LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Austin McCrea (1995-2025)

The Sault Metal Scene would also like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of local metal musician and rapper Austin McCrea, who just passed away in the past week, as per a number of personal Facebook postings. He was just 30 years old. This didn't cross my radar at the time, but Austin (a.k.a. Jayrald Micky) had been in hospital since September due to pancreatitis, and endured a number of devastating medical setbacks in the ensuing months, which you can read more about via this GoFundMe campaign that was launched on his behalf by his sister two weeks ago. As a local musician, Austin is arguably best known as the frontman of the goregrind/death metal band Brutally Fatal (once intentionally spelled "Brutaly Fatal"), who had two different incarnations between 2012 and 2019, and had brief and more mainstream turns under the names Re-Born and The Revolution.

Austin was a co-founder of the local goregrind/death metal/rap label Blood Shed Productions alongside his late-era Brutally Fatal bandmate Tyler Gibson, and his bands turned up multiple times at Blood Shed-affiliated concerts in the 2010s, be they late-era Oddfellows Hall concerts or house parties, while they also performed at the 2014 & 2015 Swampstravaganzas. Austin also dabbled in hip hop in the early-mid 2010s, rapping under the handle Miracle Man. While Austin primarily provided vocals, guitar, and bass in his best known bands, his most recent public music work was as the original drummer for local hard rock band Far From Fine (née Ravencore), performing with them at the 2022 Toystock and helping on their original material for their unfinished album, but he left that band by June 2023. Austin was also tapped to drum with Frightlight at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2023, but the horror punk band dropped out of that event and fell inactive afterwards.

I didn't know Austin well, but he was a talented and improving multi-instrumentalist who played the music he wanted to play without apologies, even if the imagery & lyrics weren't always to a wide audience's taste. When we profiled Brutally Fatal on the SMS four years ago, I linked to much of their known public music, including their demo EPs, while you can hear the originals he was working on with Far From Fine (albeit after he left) via their Lopstock 2023 set linked here. Losing someone over the holidays, let alone after this prolonged fight, is something I can't even imagine, and our thoughts are with the McCrea and Nadon families at this time. When details on services go public, I will let you know. R.I.P. Austin!

A New Local Metal Band & New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

Let's clear out some more of our news backlog on this Wednesday night, and today's video-heavy post will go some ways towards that on both sides of the border! Just to clarify given national news, we're not going to stop covering Sault Michigan/the E.U.P. due to tariffs/a trade war. None of that is the fault of local musicians, and I want the Twin Saults to have stronger connections, not weaker ones. Now, here's what you should know!

We have a new local death metal/grindcore project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely Three Grind Mice! Obviously a play on the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice", this is a new project from prolific local indie label Blood Shed Productions, one of their few brand new acts post-pandemic. I'm unsure if the band literally has three members or if it's a solo project, and while performer credits aren't given on their social media accounts, Blood Shed head Tyler Gibson (best known from Crucify The Whore and Rotopsy) has been sharing their content online, and he has multi-instrumental talent. The project is represented on social media by photos and brief animations of plush mice playing instruments, and so far, none of their music samples have vocals. Will the "mice" sing in death growls, and would they do the pitch-shifted chipmunk thing? An untitled & 92 seconds-long instrumental can be heard on their Bandcamp page.

That recording includes a brief cover of Gut's "Gia Paloma" plus an original song in progress, but embedded below is a drum sample clip from their new YouTube channel featuring one of the "mice" drumming on camera, and the emphasis suggests that they do have live drumming rather than programmed percussion (the video description credits the drummer as "Johnny Town-Mouse", a'la the Beatrix Potter character). It's too soon to accurately gauge 3GM, but there's promise there for fans of grindcore music! Vocals will definitely play a role into perception, let alone how far they take the mice conceit, but check them out for yourselves below!

Next up, the second advance single from reunited local emo band Fuller's upcoming sophomore album "II" was posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday! This time, the chosen song is "Kerosene", which they revealed on their Facebook page was "one of the last songs (that) we wrote as a band". For context, they disbanded originally in 2005, and by then, the band noted that "we were getting away from the midwestern emo stuff, and leaning more into post-hardcore and psych-rock". I'll hold comment on the song for now pending our eventual review of the album upon its release in "early 2025", but if the description piques your interest (or you loved/miss Fuller), check out "Kerosene" below, and look for the album soon!

Let's head south to Sault Michigan to wrap up this post, and we'll start with local hard rock cover quartet Dirty Musky, who rocked The Islander Bar in Hessel for the Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest's pub crawl on February 7th, and drummer Jamie Costner shared five videos from said gig to her personal Facebook page two days later, with the band subsequently sharing them on their own Facebook page. The videos (uploaded in a batch post and not individually) include Dirty Musky covering Tool's "Sober", A Perfect Circle's "Judith", guitarist Fran Blackwood playing a guitar solo, and Breaking Benjamin's "So Cold", which was filmed in two partial chunks (the longer first part is below, the second is linked here). All are short and vertical clips, but the band sounds good tackling some songs that you don't hear often in the E.U.P.. and Dave's voice holds up well for the most part, so give these videos a watch above & below, and look for more from them soon!

