be doing an interview with an Instagram page named Everythingcore. Maybe I am missing something totally obvious, but I have yet to find the posted interview, so either this page isn't the one Brandon meant, or it was yanked after it's live airing. I'll let you know if it surfaces! Five days later, the band shared this 10 minute video of them working in studio on their forthcoming full-length album, though the visuals aren't great, and not because of the vertical camera angle. It almost feels like the video is constantly buffering, and it has a tendency to pause on itself, but the music you hear sounds promising. However, embedded below is the first formal teaser clip from the sessions!

Uploaded to Brandon's YouTube channel, this is set to a parody clip of Brandon as a western movie gunslinger (randomly in what looks like a home under construction), this has a 15 second instrumental segment from their new song "Dead Teeth", which should whet fans' appetites until the full CD is on sale! Give it a watch/listen below, and stay tuned for more updates from Heavy Lies The Crown in the near future!



Finally for today, here are three assorted shorter Sault Ontario news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by business or artist name:

• Over six months after announcing the big move, the local Long & McQuade music store opened in it's new location at 647 MacDonald Avenue (the former Northshore Sports & Auto site) on Monday, July 20th. As well publicized online, Northland Music and the Thomas Walls School of Music merged operations last year in order to become the local branch of the national music/lesson store chain, and now they have a bigger (if more eastern) storefront. Be sure to check out Long & McQuade to see what they have to offer!
• Reggie's Place will reportedly be re-opening under new ownership in the near future, as per their Facebook page! The popular 458 Queen Street East nightclub abruptly closed in September of last year (just four months after re-opening following the 2017 fire upstairs), and while Reggie Daigle himself has sold this location, it will retain the Reggie's name, and it has a new logo designed by Destroilet's Matt Waples. There are a lot of unknowns yet, not just because of the pandemic, but will concerts remain country-centric (Soundcheck aside) when they can host them? Stay tuned!
• Local metal guitarist Shane Desjardins is again looking to jam with other musicians, as per his newest posting on his Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Tuesday. Readers there and here may recall his search for musicians to jam and write with in May 2019, and you can hear his old music recordings on his YouTube channel. He has clear talent, so message Shane at this link or above for details!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), Mike Haggith Updates, And Much More!!

I'm out of town this weekend, but I hope everyone had a great Easter and didn't get pranked too hard for April Fools Day either! Today's first post of the month is full of recent news items, including a few new videos, some apparent lineup changes in a rising new band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return(?) to The Water Tower Pub for a concert on Friday, April 13th! Our source is this April events calendar posted to the Sault Music Newsletter Facebook page this past Tuesday. After taking March off from publically announced shows, the Mourning Wood successors are visibly slated to end that break next weekend with this Water Tower Pub show, their first there in almost two months. Soundcheck's skilled and well-tested brand of cover action should deliver next weekend, and while The Water Tower Pub has never been a haven for heavier bands, hopefully they give it a good go once again! Note that Soundcheck have not publically acknowledged this show at press time, nor did they do so for February's gig there. This one night only engagement likely has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the above links!

Next up, here's the latest from former Din frontman Mike Haggith, whose solo project lives on in his current Thompson, Manitoba home base, so what's new from his camp? Well, on Friday, Mike shared this 15 second video on his Facebook page showing him in the songwriting process. I won't spoil it, especially given it's short length, but it's a cute watch! In grander news, Mike made his debut appearance as a live solo performer in Thompson on Saturday during the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church's coffee house series, marking his first solo concert appearance since the fourth Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall back in 2014! That's surprising on one hand, but remember that his bands have been his live focus throughout the mid-late 2010s. Mike played a 20 minute set on Saturday, which includes mostly new originals for his upcoming solo album, including the debuting "Dangerous Town", "The Nature of the Times",...

