YouTube Channel Profile Series: Olivia Williams, Alanoth, And nick kainula

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, and for the first time of this year, we're looking at three separate channels (all randomly selected), as the first we chose only had one distinct video type, so I filled it out with extras. Remember, this monthly series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels that have at least 50% worth of local metal/hard rock videos, in order to profile, feature, and recommend them to prospective fans! We have a nice blend of hard rock talent from Sault Ontario this month, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Olivia Williams (http://www.youtube.com/flangel22)

Owner: YouTube user and former Sault Ontario resident Olivia Williams

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 11th, 2007; Videos posted from February through December 2011

Channel Summary: A close friend of members of defunct local hard rock band Stillbroke (later Borderline Divine) during their heyday, Olivia's video postings are all uploads of studio tracks from their 2009 EP "Never Enough", though they were curiously not posted there until their ongoing concert hiatus in 2011. Featuring their classic lineup (frontman Jesse Frigault, guitarist Sam DeDominicis, bassist Kyle McKey, and drummer Jenny Hooper), the songs are "Forget", "Never Enough", and (as embedded below) "Tear Me To Pieces", which provide a nice sampling of Stillbroke's talent & abilities from the peak of their local run, and with solid production from Stereo Soul Studios, fans of modern hard rock should be right at home! Note however that the other songs from the EP ("No Reason" & "Wash It Away") are not on Olivia's channel, but they can be streamed here, and her channel hasn't been actively used in a year or more.


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Alanoth (http://www.youtube.com/alanoth)

Owner: Former 2wo Man Baand singer/guitarist & Sault Ontario native Elliott Corston-Pine

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 12th, 2006; Only video posted on October 17th of that year

Channel Summary: Effectively the official YouTube channel for the partially local improv/hard rock duo 2wo Man Baand, member Elliott Corston-Pine uploaded their only known public video there in October 2006, which was late into their collective run. The video and song (both entitled "Sky High") feature Elliott and guitarist Stephen Quackenbush jamming an improvised instrumental guitar track, which has a lot of promise that actually outshines their more comedic songs on their MySpace page, but the video suffers from washed out colours and a somewhat poor camera angle. In a sense, the 2wo Man Baand were ahead of their time in terms of their membership and style, so the video is worth looking at to gauge their talent! Also watch out for credits, and note that Elliott hasn't visibly used his channel since 2009.


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nick kainula (http://www.youtube.com/pearls666)

Owner: Former State of Misery & Unbound drummer Nick Kainula

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 10th, 2007; Only video posted on January 20th, 2013

Channel Summary: Talented local drummer Nick Kainula finally uploaded a video of his most recent public band Unbound to his YouTube channel last January, albeit not under optimal circumstances following the sudden death of frontman Justin Fratpietro on January 3rd of last year. Their only known footage with Justin, this originally came from a personal Facebook posting, as filmed by attendee Amy Roach at a jam session in November 2012, which fans may recognize as the same location as early State of Misery videos. Also featuring Nick's former State of Misery bandmates Ray Cowan & Kevin D'Orazio at the time, the video suffers from poor audio quality & a shaky camera angle (which is auto-corrected on YouTube), but it does show Unbound's hard rock base, with Justin's deeper melodic vocals flowing nicely, and it's definitely makes you wonder what could have been! Note however that videos from the band's later activity are not on Nick's channel, nor has he updated it recently.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month, I've randomly chosen just one channel (but it's stacked), and this one will be our first single channel profile from Sault Ontario in 5 months, so what's coming on or around April 22nd? The official YouTube channel for defunct local experimental/grunge trio SBD, which is stacked with videos, so watch out for that next month, and stay tuned for an all-Anvil concert video showcase soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Turner Up & Banned), Plus New Videos!!

Before we get to this post, I just wanted to briefly apologize for not getting Powerslug's show at Dan's Place in Rudyard on here on Friday. We didn't have enough news that night to supplant a short notice post (especially given that the show was announced on short notice), but hopefully Facebook gave you guys some word on it, and hopefully it went awesome! Now, today's post features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for two New Year's Eve shows, a new guitar performance clip, and our fourth Christmas surprise uploads, so here's what you need to know!