Finally for today, here's a new song from local metal solo project X's & Y's' YouTube channel! Entitled "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars", this 7+ minute original track was actually uploaded twice on Valentine's Day, both in a version with vocals and a version without! The one with vocals (their first such song) is embedded below, but click here to check out the instrumental copy. This is a full-on doom metal song that drone-inclined fans are going to take to, and while it's not lyrically verbose, Jason gets the point across with processed and well layered aggressive vocals. It may take adjusting the video's speed to really make things out, but it's an impressive diversion, if an acquired taste, so check out X's & Y's' new song below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Tym Morrison Concert Preview, New Videos, And Much More!!

Bit later than this should have been posted, but tonight on the SMS, we have new videos, a partially released new album, and leading off, one last concert preview for the weekend, so here's what you should know!

We'll start by wrapping up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play an increasingly rare solo date TONIGHT when he returns to the YNCU Curling Centre (née the Community First Curling Centre) as part of their Super Bowl bonspiel festivities! I apologize for the late preview, I confused the Super Bowl theme for this being a Sunday nighter, but in my original coverage, I had correctly advertised this as being tonight. Tym played at a different bonspiel at the Anita Boulevard curling rink back in November, and clearly things went well for him to get called back for tomorrow! Again, this one is themed around the Super Bowl tomorrow night, and three full games of curling (six ends each) are guaranteed before the football telecast ever begins, with wings & an appetizer bar planned for tonight's festivities.

Tonight's concert is at the curling rink's on-site restaurant The House, and there's no cover charge to just see Tym perform, but I believe there is still a 19+ age limit, and he is not playing there tomorrow (the game is on). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, the teased split album from local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore and industrial metal solo act Molten Imp has been (half) released! I am admittedly behind on covering recent activity from Blood Shed Productions, I hope to remedy that in a post shortly, but this is the newest of news from them. Despite announcing that "Pyrolytic Punishment" would be released on February 1st, it was delayed a week for unannounced reasons, and released on Wednesday... albeit just on C.T.W.'s end. You can buy their half of the split on a "name your price" model (or download/stream it for free) on Bandcamp at this link, and it features 10 songs, some shorter and/or more provocatively titled than others. More recent songs of theirs have tended to not be quite as short as fans saw in the 2010s. As of this writing, Molten Imp's half of the split has surprisingly not been posted in full on Bandcamp, but we will definitely keep you posted when it surfaces!

A preview song from each act was uploaded to the Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, where you can hear C.T.W.'s "River Valley Slaughter" and (embedded below) Molten Imp's "Pedestrian Blues (EYEHATETRUCKS)". When fully released on both sides, I do plan to eventually review "Pyrolytic Punishment", which will be a first for us on C.T.W.'s end, believe it or not. Nothing against Tyler whatsoever, he has developed a loyal following with this brutal & minimalist goregrind, but between the recording & performing methods and the controversial lyrics/themes on offer, they're kinda critic-proof and I've been concerned about how I'd approach their songs. Stay tuned, and hear more above & below!

Also today, local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich have recorded their debut music video and it will be released to their YouTube channel on Wednesday! It will premiere there at this link at midnight sharp, adding to the prolonged hype for the release of their debut album "Deconstructed" on the oddly specific date of May 5th, but if you want to hear the full song early, they first uploaded a jam session performance of it (albeit pre-Rafael) in 2021. In advance, two videos were uploaded to their Facebook page in the last couple of days to get the word out, including this one where band members flash their devil horns over the YouTube scheduled upload, but embedded below is a 13 second teaser of the video, which features everyone performing outside, clearly where one of those five big blue chairs are given where singer Taylor Emlaw is sitting during her close-up scene (I think they were at Topsail Island?)

Just as an aside, I finally figured out who Taylor's voice reminds me of: Beth Hart, the American blues rock/jazz singer (listen to "Stay" by her to hear what I mean). We'll have more on the full video when it drops next week, but give their Facebook teaser clip a watch below!

We'll close today with two new live videos from local southern hard rock cover quartet Bone Yard's Facebook page, as a band associate was back live-streaming videos of them in action last night at Shooters Downstairs Lounge! Note the red & white balloons, likely a tie-in with the ongoing Bon Soo Winter Carnival. The videos include an incomplete clip of Bone Yard (with bassist Warren Reville on lead vocals) covering The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated", but embedded below is a nearly full cover of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" with drummer Greg Simpson singing lead as usual. Alas, these are vertically shot & uploaded, which doesn't help the framing of the clips when the filmed was further back (too bad more fans weren't up close on the floor), but Bone Yard sound solid & lively on these classic rock staples as you'd expect! Give them a look above and below, and round 2 at Shooters for them is ongoing right now!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

New Videos & Lots Of Assorted Updates!!

News has continued to be slow as of late, so let's tackle a bunch of shorter stories today, along with some new videos! We'll start with the first live concert footage of new-ish local southern/hard rock quintet Fort Creek, courtesy of their one-off gig at the newly re-opened Reggie's Place on Friday, September 4th! Filmed by attendee Justyne Gilbert and shared from her personal Facebook page onto the band's Facebook page, this has Fort Creek covering Thriving Ivory's "Angels On The Moon", which is in tribute to frontman Justin Grayson's grandmother, who passed away in 2007. The performance is well done and suitably emotional, if not a showcase of their heavier chops, and everyone tackles their instrument nicely! However, the vertical camera angle isn't ideal, and Robin's usually obscured from view. The new Reggie's looks good, though I assume the band is cordoned off due to social distancing. Give it a watch below!