...his cover of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With", and "Bridges", with his own story on moving from Sault Ste. Marie to Thompson coming after his Stills cover. Mike recorded the set in audio format for his YouTube channel, so how does everything sound? Compared to 2014, this is a straight acoustic performance with no backing tracks, and while the audio's a little echoey, the performances seem sound, and will be familiar to fans of Mike's recent unplugged Facebook videos and old softer originals! Give this a listen below, and also follow Between The Ditches, his new pop rock band in Thompson!

Also today, here's the latest from local indie/hard rock band Vol. who appear to have quietly parted ways with both bassist Shane Storozuk and drummer Matthew Thibert. No statements have been made by the band, but Shane was removed from Vol.'s Facebook page's lineup at some point in recent months, and a Musicians Wanted Facebook group post by frontman Steve Edwards on Thursday notes that he is looking for a drummer to join an "alt-rock band" with "shows booked already." Unless Steve has another group, Vol. are likely the intended band. Reasons for Shane and Matt's departures have not been announced, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we see them in new bands at some point! Maybe the lineup changes are why they're out of this weekend's Shit Liver concert? As per their Facebook page, keyboardist Mikaela Murtonen is now listed as playing bass, indicating that she's taking on Shane's bass role in the newly retracted trio, but if you're interested in the apparently vacant drum position, message Steve at this link or above!

Finally for today, here's a new video from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, which contains the reveal of the winners of a merchandise contest that they held on their Facebook page late last month! Fans who liked and shared the contest post from March 23rd were entered to win their new vinyl LP "Hitting The Fan" and a t-shirt with the album art, and in this video, the guys draw names out of a hat to determine the winners. Congratulations to Sam & Michael for winning the contest! The video doesn't have any new reveals otherwise, but it's a fun way to announce the winners, so check it out below, and don't miss Shit Liver at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

A New A Dire Setback Video, Plus Lots Of Assorted News & Notes!!

Media is now up from Friday night's Vaultry/Coach Bombay concert at The Canadian, courtesy of our Facebook page, but with a lot of backlogged recent stories to touch on, I thought I'd slide in one more post before our review makes the site. Leading off today, we actually have a videos to share from one of the local bands that played on Friday night, as publically shared to that concert's Facebook event page in the lead-up to the show, so what should you know? The clip is of local alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback playing their song "Forget This Memory" at The Asylum in Sudbury last month, which was another personal upload from frontman Larry Babic's wife Karen's personal Facebook page, but it was later publically featured by the band on the event page. Much like their earlier "Everlasting Despair" video from this show and camera, the guys sound good and are framed nicely in the clip, but the blue/green lighting remains unfortunate. Give this "new" A Dire Setback video a look below, and see more from Friday night at the above links!



