Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Skull After Betrayl

With news slow lately, and not wanting to force a post when weekend concert previews are so close that can use extra content if need be, we'll instead get this month's Defunct Local Band Profile up a little early! Our monthly feature post on a local metal, hard rock, or punk band that's no longer active & functioning again gives us a randomly selected group for this month, but like last month, I misjudged the amount of content and media for our next selection, so this month's planned second band (Hoist the Sails) will lead off a joint profile next month. Now, here's what you should know for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile!
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Skull After Betrayl

Genre: Death Metal/Hardcore

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: 

Mike Vincent (Troubled Mind, The Bear Hunters), vocals/guitar
Justin Polutanovich (Borderline Divine), guitar
Adam Brett (Troubled Mind, Despised Eyes), bass/vocals
Anthony D'Agostini (The Dead Kings), drums
  
Audio/Video: Though their Facebook page has since been deleted, six original songs and a cover of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" survive as demo or live recordings on Skull After Betrayl's Reverbnation and MySpace pages. For videos, frontman Mike Vincent has shared a couple of jam session videos (sans guitarist Justin Polutanovich) on his YouTube channel, while our YouTube channel features a handful of videos from their live heyday, including this video of the guys playing their song "Zombitch" at their last concert in July 2011 at The Rosie!

Info/Analysis: Skull After Betrayl (not "Betrayal", the spelling was intentional) succeeded the defunct Despised Eyes to become a rising sight at local metal concerts upon their debut in early 2011. The band opened for The Dayglo Abortions & Titan's Eve at the former Roosevelt Hotel during their height, and took part in the first annual Swampstravaganza, before suddenly disbanding in July. After 3/4ths of the band briefly regrouped as The Dead Kings with additional members, Skull After Betrayl reunited that October, but accomplished little before disbanding for good in the spring of 2012, with members Mike Vincent & Adam Brett later forming Troubled Mind in 2015. Skull After Betrayl were a work in progress during their run, with the guys never finding a lasting subgenre, and Mike's singing and Adam's bass technique not as refined as they could be, but they showed promise on some big stages, and hopefully everyone stays active musically!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, even if a few days early! This series will return on or around July 10th with inactive Sault Michigan hardcore band Hoist the Sails as promised, but as I'm very certain this time that they don't have enough info or media for a solo profile, we've added a Sault Ontario band to fill things out, and through random selection, we have chosen The 12 Gauge Ready, the popular local ska punk outfit who, despite their successes, have extremely little surviving information online, hence why they'll fit a double profile. Look for this next month, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next!

Skull Fist Concert Review!!

Happy September, everyone! To help kick off the Labour Day long weekend, I have another concert review today, that being for Skull Fist's latest stop in Sault Ontario last night at The Canadian Nightclub! The turnout last night was medium at best, peaking during Late & Loud's set, and I blame that mainly on the holiday weekend. For the record, the big power outage last night didn't affect Pim Street, which looked to be close to the edge of the outage (Great Northern Road looked very dark), so we got lucky, and the show wasn't affected!

First up last night wasn't "Pools of T-Rex" as previously advertised, as with their full lineup in tow, T-Rex Manning opened the night's festivities! Like Late & Loud, I haven't seen them since my judging stint at the Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and this is actually the first time I've seen them in a setting where I can "review" them, so what can I say? Well, they're definitely heavier than I'd heard in past videos and appearances, and yes, that means they're heavy enough for official coverage on the SMS! Their 11 song set included covers of Tool, Volbeat, Misfits, Bloodhound Gang, Blink-182, Judas Priest, Ramones, and Motorhead songs, along with their original song "She Banged The Mayor", and while they sound similar to frontman J.D. Pearce's other bands, they appear to cover more metal than Fitswitch and Frightlight, and with enough variance on the Misfits covers (only "Helena" is also done by Frightlight in most concerts), so things were varied even there! That all said, some of the covers sounded messy and had some screw-ups here and there, but I won't judge too harshly because of the lineup shakeups for this show, as T-Rex Manning were a late addition. Tiffany Stocco's guitar work was pretty good, Bill Bennett's bass playing was loud and kept up well, and Daniel MacDonald's drumming was on form!

I wanna see T-Rex Manning live for a show with more advance preparation to really compare them to J.D.'s other bands (or even Pools of Booze), but they had a fun and energetic set, and the fans up front seemed to like them! And knowing how heavy a full set of theirs really is, T-Rex Manning are now in our active Sault Ontario band links, so stay tuned for updates and information on them as it comes in (though I have to ask, where were the fancy suits and ties?)

Second last night were the returning Late & Loud, in their first concert in four months and their last for who knows how long. As revealed last night on stage, the band are taking a hiatus following the show, and though a public reason hasn't been revealed, I've heard from band sources that it's at least partly due to out of town plans for a band member, though most of the guys will stay together musically in some form. Very surprising news, especially just one show removed from perhaps their biggest moment as a band (winning the Humane Society battle), but we'll continue to list them as active until most of the band forms a new primary group or visibly leaves the local music scene for a lengthy period. Remember, this is a hiatus, not a complete end, the length of a hiatus can vary from a few months to forever. That said, if this is the last time we'll see Late & Loud for a while, they made the most of it with a lengthy set that seemed to almost end various times, only to stretch out longer with even more classic metal mayhem! Their set included all of the songs from their unreleased EP (is that ever coming out?) along with some older originals like "Live For Excess" and "Never Again", and select covers that got a great reception that you're bound to remember from earlier concerts!

Musically, they sounded as good as they ever did before, minus of course the vocal deficiencies that have been present since their debut, but they had the look, stage presence, and talent to encourage a wild response from the crowd, and we ate it up! Brendan and Jonathan's guitar work was stellar, Benn's bass playing was very good itself, and along with his drumming talents, it was nice to hear Josh sing on a song too! Overall, this was Late & Loud at their best, and hopefully this won't be the last we hear from them!

And finally last night was Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist in their long awaited third stop here, and predictably compared to their first times at The Canadian, they tore it up! You'll know as well as I if you saw them here before, but they unleashed a high energy set of speed and thrash metal originals that definitely called to mind the fastest metal bands of the early-mid 1980s! I will give them credit for their smoke machine not giving my camera headaches, but musically, they sounded just as good as last year with one exception: Frontman Jackie Slaughter's microphone seemed to be too quiet compared to last year, so at times, it was hard to make out words. That said, the rest of their show was wicked, as Skull Fist ripped through originals like "Sign of the Warrior", "No False Metal", and "Head of the Pack" with lots of intensity! Both Jackie and fellow guitarist Jonny Nesta played some blistering solos last night, and Casey Slade's bass work also deserves props from their very entertaining set, and huge kudos to Tiffany from T-Rex Manning for bringing Skull Fist here again! Hopefully there's a stop planned for 2013!