Next up, here's a new acoustic cover video from Guitar Gangsters bandmates Erik "Buzz" Boissineau and Tiffany Stocco, courtesy of Buzz's YouTube channel on August 28th! Some viewers may have caught this on CTV News Northern Ontario two weeks ago at the end of the 6:00 PM newscast, but it's on YouTube for all to see, and it has the ex-Garden of Bedlam frontman and Stegadeth frontwoman covering Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" with Buzz on vocals. Nicely done cover of this dark ballad, and Buzz's singing is a nice match, so give it a watch below, and hopefully they have more in the works!



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

• Blood Shed Productions have announced that they will be hosting a private bonfire jam this Saturday entitled "For Bunk Sakes & Headaches". The event will take place at "the park", but you have to contact the label for the specific address. Message Blood Shed at this link or above for full details if you are interested in attending!
• Despite a shared Facebook post on February 4th indicating that frontman Henry Switzer wasn't ready to play a full concert due to health issues, now-defunct Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 did play at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, March 13th, which was the last weekend before the full-scale lockdown, as per a comment thread by ex-Full Throttle guitarist Jason Lamoreaux on their Facebook page. Given Henry's earlier post, I opted not to cover this concert at the time on the SMS, which I learned went forward too late. My sincere apologies, hopefully it was a good show!
• Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was interviewed by Camille Mola of the Philadelphia-based lifestyle blog Positive Publicity last month, where he discussed his experiences during the pandemic, his musical background, what inspired his new album "If Ever Comes The Day" (he's more candid than ever about it here), and his future plans. Entertaining and informative read, so give the interview a look at this link!
• SooToday's James Hopkin posted this article onto the local news website on August 28th, which discusses the transition back into hosting live music for local nightclubs. The article features interview remarks with the owners of Soo Blaster (which has resumed live music) and Coch's Corner & The Whiskey Barrel (both of which hadn't at press time), and it is a good read to see how different venues are adjusting to "the new normal" and social distancing limitations when trying to host even one band on a given night. This has been a rough year, but hopefully things will ease up before we know it!
• Sault Michigan hard rock trio Tarnished announced yesterday that their planned live-streamed concert on Facebook on Wednesday has been put on hold, due to concerns about reported changes to Facebook's terms of use agreement that would penalize or take down accounts that included copyrighted music in videos. News articles since seem to have cleared up the concerns of many Facebook content creators (covers seem to be alright, but not the original recordings), but in any event, Tarnished indicated that they'd look into doing live-streams on other platforms. Stay tuned for updates either way!
• I have deleted local extreme metal solo project X's & Y's from our Sault Michigan band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past two months. Led by Werehold Records founder and ex-Life's Eclipse guitarist Jason Mills, X's & Y's had sporadic updates between December and June, including a handful of videos. I was glad to see Jason working on new music again, and hopefully he resurfaces in some form!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Squatfest) & A New Solo Performance Video!!

Kicking off a new and hopefully a much busier (and more positive) month at the SMS, we have a new solo clip to check out, but first, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the Sault Ontario area, believe it or not, and much sooner than you think! Here's what you should know!

Over four months after the Sault Ontario concert calendar ground to a halt, Blood Shed Productions head Tyler Gibson is planning to host a outdoor concert festival called Squatfest on Saturday, August 8th (one week from today!) The Facebook event page is set to private, but Tyler confirmed there that the show is publically attendable and will have paid admission. To be held at 5 Dixie Drive in nearby Heyden (down the road from Christie's RV; look for the Loch Ness Monster statue), this seems to be formatted similarly to the Oh!No festivals, even down to encouraging attendees to stay the weekend and partake in outdoor activities in the vicinity. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over yet, and while this is outdoors, use common sense if you take the trip north next week. The stacked lineup includes a lot of acts shared between prior projects, many with ties to the Blood Shed label, so I'll be deviating from the Squatfest's advertised artist order here, and it is subject to change.

Tyler himself will perform as his grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore and as his drum & bass side project Alegendary, while his frequent collaborator Chase Wigmore will be performing as himself (presumably doing his folk/punk originals) and as his extreme metal project Awokest. As well, Chase will reunite with Blackwater alum James Watterworth for The Strange Coyotes' second reunion set, though I have yet to hear publically if the band proper is back beyond one-offs, let alone if they will be formatted similarly to their December acoustic gig. James will apparently also play a solo set, much like he frequently did in the early 2010s. Blood Shed co-founder Austin McCrea is scheduled twice for Squatfest, including a regular solo set (perhaps doing Brutally Fatal or Revolution material?) and as his scarcely seen rap alter ego Miracle Man. The remaining acts are not shared elsewhere, including ex-Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti, death metal project Black Cloud, ...

...party rap/metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and rapper Joonas "JSK" Kamula, who has collaborated with Chase in the past. More yet-revealed acts are also advertised, we'll let you know if they are announced next week. Squatfest is an ALL AGES event with a recommended $5 donation upon entry, and merchandise from Blood Shed and performing acts will be on sale. Camping is welcomed, and while food & drinks will be on sale, Tyler is asking attendees to not bring glass. As well, Tyler is welcoming possible attendees to come to the site as early as Friday to hang out, jam at a planned bonfire, and help set up the stage. Given the climate with the pandemic, any ambitious multi-band concert like this would have to be outdoors due to indoor space limitations and what have you, and Squatfest seems like a workable alternative, if under somewhat limited notice! If you love Blood Shed Productions and Tyler, Chase, James, and Austin's back catalogues, this will be well worth a trip north to Heyden, so see above for more details!

