LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Lucky 13), Shit Liver & AlgomA Updates, And More!!

As promised, here's another post for your Friday with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but just for the sake of clarification, if a band like Mourning Wood announce any weekend gigs on even later notice today, we probably won't have time to mention it on the site beforehand, so keep tabs on our Facebook page if something's announced. Today's post also has new updates from two local extreme metal bands, and some assorted updates, so here's what you should know, and check out last month's poll results and our new poll in the post below this one!

Local alternative/hard rock cover quartet Lucky 13 will return to The Rednecks Saloon for solo headlining concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the shows via the official Facebook event page on Wednesday, and we only heard about them after our first concert preview post went up on the site on Thursday. Making their first concert appearance of the fall (having last rocked the stage at Rednecks in early August), it's good to see Ed, Jeremey, Jeff, and Roger back on stage, and hopefully their fan-favourite, often edgy covers find a strong audience at the former Nicolet Tavern TONIGHT & TOMORROW during their "world tour"! Both shows have 10:30 PM start times, both are 19+ affairs, and there are no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Lucky 13 live last year!

Next up, local/St. Catharine's death/crust trio Shit Liver are spotlighted in the newest episode of the YouTube webseries Extreme Metal Television, which went online on Sunday! The Canadian-produced series has been ongoing since 2011, and may be familiar to some readers for featuring Woods of Ypres in their fourth and eleventh episodes. Though this newest episode's main features are interviews with members of Napalm Death & Iron Reagan, Shit Liver actually lead things off with an underground spotlight filmed during their Calgary tour date in May. Interspersed with concert footage from that show, Josh, Mike, and Matt are interviewed about how they formed, the inspiration of the name Shit Liver, the recording process for their debut album, their influences & musical style, and early plans for future albums, their east coast tour run, and new YouTube uploads. Their segment runs until about 6:15 of the video.

In terms of scoops, the guys revealed in the interview that their second album will be called "Hitting The Fan", and they also plan to record a split CD with Saskatoon grindcore quartet Grimace, who had previously teased that on their own Facebook page in May after their show together, but Shit Liver hadn't previously acknowledged the split that I'd seen. Solid interview and good exposure for the guys, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Shit Liver in an upcoming post!

Also, here's some of the latest from local doom metal trio AlgomA, who've been getting some nice exposure in a few different forms! Their song "Bedsores" is among the 75 Canadian doom & stoner metal songs on the new digital compilation "Doomed & Stoned In Canada" alongside such familiar bands as Ballot Burner, Biipiigwan, The Great Sabatini, Gypsy Chief Goliath, Public Animal, and AlgomA's upcoming splitmates Chronbot. Very solid compilation for fans of underground Canadian metal, so buy it at the link above for any price you want! As well, AlgomA were Tuesday's spotlighted band on the popular Tumblr account One Band a Day, which profiles... you can guess. Their review noted that they're an "excellent sludge doom band" that "probably makes noise flee in fear", even giving them a rating of 11/10. High praise in this short write-up, so give it a look above, and follow One Band A Day for more solid bands every day!

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

• Local hardcore punk sextet Destroilet have finally been confirmed as the last opening band for THIS SUNDAY'S Fuck The Facts concert, marking their Oddfellows Hall debut! While those close to the event knew they were opening for a while now, promoter Tyler St. Amour only confirmed that they were in the 7:00 PM slot on Tuesday on the Facebook event page, noting that the delay in the announcement was due to personal commitments. Surprising to be sure, but Destroilet will fit in well, and stay tuned for our full preview!
• Just as a clarification note from last weekend, we can now confirm that former Wishbone drummer Brent Royer filled in for Glen Thomas (another Wishbone alum) with Mourning Wood at their show on Saturday at The Rednecks Saloon, as per personal Facebook posts by Brent. Hopefully that show went well, and stay tuned for more on their next gigs!
• Veteran local rock guitarist Mario Carlucci posted an audio cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" onto his Soundcloud page on Monday that is credited to his old classic/hard rock band Sneaky Pete, who have been defunct for a couple of years now. There's no indication there that this is a new recording, but there's no word that it isn't either, so are Sneaky Pete getting back together? If we hear anything, we'll let you know, but check out the solid cover above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, including more concert previews! Thanks everyone!

Theory Of A Deadman Concert Videos & More Assorted Updates!!

After a couple of quiet days (the calm before the Rotaryfest storm?), here's a new news post that largely looks at videos from Friday night's Theory Of A Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, but there's some assorted Sault Ontario notes at the end to round things out! Fittingly, the videos from Friday's show are all from YouTube user Christopher Paci's channel, which was also the source of almost all of the P.O.D. and Anvil videos that we've seen. Chris often has his camera for big Kewadin Casino concerts and select Sault Ontario events, so kudos to him for all of the footage that he's gotten in the last few years! Chris filmed eleven videos of all three bands on Friday, so let's start with the headliners, British Columbia hard rock quartet Theory of a Deadman, who were the subject of 7 of Chris' videos, including their songs "Angel", "Savages", "All Or Nothing", "Santa Monica", "Not Meant To Be", "So Happy", and as embedded below, "Bad Girlfriend".

The videos can be shaky at some angles, and the scratchy audio on heavier songs does return, but the band sounds generally good if you're a T.O.A.D. fan! Frontman Tyler Connolly does seem to be lacking some energy vocally, but see what you think above and below!



Three of Christopher's videos come from the opening set by Missouri hard rock quintet Shaman's Harvest, including their songs "Country As Fuck", "Dangerous", and as embedded below, "Devil's Gift". Nice Southern rock-tinged sound while still remaining heavy, and Nathan Hunt has a perfect voice for their songs, so check out their videos above and below!



The last of Chris' videos is of local hard rock quartet Ten Kings (with guest bassist Chris Hubbard) covering Audioslave's "Show Me How To Live". By far the longest and most substantial video of Ten Kings that we've seen yet, it's not a bad rendition of my favourite Audioslave song, with Brandon Carr taking his vocal range to some points we don't often see! Solidly done, so give their video a look below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all from Sault Ontario, and like usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Former Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Strange (credited as Riina Rampage) reemerged in the cover photo of last week's Sault This Week as a busking performer alongside Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda on the boardwalk downtown. Nice to see her back in music, hopefully we hear more soon! Note that she did briefly have a post looking for black metal musicians on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, complete with unlisted videos of her performing, but they've since been deleted for unannounced reasons.
• Local goregrind duo Rotopsy have finally posted their entire recent album onto their Bandcamp page! Select songs from the album (whose title may be seen as offensive) were previously posted there, but now you can stream all 16 songs (all but one under 3 minutes) there for free, and buy them at any price you want! Get your grind fix at the above links!
• Former Sneaky Pete singer/drummer Mike Oakley shared another rehearsal clip of the defunct classic/hard rock quartet covering The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" onto his personal Soundcloud page last month! It sounds a little off without female backing vocals, but it has the grit and talent that they always showed in their run, so check it out above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a stacked lineup of weekend concert previews next, with at least three full posts of them to come, including one all about Rotaryfest! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stiffler's Mom & Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

With New Year's special posts out of the way, let's dive into normal posts on this Friday morning, and we'll have two for you guys today! This month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post will be postponed until tomorrow so we can clear out some of our backlogged news items today, as we're very behind, but it is definitely coming! As for this post, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT and later this month, weekend concert previews (given the New Year Eve shows, things are slower), and a few assorted notes, so here's what you need to know!