Overall, this was a great concert to end the summer with, and despite the lineup changes and low attendance, everyone there had a great time as far as I could see! Hopefully we get some new metal shows soon on our schedule, but for now, check out photos from this one by clicking here or visiting our Facebook page (and I apologize for forgetting a crowd shot.) As for videos, here's T-Rex Manning covering Tool's "Jerk-Off", Late & Loud playing "Love Letter Lockdown", and Skull Fist playing their set opener "Ride The Beast"!







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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rock Till You Drop) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we get to the concert previews, just a note that if you're curious about the share buttons and new options in the top left corner of the page, that's an addition by Blogger and not something I chose. I guess it's handy if you use Google+ or another social networking site and wanna share the SMS on there, so make use of it if you wanna! That said, today's post is devoted to concert previews from TONIGHT through Saturday, including one big Sault Ontario show (and it's latest lineup news), two weekend sets in St. Ignace, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT relating to a major Sault Michigan-area event, so here's what you need to know!

For a second straight year, the Chippewa County Fair in Kinross, Michigan will be hosting a battle of the bands TONIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, but I was waiting for additional info on it. Entitled "Rock Till You Drop", three area bands will converge at the grandstand at the annual Sault Michigan-area summer fair to compete in this unique battle for a great cause. Though admission is FREE, the winner is actually picked in a busker style, with donations given to each band in a bucket after their set, with the band collecting the most donations winning, and all proceeds from this voting method going to the Eastern Upper Peninsula Home Health & Hospice, which is a nice gesture! I'd prefer charging admission for the charity and have an actual judging panel, but this involves attendees better! Three bands will compete, though regrettably, I can only confirm two (despite my best research attempts to figure out the third), but if I figure out who the third band is/was, I'll be sure to let you guys know! One of the bands however is trying to defend their title, as young local hard rock quartet Tantrym Tyme are among the competitors! They won the Rock Till You Drop battle at last year's Chippewa County Fair under their old name Abstract (defeating local Christian rock band Seeking Reverence and defunct hard rockers Splitshot), but can their current lineup reclaim first place?

The other band I can confirm (both via their respective Facebook pages) is Kinross hard rock quintet Banned, who have faced the current Tantrym Tyme in battles in the past (albeit ones without much online press.) Can the Traynors & company deliver a first place performance in the name of the E.U.P. Hospice tonight, will Tantrym Tyme win first again, or will the third band win it all? Attendees will find out TONIGHT at 7:30 PM for the battle, which is ALL AGES & FREE! For all details (minus the mystery third band), visit the above links! This should be a fun event for fairgoers, and at least compared to other Sault Michigan area battles of the bands, there's at least multiple online sources to document it for SMS notice! Even last year's has info, even if I only heard about it late. Out of fairness, I won't post a preview video given the competitive nature of this show, but hopefully lots of money is raised, and no matter who wins, may the best band win Rock Till You Drop! (Oh, and Banned's "job" in Moran last weekend was indeed on Saturday, like most of their shows.)

Now to the previously known local metal/hard rock concerts in the Sault area (i.e. ones I can 100% confirm online), starting with the long awaited return of Skull Fist to The Canadian Nightclub TOMORROW NIGHT! After two well received headlining performances at The Canadian in the previous two years (the first of which gave us the SMS' most popular YouTube video ever), the Toronto speed metal quartet will be back to melt faces and create some huge moshpits in this first show of their Tear Down The West Canadian tour, and if you saw them in 2010 and last year, you'll know just how energetic and exciting Skull Fist are live! Though three opening bands were originally lined up, only two will be playing tonight following the dropouts of Frightlight, Redundant, and The Valentine's Day Massacre for varying reasons, but one band that remained through it all will be the returning classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who will make their first concert appearance since winning the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands over 4 months ago! Though I've heard talk of there being a form of finality to tomorrow's performance, I won't go too in depth until the band makes any official announcements, so for now, get ready for another high impact set of old school metal originals after their summer away from the stage!

With the band dropouts, promoter Tiffany Stocco has enlisted members of her local punk band T-Rex Manning to play short notice tomorrow as the opening band under the name "Pools of T-Rex", even though I believe their lineup will be no different to that of Pools of Booze who played at two concerts earlier this year. That said, Pools of Booze/T-Rex's sound is heavier than T-Rex Manning's is generally, so things should work out for metal fans! Admission will be $5 tomorrow night, with bands starting at 10:00 PM, and despite recent all ages concert examples, this show will be 19+ for unrevealed reasons. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great concert full of high impact metal, and two long awaited returns to the stage, so hopefully a good sized crowd turns out despite the lineup changes and the impending long weekend! For a preview, here's Skull Fist's music video for their song "Head of the Pack!"



Now back to the Sault Michigan area for the two weekend bar concert sets that are going down this weekend, starting with the return of Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven to Timmy Lee's Pub in St. Ignace! Though an infrequent sight in Sault Michigan itself, Driven hit St. Ignace a fair amount, and tomorrow & Saturday's shows at "The U.P.'s Official Welcome Center" will mark their first shows there that we've caught for SMS coverage since we expanded our range (though we missed a pair at Timmy Lee's in July.) Online media is hard to come by of Driven (hence the lack of a preview video), but they know and cover lots of hard rock, so if you're up for the hour's drive south to St. Ignace, you should be entertained by Driven's cover onslaught! There's no announced cover charge for either tomorrow or Saturday's show, you must be 21 to attend, and a 9:00 PM or later start time is likely. Check the above links for more details! Driven should entertain at Timmy Lee's this weekend, so consider a drive down to 748 West U.S. Highway 2 for all of the excitement tomorrow night or Saturday night!

And finally for the known weekend schedule, local hard rockers Monkey's Uncle will keep the heaviness going in St. Ignace tomorrow night & Saturday night thanks to their own shows there at the Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Shows at non-Kewadin venues from this veteran local hard rock band are very hard to source, but Monkey's Uncle are favourites at both of the area Kewadin Branches with active music schedules, and their covers and originals should deliver some great times and fun in St. Ignace this weekend! As usual for their Kewadin shows, a start time of 9:00 PM or later is likely, with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Monkey's Uncle should impress and give some great hard rock sounds all weekend at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, so if you're up for some live music, a trip to St. Ignace for either Driven or Monkey's Uncle this weekend wouldn't be bad bets! For a preview, here's Monkey's Uncle covering Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" a few years back!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow, as we're looking at defunct Cedarville hard rock quartet Oddfellow's only album "Go"! Thanks everyone!

Skull Fist Concert Lineup News, Sebastian Bach's Soo Weekend, And More!!