Finally for today's post, here is a new solo performance video from ex-Brain Tuel guitarist Zach Reid's YouTube channel, as posted last month! An instrumental acoustic number, this folksier song is well done (if a little repetitive down the stretch), and it's nice seeing Zach still working on some new music during these crazy times. Give this video a look below!



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

New Videos & Updates From Three Local Solo Artists!!

Yes, we can stretch our daily post streak to 91 days! Time will tell how far this goes, but for now, we have new videos from three very different local solo projects to take in, so here's what you should know!

Local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith live-streamed his fifth #LockdownLive post-show on his Facebook page yesterday, so what all went down here? Mike started by outlining what happened in #LockdownLive XI on Saturday night, while also re-iterating the updated share contest, which has moved to the most engaged share on Facebook rather than the most shares total (so as to lessen spamming and presumably make it easier for Mike to tally the results, and Mike teased some possible format changes to #LockdownLive to boost the view count. He did reveal that the planned #LockdownLive XIII in two weeks will be a quarterly review of past installments, but the theme of this week's episode is not public yet (the private fan group may tell you that answer though!) Mike then calls the winner of the share contest live, namely first-time winner Brandi Martel, who will be a familiar sight from Din concerts during their run.

Brandi decided to be kind re: the nominated cover for next week, as she chose Elton John's "Your Song" for him to play. Luckily, Mike already loves the song, so you know he'll give it the proper respect on Saturday, assuming work doesn't postpone #LockdownLive XII! Mike also let Brandi pick an original for him to close the post-show with, and this time, she went with two, namely "Come On Home" from Mike's upcoming studio album "Bridges" (which is still planned for release by the end of the year) and "In Search Of The Perfect Moment" from The Din's debut CD. After playing them, Mike wrapped up by talking with fans watching along, letting us see his cats, and hyping up #LockdownLive XII. Entertaining after-show as usual, if a little more straight-laced than a lot of his recent live-streams have been, so check it out below, and stay tuned for much more from Mike on Saturday!



Next up, let's take a look at local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's two newest quarantune videos on his YouTube channel! Yesterday's is of him and guest musicians covering Tom Petty's "Wildflowers", but embedded below is today's 92nd straight daily video, which sees Mikey alone with his uke covering The Replacements' "If Only You Were Lonely". Both are well done in their own way, and the spare, almost country-ish take on The Replacements is effective, so give both covers a watch, and look for #93 tomorrow!



Finally for today, here's some new YouTube videos from local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, as uploaded to label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel in the past month! A lot of their recent uploads there have been related to drum & bass projects like Alegendary and Nothing Good, but goregrind fans haven't been left out, including a re-recorded version of "Fixing GTA", a 56 seconds-long track that fans will have previously heard in 2013 on C.T.W.'s "Grindshed" split with the defunct Tomgrindy. The new version is 14 seconds longer, and has a heavier and fuller sound with better production, but the pig squeal/gurgling vocals will still not be to everyone's taste. Embedded below is the full YouTube streaming copy of Tyler's new full-length release "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!", which you can also buy on a name your price model on Bandcamp. This won't convert non-believers (especially lyrically), but it delivers more one-man death metal action, so give it a listen for free below, and stay tuned for more updates from the Blood Shed camp!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Mikey Hawdon's Latest Quarantunes, Blood Shed Productions Updates, And More!!

Another work week ends today, and let's keep the consistent news rolling with the latest from a long-running extreme metal label, a new performance video, and to start, the latest from Mikey (Hawdon) & his uke! Matching his Global News piece on Monday, Mikey's "quarantune" videos will reportedly be spotlighted tonight on CTV News Northern Ontario's 6:00 PM broadcast! My source is Mikey's personal Facebook page, I don't imagine this is meant to be a surprise given the optics. Local readers can watch live on the former MCTV at 6:58 PM or so on channel 11 (Shaw Cable) or on it's channel number on Bell, with a likely internet link to the piece following, and I will discuss his appearance in an upcoming post. As for his daily ukelele covers, Mikey has posted three more onto his YouTube channel in as many days, including a solo cover of The Dukes of Hazzard theme song, plus a cover of The Wallflowers' "One Headlight" with guest musicians.

Embedded below is today's cover, which sees Mikey cover Teenage Head's "Let's Shake" alongside his Gabba Heys bandmates Lucas Stagg & Cleave Anderson, though lead vocal duties are provided by Hamilton rockabilly/blues musician Ginger St. James. Fitting choice, given that Teenage Head are Hamilton punk icons! While running for only 77 seconds, this is a fun acoustic cover while it lasts, and Ginger's dog Chico adds a star quality too! Give it (and more) a watch above, below, and on MCTV tonight!

Next up, here's some overdue updates from local independent label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page, as they have been staying busy during the quarantine! On May 4th, they announced that they had a "cpl (sic) new releases and some re-releases coming your way", and to inquire with the label about availability. All of these are projects featuring label founder Tyler Gibson and/or frequent collaborator Chase Wigmore, but you know how prolific they are. The advertised new material include a new full length release from Tyler's primary grindcore solo project Crucify the Whore entitled "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!", an eponymous solo album entitled "Instrumentally Unstable", a compilation called "BloodShred Vol. 1", and "episode 1" of Chase's "Stray Dog Howl", plus print runs of late 2010s material. Upcoming releases include "History of Shedding Blood Vol. 1" (featuring their early 2010s songs)" and a new Malignant Neoplasm release.