We'll start our first news post of 2015 with more new concerts from local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison, who will continue his weekly acoustic concert run at The Harp Bar & Grill TONIGHT, and through the next 4 months too! Apologies for the short notice for this weekend, we were holding Tym's next shows for our weekend previews, and like in the past, we'll only put January dates into our concert listings this month to pace ourselves, given his Harp run's forecasted length. Actually, Tym's newly updated calendar on his website has been severely retracted from featuring weekend Harp shows nonstop until the 2020s to just May 1st, but whether that's the last current booking, the end of his Harp run, or just where he stopped in the update is to be determined. In any event, Tym will rock the former Madison's Pub TONIGHT (there's no show tomorrow due to The Harp's UFC 182 broadcast), but he'll be back with full Friday jam nights and Saturday solo gigs next weekend and on the 16th & 17th and on the 23rd & 24th!

Tym will also be at The Harp on Friday, January 30th, but like this weekend, there's no show on Saturday the 31st due to another UFC PPV. Each of this month's shows have no announced cover charge, 10:00 PM start times, and 19+ age limits. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! After a weekend off for the holidays, it's great to see Tym's successful run at The Harp enter it's second year, so keep TONIGHT'S acoustic show in mind, and here he is at The Service Grill!



Next up, here's another new concert confirmation, as local party/hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will kick off their 2015 schedule with a one-night-only gig at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, January 10th (or, next weekend!) Announced on their Facebook page on New Year's Eve, this will be the guys' first concert together in three months, and it continues their recent regular run of shows at this venue, having not played outside of The Rockstar Bar since Rotaryfest (not counting potential unannounced gigs.) Greg, Mike, and Jon always deliver a fun time when they hit the stage, and hopefully there's a sizeable crowd next Saturday to welcome them to the new year in style! No word though on why this is a one nighter, but there's probably a separate band playing that Friday. Next Saturday's show will be a 19+ affair with a likely 10:30 PM start time, and bring at least $5 for a cover just in case. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from Stiffler's Mom in 2015!

Also today, here's one more weekend concert preview, as local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will return to the stage for the second time over the holidays when they rock The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT as well! This will be the former Suicide Kings' first show of the year, their first gig at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs venue in over 4 months, and will also be their last show until "the summer concert series" due to drummer Ben Boudreau heading back to school in Hamilton, but remember that most colleges end their spring semesters in April, so keep that month in mind! In any event, it's great to see the guys back for one more show over the Christmas break, so don't miss their high impact originals and entertaining covers one more time before their next few months off! Of course, if you really miss Beaumont Avenue, keep tabs on their Urawk karaoke series' 2015 return, also at The Rockstar Bar. A $5 cover charge is likely for this one night only gig at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Hopefully Mike, Steven, Mitch, and Ben start 2015 on a high note with a great show TONIGHT, so don't miss it for some live hard rock (especially given Ben's return to school), and here's Beaumont Avenue live at The Rockstar Bar in 2013!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from late last year, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, event, or venue name:

• According to this photo on their Instagram page, local concert venue LopLops Lounge temporarily closed after their "12 Musicians of Christmas" event on December 29th, but plan to re-open on January 23rd. While not stated there, personal Facebook posts indicate that the hiatus will be to undergo interior renovations. Hopefully everything goes great for the re-opening in three weeks!
• On Sunday, former Glitch drummer Mike Oakley uploaded a new live track of his old cover hard rock band Sneaky Pete covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" onto his Soundcloud page. Apparently recorded at a 2011 concert at The Rockstar Bar (as per Mike's personal Facebook page), it's a well recorded & performed cover, though I admittedly prefer older Chili Peppers material. Give it a listen above though, it's nice to hear more from the guys!
• Formal band packages & registration forms are now available at The Rad Zone for bands who have already reserved a spot in the Tidal Records Battle at The Canadian Nightclub in March, but if any bands don't claim their reserved packages, they'll be released to any band who wants to sign up. Promoter J.D. Pearce can also arrange a central pick-up at his place if that's more convenient. For full details, visit this battle's Facebook event page, and sign up A.S.A.P.!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for another new news post later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Highway 63), New Video Finds, And More!!

After a two day run of weekend concert previews and battle of the bands updates, let's take a look at other stories from recent days before we dive back into the battle pool, and believe me, there's big news on both to mention shortly! For now, we have some neat video finds, assorted recent notes, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for over the holidays, so here's what you need to know!

Newer Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will play their last gigs of the year (barring a New Year's Eve show) when they return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, December 26th and Saturday, December 27th! Coming just three weeks after the Sir Charge successors' most recent Soo Kewadin dates, I will note that these shows are not among those listed on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, but they may be waiting to list the 2015 schedule there before updating it. The Switzers and company should be in good form after a successful late 2014 string of concerts, so if you're up for some post Christmas hard rock action, you know where to be! Our source is the band's Facebook page, which also revealed yesterday that the guys are getting ready to record "our demo for the Petoskey casino", presumably meaning that they're auditioning to play gigs at the Odawa Casino & Resort there.

Sault area cover bands playing in the Lower Peninsula aren't unheard of (Highway 63 bassist Chris Leask has played down there with Power Slug), and it'd be great exposure, so hopefully things work out for the guys on that front! As for their Boxing Day weekend shows in the Soo, there's no announced cover charges, 21+ age limits, and 9:00 PM start times in effect, so check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Highway 63 as we hear it!

Next up, here's some older performance videos that we just recently came across on YouTube, starting with defunct Sault Ontario hard rock cover quartet Sneaky Pete live at The Rockstar Bar! Uploaded to lead guitarist Mario Carlucci's YouTube channel in October, the video itself is undated, but it was likely filmed in 2011 (it's not the same show as the one we filmed at in January 2012, and they didn't play live in other years.) The almost 9 minute long video features Sneaky Pete covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" before transitioning to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" to close what was filmed, and the guys sound good here! Mike Oakley's vocal range does come up short at times, but Sneaky Pete had chemistry and a good thing going, and it's s shame that they only played live concerts for less then a year after such a long stretch of preparation. The colours are also badly washed out after post-correction, but kudos to Mario for posting this after 3 years! Give it a look below!, and hopefully the guys turn up in bands again!