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

• Sudbury country musician Andrew Hyatt is replacing The James Barker Band as the opening act for the FREE Tea Party concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on July 16th (one week from today), as per the official Facebook event page last month. A reason for the change wasn't publically announced, but The James Barker Band are still affiliated with the Ontario Government's ONTour concert series, having been moved to the Kenora show on August 10th as that event's headliners (source here.) I'm not familiar with Andrew, but country fans will still have something to look out for on the 16th!
• This is admittedly a very late acknowledgement (apologies for letting this slip through the cracks), but local alt-hard rock quartet Bizotic played a pair of shows in Wawa over the June 9th weekend at the Lakeview Hotel, opening for former New American Pub headliners The OM Sound and a joint set featuring former Bizotic drummer Kevin Overton and local pianist extraordinaire Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda. Hearing about an SMS-fitting show in Wawa is rare, but hopefully everyone had a blast, and that more big shows head north in the near future!
• Gates of Winter are alive! Though they still haven't posted a Facebook page update since January of last year, bassist Steve Furgiuele noted in a post on his Instagram page on Thursday that he is currently writing for the local progressive death metal band as well as working with an Edmonton-area folk artist, and while he acknowledged that "the love (of music) faded" recently, it is back, and he has been exploring music theory and jazz bass as of late. Very encouraging to hear, and hopefully "Perihelion" will finally come out in the coming months! And yes, Gates of Winter are back in our active band links too!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have revealed in recent Facebook page postings that they're soon announcing plans to work with "a rad local company" called the "Wolves from the North" on some sort of project involving regional punk rock and "one of our favourite things". I have no idea what this is referencing, but stay tuned to band pages and the SMS when updates roll in, apparently this week! For what it's worth, a personal Facebook re-post of this cryptic status tagged Jack Spades band members as well as former Essar Center events manager Trevor Zachary.
• Veteran local guitarist Mark Bajona is looking for "good creative musicians" in the 30-60 years old range for a new symphonic rock band that he's working on, ideally including a keyboardist. Mark cited Deep Purple, Genesis, and Yes among his influences, but also wants the band and musicians in it to "sound new with your own identity." The band he has in mind would specialize in original material, and he doesn't want to play covers. If you're interested in more details, message Mark via his wife Brenda at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last month!
• It's official: Local death metal trio Pillory are working on their second CD! After studio Unsalted Audio teased in March that their sophomore effort was in pre-production, the band proper began quietly posting about recording sessions on their Facebook page back in May, with plans appearing to be for a nine song album. Bret Shuttleworth's drum tracking was completed as of Friday, and after editing, guitars and bass are coming next. It's great to see that Pillory are finally recording a new CD, and look for them (and Gates of Winter) in next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post!
• Local guitarist Shane Bromfield is looking for musicians to jam and songwrite with, perhaps towards a band, with Tool listed among his diverse influences, such as Mac DeMarco, Oasis, and Radiohead, while he also cited Dimebag Darrell as a guitar influence in a prior Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from 2014 (source here.) If you're interested in jamming with Shane, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from last month, and click here to see him cover Jeff Beck at a CASS Cafe event two years ago!
• Toronto-based drummer Terrance Pettitt is looking for work locally next month, November, and/or December, and can play anything from metal to hip hop. Local fans may recognize him as the drummer for Toronto hardcore band Liferuiner, who opened for Dead & Divine here in August 2012. If you'd be interested in working with Terrance in the given months, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last month, and give his solo drumming videos a look at this link!
• If you've noticed a listing on LopLops Lounge's website's concert calendar for a Treble Charger concert there on Thursday, July 27th, you're not crazy, as I saw it also. However, for a show of the scope teased there (full band, upcoming tour and CD, $25 tickets), it is very odd that there hasn't been any extra public advertising for it yet, unless the lack of promotion is by design. As a result, I'm waiting for further public acknowledgement before covering it here, so stay tuned when/if that comes in!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Vaultry concert review next on the SMS! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

With Super Bowl Sunday behind us, let's get back into the swing of things with some new local metal news and updates in the form of some new videos! Today, we have some cool press and new video footage from a local band's recent out of town show, new material from a formerly local metal act, some new jam footage related to a local band, and a cool new cover song, so let's get things rolling!

I'm having trouble trying to order these videos by content, so let's go in alphabetical order instead, starting with the newest video footage of Frightlight! The Toronto horror/music web series Tomb TV & their host Tomb Dragomir were on hand for The Misfits' headlining concert at The Phoenix Theater in Toronto on October 26th, which notably featured Frightlight (and debuting drummer Chris FreaknStein) as an opening band, and footage from said concert made it into their newest episode on Friday! At 2:06 into the video below, about a minute of footage cut from assorted Frightlight live videos and some horror movie segments is set to their song "Fright Night" from their "It's Alive" EP, and it includes new shots from their Toronto performance! Not a long amount though, with much of the included clips being taken from local concert videos (including one I shot, but I'm not complaining!) The audio's not completely synched with the video footage either, but hey, small press is better than none, and it's cool to see Frightlight making new fans in Southern Ontario! Check out Frightlight's appearance on Tomb T.V. below, as well as footage from The Misfits' and Juicehead's sets that night, and assorted other clips, cartoons, and segments!