As well, they have new drum & bass releases in the works from Tyler's Alegendary project and a compilation of some kind. If you were hoping to hear the new C.T.W. studio album, then you are in luck, as it was released on Bandcamp on May 18th! "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!" is a slightly longer release in multiple aspects, as 8 of it's 18 songs exceed 2 minutes in length, and only one is under a minute long. Chase provides drum programming on the opening song "Crucified", while "Stab Alley" is a cover of a 2016 song from Tyler's dormant grind duo Rotopsy. Content-wise, C.T.W.'s polarizing one-man goregrind attack and pig squeal vocals will still not be for everyone, complete with song names I shouldn't reprint here, but Tyler's unapologetic grind attack retains a solid local following, and it's great to see him continuing his music during the pandemic! Get more information and hear the new tunes above, and also inquire about Blood Shed's new run of cassette tapes!

We'll close today with a new video from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's Facebook page on Tuesday, and unlike his usual video content during the pandemic, this one is not at his home. Mike was able to perform at the Rare Earth Greenery in Thompson, and can be seen here playing his original "Communique" inside a greenhouse. Some bongos and shakers can be heard being performed by someone, and a man can be seen playing harmonica (I think) outside the door, but I can't hear it if that's the case. Nice & unique rendition at a screwy time, so give it a watch below!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Woodhawk & The Sick Sons), The Return Of Black Cloud, And More!!

I have quite a backlog of stories to tackle right now, so let's keep things rolling on the SMS with a post half devoted to new songs and updates from a prominent independent label's camp, but first, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring at the same venue that you punk fans will want to take notice of!

New local punk supergroup The Sick Sons will make their 2020 debut and first ever headlining concert appearance on Friday, March 20th when they rock LopLops Lounge! Returning to the site of their December concerts opening for established local punk acts,  this will be their fifth live concert total and will be a quality tune-up gig before they help open A Dire Setback's CD release show at LopLops the following weekend. With a stacked lineup of name punk artists from the past 20 years, genre fans won't want to miss The Sick Sons next month! The opener will be masked local folk punk solo project Slumshine in his/their second concert of 2020, and this should be a good platform for Brent to get his material back out there after a few months off! Stay tuned for more on Slumshine in the near future. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has a $5 cover charge. This should be a fine concert for punk fans to check out next month with many familiar faces, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details as they roll in!

Next up, Calgary stoner hard rock quartet Woodhawk will make their local concert debut on Tuesday, April 21st when they headline at LopLops themselves! An unusually heavy headliner for this venue, Woodhawk are touring in support of their new album "Violent Nature", and this should be a fine platform for their melodic yet riff-heavy brand of original rock, and they straddle a couple genre lines, so many different fans should take to their sound! Local support will include alt-punk trio A Dire Setback in their first announced show following their CD release party at LopLops next month, so will they have hard copies for sale three weeks later? In any event, momentum will be on their side! Adding to the hodgepodge of genres here, DJ Seith is advertised to kick things off with another set of his turntable mixes, so what vinyl will he be unveiling for the occasion? Be there to find out, if you can swing a Tuesday nighter in two months! This event is brought to you by the Oh!No Collective in their first announced concert booking of 2020.

A 19+ concert as usual for LopLops, doors open at 8:00 PM on April 21st, and admission is either $10 at the door or the "pay what you can" model. Nice mix of sounds in store for this concert, and Woodhawk definitely sound promising alone, so keep this weeknight concert in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Also, here's something we briefly alluded to in this month's poll write-up last week, but haven't included in a formal post yet, as local experimental/death metal solo project Black Cloud are back! After quietly closing all of their social media accounts and deleting their "Abstract Sounds" demo from Bandcamp late last year, project leader Peytan Andreola reversed course by launching a new Facebook page on January 31st, with a new YouTube channel to match. Posts on Facebook have been minimal since, but Peytan revealed on Saturday that he's "close to finishing lyrics" for some sort of release called "Ambient Silence", while he is apparently planning to revisit songs from "Abstract Sounds", which could explain why it was taken off of Bandcamp. In any event, "Abstract Sounds" in it's original form can be streamed on the new YouTube channel. The other video there is actually a podcast interview with Peytan where he talks about Black Cloud's existing and future projects. This is a 27 minute interview, so be warned before listening.

You do get some interesting insights from this still relatively new project, but how much of this will see the light of day as described in the interview? Time will tell! Embedded below is Black Cloud's first new song post-return, as uploaded to their new label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Spill The Blood (And For All I Care Let The Blood Spill In The Air)". More of a noise rock song with no growled vocals and almost too much percussion, there is definitely musical and production growth, and signing with Blood Shed makes perfect sense! Give Black Cloud's new song a listen below, and they're back in our active band links!