We're back with some more news and notes on this Tuesday morning, and if you're waiting for news on the battle of the bands at the Chippewa County Fair on Thursday, that's coming, I'm just waiting for word on the complete lineup if possible. Today, we have new material from a local guitarist, some updates relating to links on the site and their connection to a recent feature post, and all of the latest from a notable metal musician's recent weekend in the area, but first, here's some news on the bands playing at the next metal show in Sault Ontario!

The lineup for Friday night's Skull Fist-headlined concert at The Canadian Nightclub has taken a lot of hits in the last few days, with two band dropouts, leaving only the returning Late & Loud as a confirmed local opening band. One of the dropped bands is local deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre, and though an official reason for their exit hasn't been revealed, frontman Steve Rhodes' personal Facebook page indicated that he was leaving for London (where the band are collectively moving for college) tomorrow, which is earlier than we'd previously heard, so that's likely connected. It'll be disappointing to not see the guys one last time before they head down south (if you saw them at the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem, nice work!), but hopefully they'll be back on holidays & breaks & what have you to melt more local faces, and best of luck to the guys in London until then! The other exited band is local punk trio Redundant (who had replaced Frightlight on the bill initially), as per their quiet removal from the event page, though I have no idea why they're out. I was hoping to see them too, but they'll be back for some more shows sooner or later, especially with the recent frequency of them!

Whether new bands will be added to replace The V.D.M. or Redundant isn't known yet, but knowing how big Skull Fist shows here tend to be, there's already visible interest from some bands in potentially jumping on board! Besides, we still have Late & Loud opening (even with some disappointing news I'm waiting for more confirmation on before mentioning here), so keep posted for more on this show in a couple of days, and I hope to see you guys there!

Next up, here's more notes and information from ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach's weekend jaunt to Sault Ontario for the "Swearnet" film shoot with The Trailer Park Boys cast! Beyond just filming scenes for the movie, some lucky Saultites were lucky enough to see Sebastian at some local bars over the weekend, including a stop at LopLops Lounge on Saturday night to see local country band The Wild Turkeys, and I heard he stayed for their whole set too, which is awesome of him! Before leaving, Sebastian also shared this Last Supper-esque photo from the Soo on his Facebook page of him with Swearnet/T.P.B. stars John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells, and Mike Smith, along with two more familiar guest stars in the movie (comedian Tom Green and Pat Roach, a.k.a. Randy from The Trailer Park Boys), so it sounds like the deck is being stacked for names in "Swearnet"! For the record, I heard that Tom Green was at LopLops on Saturday too, which would have been cool in & of itself! Finally for our Sebastian Bach notes, while he didn't play a live solo concert while in town, lucky fans at The Canadian Nightclub on Friday night got the next best thing, as Sebastian stopped by for karaoke night, and there's video footage online to prove it!

Filmed by YouTube user sisuunicorn705 and uploaded on Saturday, this is of Sebastian and Bubbles himself, Mike Smith singing AC/DC's "T.N.T." in honour of Mike's early birthday, and though the quality isn't great (dark lighting, extremely loud, and staticy audio), it's great to see this footage, and it must have been something else to see Sebastian live (and doing karaoke at a local bar no less!) I'm still kicking myself that I missed this, as I live right near The Canadian and really enjoy Skid Row's later work with Sebastian, so this is like missing Michael Moore at Sault College all over again. Still, this must have made many a night this weekend, so check out Sebastian Bach singing karaoke in the Soo below, and trust me, turn your volume down!



Thirdly, here's a couple of notes relating to some research and links that I took in for our profile of As It Stands drummer John Mignacca's YouTube channel on Wednesday. First, I've added a new link to our Other Local Metal Links section on the left of the page, that being the MySpace page for John's old concert promotion company Infamous Productions! John promoted concerts (mostly of the hardcore variety) from roughly 2006-2007 under this banner (including the 2006 Blind Witness show promoted in this commercial), though as far as I can tell, the company itself fell inactive by 2008. There's not a whole lot on their MySpace page beyond some old concert advertisements & lineups, but there's some neat looks back in the comments and so on, so check out Infamous Productions at the above links, and stay tuned for future concerts that John puts on! The other note is a link removal from that section, as the Facebook group for GLOW Nightclub has been taken down for unknown reasons. The Gore Street bar/concert spot previously known as The Nite-Life Dance Club & The Other Place was last used in November 2010, but the closure of the Facebook group came much later than that, and it probably wasn't a huge surprise. Still, it's a nice venue that I'd love to see restarted, but who knows what the future holds!

Finally, here's a brand new solo performance video from local solo guitarist and AudioFumes podcast host Mike Cliffe! Though he's been busy with his podcasting over the summer, this video is Mike's real solo performance clip in 3 or 4 months, so if you've missed his original music, rejoice! Entitled "SoundBacon", it's a work in progress experimental instrumental that Mike adlibbed and filmed, and while he notes the mistakes, it has promise and creativity! It ranges from what sounds like progressive rock elevator music to some more melodic and heavier melodies later on, and Mike shows his skills well here even if refinement is needed! Why play so far off to the left though, and in the dark? Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Saturday, you can check out "SoundBacon" below, and also, you guys should check out and submit original material to Mike's AudioFumes podcasts! He's increasing his local playlist selections for Audiofumes streams, which are sort of like an internet streaming radio show without a station if you're not familiar with podcasting. Mike gets worldwide airplay and he plays a wide variety of bands and musical partners from all over on AudioFumes, so listen in and get schedules at this location, message Mike at this link if you wanna submit any songs to play on air, and AudioFumes are now in our Other Local Metal Links!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, including weekend concert previews and our review of Oddfellow's only CD! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Georgian Skull

It's hard to believe that we're profiling our 39th band in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile Series today, but we've now hit that number with this latest band that featured a Sault Ste. Marie native in their lineup at one point! This month's profile is on a band that only briefly had a direct connection to Sault Ste. Marie, but what a connection this was, so check out this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile below, and if anything's missing or incorrect, please let me know! Yes, this is the same band we mentioned would be next last month, they just changed their name in links newer than the one I originally sourced.(UPDATED: November 27th, 2013)
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The Georgian Skull (Windsor, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics. This information is incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Alex "The Yeti Bones" Petrovich (vocals/guitar)
Steve "Beard" Dugal (guitar)
Sash Wilczynski (bass)
Adam Saitti (drums)

William "H. Skulls" Cochran (bass)
Rob Hare (bass)
Anderson Lunau (bass)
Aaron Palmer (bass)
Karsten Shreve (bass)
David Gold (drums)
Adam Michalzuk (drums)
Kevin Mitchell (drums)
Ace Piva (drums)
Derek Gibson (?????)
Jeff Ohler (?????)