Also today, remember how Mourning Wood drummer T.J. Case frequently takes over lead vocals for renditions of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" during their shows? Well, it turns out that he's been singing AC/DC live long before Mourning Wood were ever a thought, as evidenced by a video posted on YouTube over 4 years ago! Uploaded by user TheLilspirit, this appears to come from his brief run with the veteran local rock band Wishbone, specifically their show at The Roosevelt Hotel (now Reggie's West) on November 20th, 2010. While the Dennis Duguay-fronted band is best known for their original material, they do play the occasional cover, and TheLilspirit filmed 2 at this show, including The Surfaris' instrumental "Wipe Out" and the aforementioned AC/DC cover, though in this case, T.J. and Wishbone did AC/DC's classic "TNT". Both are well performed, and while "TNT" benefits from having two guitarists, the backing vocals are barely audible & aren't as effective.

I'll also note that both videos are definitely centered on T.J. over Wishbone (the songs are credited to T.J. only in the title, and the other Wishbone members aren't in frame), but a reason for the single member focus isn't stated. Maybe the filmer has a personal connection, and/or the videos are intended as a solo showcase? Give Wishbone's "TNT" cover a look below, see more above, and don't miss Mourning Wood at Rednecks TONIGHT!



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

•  Local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements have quietly been added to the lineup for the second annual X-Mess acoustic punk show at The Algonquin Pub next week, as per the Facebook event page a few days ago. No word on how their set will adapt to an unplugged setting (especially concerning drums), but it's great to see the guys on board for this seasonal event! Stay tuned for more updates, and the first 11 people in the door on Saturday will get a gift!
• Redundant frontman/Thrill Junkies bassist Justin Langlois is looking to join another band on bass, saying "I need to play more bass" via a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this past Friday. Justin's talent and resume speaks for itself, but if you're interested in jamming with him, message him above or at this link!
• Speaking of bassist searches, a new local modern rock/punk band named Stereo North are also looking for a bassist, as per a post on the Musicians Wanted group yesterday by drummer Brett Norton. The band is comprised of experienced members, have a setlist ready with new and old songs, and plan to begin playing live once a bassist is found. If you want to try out for Stereo North, message Brett A.S.A.P. at this link or at the Musicians Wanted group!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more updates over the weekend, especially concerning both of next year's battles of the bands and the acts playing them! Thanks everyone!

Tuned/Medifest Video, New Archive Audio Uploads, And Much More!!

Today's post mostly clears out some recent backlogged stories, including some cool older audio tracks from 20 or so years ago, a new video, and more assorted items, but first, here's some info on the newest episode of a rising local webseries and the heavier content within!

The fourth episode of Local2's online series Tuned with Donna Hopper is now online at this link, so what should you know about this newest installment? The headline story concerns a recent stage production by The Northland Barbershop Chorus, while the concert calendar segment spotlights the Die Mannequin show at The Rockstar Bar on June 14th and the upcoming Craig Cardiff show at downtown venue Cafe Natura. Of largest interest to local metal & punk fans though will be video clips of each band from the Medifest benefit event at The Grand Theater 2 weeks ago, so what's to see from them? Taking up the last 5 minutes of the episode, the clips start with an introduction from The Elements followed by footage of The Craig West Experience, Cory Murchison (with Alain Fletcher & Kyle Sweet), Redundant, Obviously D'uh, The Elements, and Project 421's sets. Yes, we know a bit more on Obviously D'uh now, and while I still don't have the name of any individual members, they're a trio with a singer/guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer. Their music isn't heavy, but they do seem to have a folk/jam style.

Also, the keyboardist's tab book has a logo for The Narwhal Sessions on the back, who were a band that played at The Marquee at Bon Soo in February, so I assume she was in that band too, but online information on them is also fairly scant. As well, the video basically confirms that a reunited Side FX (who were listed on the event poster) did not play, so Craig West's band very likely replaced them. The footage is great, though there's a lot of jumps to different angles and songs, and vocal audibility was an issue for certain bands. Like before, we can't embed Local2 videos here, but check out the new episode of Tuned above!

Next up, former Sneaky Pete & Foothill Road guitarist Mario Carlucci posted some interesting archive audio tracks onto his Soundcloud page last week that I thought should be acknowledged on here! The newest two are jam session recordings of Sneaky Pete covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" & Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" circa 2010 (the former of which already being on YouTube), but the rest are new postings of one of his older local hard rock bands, Unkle Festerr (yes, that's how they spelled it!) He didn't detail the band's membership and history there, but judging by the age of the covers, these were likely recorded in the early 1990s. 10 of their songs are posted, those being an original that Mario thinks was named "The River" and 9 covers, including of songs by Deep Purple, Mountain, The Black Crowes, and two each from Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Judas Priest (coincidentally both covers of their own.) The audio quality can be hit or miss given the age of the tracks, but how did Unkle Festerr sound as a band?

They had a nice groove, sort of a bluesy hard rock sound that definitely owed more to the 1970s than anything that was recent at the time, and the vocals are really solid for the covered genres! I imagine Unkle Festerr were a reliably successful band in their heyday, so check out Mario's audio postings of theirs at the above links, and hear his recent blues originals at this link!

Also today, Theatre of Night keyboardist Craig Harrison has posted a new video of him playing one of the Sault Michigan classical metal band's originals, but unlike his "Ragnarok Rising" video from last week on his YouTube channel, this is of a completely new song! Entitled "Darkness Falls Within", it's a yet-incomplete track that mainly features Craig's keyboard work in the video, and it's heavily filtered like his other recent uploads. Likely to be on Theatre of Night's still forthcoming all-original album, it's hard to judge the song yet without added instrumentation, but the drama and orchestration's a great sign, so check out Craig's new video glimpse below!



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

• We won't embed the full video here just in case some readers don't approve of a depicted injury from a moshing fan (especially in the video's static image when not playing), but a video of local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore playing their song "Bunk, Shake, and Headache" at a recent private event can be seen at this link! Filmed by attendee and local promoter Tyler St. Amour, it's a solid enough video for C.T.W. fans, and things looked fun and brutal, so check it out if you want!
• Leading from recent teases of a release party for their debut EP, local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades announced on their Facebook page yesterday that copies should be in by late next week, with the first 100 copies signed & numbered, and they're hoping for the release party to be on a Friday night this month or next. A venue is still to be announced, so if you can help host this event, message frontman J.D. Pearce at this link!
• Bear Hunters/Suicide Kings guitarist Mitch Sirie's solo project The Sorrow Fields is alive despite a lengthy absence of updates and the privatization of his most recent original YouTube song uploads, as a recent personal Facebook posting confirmed that his debut solo album (now called "Let Go" rather than "Godlessness") is projected for a release this coming winter. He doesn't plan to talk about the album further until sessions are complete, but this has been a long time coming, so hopefully things work out finally!