Finally, let's close with another new video posting on the aforementioned Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel, which has been posting new sampler material from assorted acts with releases in the works in 2020 as of late, including established rapper Miracle Man and an electronic project named Nothing Good. However, metalheads will be most interested in the new song from the label's flagship solo project Crucify the Whore, entitled "Whorticulture". Planned to be on a full length release called "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buying It", it gives 73 seconds of punishing grindcore, minimalistic as it may be, so fans will want to give it a listen below, and stay tuned for more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Peril Concert Previews, And Blood Shed Productions Updates!!

Let's get one more news post in before February rolls around, and we focus on our first CD review of 2020! Tonight, we have some assorted news and notes from two linked metal solo projects, the last of this weekend's publically advertised hard rock concert previews, and leading off, a new addition to our band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are The Bridge Heads, a very familiar quartet for fans of local hard rock in the 2010s! Confirming prior performer teases towards the third act at the Acoustic Heartstrings concert at Room 21 on Valentine's Day, this band is simultaneously a reunion of 3/4ths of inactive local bands Haggith and Eclipse, specifically featuring singer Curtis McKenzie, Jack Spades/Big Mistake guitarist Daniel Horton, bassist Caleb Cachagee, and Frightlight drummer Chris Thompson. Musically, The Bridge Heads will at least start out covering songs from the 1990s and 2000s, though they have no shortage of originals from Curt, Dan, and Caleb's collective prior band work to dip into if need be. Their live debut will be in the aforementioned acoustic show next month, but their first announced electric set will be at The Canadian Nightclub on April 26th, as they are the final opening act for that night's First Jason concert, meaning Chris is pulling double duty here.

That will be a huge platform for this new yet established group, so keep their addition in mind! It's a wonder why this new band doesn't just recycle the Eclipse name, given the identical lineup (sans Caleb) and similar set descriptions, but this could be seen as a fresh start, especially as Eclipse disbanded over two years ago. It's great to see everyone back under the Bridge Heads moniker, so check out more from them at the above links!

Next up, here's our last known and publically advertised hard rock concert previews for this weekend, as Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for erroneously listing these as being in St. Ignace in prior advertising, these are definitely in the Soo. This will be Peril's first weekend booking in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of 2020, and their first Rapids Lounge bookings since the fall, so this should be another fine opportunity for fans to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' hard and classic rock cover onslaught! If you can't come out this weekend, don't worry, as Peril will be at the St. Ignace Kewadin in two weeks, which is an unusually quick turnaround for them in our area. As usual for Peril's Kewadin dates, these are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more information, and here's Peril live!

We'll close today back in Sault Ontario with some new videos, starting with the full release of local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore and folk punk/metal musician Chase Wigmore's second "A Couple of Degenerate Bastards" split! As released via Blood Shed Productions, the whole album can be bought on C.T.W.'s Bandcamp page on a "name your price" model, with Chase's 7 featured songs newly added, and you can stream his half on YouTube as well. Musically, Chase's material here is extreme metal in tone, similarly to "One Last Act of Defiance", so it's a fine match with C.T.W. on the final product. We just reviewed a Chase solo album on the site last month, so another one isn't in the immediate cards to review, but if you like brutal extreme metal and goregrind, and aren't easily offended, you should find something to like on this sequel split! Give Chase's half a listen below, and buy/stream the whole thing at the above links!



Finally, here's some more assorted notes from both Chase and C.T.W.'s camps as of late. Last week, Chase revealed on his Facebook page that his long-gestating rock opera was 4/5ths done, and ran for (as of the 22nd) 6,479 words. Sounds like a real labour of love, hopefully the final product lives up to the hype! Four days later, Chase posted this video to make a "special announcement" teasing "big stuff" in 2020, with the aide of a clipboard with key phrases written on it. Shades of "Subterranean Homesick Blues", anyone? This video was definitely tongue in cheek, and while he doesn't give too much away, it's an amusing watch! Meanwhile, C.T.W. head Tyler Gibson teased on the Blood Shed Facebook page that their material on the split was a teaser towards their planned third full length release, and have since posted two videos there. One is a short (and presumably long since pre-taped) video of Chase fishing, believe it or not, and the other is a 22 minutes long C.T.W. jam video, not unlike what Chase has posted!

Heavily filtered in post-production, the video features Tyler playing guitar and setting up backing tracks. There's not a lot to look at, filtered or not, and the lack of pig squealing will not be to Blood Shed diehards' liking, but the performances here are consistently brutal and right at home with existing material, so give it and more a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New Album Release, News From The Blood Shed, And New Videos!!

It's been a reasonably quiet month, but we're back with a full post today, including lots of new video finds, so here's what you should know!

While we alluded to this album in our 2019 retrospective post, I forgot to do a proper write-up on it here (my apologies!), and that is local folk punk/experimental solo musician (The Ghost Of) Chase James Wigmore's new album "One Last Act Of Defiance"! Just two weeks after releasing his true debut studio album "Songs To Punch Yourself In The Face To", Chase quietly put out a follow-up album on his Bandcamp page on December 21st, and it features 7 newer original songs, though the material here is a return to his death and extreme metal side, despite being billed under his own name rather than Awokest. However, I wouldn't read into anything regarding that project's future, as Awokest have more of an industrial bent, and they posted online as recently as November. Digital copies of "One Last Act Of Defiance" are on sale for $7, physical details not yet known, and a free streaming copy was also uploaded to Chase's YouTube channel on New Year's Eve.