Official MySpace page (1): http://www.myspace.com/georgianskull
Official MySpace page (2): http://www.myspace.com/misterbones
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/georgian-skull/8282374683

Local Info: Only one local musician is known to have been in any of The Georgian Skull's lineups, that being late Woods of Ypres frontman/drummer David Gold! Years before Woods of Ypres' local peak and his drumming stints in all kinds of far flung metal bands, he briefly drummed for what was then Mister Bones in 2001 early in his time living in Windsor, but he left the band to form Woods of Ypres the following year (alongside Mister Bones bandmate Aaron Palmer) before their first CDs were recorded, though he & his old bandmates remained good friends after the fact. While information on David's tenure with Mister Bones is lacking, you can read all about frontman Alex Petrovich's close friendship with & respect of David in this memorial article he penned for The Windsor Zene earlier this year.

Band Bio: Launched in 1999 following the band's initial conception in Montreal, Mister Bones were active in the Windsor metal scene through the mid-2000s with varying lineups, including a high amount of differing bassists & drummers, with only Alex and guitarist Steve Dugal surviving through each incarnation. David Gold's stint with Mister Bones was brief and the timeframe of when each member was in the band is hard to source. They released two studio albums & one live album under the Mister Bones name from 2002-2006, along with playing many high profile concerts & tours alongside bands like Brand New Sin, even attracting the notice of major artists like Zakk Wylde & Pepper Keenan with their blend of doom and stoner metal genres. After changing their name to The Georgian Skull in 2007, the newly renamed band and their last lineups also saw noticeable success, releasing two EPs and a full length album "Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse" by the time of their 2009 dissolution. Since then, Alex and final drummer Adam Saitti have been highly visible in the Windsor metal scene in their current (and similar) metal band Gypsy Chief Goliath alongside members of other dissolved Windsor-area metal bands.

While I'm more familiar with Alex & Adam's current work in Gypsy Chief Golitah, I will give The Georgian Skull/Mister Bones a lot of credit for their blend of doom and stoner metal that definitely has an old school feel! Sort of if a band like Crowbar or Down were launched in the early 1970s. Probably their main difference from Gypsy Chief Goliath based on my experiences is that The Georgian Skull have less of a jam session feel and take things a bit more seriously, but that may vary on the person. Alex Petrovich's gruff singing voice fit his older material well, and Steve Dugan's guitar work meshed well for their heavy (though often slow) riffing! I can't comment first hand on how David Gold contributed in his brief Mister Bones stint, but I'm sure he was as good there as he was on Woods of Ypres' early work. As for how Mister Bones compared to their later Georgian Skull work, I'd say that The Georgian Skull were a bit heavier and tighter than they were with their old name, but no matter what, they delivered some great material in their decade run that doom, stoner, and G.C.G. fans should really enjoy! Nice and sludgy with plenty of grit, and a to the point sensibility that helped get the message across on their albums and live, so definitely give Mister Bones/The Georgian Skull a look!

There's a good selection of media online to satisfy any craving for Mister Bones or The Georgian Skullfootage and audio recordings! Most of their songs from their albums are floating around online on YouTube and torrent sites and so on (and on their pages linked above), but their CDs are all likely out of print, so I can probably encourage you to download them (though The Georgian Skull's full length CD is on iTunes, so you could support them by buying it there!) YouTube has dozens of live videos and audio tracks of the band in action from their more recent live concerts, but I'll feature The Georgian Skull's 2008 promo video for their song "Hunting The Ghost" here to check out, so give it a look, and go check out Mister Bones/The Georgian Skull!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month, we'll be taking a look at Beyond Haven, a Barrie hard rock quartet who feature Sault Ontario native Jason Graham on lead guitar. We've featured them in a poll on out of town bands with Saultites you guys would wanna see here once, but we haven't talked about them a lot, so on or around September 26th is as good as ever! Watch out for that profile next month, and stay tuned for more news (and our review of Oddfellow's CD "Go") in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Skull Fist), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

Happy August, everyone! Let's kick off the last month of the summer with a pile of assorted news stories from the last while, and this will help clear out our news cache for the most part, so here's what's on the docket! We've got updates to one of our monthly feature series, a local band's drummer search, info on the David Gold tribute album, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, but first, here's a new addition to our band links!

Yes, we have a new band from the Sault Michigan area to add to our band links, and they are East Branch! Once known as Jaar, I believe they're based out of Strongs, Michigan and feature Swampghas' J.R. Johnson in their lineup, and they are signed to Eckerman label Werehold Records, but I know little else on them beyond that. A Facebook page for East Branch was quietly launched on Saturday, and all it says is "Play Metal" for band information. That all said, they still have enough information for us to link them on the SMS, as songs by East Branch were a part of both of Werehold Records' Friday the 13th New Music postings on their YouTube channel, and they definitely fit among other area metal bands! Their two available instrumental songs are entitled "Black Market Body Parts" and "Hillbilly Highway", and while the former is a slow heavier instrumental, the latter is a softer track that still has a lonesome darker feel and isn't badly done. These are interesting tracks, if a bit repetitive, but East Branch do have promise, and hopefully we'll hear much more from them soon, along with the other current Werehold bands! Check the above links to hear and read more on East Branch, who are now in our local metal band links!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Skull Fist are coming back to Sault Ontario at the end of this month during their Tear Down The West Canadian tour! The Toronto speed metal quartet have became local favourites in their last two stops here in August 2010 and last fall, and luckily for us, T-Rex Manning guitarist Tiffany Stocco is bringing them back to The Canadian Nightclub on August 31st for what should be their biggest Sault Ste. Marie show yet! The Friday placement of it helps in that regard, as does the growing local support for a band of this intensity, speed, and old school flavour, but it will also be bigger by featuring three opening bands rather than two from the previous Skull Fist shows here! Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight will co-headline in their first appearance since the Anvil show (barring any new shows in the interim), and they should fit well with their Misfits-inspired sound on August 31st! The other two opening bands are actually the same openers from the Skull Fist show last fall, those being local deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre (who were known as View To A Kill last year) and classic metal quartet Late & Loud! For The V.D.M., this will very likely be their last local concert before they move to London for college, and who knows when they'll be back, so help send them off in style on the 31st!

As for Late & Loud, this will be their first local concert since winning the Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April, and after a four month break, you know they'll be itching to return to the stage and melt some faces, so don't miss their opening set at the end of the month! This concert will have a $5 cover charge, everything starts at 10:00 PM, and despite other recent Canadian shows being all ages, this one will be 19+ for unannounced reasons. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like this will be an entertaining concert, and if you were at either of Skull Fist's last shows here, you should agree, so definitely stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and I'll hopefully be there as well!