After 3 months away from the local concert stage, local classic hard rock quintet Turner Up will be back for one last time in 2012 on New Year's Eve at a venue we've never touched on before, that being Gusto's Bar & Grill at the Wellington Square Mall on Trunk Road! We only tend to talk about The Rad Zone and The Roadhouse this far east, but Gusto's has booked scattered live music acts this year, and their restaurant is well received from what I can tell, so hopefully they'll be up to the challenge of Turner Up's classic hard rock stylings one week from tomorrow! Notably, this will be Turner Up's first concert with their full lineup since July (guitarist Jason Roy missed their September gigs at The Nic), but I'd expect them to be back to their old ways next week to end 2012 on a high! I just wish they played a bit more frequently, but maybe 2013 will be busier. Now, this is essentially a New Year's party with live entertainment, not the other way around, so I'll warn you now that tickets are $45 for adults and $20 for minors, but this also includes a midnight buffet and dancing and all the rest.

Tickets are available at Gusto's in person or through Turner Up band members, while I'd expect a 10:00 PM-ish start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Turner Up back, even if in somewhat unfamiliar waters, so if you can swing the admission price, it'd be worth coming out to see the guys (and girl) pump out some heavier leaning covers to ring in the new year! Stay tuned for any potential updates!

The other newly announced concert for New Year's Eve will go down at Todd's Tavern in Moran, Michigan, where Kinross hard rockers Banned will return for one last concert of the year! As revealed on their Facebook page yesterday, this is (I think) Banned's second New Years Eve concert in the area since their inception, and given that Todd's Tavern has proven to be one of their favourite recent venues, I'd expect their covers and originals to be in top shape next Monday! Note that I believe guitarist Alex Schrovenwever is back home in the Eastern U.P. for the holidays, which could facilitate his first show with Banned since August, but I've heard no confirmation either way on if he'll be back with Banned next week. This show has an 8:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a likely 21+ age limit, so check the above links for more details! This should be an exciting concert, perhaps the last heavier one in the Sault Michigan area this year, so if you wanna ring in 2013 in a rocking way, a drive to Moran might work next week! If any updates come in, we'll have them here!

We'll close with some new videos, starting with the newest video from Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy! Posted on his YouTube channel on Friday, this is of his cover of John Mayer's "Vultures", in what's actually his first solo video in over a month. It's well performed for the style, if somewhat minimalistic without a backing track, but hopefully Alex has some heavier songs in the works to cover too! Check out Alex's latest solo guitar cover below!



And finally for today, here's our fourth batch of surprise song uploads for the Christmas season, and it's the only CD from inactive local metal band Stillbroke! As you may remember, the future Borderline Divine released their debut EP "Never Enough" in November 2009, which was recorded with producer Miguel Gauthier at Stereo Soul Studios in early 2009 with the band's classic lineup, including singer/guitarist Jesse Frigault, future drummer Sam DeDominicis on rhythm guitar, current Sailor's Tongue frontman Kyle McKey on bass, and Jenny Hooper on drums. Featuring 5 tracks ("Never Enough", "No Reason", "Forget", "Wash It Away", and "Tear Me To Pieces"), the EP was well hyped during it's release, including a music video for "No Reason" with their 2010 lineup, but "Never Enough" went out of print that year, likely around the beginning of their 2 year concert hiatus. Over three years removed from it's release, I thought it'd be nice to finally post the full "Never Enough" EP online for fans to check out for the holidays, especially as it captures Stillbroke at what was arguably their peak in the local music scene!

Though there are a few noticeable absences (i.e. "Sick & Tired" and their self titled song), their talents were on full display, with Jesse's melodic and heavy vocals contrasting well with their hard rock sound, including very good bass work and nice catchy structures all around! Though their sound arguably improved with their heavier evolution to Borderline Divine, "Never Enough" strikes me as an underrated disc, and hopefully Jesse & Sam will bring the band back down the road if the time is right! Check the above links to hear this EP in full, and here's the disc opening title track!



That's all for today, but of course, try and hit Andres Duchesne's funeral at The O'Sullivan Donnelly Funeral Home at 4:00 PM today, with the visitation beginning at 2:00 PM. I wish I could go, but I'll be there in spirit, and hopefully we'll all be thinking of his talents and great qualities, over what happened last week. Thanks everyone!