I'll hold comment on the album for now, pending a possible CD review in the future, but if you like Chase's brutal death metal work, you'll be right at home with this album! We just reviewed "Songs To Punch Yourself In The Face To" on the site last month, so with our 6 month anti-bias buffer between reviews of the same band, I wouldn't be able to review this one until the summer at the earliest, but it's definitely in the pile! Buy or stream it above!



Next up, let's tackle some more new videos from the last while, starting with new song postings on Chase's sometimes-label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, which all feature the label's flagship goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore! Four videos have been uploaded there in the past month, including one prior upload that is back on the channel, and four new songs in three videos, all from upcoming C.T.W. album releases. One is planned for a solo disc of some kind, but the other two are from the sequel to C.T.W. and Chase's "A Couple of Degenerate Bastards" split CD, release details forthcoming. In fact, Tyler has already posted his half to their Bandcamp page, so fans of his short-running, pig-squealing, and ultra-minimalistic brand of grindcore will be eager to hear these songs! As usual, a number of song names could be seen as offensive, but one song from the split was posted on YouTube and has a name I can share here, namely the interestingly titled "Granny Bean-Flick For The World Wide Web".

These songs aren't going to convert non-believers to the C.T.W. gospel, so to speak, but Tyler's uncompromising original material will find an audience, and it's encouraging to see another split between him and Chase, validating the reception of the original with fans! Check out more above & below!



Also today, here's a new video from new local punk supergroup The Sick Sons, marking their first video upload on their Facebook page, and it's also of their first recorded original song! Filmed at LopLops Lounge on December 28th when they opened for The Cover Up (or You First & The Givee Givees), this 33 second clip featues their song "I Still Believe". Obviously, this isn't a complete look at the song, but from what we can hear, it has a strong and familiar sound to it for genre fans! The chorus singing is a little rough, but I am curious to hear this one in full, so give this snippet a watch below!



We'll close today with a Big Wreck cover that was shared on this Big Wreck fans Facebook group on January 12th. Posted by ex-Sense of Truth frontman Cory Murchison, this was filmed in his most recent band Skeyes of Seven's jam room a few years back, and it features Cory covering "That Song" alongside his bandmates Alain Fletcher and Kyle Sweet, plus Parabol/ex-Late Shift drummer Anthony Gagnon (if he was ever their official drummer, the band never publicized it.) This is solidly done and faithful to the original, so Big Wreck fans shouldn't object at all, but the camera placement is too high and off center, and you only ever see Al's arm in frame. Check it out below!



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

Blood Shed Productions Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to new videos from local independent metal label Blood Shed Productions, who were very active with new postings on their YouTube channel a month ago featuring some familiar names! We'll start by acknowledging the new videos from their flagship act, local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, whose material was in two of these new postings. One is a new YouTube copy of their song "Sudafederal Offense" from their split with Chase Wigmore last year, which brings more of the same minimalist grind intensity that followers will enjoy, plus a surprise audio sample from American Dad! at the beginning. Embedded below is C.T.W.'s song "Hepatetanus" from February's demo EP "Crucifiction Inquisition", marking the first official YouTube copy of a song from the low-fi release. Tyler Gibson's polarizing metal attack remains as abrasive as ever here, but if you're up for the doomy nature and pig squeal vocals, give this one and more a look!



Next up, fans know that Tyler has his hands in many projects under the Blood Shed umbrella, but here's one we haven't talked about on here before. Back in November, Tyler posted a couple of electronica/drum & bass songs onto the Blood Shed YouTube channel that he recorded under the band name Alegendary, which were allegedly distributed on a limited run of burned demo CDs. At the time, I didn't cover them on the site, as they weren't hard rock or metal songs, but they do show that Tyler has range beyond his usual grind work! That said, Tyler brought Alegendary back last month with a new song that is more up our alley, taking on a stoner/acid jam vibe that may be reminiscent of early Din material. Tyler acknowledged that the Alegendary name is basically "just a title for me to release my own personal solo releases under", hence the genre disparity. For what it's worth, Alegendary don't have an online page to add them to the SMS links with... yet?

As for Alegendary's new song, entitled "Fitting In & Falling Out", this 8 minute instrumental showcases some fun creativity, though it's raw recording quality and sparsely places intruments won't appeal to all listeners. That said, if you like acid rock moreso than grindcore, you may get more value from this one. Give Alegendary's newest song a listen below!



Also, here's a couple of songs that are credited to a 2018 demo by The First Arrival, a new(?) death metal project featuring prolific local solo artist Chase Wigmore on vocals & guitar alongside Tyler on drums. I have never heard of The First Arrival before now, so that demo must have seen a very limited release, if there even was one! One song is the 89 second instrumental "Normal & Without Suspicion", but embedded below is the ambitiously titled "Nominated For A Juno." Up there with Chase's most aggressive & heavy band work, the lo-fi recording quality doesn't help, but his screaming fits the noise attack nicely, so give The First Arrival a listen above & below too!



Finally, Tyler also reprises his Brutally Fatal-esque drum role on "Permanent Land Deficiency", an alleged full-length EP credited to the band name Aggressor Fender, who I also hadn't heard of before this summer. This was apparently recorded in mid-late 2018, and Chase is credited for mixing and mastering, but not a lot of info is forthcoming. Whether that's Chase or not on guitar, Aggressor Fender are totally an instrumental band on this EP, which has song breaks in the 13+ minute video, but no listed song names. The name of the project is apt, as they are an aggressive noise rock act, and with cleaner recording than The First Arrival, you may want to give them a listen!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

New Local Doom Metal Videos And Much More News & Updates!!