Thirdly today, here's some long awaited updates on prominent local progressive death metal band Gates of Winter! Updates have been almost nonexistent since the spring (barring a new band photo), but on Sunday, frontman Lee Maines revealed on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group that they're looking for a new session drummer. Direct reference to Gates of Winter was oddly not made, but he said that he's looking for a real drummer to possibly record the tracks for their upcoming album within "the next 4-12 months". That timeline alone hints that "Perihelion" may not be finished until next year, so things definitely sound delayed, but good art takes time! This news seems to indicate that Gates of Winter are no longer working with Vancouver drummer/Sault native Jon Morrison on their upcoming material, but I have no idea what happened or if anything he may have recorded will be used on future Gates releases (best of luck to Jon though in the future!) If anyone out there is interested in trying out or lending their services to Gates of Winter as a session drummer (or maybe more?), message Lee on Facebook at this location! This could be a huge opportunity, as even though Gates of Winter are still on their almost 4 year concert hiatus, their talents and original material are top notch, and they're still widely known and respected locally, so I wouldn't pass on this! Stay tuned for more Gates of Winter updates as they come in!

Also in the news, here's the latest updates on the David Gold/Woods of Ypres tribute album! The official album cover has been revealed, and it's not the one that was earlier posted online as a possibility. You can see the official one on your left, and it looks nice, and very fitting to David's memory! However, the album's title looks tacked on and doesn't flow with the artwork, so I'd make it fit better and add "A" to the beginning, as the title is "A Heart of Gold: A Tribute to Woods of Ypres". In related news, another new song has been added to the album, as Musk Ox cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne (who guested on the last two Woods of Ypres albums) will perform a solo cover of "Adora Vivos" for the tribute album, which is a nice addition, and I'm curious to hear how that song will come out on a cello! Finally, the tribute album's Facebook page has revealed that organizers are hoping for the album to see a release at the end of August (and into autumn...) or early September, but nothing will be finalized until everything is at top quality standards like David would have wanted. Sounds like things are coming together nicely, so check the above links for all of the details on the tribute album so far, and I know somehow, somewhere, David must be proud!

And finally, here's some updates to some of our monthly feature posts! In our Defunct Local Band Profile Series, I edited the SIGHdEFECT profile to replace Giwakwa with Faithless Sin in bassist Jason Bourcier's other bands, given that he did more with Faithless Sin locally. I also made big edits to the other defunct profile from November 2011, that being for the Sault Michigan metal project Mugwort, as I've finally re-obtained the other info on them thanks to e-mail correspondence with singer Bob Helsten. To sum it up, Mugwort was a 2008 collaboration between Bob and a multi-instrumentalist from Kyoto, Japan named Da-Ko, who currently plays in Japanese metal/punk bands like Grim Outside, and now we have that up on our profile with appropriate links. Thanks to Bob for letting me know about Mugwort again! Finally, I've updated the Lorax profile to reflect members Jeremy Hannah & Nathan Bouliane's current bands (With Blood Builds Character, The Moves, and Like Father Like Son) and to note that they've worked together in projects since Lorax's dissolution. Finally, in our YouTube Channel Profile Series, I updated the profile for myangels1266's channel to note channel owner Cami Hubbard's son Chris' work in The Hubbard-Menard Band and the end of his old band Trail's End. There's more updates to come, but check the above links for this batch of changes!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow as we kick off our monthly feature posts for August 2012, along with weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone

YouTube Channel Profile Series: GardenofBedlamBand, TheDimebagmikey, and taylortrecroce's Channels

A day later than I had hoped, but today, we have this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! For a second straight month, we're looking at three YouTube channels with a 50% or higher concentration of local metal/hard rock concert videos, as the first one we selected only had one video available. As usual in this series, we're looking at the videos, information, and reasons to check out said channel(s), and there's some nice quality stuff here, including some familiar local sights and more footage from a major local concert, so read on below for this latest installment, and if there's anything incorrect or missing, please let me know! (Edited on October 16th, 2013)
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GardenofBedlamBand's Channel (http://youtube.com/user/gardenofbedlamband)

Owner: A member of Garden of Bedlam (my guess is bassist Evan Belleau), but the channel is credited to the band as a whole

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 2nd, 2008; Only video posted later that month

Channel Summary: At the time, this channel was intended to be the official YouTube channel for prominent local metal band Garden of Bedlam, who had publically launched in early 2008. Only one video was posted onto this channel before it fell inactive by the end of the year, and it has since been succeeded by two newer official channels, this one most recently. The only video posted on the GardenofBedlamBand channel was of Garden of Bedlam playing their song "Shallow" at the then-Lock City Grand Theater on December 17th, 2008 as part of the Sick Jams For Sick Kids fundraising concert, where they & four other bands performed to raise money for the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. The camera isn't well centered when stationary, and the heavy music sounds distorted at points, but this is a nice early look at Garden of Bedlam in their first year of activity, and it's notable on that basis! Just remember that their newer channels are better sources for up to date video footage.


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TheDimebagmikey's channel (http://youtube.com/user/thedimebagmikey)

Owner: Former Skull After Betrayal/Devastation of the Heavens frontman & Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 1st, 2010; Videos posted between June 2011 & January 2013

Channel Summary: Though still in active use, Mike has only posted two metal videos onto his YouTube channel, both coming on June 2nd, 2011, during his most recent active live band Skull After Betrayal's heyday. The videos are of all 4 members of the band playing their originals "Enemy" & "Dagger to the Heart" (which is embedded below) at a jam session around that time period, and they showed their skills well here! Though the members are each partially obscured by their placement in the video, they have some well played metal in store for the most part, and the lack of vocals in these videos don't hurt the quality, as Mike's live vocal work wasn't as varied and refined as it could have been. With nice video quality and audio clarity to boot, these are some quality videos from Skull After Betrayal's run, and look out for introductions of the band members at the end of the "Dagger to the Heart" video! (Note that Mike's only video since 2011 is this clip of him investigating a horde of Pokemon figurines, which works for what it is)


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taylortrecroce's Channel (http://youtube.com/user/taylortrecroce)

Owner: Soo Thunderbirds announcer Taylor Trecroce, who also works with game night staff for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 25th, 2009; Videos posted on December 9th of that year

Channel Summary: Taylor's only videos both come from Norwood, Ontario hard rock band Three Days Grace's second headlining concert at The Essar Center from December 8th, 2009, and they're among the best YouTube videos from this concert that I've found! He got a solid angle of 3DG playing their songs "Never Too Late" and "The Good Life" (embedded below, as it's heavier), though hands can get in the way, and the camerawork is very shaky. The audio's pretty clear, though it does sound slightly muffled and tinny here and there, and "Never Too Late" is harder to hear thanks to the song's quietness combined with singing fans. It's great to see more good video footage from the last non-contest won hard rock headlining show at The Essar Center, and Three Days Grace fans and attendees of this concert would be wise to check Taylor's videos out!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month, we'll be looking at multiple channels for the fourth time in the last 5 months, as the first channel I randomly selected only had two distinct videos, so I added one more to fill things out. So next month, keep an eye out for As It Stands drummer John Mignacca's YouTube channel and YouTube user sarahforcexo's channel, so if you like Out Of The Mouth Of Babes or Bret Michaels, pay close attention to next month's installment, which should go up on or around August 22nd! That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Band Status Updates, Concert Date Changes, And New Videos!!