A Likely Inactive Local Band, New Videos, And Sebastian Bach In Sault Ontario?!

With weekend concert previews out of the way, we've got a new news post for you guys on this Saturday morning (beats the lack of good cartoons anymore), so here's what's on tap! Today, we have a new video from a newer Sault Ontario trio, some old 1990s videos from a band who played in the Sault Michigan area on tour way back when, and a note on a likely inactive local metal band, but first, here's some really intriguing news that connects metal with the recent growth of movie productions in Sault Ste. Marie!

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach was in Sault Ontario yesterday... but not for a concert. As it turns out, he has a role of some type in the movie "Swearnet" that's being filmed here, which you guys will probably better recognize as the new movie from Trailer Park Boys stars Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, and Mike Smith (a.k.a. Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles!) Trailer Park Boys fans will be sure to understand the connection with Sebastian Bach, as he guest starred on the show's final season, where we saw his affinity for model train sets (the central one of which inspired the name of defunct Sault Michigan hard rockers Swayze Train), so if this connection seems random, watch season 7. My source for this info is Sebastian's Facebook page, where the photo on your left came from. I have no idea how big of a role Sebastian has in "Swearnet", or if he's even still in town, but from what I understand, the movie either is based on or will help launch an internet-based television channel full of uncensored vignettes & sketches, so Sebastian may only feature in one part of the film. It'd be awesome to see him book a concert here (I enjoy his solo stuff way more than new Skid Row material), but this is cool in & of itself, so check the above links for more, and I can't wait to see the completed film!

Next up, I've regrettably decided to move Sault Ontario metal quartet Borderline Divine to our inactive band links. Normally, I wouldn't act so fast after a band declares a hiatus (as they did on July 3rd via their Facebook page), but an immediate future for the former Stillbroke is looking unlikely following frontman & founding member Jesse Frigault's move to Alberta earlier this month, where he's already found a new job. He is in many ways Borderline Divine's driving force, so that (plus guitarist Mitch Sirie's ongoing primary work in The Bear Hunters) leads me to think that if we ever see them back, it won't be for a long while. Maybe the hiatus declaration was more to leave a bit of hope rather than abruptly shut the door? If they're for sure functionally inactive now, it ends a successful (albeit scattered) 4 year run that saw the band's many incarnations reach a number of heights, including opening for bands like Helix, West of Hell, and Columbia, their 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands victory, and of course, releasing Stillbroke's 2009 EP "Never Enough". Though their success arguably peaked in 2009, fans will be sure to have some solid memories from their shows before and after that year, and their brief mid-2012 activity as Borderline Divine left a lot of heavier promise that honestly topped Stillbroke to me in many ways!

I know the guys have put in tons of work from their inception to their last show in June to make it locally, and in some ways, they did, if not as long as was hoped. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll ever hear from Borderline Divine, but for now, best of luck to Jesse, Mitch, Justin, and Sam (and the array of former members) in the future, and when I hear about the members' next moves in the local scene, I'll be sure to have them here!

Thirdly today, I was alerted to some old school concert videos from a show at the old Tumble Inn in nearby Eckerman, Michigan yesterday, and these definitely belong on the SMS! Life's Eclipse frontman Jason Mills sent me the links to these videos as part of some assistance for a reader in finding videos from one of his old Northern Michigan bands at their local stops in the 1990s, and while this isn't either band in question, they're definitely heavy & could use an SMS spotlight! They were a 1990s Michigan metal band named Collision, and while I don't think they're from the Soo originally, they did play at The Tumble Inn at least once in the mid-1990s. The videos from said show include covers of Alice In Chains' "It Ain't Like That" & "Would?" and (as embedded below) Dio's "Don't Talk To Strangers", so check them out if you wanna! Uploaded in late 2008 by YouTube user budachiba (who may be bassist Jeremy DeLawrence), Collision had a solid groove and a versatility that allowed them to handle grunge and more traditional metal really well, and I'd like to find out more about them! Decent video quality too given the age and format this concert was filmed on. Check the above links for more, thanks to Jason for sending me the links, and if I find any more old school Tumble Inn footage, I'll have it here, but for now, here's Collision's local Dio cover!