Also for new videos is a pair of new audio recordings posted by Brimley metal quartet Half A Man onto their YouTube channel last week! We've already covered both songs on the SMS from their earlier postings on other pages (both of which featured their Erik Rintamaki-fronted lineup), but they're new to YouTube, so it makes sense to mention them again! One is their original song "Die In Disgrace", while the other is a cover of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf", and that's posted below to check out as it has more to look at (thanks to an included sideshow of 3/4ths of their current lineup.) Both are very heavy, and though I appreciate how they adapted "Sweet Leaf" to their grittier sound, I probably prefer "Die In Disgrace" for it's groove and intensity, but check both out at the above links! Give their "Sweet Leaf" video a look below though, and stay tuned for more Half A Man news as it comes in!



Thirdly today, here's the first video footage in 6 months from the formerly local extreme metal band Sue Inside! As you may remember, they were based out of Sault Ontario in the late 2000s, and are surprisingly the only surviving band to have competed in either the Skid Row or YMCA Battles of the Bands from 2008 & 2009. Since their mid-2009 relocation to Oil Springs, band material has occasionally popped up online, and yesterday, frontman Shane Lipsit-Fraser uploaded two new solo performance videos under the Sue Inside name to his YouTube channel! Like much of their recent material, these are acoustic originals, though both are instrumentals, and they're of songs named "Let Us Out" and "Falling". Both are well performed, and I like the more varied guitar work on "Let Us Out", but it'd be cool to see some new plugged-in stuff like in the local days from Sue Inside. Still, it's awesome to see Shane and Sue Inside still making new music, and hopefully there's more to come! Check out "Let Us Out" below and more at the above links!



And finally, here's some new video footage of local extreme metal band Winkstinger! This video comes courtesy of drummer Jonas Gasperas, who posted this onto his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's an 8:30 long video of "new garbage"! More specifically, it's of Winkstinger members jamming two newer original songs (including Jonas on his old Soldiers of Misfortune kit), although the camera is only pointed at him, and it's partially behind a wall for some reason. Now, if you were hoping this would give clues as to who's replacing Alan Wells on vocals for the band, this video won't help, as the songs are instrumentals at the moment, but they're promising and very heavy! I just wish the camera was set-up better, as almost a third of the video is blocked off. Check out Winkstinger's new jam session footage below, go see them next Thursday at the 42nd Roosevelt Hotel metal night, and stay tuned for possible word on their new singer!



That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes later this week, along with this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Shift on Friday! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Paricide

As scheduled, here's our next monthly feature post, and it's this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! In this series where we look at bands from elsewhere that feature one or more local hard rock/metal musicians, we return to Southern Ontario to focus on a band from a few years back featuring a future local talent, and maybe you guys will dig this band! Just up front though, I'll remind you that this band is not the same as Paraside, the 2007-2008 local hardcore band featuring the Hagerman brothers from Changing Waves. Similar pronunciation, but completely different band. With that out of the way, here's what you need to now in this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! (Updated on November 26th, 2014)
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Paricide (Petrolia/Brantford, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Casey McLean (vocals/guitar)
Shane Lipsit-Fraser (vocals/bass/keyboard)
Adam Veen (drums)
Rob LaPier (vocals)
Taylor Davis (?????)

Official website: http://angelfire.com/indie/paricide
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/paricidictv

Local Info: The only former Sault Ste. Marie resident in Paricide (to my knowledge) was bassist Shane Fraser, who's probably best known locally as frontman of the experimental metal band Sue Inside! After moving to Sault Ontario in the mid-2000s, he formed Sue Inside in 2007 with drummer Jeff Vogel, and they left their mark in the local scene with unique two-man metal sets through mid-2009, notably at the Skid Row & YMCA Battles of the Bands. Shane moved to Oil Springs (45 minutes southeast of Sarnia) in the summer of 2009, taking Sue Inside with him, where they continued to sporadically play live and post new material until the spring of 2012. Now residing in Thunder Bay, Shane most recently played bass in the rock band Ostrich (now Eleven Seventeen.)