Here's a post full of assorted news items for this likely warm Tuesday, so we've got a pair of local metal act dissolutions, a couple of notes from Sault Michigan (including a band revival and concert date changes), and a pair of new videos from across the river, so read on below for all that you need to know!

It looks like local hardcore/death metal quartet Skull After Betrayl has broken up for a second time. They quietly deleted their Facebook page earlier in the spring, though other online pages still exist, luckily. A public statement hasn't been made about their breakup, but I can confirm that the split was completely amicable, and I can assume that frontman Mike Vincent's recent band search & guitarist Justin Polutanovich's new role in Borderline Divine were indicators that their status was in question. This ends a brief & uneventful reunion that started in October after their initial 2 month breakup last year, but after bassist Adam Brett briefly moved out of town in January, band updates stalled. I'm disappointed to see them officially throw in the towel, as they were steadily improving as a band during their initial early-mid 2011 run, which saw them open for the likes of The Dayglo Abortions and Titan's Eve. Hopefully the guys all stay in music, as they all were clearly talented or noticeably improving! Best of luck to Mike, Justin, Adam, and Anthony in the future, and I've moved Skull After Betrayl to our inactive local band links!

The other recent end is for ex-Browbeat frontman Dutch Vanderploeg's latest solo project, as he deleted his Facebook & Reverbnation pages at some point this spring. He usually wipes his band pages for every project he leads that dissolves, which is disappointing for fans, though he thankfully left his YouTube channel up this time. Dutch is and always has been a very talented musician, and I hope he revisits his original music again in the future! I find his music doesn't get the appreciation it's deserves, and hopefully this won't be the last we hear from him! As YouTube channels aren't really band pages, I've regrettably removed Dutch from our band links, but if he gets back into a band, you know they'll be linked & covered here!

Now to some positive stories, both from the Sault Michigan area, starting with a band revival! On May 4th, you may remember that Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories had disbanded for unannounced reasons, not long after singer Sean Roush had left. Well, just a week later, the band confirmed on their Facebook page that they're "back in business" and are looking for musicians with "any talent" to hit them up, presumably to join the band in some capacity. Whether Sean's back or if any other members are out isn't known yet, but the post implies that there is some member searches in the works. It's great to see Chained Memories giving this another go, and hopefully Mike & company can finally take off and accomplish big things in the area! The other Sault Michigan story is that Cheboygan metal trio Peril's next planned concert weekend at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino has been pushed back a week from July 20th & 21st to July 13th to 14th. A reason for the change hasn't been announced, but Peril have not confirmed concert dates beyond June yet on band pages, and Kewadin Casino have no one new booked for the July 20th weekend yet, as per their entertainment page, so the jury's out. The sooner the better, hopefully, so keep Peril's new next concert dates in mind for this summer!

Let's close with new videos, starting with a new video of Kinross hard rockers Banned from their concert at The Runway Bar in Hessel (50 minutes from Sault Michigan) on Saturday! Filmed by frequent filmer/family member Ashley Traynor and uploaded to her YouTube channel on Sunday, it's of Banned covering the Bachman/Turner Overdrive classic "Takin' Care of Business" at that concert! Lead vocals were provided by drummer Don Traynor (leaving singer Mike Straw to backing vocals), while Banned were rejoined by former bassist Alex Schrovenwever on rhythm guitar at this show as well, similarly to their March concert at The Bird. If Alex has permanently rejoined, band pages haven't confirmed his return, but it's good to see him back with the Traynors, even if just once! This is a solid cover, and Don sings well on it, but I've seen better videos of Banned. The colours are very washed out, dancers get in the way, Jim Pentland is barely visible, and I still wanna hear Mike sing more in Banned's live videos, but this is still another good video of Banned live, so give it a look below, and keep posted on Banned's next local & area dates at the above links!



Finally, here's a new promo video for Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's new album "The Dawn's Early Light"! Though called their second promo video, it's effectively a replacement for their first one, as they made it private for unannounced reasons in the last week, merely saying that the original had "expired". Posted on their YouTube channel on Sunday, it is actually an improvement, as it moves any "Christmas Night" mentions to the end, lessening the seasonal vibe. The only real new information on "The Dawn's Early Light" in this video is that "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" will also be performed on the album, meaning that 9 of the 12 songs have now been announced. Sounds good to me, so check out Theatre of Night's new promo video below, and stay tuned for updates as we inch closer to the summer!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news to come this week! Thanks everyone!

Skull Fist Concert Review!!

Things may be slowing down a tad for news in the local scene, but concerts do keep rolling along, and there was a heavy one last night at The Canadian Nightclub, so here's my review of it! Before I get to the bands, let me just say that the latest renovations at The Canadian following the July flood were honestly not too drastic. Unlike the 2009 renovations, things look mostly the same as they've looked since then. Maybe a bit darker in colour, and I didn't see as many TVs mounted on the walls, but if you enjoyed The Canadian's look from 2009 through this summer, you'll have nothing to fear, and besides, it's nice to be back there for a concert! Now, how about the bands? (UPDATED: Tuesday, 9:00 PM)

Opening last night's show was new local deathcore quartet View To A Kill, replacing the still-active Sativa Rose on the lineup. This new band featured State of Misery singer Steve Rhodes, Sativa Rose bandmates Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale on guitar and bass, and Andrew's old Chillum bandmate (I think) Kyle Umgeher on drums. After taking this booking on a few days notice, how'd they do? Pretty good, and for a comparison point, they definitely outdid the first show from Steve's short-lived band Bring The Misery in June! A couple of songs definitely sounded like they needed an extra guitar, but overall, they definitely had more chemistry and togetherness than you may have expected! With covers of songs from bands like Sepultura, Pantera, Lamb of God, and Parkway Drive in their setlist, they had some really heavy moments, and the members shown their talents well! Though Steve didn't move around much, his death metal vocals were as good as I remembered them, Andrew's guitar playing was excellent, as was Adam's clear and audible bass work, and the electric drum kit that Kyle was using was a unique touch you don't see enough locally! Solid first show from View To A Kill, and hopefully the guys can balance all their bands to ensure that we see this new quartet often in the coming months!