It feels like too long since our last post without concert previews or monthly feature content, so let's tackle some recent stories and postings on this Tuesday evening! Here, we have some assorted shorter topics, the latest from a prominent solo project, and leading off, here's some new video postings from a pair of local doom metal acts!

We'll start with 40 minutes of live concert action, courtesy of the return set from local doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA at the Dopethrone concert at The New American Pub last week! Appearing to capture their entire set, the video is entitled "Seven Old Favourites", reflecting their set's inclusion of only prior originals from their catalogue. In order, the video features Kevin, Boyd, and Jamie playing "Tertiary Syphillis", "Fell Down A Well", and "Bedsores" from their "Reclaimed By The Forest" EP, before tackling "Electric Fence" from their split with Chronobot, the yet-unreleased "The Longest Swim" & "Brazen Bull", and finally, "Failed Stunt Fatality" from their split with Hooded Menace. Allegedly filmed by "I've Seen Worse Moving Pictures", the video was heavily filtered in post-production, so what we get here is monochrome, high contrast footage complete with simulated CRT scan-lines and song titles.

While not a stationary camera, the angle filmed here is often too high, and the filtering is mostly to Jamie's visual detriment, but the music is crystal clear and will definitely appeal to fans of AlgomA's slow, doomy, and deliberate onslaught! No word on when "The Longest Swim" & "Brazen Bull" will get studio releases, but these will do for now, and AlgomA haven't lost a step after their 19 month stage absence! Give their set from last week a look below, and go to individual songs via the links above!

Next up, here's a new/old video of inactive doom/death metal band Giwakwa from a jam session back in November 2012! This appears to have been uploaded to the band's YouTube channel at the time, but after 6½ years, Chris finally made it public for fans to check out. Just as a referesher, Giwakwa were the band featuring Bring The Fallen, Lead The Dead, and Fitswitch alumni that was primarily active from mid-2012 through mid-2013, and this video features guitarist Chris Page, drummer Chris Thompson, and then-bassist Nolan Rainville, with original singer Josh Stephney not present for this recording. Audio quality on this original song named "Smoker" can be fairly scratchy here, but this is a solid jam that helps capture more of their doomier side, and you get some good closer views of the guys in action! This was plugged on their Facebook page on Saturday, marking Giwakwa's first post there in over four years, so is this a sign of public activity resuming for the band in 2019?

Well,  Chris Page has dropped hints on his personal Facebook page towards Giwakwa reuniting and/or still being active for some time. That said, if the only sign of life from a band is personal remarks or postings, I don't count that as a source unless given explicit permission. It'd be nice to see Giwakwa back in some form, they had a lot of promise, but give this 2012 jam clip a look below to see what they brought to the table back then!



Also today, let's cover some long overdue updates from local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, and I apologize for the delay in much of this content! Back on February 19th, the Tyler Gibson-led act released a new digital EP named "Crucifiction Inquisition" to their Bandcamp page, which features 5 songs running for just over 11 minutes, which, track for track, is relatively long for a C.T.W. release. Intentionally recorded in a low-fi manner, I won't share the cover artwork here to avoid potential offense with some readers, but the lyrical content, minimalist recordings, and pig squealing vocals remain acquired tastes if you're not already a goregrind fan. Things sound a little more aggressive this time out, and with a "name your price" model, Blood Shed diehards should be right at home with this release! In his latest updates, Tyler noted earlier this month on C.T.W.'s Facebook page that CDs have been printed for his 2016 release "The Beautiful Sounds of Nature".

After some quiet months from C.T.W. and Blood Shed Productions, 2019 is looking very much like a return to form for Tyler's minimalist metal pursuits, and he's definitely ambitious and bold, if sonically provocative! Buy or stream C.T.W.'s recent solo material above, and here's hoping there's more in the works from the Blood Shed camp over the summer!

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:

• In their first Facebook page posting since 2016, local death metal duo Brutally Fatal (featuring the aforementioned Tyler Gibson) revealed on Monday that they have a "new album coming this summer", though they self-deprecatingly tempered expectations right afterward. We last heard from Tyler & Austin when they posted a free "album" on YouTube in February 2017, and it's great to hear that Brutally Fatal are back after a 2+ year hiatus, so they are back in our active band links!
• Almost two years after a fire in an upstairs apartment forced the closure of Queen Street East nightclub/venue Reggie's Place, the fan favourite concert venue is expected to re-open this week! The news was broken in this SooToday article, where owner Reggie Daigle notes that the bar will look more or less the same as it did before the August 2017 fire. While not a regular venue for our coverage, the country-leaning tavern has hosted Soundcheck and predecessors Mourning Wood in the past, so might they pop up there again now? Stay tuned, but congratulations on the re-opening! 
• I have reluctantly removed defunct local indie/hard rock band Vol. from our inactive band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page in recent months. Featuring alumni of The Pixo Control and Mik & Steve, Vol. had a promising local run in 2017 with some high profile appearances, but "rad things" in 2018 were superceded by lineup departures, and they disbanded in June of last year. I wish they hadn't deleted their page, but hopefully Steve, Shane, Mikaela, and Matthew surface again soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned (if all goes according to plan) for this month's CD review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!