Band Bio: Paricide formed in Petrolia (a half hour east of Sarnia) in or around early 2003. Their original lineup, including singer Rob LaPier, played numerous shows in that area over the next year, including some high school concerts and benefit events. The band also released an EP called "The Druglords of Music" that year, along with another release during their run named "The Bong Chronicles". In January 2004, Paricide relocated to Brantford to further their musical goals, though Rob moved from there that April, reducing the band to a three-piece. Paricide continued to rock Southern Ontario concert venues from there, including shows in Toronto & London, and some opening sets for notable hard rock tribute bands like Mama Kin. Band updates stalled after July 2005, with the band presumably dissolving that summer, though with a lack of online band pages, that can't be proven. Four years after their last update, a posthumous YouTube channel was launched featuring assorted Paricide audio recordings, while you can now see Adam with the Oil Springs band The Mudd Buttons.

Compared to most of the Sue Inside output we heard at their local shows, Paricide were definitely more melodic and full-sounding, so if you're not a fan of screaming and more extreme metal, you might like Paricide more! I was honestly surprised at how many slower softer moments their songs had, and on tracks like "Paraconscious", there's real layers and themes mixed into everything, even if the production's lacking. Rob LaPier's vocals weren't bad and flowed with the music, and the members of Paricide showed some good hard rock skills with some nice original touches! Reminded me a lot of late 1990s hard rock in style, though definitely not venturing into nu-metal territory. Shane's bass work is solid here, and he showed off some nice diversity on the originals I have access to, and the guys did have chemistry! Songs like "The Shadow" are good for aggression, but on tracks like "Bleed" and "The Number Eight", they definitely hold their own with softer material. Alternative hard rock fans should give Paricide a listen, cause they were a talented band that had a lot of unfulfilled promise, so don't skip a chance to check them out!

Online media of Paricide's is mostly limited to their posthumous YouTube channel, as the songs on their website are now dead links. No videos are posted, but tracks from both of their demo releases are featured, along with select live covers from at least one Petrolia concert circa 2003, including covers of Mudvayne, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails songs. The live tracks are lesser in quality, but well performed, so give them a listen too, especially "Stoned" by Silverchair! Embedded below though is a promotional video that Adam uploaded to his YouTube channel in 2007 that features rare live footage and some solid original music, so check it our below, and  all of their posted songs at the above links!


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There we go, hopefully you guys enjoyed this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month, we'll travel all the way to Victoria, British Columbia to take a look at The Lust Boys, the glam metal band featuring former Glass Statues guitarist Ben "Benny Blitz" Kemp-Reynolds! This should be interesting, so look out for it the week before Halloween, likely on October 26th! Stay tuned for more news on the SMS this week, including our last monthly feature post of September by Friday, which will be this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!

Woods of Ypres & Rock 101 News, Plus New Videos!!

Hey guys, here's some more news before we preview this weekend's concerts tomorrow, but also remember to check out our Jeff Nisbet profile in the post below this one! Today, we have some surprising lineup news from a local band, a cool new update from Rock 101, and some new videos (including this week's classic video), but first, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert. Apparently, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Monkey's Uncle played a show at Golanka's Bar (The Bird) on June 18th, as cited on The Bird's Facebook page. I apologize for missing the show for SMS coverage, but in all fairness, the band never announced it themselves, and The Bird only announced it the day of the show. Hopefully it went well, they're a solid band! Now to the news! (Edited July 2nd at 2:33 AM)

According to a few different pages, local blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres have parted ways with bassist Shane Madden & drummer Evan Madden. Postings on a topic on Woods of Ypres' forum and Evan Madden's personal Twitter account seem to confirm the surprising news. I won't quote anything that Evan said online to try to avoid the negative feelings expressed (and to remain impartial; we only have one side of the story here), but let's just say that the split doesn't sound amicable. I haven't heard a concrete reason from any source for the Madden brothers' apparent departure, but from past experience, I imagine Woods of Ypres won't acknowledge lineup changes until new members are found. If true, this news is really surprising, as the band's current lineup seemed stable & successful! Evan had been Woods of Ypres' drummer since frontman David Gold's return from South Korea in 2008, while his brother Shane replaced Steve Furgiuele as their bassist before their summer 2009 tour run. Both Madden brothers were featured on "Woods IV: The Green Album" & the "Woods 4.5" sessions that led to the "Home" vinyl release this spring.