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Sneaky Pete

In our second post of the day, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This feature series looks at one or two randomly selected metal/hard rock bands from the Twin Saults and surrounding areas, to profile their run, material, successes, and current whereabouts. This month's selection had a slow rise to their public activity, but had a solid fanbase and talent level, so read on below for this month's profile, e-mail me if something's missing or incorrect, and check out this morning's post featuring new concerts, updates, and videos below! (Updated on September 30th, 2013)
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Sneaky Pete
 
Genre: Classic/Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Mike Oakley (Glitch, WFO), vocals/drums
Mario Carlucci (Foothill Road, Exodus), guitar
Bill Brouillard, guitar/backing vocals
Sean Berlinguette (Glitch), bass
Dave Grimaldi, bass

Audio/Video: In terms of media, Sneaky Pete have a whack of 2010 jam session covers on their MySpace page, ranging from Alice In Chains, Kiss, and AC/DC songs to Tragically Hip, Three Doors Down, and Green Day renditions, so give them a listen above! Their other main surviving media is on YouTube, including covers of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" and a mashup cover of Ozzy Osbourne & Judas Priest classics, but sadly, only one live video is known to be public. Coming from one of their last concerts at The Rockstar Bar on January 21st of last year, here's Sneaky Pete's version of Saliva's "Ladies & Gentlemen"!



Info/Analysis: Quietly launched in the spring of 2009 before finally going public a year later, Sneaky Pete's road to the stage was long despite a lot of advance hype for their debut, including numerous song postings on both MySpace and their now deleted Facebook page. After Sean Berlinguette replaced Dave Grimaldi on bass in the fall of 2010, the band finally debuted at The Rockstar Bar on April 8th, 2011, and followed that up with a fairly regular slate of concerts through February 2012, mainly playing at The Rockstar Bar, The Roosevelt Hotel, and The Vibe Lounge. However, Sneaky Pete suddenly broke up last April, almost a year after their first concert, though Mike & Sean re-emerged in late 2013 with a similar new band named Glitch. It's a shame that Sneaky Pete ended when they were just getting big in the region, as their talents and lengthy stage experience served them well at local concerts! Mario Carlucci & Bill Brouillard's guitar skills were unquestioned, and Mike Oakley was adept as a simultaneous singer & drummer, but some covers definitely worked better than others, and it'd have been nice to hear original songs too. Hopefully the guys find new musical success down the road!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, we'll begin a new 1-1-1-1-1 cycle for randomly chosen bands in this series, with Sault Ontario coming next, and through 100% random selection, we've chosen defunct Sault Ontario/Ottawa hard/alternative rockers Infrastrate for our next profile! Though their EP remains elusive to find in full, they were a talented band, so watch out for this profile on or around August 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and much more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Grunge Band, New Song Postings, And Much More!!

Keeping the news coming on this Tuesday afternoon, we've got an assortment of updates to get to today, including new song uploads from two very different local bands (one defunct, one active), and more assorted notes from the last week or so, along with a new band discovery, so here's what you need to know!

We have a new Sault Ontario band to add to our band links, and they are new local grunge duo Bad Back! You may remember them as the de facto headliners at the June 27th Oddfellows Hall concert that was to have featured Ahna & Powercup, and while they've had a Twitter page since February that I already knew about, it completely slipped my mind until now to plug on here (blame my limited use of Twitter.) The posts seem to back up the band's lineup, featuring AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent and his former Fuller bandmate Nathan Sauve (also known as Lion Ride's original bassist), though I'm not sure who sings lead. Described alternately as grunge and "Sooludge" on Twitter, their Twitter page (which I believe Jamie runs) revealed last week that they were "almost ready to record", although anything more specific isn't known, nor is any media samples of their sound or their debut last month. However, Bad Back did reveal on Saturday that they've found "a new venue" that they'll try out for the previously hyped August 12th show that Jamie was promoting featuring Edmonton grunge band Catgut, closing the tweet by saying "THE NEW A!!!"

Are they referencing The New American Pub House on the corner of Bay & Brock Street, or does that have an alternate meaning? Either way, that looks like Bad Back's next show, and we'll keep you posted when something more official is announced! I'm intrigued by the idea of a new local hard rock band with just two members, as I did see value out of similar past acts like Sue Inside & Sounds From The Green Room, but we'll have to see what comes next for Bad Back in terms of media, gigs, and updates. Stay tuned for more as it comes in!

Next up, here's a surprise new song upload from defunct local hard rock cover quartet Sneaky Pete! Over a year after their sudden breakup, guitarist Mario Carlucci uploaded this recording of the band covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" onto his YouTube channel on Sunday, which is similar though not exactly the same as the version on their old MySpace page (the different guitar work after the first chorus is clear proof.) However, both are well performed (if not exceedingly heavy), and Mario and the guys show solid instrumental skills, but Mike Oakley's vocals are noticeably stronger on the verses compared to the choruses. It's ironic that this gets posted just days away from our Defunct Local Band Profile on them (coming tomorrow), but it's nice to hear some new media from their two year run, and give this new-ish recording a listen below!



Also today, here's the latest song posting from local death/grind solo project Brutaly Fatal, as their song "Stomp Your Brains Out" from their first demo was posted onto their label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on June 26th! It's mostly a 72 second exercise in bass playing with limited death growling, and it's a bit too minimal for my liking (even compared to Austin's other Brutaly Fatal work), but there's still something there and it's not as ripe for controversy as some other Blood Shed songs. Check out Brutaly Fatal's new song below!



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

• New local metal/punk quartet Chronic Demonic (featuring Frightlight and Faithless Sin alumni) have announced the names of four original songs being worked on via their Facebook page last week, and they're called "Dance With The Devil", "God Hates Fangs", "Follow The Bottle", and "War". Good signs, hopefully they'll be ready to rock the stage soon!
• This is obviously late given their sudden breakup on Sunday, but former local death metal band Crimson Crusade's only EP "Upon The Eve Of War" was uploaded in full onto frontman Devon Lucier's YouTube channel last month, so stream it there for a convenient (if slightly redundant) source of their only release! Best of luck to the guys going forward, I know they'll do great things!
• Newer local classic hard rock band The Thrill Junkies (essentially the successors to Turner Up & Havadder) have quietly parted ways with bassist Jamie Cameron, as per a post by guitarist Robert Brown on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Saturday. A reason for Jamie's departure has not been publicized, but to be fair, they don't have any online pages yet to do so either. If you're interested in trying out, message Robert on Facebook at this location or via the above link!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the aforementioned Sneaky Pete tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A Newly Discovered Local Band, This Month's CD Review, New Media, And More!!