Second on the bill last night was local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in just the second time I've ever seen them live. How'd they compare to their set at The Sewer Swampstravaganja in April? They were much better, I'll say that much! Maybe it's just the better audio in The Canadian, but I found they were heavier, more varied, and had more energy than they did this spring, so those are definitely good signs! Vocally, Late & Loud are still limited, with most band members sharing vocal duties, but I did find that guitarist Brendan Christie has the best vocal range of the band's members, even unleashing some falsetto vocals on their original "Live For Excess"! They had a lot of newer originals to share last night, all of which have levels of promise going for them, and their covers (like of "Paranoid" & "The Trooper") were well played too, but the vocals didn't gel as well on those. Brendan and Jonathan Tiberi shredded some awesome riffs and solos, Josh Hatherly impressed on drums (and guitar, when he and Jon switched for a few songs), and Benn Garside's bass work was solid and proficient throughout! Keep an eye on Late & Loud, they're going places for sure, and hopefully we see more shows from them in the near future!

And finally, your headliners last night were Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist, 15 months after last rocking The Canadian! Their lineup is a lot different since we last saw them, with only frontman Jackie Slaughter remaining in the band on the same instrument as last year, but luckily their fast paced old school metal assault was intact! The band unleashed a very entertaining set of original songs that harkened back to fast paced speed metal of the early 1980s, and the small but devoted crowd ate it up! Jackie's high pitched singing seemed to mix power and thrash metal at it's finest, and both he and guitarist Johnny "Exciter" Nesta had some awesome trade-off guitar moments and shredtastic solos throughout their set! New bassist Casey Slade was also a standout, and though their smoke machine didn't come with them this year, their stage setup and energy kept us moving and even starting some moshpits here and there! I had to leave a bit early from their set because, being Sunday night, it was a school night for me, but the metal was felt by everyone, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Skull Fist onslaught just like last year! Can't beat a slice of fast-paced classic metal like this, and hopefully Skull Fist return to Sault Ste. Marie very soon!

Awesome night of metal, and hopefully you guys didn't miss it! I got a bunch of photos last night, so click here to check them out, or visit our official Facebook page! I got a "Tag Yourself!" crowd shot as well, so click here to give it a look! Just as an aside, we had an issue earlier today relating to a fan of our Facebook page needlessly labelling the people in that photo & in what many percieved as an insulting manner. I blocked the user, and remember, though I completely accept freedom of expression on SMS pages, insults, hate speech, and "trolling" (if you want to call it that) shouldn't be tolerated. We're here to promote & support the scene, not nitpick it or criticize those who support it. And yes, I have videos, so here's View To A Kill's first original "Let It All Bleed Out", Late & Loud's song "Live For Excess", and Skull Fist's new song "Tear Down The Wall"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news in the next few days, including big news from Gates of Winter, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and more, including our next Defunct Local Band Profile on Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bear Hunters), A New Local Band, And The Skull Fist Concert Preview!!

News has sure slowed down since Halloween wrapped up, but I have some big stories today to share with everyone! So today, we have a new local band, a preview of a big metal concert tomorrow night, and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!

Roosevelt Hotel metal nights are officially back! After a three week absence following a promoter switch, the Thursday night metal shows at the Korah Road bar are back this Thursday for your headbanging needs! This will be the 38th metal night at The Rosie, but the first from new booker (and Rosie manager) Stephane Vincent, and he's secured a solid lineup of local talent for Thursday night, so here's who to look out for! The announced headliners will be local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, in their first local concert since the Napalm Death show and their record-tying 16th Rosie metal night appearance, so they'll fit in extremely well on Thursday! Backing them up are local punk trio Redundant (fresh off of a pair of Halloween weekend concerts of their own) and local grime/death metal outfit Shit Liver, themselves rocking a Rosie metal night for a record-tying 16th time! Sounds like a good first lineup for the new metal nights, and it's good to see an all local lineup again for a change! Admission will be free as usual, you must be 19 to attend, and an 11:00 PM start time is announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

It's great to see Thursday metal nights continuing, and though I don't know if they'll remain weekly or have any future adjustments, things seem on par with the Dismembertanment-promoted Thursday nighters! Also, here's a neat little fact: The first Roosevelt Hotel metal night (which featured Breaking The Fourth Wall & local openers) was on November 11th, 2010, almost exactly one year before the day they'll relaunch! Good timing, huh? Stay tuned for more on the metal nights' return as the week goes on!

Now to a concert preview, and in an otherwise quiet weekend on the local metal scene, we'll end the weekend strong tomorrow night, as Skull Fist are making their long awaited return to Sault Ontario! The always-entertaining Toronto heavy metal quartet will bring their old school sound back to The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night, 15 months after last rocking Saultites to the core! This time however, they're touring in support of their new album "Head Of The Pack", and they'll look to end their cross-Canada tour in style here in the Soo! Unlike last year though, this concert will feature local openers instead of touring acts, including local classic metal quartet Late & Loud! After a busy stretch of late-October concerts, this talented outfit will be sure to deliver a great night of metal in what could be their first ever show at The Canadian! Fellow classic metallers Sativa Rose were initially announced to join them tomorrow in their debut with new singer Marisa Valois, but they have dropped out of the show due to personal reasons. Disappointing, hopefully nothing bad happened! That said, they have been replaced by a new band named View To A Kill, and I'll have more on them in a second.

And of course, this is the first metal concert to take place at The Canadian since the major flooding that devastated the Pim Street bar in July, so tomorrow's a great opportunity to see the renovations & how things look now at The Canadian! Admission will be $3 for this concert, everything starts at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds good to me, and the metal will surely flow with the best of them tomorrow night, so I'll absolutely be there! I live right near The Canadian, how could I not go? For a preview, here's some awesome pro-shot footage of Skull Fist from earlier this year from the Metal Assault festival in Germany!



And now, let's mention the new local metal band named View To A Kill that are replacing Sativa Rose tomorrow night. If you're bummed that Sativa Rose aren't playing, it might be some solace to know that guitarist Andrew Angelic and bassist Adam Veale are in this new band, and that alone is promising! Whether this is Andrew's new band that was hyped for the Green Christmas Bash at Feedback or not isn't known yet. The other members of View To A Kill are State of Misery's own Steve Rhodes on vocals, as well as Kyle Umgeher on drums. I'm not familiar with Kyle at all musically, but it's nice to see Steve back out on a local stage for the first time since June! I have no clue if the existence of View To A Kill means anything "final" for Sativa Rose or State of Misery, but if I hear anything on their statuses, you'll be sure to find it here! Other details on View To A Kill are minimal so far (zombie Pokemon photo on their Facebook page aside), but they appear to play a form of hardcore metal, and have influences similar to those of their other bands. Their lineup sure sounds promising, and hopefully they deliver where Bring The Misery fell short tomorrow night! I'll have news on them (and the members' other bands) as I get it, but for now, check out View To A Kill at the above links!