Finally for today, here's some more news from Sault Ontario grunge band Haggith! Bad news first, as the band has announced that Wishbone bassist Steven Flint is not joining their lineup as was previously announced. A reason for the backtrack wasn't announced, just that it came after "some discussion" and there appear to be no bad feelings with Steven, who the band complimented the talent of on their Facebook page on Wednesday. As a result, frontman Curtis McKenzie is trading his guitar for a bass and Haggith are remaining a trio going forward. Hopefully this is the best move for the guys, and Curtis does have bass skill, but we'll have to see how they sound in their next gigs! On a more positive note, YouTube user paperclipprojectX uploaded a new video on Monday of 2/3rds of the band (minus drummer Mike Haggith) playing an unplugged version of their original song "I Am", and it sounds pretty good! The lighting is effective (if still dark) and Curt & Daniel add some nice grit to this acoustic rendering, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more Haggith news in the coming weeks!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison), A New Local Band, And Lots More!!

I apologize for the lack of news yesterday and the delay on the "W5" review, but I've been battling a cold again and the site hasn't been my first thought this weekend. We're back with a packed news post today though featuring LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, all the latest news & videos from a returning & renamed local band, some more "W5" reviews from other sites, and kicking things off, a new local band, so here's what you need to know!

Let's start with news on a brand new local hard rock/alternative metal quintet named Skeyes of Seven! I don't know a ton on them yet, having only just heard about them last night via an invite to like their new Facebook page, but their lineup has a ton of promise! Ex-Sense of Truth alumni Cory Murchison & Ron Baxter are handling vocals and rhythm guitar respectively, alongside Half Past's Alain Fletcher on guitar & Chris Thompson (also of Frightlight) on drums, and former Tripod The Dog bassist Mike Mannarino appears to round out their lineup. There isn't much else to say on this new band as of right now, but hopefully things fall into place quickly, as they definitely have a high quality lineup! It'll be good to see Cory & Ron back on stage after almost two years, and they've got some very talented musicians to rock along with them! For the record, I have no clue what the existence of Skeyes of Seven could mean for Half Past's status, but if I hear anything positive or negative, I'll let you guys know. Stay tuned for more on Skeyes of Seven as it comes in, and they're now in our Sault Ontario active band links on your left!

Next up, here's those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as two new concerts are now on the schedule for local metal trio Caveman Morrison! Over a month after their new lineup is scheduled to debut, this talented outfit will return to The Roosevelt Hotel for the first time since last fall for a full weekend set on May 11th & 12th! Barring an additional show announcement in the interim, these will be Caveman Morrison's first Rosie appearances since Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger rejoined Tym Morrison & James White in the current Caveman Morrison lineup, and though bookings for the band remain somewhat scattered, it's still great to see them bringing their metal cover onslaught to local stages once again! These shows will likely both start at around 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there shouldn't be a cover charge for either night. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! If you've missed Caveman Morrison, then absolutely keep their Rosie return in mind for May, and you know they'll deliver some hard rocking good times then and at any of their next shows! Stay tuned for more Caveman Morrison news, and go see them in a little under three weeks at The Nicolet Tavern!

Thirdly, here's some more news from local hard rock quartet Borderline Divine! Frontman Jesse Frigault posted a statement onto the band's Facebook page yesterday on what's been going on with the band since what was then Stillbroke's descent into inactivity in mid-2010. He alluded to their drummer switch from Jenny Hooper to then-guitarist Sam DeDominicis after their "last show" (presumably their January 2010 concert at The Speak Easy), and then mentioned how over the past 2 years, they've went nowhere despite playing with many talented musicians. He also mentioned that he & Sam were close to giving up before enlisting The Bear Hunters' Mitch Sirie & Skull After Betrayl's Justin Polutanovich (who are actually cousins) as their new guitarist & bassist. Jesse highly praised the current lineup's chemistry, even saying that he's "never truly enjoyed playing this much", which is awesome to hear! Jesse also mentioned that he's no longer playing guitar for the band, and will focus solely on vocals with Mitch as Borderline Divine's only guitarist. Read Jesse's full post at the above links!