Before we get to the stuff in today's post, remember to vote in this month's polls on the left of the page! What distance from Sault Ste. Marie is "local" to you towards bands and concerts we cover, and what Michigan counties are close enough for you to consider them local? PLEASE vote in the polls A.S.A.P., your input could help decide if/how much we expand in the future! Now, in today's post, we have details on this month's CD review (and the former local band responsible for it), another defunct band's newly found material, and new "Woods V" reviews, but leading off is a new band of sorts, so here's what you need to know!

First today, here's a newly discovered local band to add to our listings, and they are a defunct Sault Michigan hard rock act named Twisted Manikin! I've been aware of them in recent years, but only now did I realize how heavy their available material was. Active only in 2008, their main lineup consisted of singer/bassist Samantha Raycroft, former Half Stupid drummer Jordan Gendreau on guitar, and Aaron Sheppard on drums, though they briefly enlisted a second guitarist named Matthew LaPointe early in their run. As best as I can tell, Twisted Manikin were active from February 2008 until that fall when Samantha moved out of town, and though I can't verify if Twisted Manikin every played a live concert, some members played together in at least one local battle of the bands the previous year. Describing themselves as sounding like "deliverance", videos of the band are available on a few different online pages, including both the band's and Samantha's MySpace pages, though neither of those have their full trio lineup. That said, Samantha did post one video of all 3 members together playing an original named "The City Is Burning" onto her YouTube channel in September 2008, and it doesn't sound too bad!

Their pages describe them as hardcore and punk, but this is more of a straightforward hard rock number with clean vocals, and though the audio quality is mixed, I really like Jordan's guitar work! Catchy riff and a decent solo, but Samantha's singing is almost inaudible, and it can get a bit repetitive despite it's length. There was promise with Twisted Manikin though, and it's a shame they didn't expand too far beyond what's available online, but check out "The City Is Burning" below, and Twisted Manikin are now in our inactive Sault Michigan band links!



Speaking of defunct Sault Michigan bands, does anyone out there remember the mid-2000s death metal quintet Insipid Brutality? No, they haven't reunited, but guitarist Tyler Dettloff (now frontman of the Marquette rock band Midnight Manual) resurrected the band in a way last month via new band pages on Facebook and Bandcamp! Beyond just being posthumous pages for Insipid Brutality, one very cool bonus is also being offered on the new pages: an album! Nine original songs (six newly available online) recorded in Kinross during Insipid Brutality's heyday have been posted for sale on their Bandcamp page linked above as a self-titled digital album, after restoration work by Kyle Van Howe, and you can buy it for any price you want! If you want it free, download it for free. If you wanna pay $10 (or less, or more), you can do that as well, which I recommend to support the band and the work they put in all those years ago! As some of you may remember, Insipid Brutality's lineup included Tyler on guitar, his old Condemned bandmate Teagan Sanders on vocals, former Swayze Train guitarist Scott Savoie, Louie Schmit on bass, and Matthew Georgevich on drums.

With only two band members living in the area now that I can tell, a full fledged reunion is unlikely, but death metal fans and old Insipid Brutality followers should definitely like the new pages and album! I have yet to fully listen to it, but I did pick it up yesterday, and because it's officially on sale and not strictly a free posting, I'd like to officially confirm that Insipid Brutality's self-titled album will be this month's CD review! Nothing else new seems to be coming out within the next two weeks that I've heard, so hopefully this review will be interesting and attract some more posthumous notice! Note as well that this will be the first time that we've reviewed two Sault Michigan albums in consecutive months, which is a good sign! Keep an eye out for this month's CD review by the end of the month, and pick up Insipid Brutality's album at the above links!

Also leading from newly discovered older recordings, remember when Sault Ontario hard rock cover quartet Sneaky Pete broke up in April and deleted their Facebook page? Well, if you missed the material posted there and a more substantial online presence, then you're in luck, as I only discovered their MySpace page yesterday! Compared to what else is left, this page is a lot more informative and detailed for Sneaky Pete's sound and makeup, and if you miss their live concerts, then you'll love the posted audio recordings! 12 covers recorded presumably at live jam sessions last year are available to stream, ranging from AC/DC, Alice In Chains, and Kiss tracks to Duran Duran, Three Doors Down, and ZZ Top classics, along with two Green Day songs (and more), so definitely check the above links to stream them! These all feature their classic lineup, and are a vast improvement on their 2010 demos with their original lineup, which had much worse recording quality from what I remember. I hope that their MySpace page remains online, as this material deserves an audience and it shows Sneaky Pete's talents well, so check out their material at the above links, and I've replaced Sneaky Pete's link in our band listings to reflect this find!

And finally, here's some more recent reviews of Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! Earlier this month, Jason Rankin from the University of Windsor newspaper The Lance gave "W5" a short and positive review, and though he oddly described two songs in-depth without mentioning any others, he called it an "enriching melodic musical experience" that shows all the good things that they had to offer. Alright review, click here to check it out! In a lengthy March review on Heavy Metal Now, writer "Brin" gave "Woods V" a 10.7/11 (love the Spinal Tap-esque scoring), calling it "a journey" and a "damn near masterpiece", barely saying a bad word about any of the included songs. Nice detailed review with insight on each track, so give it a look at this location! Finally for today, Marcel H. from the Dutch webzine Lords of Metal gave this album a more mixed score of 61/100, and though the translation is iffy, he is very honest with his feelings. He looked past David Gold's passing and saw the album as being too long and borrowing too heavily from Paradise Lost & Katatonia without vocal passion, even questioning why Earache signed them. I'm all for not overhyping "W5" posthumously, but even though I disagree with most of his views, I applaud his brutal honesty, so click here to see his review, and stay tuned for more critic's views of "Woods V"!

That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!

Hempfest Lineup Updates, Plus Lots Of Assorted News & Notes!!

Here's an auto-post full of recent assorted news for you guys, and that includes updates to some of our monthly feature posts, new "Woods V" reviews, some link changes due to page deletions, and much more! Leading things off though is some long awaited updates on a local music festival, and it's differences compared to recent years, so here's what you need to know!

Have you guys been wondering where the coverage for this year's Hempfest has been? I was curious as to the lack of news myself, but as it turns out, the second local installment under the marijuana culture festival's current ownership doesn't have a single metal band scheduled. The full lineup has been posted at the festival's Facebook group (and it's brand new official website), and from what I can tell, the full lineup of unique bands is much smaller than last year's as it is. Not counting DJs or non-musical acts, there were 13 different bands & solo artists on the main stage last year in Ophir, including 4 heavier bands, two of which were local. This year, there are just six bands over the four nights of live bands (August 9th-12th), playing a mix of folk, ska, and reggae music for the most part. Only one (The Blackberrys) are 100% verifiably local, but half of the bands this year are returning from last year's Hempfest. Each band this year is playing on at least two nights, and timeslots are being filled with the Willy High Games (which were a part last year's event), a DJ, music over the speakers, and in one case, a band playing twice on the same night. I will note that local punk trio Redundant are the official spare band if any of the scheduled acts drops out, but they're the closest to metal at the moment.