That's all for now, but I'll see you guys at the Skull Fist show tomorrow night, and stay tuned my review of it, our next Defunct Local Band Profile, and much more this coming week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Laugh At The Fakes, Scofflaw, Late & Loud, And Skull Fist) Plus The Return Of Rosie Metal Nights?!

Alright guys, we have a STACKED news post to cap off this busy Wednesday with, including a pile of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and the potential return of a recent weekly concert event you metalheads loved over the past year, so let's not waste any time! Also, check out the two posts from earlier today below for a preview of TONIGHT'S Late & Loud concert, new Joan Jett videos, this week's classic video, and this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Lust Boys! (Edited, Friday at 9:20 AM)

The first metal concert at Feedback Nightclub & Bar since the Napalm Death show is now official, and like he used to do at The Rosie, owner Rich Moreland has brought a talented out of town band in for a high energy metal show! On Friday night, Toronto metal trio Laugh at the Fakes will play Sault Ontario for the first time for a high energy set of wide ranging originals! Very heavy and catchy material, with unique higher vocals too that remind me of Axl Rose at points, you guys should dig them! The local openers will be classic metal quartet Late & Loud, fresh off of their headlining show TONIGHT at The Speak Easy, so look out for some proficiently played originals and covers from them in their Feedback debut on Friday night! For the record, the Facebook event page doesn't hint towards anything Halloween related for the show itself, but I know the spirit of the season will be around! Apologies for the short notice too, promoters didn't officially confirm this show until earlier today. This show will have a 19+ age limit and a $3 cover, and it all starts at 10:00 PM on Friday. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a fun show, hopefully lots of people head to the former Foggy Notions to enjoy the metal!

Also new this weekend is the return of Scofflaw to the local stage THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY! The Friday show is newly announced, while they've been added to an existing date on Saturday, both of which will be at The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan. From what it looks like, Scofflaw will headline both nights, with drummer Ivan Schliska's other local rock band Powerslug opening both nights (they were originally the only confirmed band for Saturday only.) This will be the first time that both of Ivan's bands have shared the stage since LemmaFest, and with the punk inspired rough hard rock sounds of Scofflaw always welcome locally, you won't wanna miss them during Halloween weekend at The Merch! Like Feedback, there will be drink specials for the season, and there'll be a costume contest for $100 on Saturday night as well, so make note of that! There is still no announced cover charge for either night, you must be 21 to attend, and everything starts at probably around 10:00 PM both nights. For more details, check the newly updated Facebook event page! It's awesome to see Scofflaw back for a beefed up Halloween weekend at The Merchant's Bar, so make note of these shows if you can for your Halloween weekend concert plans! Stay tuned for more in our weekend concert previews!

Next up, are you guys in the mood for more seasonal Halloween metal action? Well, how about a show on Halloween night itself? On Monday, classic metal quartet Late & Loud will play their third concert in six days when they headline a Halloween bash at The Speak Easy! This will be the band's second non-weekend show at the Algoma University bar in a two week span, and their second costumes-welcome concert of the fall, following a superhero costume pub there last month. That said, if you want a heavy metal good time for Halloween night, you know exactly where to be! A cover charge hasn't been announced (I'd expect one though), you must be 19 (or an Algoma student if underage?) to attend, and I presume they'll take the stage at around 10:00 PM. For more details (scant as they may be), visit the band's Facebook page! Late & Loud are sure ramping up the bookings lately, aren't they? Don't miss them on Monday night if you need something to do, they'll deliver some hard rocking good times to send out the Halloween season with a bang! Stay tuned for more updates if they come in!

And finally for new shows, Toronto old school heavy metal quartet Skull Fist are returning to Sault Ontario on November 6th (one week from Sunday!) After a memorable local debut last August that gave us the SMS YouTube channel's most popular video, this high energy blast from the past will return to The Canadian Nightclub for what should be a memorable headlining set! Unlike last year's show which featured fellow touring favourites The Isosceles Project and Thekillingfield as openers, this show will instead feature two local opening bands, those being Sativa Rose & (once again) Late and Loud! Nice to see them so busy, hopefully they keep this up! This concert will have two notable firsts, one of which is that this will be the first metal concert at The Canadian Nightclub since the massive flood in July, so us metalheads can see how the Pim Street bar looks after the seven week long renovations! Also, this will be the first concert appearance by Sativa Rose since adding singer Marisa Valois to the band in the summer, ending a four month hiatus from the live stage for this talented classic metal quintet! The show itself is a late addition to Skull Fist's "Head of the Pack" tour, but what better place is there to end this tour than here in Sault Ontario?

This show will have a $3 cover charge, it will likely be ALL AGES, and though the Facebook event page lists an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM, expect it to start later at around 9;30 PM. Stay tuned to the above links for updates, and thanks to promoter Tiffany Stocco for some added information! This should be an awesome concert with a very entertaining headliner and some great local talent, and I live right near The Canadian, so I should be able to hit this one! Stay tuned for updates as we inch closer to this huge concert!

And finally for today, here's some notes relating to Roosevelt Hotel metal nights. As you may remember, last week saw no Thursday night metal show at The Rosie, and there won't be one tomorrow night either, following promoter Rich Moreland's purchase of Foggy Notions (now Feedback.) Occupied with his own bar now, the Dismembertainment-promoted Rosie metal nights have ended after a successful 11 month run on Thursdays, but is this the permanent end of Thursday metal concerts at the Korah Road bar? It doesn't look like it, as Roosevelt Hotel manager Stephane Vincent formally announced last night on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group that he was taking over concert bookings for both Thursday metal nights and other weekend gigs. By request, I sent him a list of bands that would fit on metal nights (including a few punk bands), and he's open to answer questions and take bookings from any interested acts at stephane.vincent71@live.com and through his personal Facebook page.

No word yet on if the metal nights remain weekly, or when they could return, but Stephane did tell me it would be a few weeks. I'll always support more metal concerts, so hopefully Stephane and the crew at The Rosie make the right moves and the best decisions to run Rosie metal nights smoothly if they do return! Stay tuned to the SMS for updates, and best of luck all around!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow, and with the Halloween weekend upon us, there's no shortage of concerts coming up! Stay tuned!