I won't pass judgement on anyone connected to the band over the split, as again, I don't know both sides of the story. It's unfortunate to see Evan and Shane leave, but they do have a bunch of great bands in Philadelphia to focus on too, like The Green Evening Requiem, so hopefully they have lots of music in store for us metalheads! As for Woods of Ypres, hopefully they'll be back soon as well, and though the split is disappointing, I know David & Joel will be sure to have some great stuff up their sleeve for "Woods V" and beyond! I'll keep you guys posted!

Next up, here's some new updates from Rock 101, our local FM rock radio station! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had this problem, but one of my qualms with Rock 101 over the years was the lack of a formal request line. Only The Hair Scare ever seemed to have regular song requests from listeners (if I can remember correctly.) Well now, Rock 101 has an official toll free request/contest line where you can call in to ask for certain songs and enter contests! The number is 1-855-876-2536 (or 1-855-8-ROCK-FM), and can be used FOR FREE on both sides of the border! You can use this number to call in for any occasion where the Rock 101 crew asks for callers, like during contests, request hours, and so forth. This appears to be a relatively recent addition to the station, and gets prime placement on Rock 101's website too, so take advantage of their new toll free number and get calling for whatever interests you at The Sault's Rock Station at 101.3 FM!

We'll close this post with new videos, and firstly, here's some new solo material from local guitarist Mike Cliffe! Mike has posted two new songs on his Reverbnation page, so here's what you should know! One is called "Shut The Front Door", which mixes a low volume hard rock instrumental with experimental talkbox-like effects to create an interesting little song that should wet the appetite of Mike Cliffe fans who've missed heavier original songs! The other new song is entitled "Rainy Day Romp", which is a shorter track but very heavy, using some slightly distorted riffing and a slow building pace to show off Mike at his rocking best! Very solid 2:20 of hard rocking there, but both of his new songs are worth checking out, so do so at the above links! Mike has also uploaded "Rainy Day Romp" onto his YouTube channel just yesterday, accompanied by a "raining fire" visualization of some type, which fits the song pretty well (typo in the title aside), so check out his video for "Rainy Day Romp" below, and get lots more from Mike Cliffe's solo project at the pages linked above!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With Lion Ride back in town on Saturday, you may have expected this week's video to be of them again, but actually, we're gonna look at frontman Mikey Hawdon & guitarist Mark Rand's old band Detroit once again! During their 2008-2010 run (also featuring former bandmate & Maximum RNR frontman Brenton Ellis and his The Labour Of... bandmate Curtis Faux), Detroit tore up local and Toronto-area stages with their trademark short and brutal originals, and many of these shows took place at Toronto's famed Bovine Sex Club. A common sight there is area promoters' The Pink & Black Attack's Tuesday night concerts, and Detroit were part of a bunch during their active period. This video comes from one circa January 2010 (unsure of the exact date) in what may have been their last show before they went inactive! It's of Detroit playing their original song "Shithouse Ratt" from their original "Let The Hammers Fly" demo, and it's of pretty good quality! Trademark Detroit sound, and though the colour contrast makes Brenton yellow closer to the stage, it's well shot with a good camera!

This video was shot by attendee Misad Justdna Venture, who uploaded the video to her personal Facebook page not long after the show. The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236702511915 and I mean NO HARM with this upload! It's one of the very few Detroit videos not on YouTube, and it deserves a wider audience! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! With that said, check out Detroit playing "Shithouse Ratt" at one of their last concerts below, and for more Pink & Black Tuesday sets from Detroit from mid-2009, head to this link, click "Uploads", and search for "Detroit"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for concert previews for shows taking place tomorrow-Saturday in our next post! Shows on Monday will likely be profiled Sunday night. Stay tuned, and remember, our 4th anniversary is in FIVE DAYS!!!