I can only assume that the lineup is halved from last year due to monetary concerns (I may be wrong though), and having admittedly heard mixed things from last year's Hempfest, less bands may be an way to help fix some of the issues. It's a shame that metal won't be represented, but hey, at least the bands playing this year fit with the crowd & themes really well! Lineup aside, everything sounds about standard from last year, so click here for all current details on tickets and other festival rules and notes. I know many of you guys will still be all ready to enjoy Hempfest in August no matter what, so check out all of the details at the above links, and here's to another successful year!

Next up, I wanted to let you guys know about a series of Facebook page/group deletions for three local bands, though I'll note that all had alternate pages to replace them with. One is sadly for defunct local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete's Facebook page, which was deleted in the past month presumably due to their breakup in April. I wish they'd have left it online for their old fans and to archive their history, including their solid year of local concerts, but what can you do? Luckily, their Reverbnation page is still online, so I just replaced the link for it! The other deletions are for a pair of bands featuring local guitarist Dalton Boissineau, those being new local hard rock band Acention and his former local band These Sins of Time. While the latter's page was likely deleted for similar reasons as Sneaky Pete's (T.S.O.T. broke up last year), the reasoning for Acention's Facebook group's deletion is unknown, though members' personal Facebook pages have hinted to jamming and band activity as recently as this weekend. If I hear anything definitive towards Acention's status, I'll have it here, but I've replaced both of the links for these bands with Acention's outdated Facebook page and These Sins of Time's MySpace page! Hopefully that's all for page deletions and bands erasing their online history for a while, because it is a bit disheartening!

Also for this post, here's even more reviews of Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! One newly found review comes from Will Cifer at the metal website Global Domination, who gave the album a 7/10, with the consensus that it was "solid shit fo' sure, but still nothing new." He gives a lot of good opinions on the album's conviction and it's fittingness as their final chapter, though he doesn't believe that "W5" will spur an after-death revival. I like his honesty, even if I don't entirely agree, and if you can get past the hit & miss English translation, check it out at this link! Another new review from January was by Neil Pretorius of The Metal Observer, who gave "Woods V" a 9/10, calling it their magnum opus & a very nuanced album, while praising it's dark and prophetic tone. Another good review, so check it out at this location! Finally for now, Brad Sanders from Jukebox:Metal gave this album 5 stars in a recent review, and though he connects much of his feelings to David Gold's passing (even saying it might as well be a suicide note), he called it their "most consistent & best album yet". Short but well written review, so click here to check it out, and stay tuned for more "Woods V" reviews soon!

Fourthly, here's some assorted recent shorter news stories, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or musician name:

• Trail's End guitarist Chris Hubbard uploaded a new video to his YouTube channel last month to show off his new OLP guitar with some custom upgrades. Despite it's newness, he's selling it for $600 or to the best offer, so if you like what you see in the video, give Chris a shout and make a deal!
• Former Havadder bassist Daniel Horton is looking for a bassist & drummer (age range 18-21) for a new alternative/grunge project he's fronting. If you're interested, check out his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Sunday, or message him on Facebook! I hope this takes off, as Daniel is talented and grunge bands are very scarce locally, so if I hear more, I'll let you guys know!
• Former Lion Ride guitarist Marco Pedalino is looking to join a new local band or jam with some musicians, and he's open to forms of metal. He also posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday, and he seems really eager to get out there in a band again. Marco would be a definite asset to any band locally, so if you're at all interested in his services, message him at this location!
  

And finally, here's some more updates to some of our monthly feature posts to make them more accurate and up to date! In the Defunct Local Band Profile Series, I've updated the joint SIGHdEFECT/Mugwort profile to note members' newer bands, including Jason Bourcier's work in Giwakwa, Matt Waples' new band The Belmonts, and Mugwort's Bob Helsten's new band Wearwithal. I also added a Giwakwa link for bassist Nolan Rainville on the Bring The Fallen profile, along with restoring a photo there. In the YouTube Channel Profile Series, I edited the profile for Lion Ride's YouTube channel to further emphasize their breakup and add notes on the channel's return to use and the upload of their "I'm So Excited" cover. I edited the Garden of Bedlam YouTube channel profile to remove dated references to their 2011 activity level, while I restored a photo on the profile for Bad Side's YouTube channel. In our profile of Joey Beairl's channel, I edited the reference to Unleashed drummer Jacob Hotland's current band, as they changed their name from Abstract to Tantrum earlier this year. Finally, I edited the profile for Scott Savoie's channel to note his band Swayze Train's breakup, make some date adjustments, and add references to his newest video, a Canada-exclusive Devildriver cover. There's more edits to come, but check the above links for all of the newly updated profiles!

That's all for now, but if there's no new posts by Sunday, I'll hopefully see you guys that night for the West of Hell/Tribune show at The Canadian, and the big local band returns beforehand! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Turner Up & As It Stands), The End Of Sneaky Pete, And More!!

It's time for a stacked news post at the SMS, featuring LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next two weekends, a brief note on a concert postponement, a disappointing band breakup, and details on an upcoming art event with a local metal affiliation, so here's what you need to know!

Three weeks after their latest local concerts, local classic hard rockers Turner Up will hit The Rockstar Bar THIS FRIDAY! This will be the current Turner Up's first ever stop at The Rockstar Bar, but the old Turner Up that became Full Circle played there frequently during their run, and it'll be good to see a band under that name back there! In what may be their last local concert set until the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, this will be a one night only affair, as Boogie Fever are booked for this Saturday night, and it remains to be seen if Turner Up will book a Saturday show elsewhere this weekend. The show starts at 10:30 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and I'd expect at least a nominal cover charge, knowing the usual Rockstar Bar local concert. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a solid concert for sure, and hopefully lots of fans can make it out to rock with Turner Up this Friday night! Stay tuned for more details on Turner Up's upcoming concerts as they come in!

Also, here's a brief concert date change, as Tym Morrison's show this weekend at The Service Grill has been moved from Friday to Saturday. A reason for the postponement wasn't announced, but the Facebook event page was quietly updated last night. I just hope the new date doesn't take an attendance hit due to the Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian, but Tym's acoustic solo show sounds good no matter when, so take note of the new date!