It's nice to get some more formal news and announcements from Borderline Divine, as much of their more recent updates have been quieter and less detailed. I do find it odd that he didn't acknowledge the actual last Stillbroke concert from March 2010 when they opened for Vancouver alt-rock outfit Columbia at The Rockstar Bar, but maybe it didn't go over well. So, with that all said, has their sound changed along with their name? We now know, thanks to two new videos posted onto their Facebook page, and they're of two new original songs named "Lie To Me" and "Ride Of Our Life". Though the video quality is pretty bad and too dark, the audio's clear, and from what I'm hearing, Borderline Divine are taking on a more aggressive and heavier sound than they had as Stillbroke! Jesse's singing is more diverse with some growling & screaming flourishes here and there (especially on "Ride Of Our Life"), and though it's early to say for sure, the current lineup does seem to have good chemistry! The new videos are on Facebook only, so I can't embed them here, but check them out at the above links, and keep an eye out for (hopefully) a lot more news from Borderline Divine as the year rolls along!

And finally, I wanted to cover some more of the reviews of Woods of Ypres' final recorded album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" today! On February 27th, Calum Robson from the blog Molten Metal Reviews gave "W5" an 8.5/10, saying that it grew (and saddened) with more plays, and referred to it as "dark winter listening" that can be tough for fans of David Gold's lyrics to take. Solid, but brief review, so click here to give it a look! Also, "Rex_84" from the website Metal Underground gave "Woods V" 4.5 skulls out of 5 in a January review, praising it for it's similarity to "Woods IV" without losing momentum near the end, and calling it "their best piece of musical art", while admitting that it takes a certain mood to enjoy. Nice longer review, so give it a read at this location! Finally, a recent review at the website Metal As Fuck was basically positive, noting the new romantic elements the album has following David's passing, even calling the "Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)" songs the band's own "2112". Nice review with lots of well termed connections to other bands, so click here to give it a look, and stay tuned for more "Woods V" reviews shortly!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news soon, along with (I hope) my "Woods V" review this week! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The 2008 Case's Music Battle Of The Bands

It's time for our second of seven weekly installments in the SMS' Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series! As we're doing every Friday until the Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, we're taking a look back at a notable Sault Ontario battle of the bands from between 2008 & 2010, and though I know this series isn't 100% comprehensive, e-mail me at robertfigures@hotmail.com if you can help add any missing battles or suggest a change or addition! This week's entry is for a notable battle of the bands through a local music store that received some good media notices, so read on below for all you should know from almost four years ago at this battle! (Updated on February 8th, 2016)

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The 2008 Case's Music Battle Of The Bands (May 25th, 2008)

Background: An annual spring event from at least 2007-2009 under the late Mike Case's ownership of local music store Case's Music, this battle of the bands was only well documented by local news media in 2008. Still, this battle of the bands gave young local bands and musicians (many from the Case's Music Rock Camp) a chance to compete and show off their talents with a wider audience. Nine bands in the elementary & high school divisions gathered at The Canadian Nightclub on May 25th, 2008 to perform one original song and one cover each, with judges grading the bands on musicianship, originality, presentation, and songwriting ability, among other criteria, with one winner selected from each division.

Prizes: $100 and recording time at Green Room Productions went to the winners in both the elementary school division & the high school division, with no publicized awards for the other bands. Winners of the individual awards each won a free Case's Music t-shirt.

Competitors: The lineup included 9 young local bands playing varying genres of music, though which ones specifically took part in each division can be hard to determine through available video footage of this event. This battle of the bands included no less than 5 bands fronted by female singers, including Behind Society, Horizon, Imination, The Soo Country Rollers, and Vitamin X, and all played varying forms of rock, though with some punk & indie influences scattered throughout. The other four bands included hard rock quintet Stillbroke, local indie rock trio Caddy Street Avenue, and young local metal bands Fountain of Betrayal and The Unforgiven. Note that many of the competing bands shared one or two members, an occurrence that wasn't isolated to just this Case's Music event.

Results: Stillbroke took most of the evening's awards, winning first place in the high school division, and seeing band members Jesse Frigault, Nathan Bouliane, and Joseph Kargiannakis take home t-shirts for best singer, bassist, and keyboardist respectively. Fountain of Betrayal won first place in the elementary school division, while the remaining individual awards went to The Unforgiven's Ray Cowan for best guitarist & Caddy Street Avenue's Andrew Dal Cin for best drummer. The remaining seven bands did not receive a publically announced ranking, nor did any other individual performers.

Aftermath: Despite SooToday's praise of the lineup as "the future of the Sault music scene", most of the bands who competed at this battle of the bands didn't survive beyond Case's Music concerts and functions, though a couple of the bands did have some lasting success. Notably, Stillbroke's various lineups became a prominent sight through early 2010 at numerous concerts, including opening for Helix, doing some out of town shows, and releasing their debut EP "Never Enough" in the fall of 2009. After going on a lengthy break & changing their name to Borderline Divine in late 2011, they played three concerts in mid-2012 before going inactive that summer. Caddy Street Avenue had similar success in their indie rock genre, releasing a debut EP "Is This It?" in 2009 among other notable gigs following the battle, including opening for bands like The Brat Attack, before going inactive in early 2011. The remaining bands did not do much locally outside of the Case's Music umbrella that I know of after the battle, and all were likely considered inactive by 2009. I also recall The Unforgiven playing at an outdoor metal show in August 2007 at the Bellevue Park Bandshell, for what that's worth.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal or punk in italics):
Bring The Fallen (Travis St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal)
Five Oceans (Patrick Dal Cin from Caddy Street Avenue; based out of London)
The Glass Thieves (Adam Fortais, Patrick Dal Cin, and Andrew Dal Cin from London; based out of London)
Joseph Kargi (Joseph Kargiannakis from Stillbroke)
Late & Loud (Josh Hatherley from Behind Society)
Lazer Queen (Josh Hatherley from Behind Society)
March Into Regression (Ray Cowan from The Unforgiven and Tyler & Travis St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal)
The Outside Lights (Nathan Bouliane, John Armstrong, and Joseph Kargiannakis from Stillbroke)
Run Coyote (Andrew Dal Cin from Caddy Street Avenue; based out of London)
Them (Tyler St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal) 

Trivia:

• The judges for this battle were veteran local musician & current Case's Music owner Jay Case, prominent local solo artists Shannon Moan & Tracey Hilderly, noted local rock/country singer & drummer Greg Simpson, and former Bud Shamble collaborator Rob Gilmar. Greg Simpson & Jay Case notably had some battle experience of their own the following year at the Kiss Battle of the Bands, though with differing success levels: Greg made the finals with Stiffler's Mom, but Jay's band Huckster didn't make it out of the first round. Jay later served as MC, judge, and co-organizer of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013, echoing his uncle Mike's hosting of this battle.
• Stillbroke used their recording time won at this battle to record their original song "Sick & Tired" at Green Room Productions. The song wouldn't make the cut for their debut EP "Never Enough" the following year, but the included song "No Reason" is very similar in structure. Whatever became of Fountain of Betrayal's recording time isn't publically known.
• Photographs on an expired website from a Case's Music concert circa 2007/2008 show prolific local musician Kyle McKey playing with each band that day, including 5 of the 9 bands from the 2008 Case's Music Battle, likely implying that he worked as an instructor there at one point during the timeframe of this battle. Kyle would later become a full time member of another competing band, Stillbroke, in 2009 & early 2010.
• After Fountain of Betrayal's dissolution, drummer Travis St. Amour kept his good battle of the bands luck going with two battle wins out of three tries with his new death metal band Bring The Fallen in December 2009 & May 2010. They also won the YMCA Battle in March 2009 under the name The Undead Warriors, but Travis hadn't joined the band yet.
• Behind Society drummer Josh Hatherley would see greater battle success in the following years, placing third at the YMCA Battle of the Bands in March 2009 with his then-band The Glass Statues, followed by a close first place finish (and a "Best Ensemble" trophy) with his most recent band Late & Loud at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April 2012, and another finals run with them in April 2013.
• Stillbroke's Jesse Frigault & Sam DeDominicis would later compete at the Kiss Battle of the Bands in December 2009 with Stillbroke's classic lineup (including the aforementioned Kyle McKey and drummer Jenny Hooper), but lightning didn't strike twice for them, as they weren't voted into the finals.
• A couple of bands featuring Stillbroke bassist Nathan Bouliane almost saw action in later battles of the bands at The Grand Theater, those being indie rock quintet The Outside Lights (featuring 3/5ths of Stillbroke's battle lineup) at the YMCA Battle in March 2009 and blues rock quartet The Moves at the Humane Society Battle in April 2012. However, both bands would drop out prior to the respective events.
• Fountain of Betrayal frontman Tyler St. Amour was briefly scheduled to play 2015's VM Radio Battle of the Bands (also at The Canadian) with his newer death metal project Them, but they dropped out for unannounced reasons and were replaced by local metal trio Infamous, though both bands feature Anthony Boudreau on drums.