Now to the other new concert, as an all ages metal concert is in the works for Friday, April the 13th! Yes, that unlucky day is coming next weekend, but with 6 high profile Algoma metal bands, this is shaping up well! According to the Facebook event page, the lineup currently includes local hardcore quintet As It Stands, Debarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost (in their Oddfellows Hall debut), grimecore rockers Shit Liver, local hard rock notables Borderline Divine (more on them in a second), hardcore quartet Changing Waves (in their first concert set in almost three months), and local extreme metallers Winkstinger, which adds up to a very solid lineup of bands! Notably, this concert marks the return to concert booking by local musician Jeremy Hannah, and it's good to see him booking local metal shows again, as it's been too long since the 2010 Soo Music Mash-Up event! Full details beyond bands are not out yet for this concert, but I'd assume it's all ages. Check the above links for all current details! Hopefully word spreads fast, as there's less than 2 weeks to get the word out for this concert, but there's a lot of great bands, so it can't be too hard! As updates come in, I'll have them here!

As for Borderline Divine, this show marks a lot of firsts, so let's go through them briefly. This will be their first concert since changing their name from Stillbroke, their first show in over 2 years, their Oddfellows Hall debut (I believe), their first concert since the departures of Chris Villeneuve & Kyle McKey and the additions of Mitch Sirie & Justin Polutanovich, their first show with Jesse Frigault only singing and not playing guitar, and it'll mark the live debut of their new original material as well. In short, this is a big return for the guys, and hopefully all their hard work over the last couple of years will begin to pay off starting next weekend, so come out and see Borderline Divine on Friday the 13th!

Next up, here's some disappointing news, as local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete have officially disbanded after a three year run. A statement was made on the band's Facebook page last night, and though the reasoning for the split was left vague, "challenging obstacles" and "hurdles" were blamed for leading to "the unavoidable". The band thanked their fans, families, and local concert venues for the support and the good times over the past few years, and assured fans that we'll see the members down the road in new musical projects. This is really surprising to hear, especially knowing the momentum they've had since they finally debuted on stage last April! Though Sneaky Pete only gigged locally for 10 months, they produced some solid great concerts and covers during the span, and even before they debuted, they unveiled some nice demos and got people talking in the leadup to their first show. I don't know the full details on the breakup, but hopefully it was amicable, and I do know that the members' talents will take them far when they get back in new bands! Until then, I wish Mike, Mario, Bill, and Sean all the best in whatever comes next for them, and fingers crossed that we see the guys back out there soon!

And finally for today, remember last week when I mentioned the planned local concert poster exhibition through National Youth Arts Week? Well, it's now official, so here's what you should know! Entitled "Posted Around", the exhibition will be held at the Circle of Creative Arts Center at 648 Queen Street East (not far from The Grand Theater), and it will feature concert posters ranging from the 1980s through last year, with prints available to purchase of the posters starting at $5. Part of the proceeds will go towards arts programming in Attawapiskat, and the exhibition will run from April 23rd to April 27th with the opening at 7:00 PM on the 23rd. Posters from metal concerts will be featured, including last year's Sewer Swampstravaganja 11 band show at The Oddfellows Hall, which actually gets name credit on the event's poster, even mentioning three bands from the show in the process. Click here for more details! I'm really curious about this exhibition from a concert fan's persepctive, and I hope that organizers have a nice large selection of posters to share and sell! I hope to hit up "Posted Around" at least once when it goes on, and I'll give a recap with photos when I do, so keep an eye out, and hopefully you guys can check it all out yourselves!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and feature posts soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Trail's End), Sneaky Pete Concert Review, And Much More!!

Here's one more news post before we upload this month's Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow, and today, we've got this weekend's concert previews, a half-cancellation for across the river this month, the latest updates on a prominent Sault Michigan band, and this week's classic video, but leading things off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has been updated to reflect concerts taking place at The Rapids Lounge through May, and while some are previously announced dates are there from earlier postings, there are some new dates from various local and Northern Michigan bands, and among them is a newly announced concert weekend from Trail's End! The hard rock trio featuring Splitshot & Nixxon Dixxon alums Chris Hubbard, Kyle Beaumont, and Jake LaLonde will return to The Rapids Lounge on April 20th & 21st for what will be their third concert weekend at Kewadin's bar since their inception late last year, and you know they should deliver an entertaining set of hard rocking originals and covers this spring! There should be no cover charge, you must be 21 to attend, and both nights should have a 10:00 PM start time. It's great to see Trail's End booking some more concerts, and hopefully these add well to a huge month in the local scene, so stay tuned for updates, and go see Trail's End at Kewadin NEXT WEEKEND!

Also, before we move on to the weekend concert preview, another note on Kewadin's entertainment page is that Swayze Train's scheduled concert weekend there in two weeks has been halved to just a Friday show on February 24th. The reasoning for it appears to be a schedule conflict, as The Rapids Lounge will be showing UFC 144 (go Ben Henderson!) that Saturday. No worries, we'll get lots more Swayze Train action later in the year, so all's good!

Now to a concert preview for this weekend, and in an otherwise fairly quiet weekend in the twin Saults (anyone know of any other metal/hard rock shows?), some hard rocking good times will go down at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night, as Sneaky Pete will return for another concert! Just three weeks after their last show at the Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar, Sneaky Pete promise to rock away your winter blahs with their eclectic set of hard rock covers and classic renditions, and if you wanna step out on Saturday night to rock out, you know exactly were to be! This is a 19+ show, they are not playing at The Rockstar Bar tomorrow (just Saturday), a 10:30 PM start time is listed, and there will likely be a cover charge of around $5. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see another Sneaky Pete concert go down, especially so close to the last one, so definitely consider their show on Saturday night for your concertgoing needs! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Sneaky Pete covering Saliva's "Ladies & Gentlemen" at The Rockstar Bar last month!



Thirdly today, I wanted to address recent news from the young Sault Michigan hard rock band Abstract, and why we haven't publicized much of that news on here. Last fall, you may remember when they quietly removed guitarist Kyle Burton from their lineup, and it later became public knowledge why he left earlier this year. I initially resisted mentioning the details on here because things got very public and unamicable in recent weeks relating to Kyle's departure, the reasoning behind it, and attached issues, and I didn't want to add more negativity or speculation on to everything. All I'll say on that is that Kyle left partly due to his religious beliefs and their conflict with some of Abstract's planned covers. I'd suggest that such issues shouldn't be publically viewable, as fans will just worry and assume for the worst, but Abstract's Facebook page was recently deleted anyway. That could be at least in part due to a planned name change, as a statement released to the remaining members' personal Facebook pages about Kyle (which is positive, don't worry), ends with "formerly known as Abstract". Makes sense for a new beginning, I suppose, but I don't know why they had to delete their Facebook page over it, they could have just renamed it and deleted posts they didn't want to be seen.