Videos:
Clips of each band & the award presenations from SooToday (original link here)



Sources/More Information:
Review, photos, and video from SooToday
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Two down, five to go in this mini-series! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this week's look back, and as for next Friday, we'll be looking at the YMCA Battle of the Bands at The Grand Theater from March 2009! A lot of newer local bands (at the time) rocked the stage for this one, and we'll tell you guys all about what happened, where many of the bands and performers are now, and so on this coming Friday! Until then, stay tuned for more news later today, along with our next Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: STILLBROKE1's Channel

It's the 22nd of the month, so here's our latest YouTube Channel Profile! As usual in this monthly feature series, we're taking a look at a YouTube channel with at least a 50% concentration of videos with a local metal relevance, so we can profile it and tell you guys what lies within and what videos you should check out! After our three-for-all last month, we're kicking off 2012 in this series with a look at a prominent returning local band's old channel, so read on below for all that you need to know! (Updated on October 15th, 2013)
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STILLBROKE1's Channel (http://youtube.com/user/stillbroke1)

Owner: Stillbroke frontman Jesse Frigault (and maybe his mother Laurie Usitalo too), but the channel is credited to the band as a whole.

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 2nd, 2009; Videos posted between July 2009 & May 2010.

Channel Summary: This was the official YouTube channel for inactive Sault Ontario hard rock quartet Stillbroke, before their late 2011 name change to Borderline Divine. The channel features 8 videos from late 2009 & early 2010, which included the release of their debut EP "Never Enough" and their final major activity under the Stillbroke name. Though I think some early 2009 concert footage may have been featured on this channel at one point, the currently posted videos include Stillbroke's set at the Kiss Battle of the Bands in December 2009, two advertisements for their EP, a short video of the crowd from a rare out of town show in Baysville, three solo performance videos by Jesse Frigault, and one featuring him and ex-guitarist Chris Villeneuve. Note however that this channel was not utilized during Stillbroke's 2010-2011 hiatus or during their brief Borderline Divine tenure before breaking up last summer.

Why Should You Watch: Because it has a lot of good video footage and clips from the later active months of the band's run under the Stillbroke name, and their modern hard rock talent is evident in the posted clips! The advertisements are good for what they are, and Jesse's solo performance clips show his talent as a singer and guitarist as well. That said, this channel has not been actively used since 2010, and with Stillbroke's later name change and 2012 breakup, future use of the channel is unlikely at best, so keep that in mind in case it changes your mind on subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Stillbroke Battle of the Bands for Kiss: The most popular video and the most substantial live concert footage here is of Stillbroke's set at the Kiss Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub on December 1st, 2009, where they played their self-titled song and "Never Enough" for hundreds of fans! This featured what I'd call their "classic lineup", including Jesse on vocals & lead guitar, final drummer Sam DeDominicis on rhythm guitar, prolific local musician Kyle McKey on bass, and Jenny Hooper on drums. Despite disappointment at the live sound quality and their stage setup in the video description, and that they didn't make the finals of the battle, Stillbroke still sound good here, and have a nice on stage energy & presence! It's how I remember them from back then, and the criticisms of the quality underrate the video, though the beginning of the first song is cut off. It's definitely worth checking out for old Stillbroke fans, or if you enjoyed the Kiss Battle of the Bands, which got the whole scene buzzing in 2009!



"Stillbroke: Never Enough" Advertisment: Two homemade commercials were posted onto the channel to promote the release of Stillbroke's 2009 EP "Never Enough", one of which featured the band's 2009 lineup riding atop their tour van set to the EP's title track. The one we're featuring here though is a later ad from March 2010, and it features Jesse demolishing an old piano with a sledgehammer, set to their song "Wash It Away" from the EP. Though only 1:41 long, it seems to symbolize their musical approach, tearing down an instrument they no longer used in favour of their existing hard rock sound. That, or it's fun destroying an old piano, but either way, it's a neat little ad! Note that the video ends with some purchasing details for "Never Enough", though it's now out of print.