As their Facebook page has been deleted, I've replaced it with their Google-hosted website until we hear more about their new name and any future Facebook presence. This is a lot of disappointing news for sure, but hopefully Jacob, Mike, and Ethan get back into the swing of things this year, as they're very talented for their age, and we miss them around the area! I'll keep you guys posted as updates come in, and best of luck to Kyle in the future, he deserves to get into a new band!

And finally for today, here's this week's classic video! With another light concert weekend on tap, I'm dipping into the archives this week, and I've chosen a video from local classic metal quartet Late & Loud to feature on YouTube! Most videos of theirs are on YouTube already, but one exception is this video from of Late & Loud covering The Surfaris' instrumental "Wipeout" at Foggy Notions (most recently known as Feedback) from last February! This is a popular cover at Late & Loud shows, and they put a good heavy spin on it! The video quality's nice too, but I wish the camera was better positioned to capture Brendan Christie in frame, as he's cut off frequently on the far right. Filmed by an attendee of this concert, you can view the original video on Late & Loud's Facebook page (where it was uploaded on February 22nd of last year) at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1856412968398. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to the original filmer and Late & Loud, they did all the hard work, I'm just sharing this video with a wider audience like it deserves! It's a nice energetic performance of a very recognizable song, so check it out below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Defunct Local Band Profile on Shift tomorrow, along with more news this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sneaky Pete & The Valentine's Day Massacre) And Lots Of Battle Of The Bands Updates!!

A new month is upon us, but the news sure hasn't slowed up, so here's what's on tap for this stacked news post! Today, we've got all the latest updates on the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands (including ticket details, who exactly "Inhumane Method" are, and much more), and kicking off this post, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month, so here's what you need to know! (EDITED, 10:52 AM)

Local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete will return to The Rockstar Bar next weekend! Three weeks after they last rocked the upstairs bar at The Algonquin Hotel, this talented group of local music mainstays will return to rock your winter blahs one week from Saturday with a wide array of hard rock and metal covers! They will be on at 10:30 PM on the 11th, you must be 19 to attend, and I'd expect a cover charge of around $4. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see Sneaky Pete book a new concert closer to their last one, as they've had a few lengthier breaks between shows in the past year, so if you missed them at The Rockstar Bar last month, seize the opportunity and go see them next Saturday for some great rocking covers! They were great when I saw them last month, just for reference! Stay tuned for any possible updates to this concert as they come in!

Also for new shows, the 42nd Roosevelt Hotel metal night is now official, but not for tomorrow night, instead taking place in two weeks on February 16th. This goes against the recent bi-weekly schedule for the metal nights, but whether they're now every four weeks or monthly now isn't known at present. That said, three bands are lined up for the second Thursday metal night at The Rosie of 2012, so here's who's lined up! Local deathcore quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre (formerly View To A Kill) will play their first concert of 2012 and first since changing their name last month, and they'll have new original songs to go along with it on the 16th, so make sure not to miss their return! Desbarats death metallers For All That Is Lost will also join them in their first local show of the new year, so be sure to welcome them with open arms and get ready to mosh during their hard hitting set of originals! Also lined up for this show are local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger in their first local concert since parting ways with singer Alan Wells in December, though the band has yet to reveal if he's been replaced yet. If I hear anything on their new singer, I'll be sure to let you guys know! Admission is free for this latest metal night, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Rosie metal nights are always packed with quality music, and though the more sporadic recent bookings are a bit concerning, hopefully a great turnout is there on the 16th, hopefully including myself! I'm curious to hear Winkstinger's new frontman and the new VDM originals, for example. Stay tuned for updates on this and all other upcoming concerts as we hear news on them!

Third today, here's the latest updates on the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th at The Grand Theater, as it looks like the lineup is now complete! From what I can gather, the full lineup is capped at 12 bands, and three new bands have been officially named among them, including Frightlight frontman J.D. Pearce's punk band T. Rex Manning and local classic hard rock quintet Turner Up! Barring a future concert announcement, this will be just T. Rex Manning's second show, following their debut at The Rosie in November, and I can actually tell you guys a bit more about their sound now too! Videos from their debut were posted onto Facebook by Brandon St. Jules, who filmed two punk songs that T. Rex Manning played at that show, which you can watch at this location. More of a traditional punk sound than Frightlight's horror-influenced material, and the dress clothes that they wore onstage is a unique touch (reminds me of Faith No More.) Not metal from my first glance, but I'm eager to hear them live in April at the battle! As for Turner Up, their inclusion is a bit surprising given their lack of originals (that I know of), but they're sure to deliver some hard rocking awesomeness at this battle of the bands, and it'll be interesting seeing them at The Grand Theater for a change too!

The 12th band is indeed classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who were finally confirmed this morning as competitors. Awesome to finally see them official for this show, so don't miss them in April! Note that the battle's website still lists "(To Be Announced)", despite a finalized lineup, so if that means anything, I'll keep you posted. Also of note, local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage are on the battle lineup, but not as competitors. Though listed among the featured bands, Sykotyk Rampage confirmed on their own event page for this show that they are the warm-up & closing band bookending the battle itself, and will not be competing against the other performers. This is surprising given their success in local battles, including a 3rd place finish at the Sault College/Scotties Tournament Battle in 2010, but they should leave a good impression on the fans regardless of their involvement on April 20th! My other lineup note today concerns the band named "Inhumane Method" that are listed among the performers. As it turns out, the name was spelled wrong there, as they're actually called Inhuman Methods, and they're a newer metal quartet from Desbarats, meaning that two Desbarats acts will throw their hat into the ring for this battle! I don't know what they play or how they sound, but check their Facebook group out at the link above and keep an eye out for them & possible media of theirs over the next few months! Thanks to F.A.T.I.L. singer Tyler Sperry for the info on Inhuman Methods!

With the newest battle additions, the lineup now includes As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, F.A.T.I.L., Inhuman Methods, Late & Loud, The Moves, T. Rex Manning, Tea With Lincoln, Turner Up, The Valentine's Day Massacre, The Vertically Impaired, and Wishbone, with Sykotyk Rampage playing out-of-competition before and after the battle. This is the final lineup outside of any potential band dropouts, and if this holds up, we're in for a treat on April 20th! The other big news in terms of this battle is that tickets are NOW ON SALE! The tickets, which are $20, can be purchased at either the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society on 962 Second Line East or at The Grand Theater on Queen Street East, though it's requested you call ahead at (705) 575-5687 if you plan to buy your tickets at The Grand, to make sure someone's there. Other details, like possible age limits, band order & performance times, and prizes are currently unknown, but stay tuned to the official Facebook event page for complete details as they come in! This is shaping up to be a huge event for a great cause, and hopefully the word picks up greatly as we get closer to the battle! Stay tuned for more on this event as it comes in!

That's all for now, but stay tuned to the SMS for new Woods of Ypres updates and more in our next news post, along with our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!