I Dont Wanna Say Goodbye - Jesse Frigault & Chris Villeneuve: Though three other solo performance videos by Jesse are on the Stillbroke channel (including the original compositions "I'm Still Hanging On" & "Drifting Away" and a cover of Disturbed's "Darkness"), I picked this May 2010 video of Jesse and Stillbroke's final rhythm guitarist Chris Villeneuve playing the song "I Don't Wanna Say Goodbye" to post here as it has a fuller sound with two guitarists. Possibly the only public video footage of Chris actually playing with Stillbroke, he and Jesse have good chemistry on this song, which nicely blends a ballad style with heavier vocals and a pretty good dual guitar solo. Though this is the channel's final video, it's still worth checking out for some proficient hard rock action from the last active months of their run under the Stillbroke name!


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I hope you guys enjoyed this month's YouTube Channel Profile! For the next installment of this series, I've randomly selected the YouTube channel of local electronic hard rock project Candle Hour to be profiled next, so look out for that between February 19th and 25th! That's all for now, but stay tuned later today for reviews of last night's Tym Morrison and Sneaky Pete concerts! Thanks everyone!

Shit Liver/Winkstinger Concert Review, Plus A Band's Name Change!!

I'm back from last night's Shit Liver/Winkstinger concert at Feedback, which marked my first concert at the Queen Street bar since Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland purchased, renamed, and renovated it last month! Also, it was actually my first show at this location since the wooden stage railing was removed from the then-Foggy's stage earlier this year, and that's sure an improvement for seeing the bands with! As a reminder, while Feedback is (on the inside) largely similar to Foggy Notions' basic look, there are changes, like the soundproofing and wooden bars covering the old rock wall on the stage, the removal of the "Foggy's" sign in the stage area, and a nice selection of local artwork for sale on the walls. Things are shaping up nicely at Feedback, but how about the bands?

Opening last night's concert was returning extreme metal quintet Winkstinger, playing their first local concert in 4 months and making their Feedback debut! It was good to see them back after so long, and I'm glad to say that they sounded on form with their past shows! Along with a selection of original songs like "Chudnugget" and "Sadist" (plus their little Blues Brothers homage), they threw in a set ending new song that sounded nice and heavy, if a bit more standard compared to their past original fare. Jesse Cook (and his orange toque/mask) tore it up on guitar as you'd expect, and Alan Wells' brutal screaming stood out as always, but I think Ryan Sherman's bass was a bit high in the mix last night, and at points, a bit of rust was evident in their sound, though they never once sucked! The audio level was lower too than I'm used to from past Winkstinger shows, but I can understand why if the bar's trying to combat a possible noise complaint. Nice return from Winkstinger, and hopefully we'll be seeing them rocking a local stage again sooner than four months from now!

And your headliners were local grimecore trio Shit Liver, making their second appearance at Feedback since it's re-opening, and they delivered a nice long set of original material for fans last night! Though the attendance numbers seemed slightly lower, the moshpit was even larger and it almost never stopped throughout the set! Their set was bookended with OBCD and Macabre covers, but the rest was Shit Liver original songs, including the debut of their new 6 minute song "Shit Will Prevail" which seemed to go over well! Musically, they sounded just as crust and grimy as ever, though I did find their vocals were a bit inaudible at points, though that could be a casualty of their growling styles. Josh Penno showed some slick moments on guitar during their set, all three members growled and screamed with the best of them, and fans seemed to enjoy everything well enough! Solid set of death metal from Shit Liver last night, and if you like your metal rough, to the point, and crusty, you'd definitely agree!

Overall, this was a fun first metal concert at Feedback, and with no police calls for the noise, you know it was a success! The metal ruled, even if the night ended a bit early, and hopefully Rich brings some more great metal shows to Feedback in the coming months! I did get a bunch of photos, so click here to see them or visit our Facebook page, which also has this concert's "Tag Yourself!" photo. And I did get videos, so here's Winkstinger's song "Sadist" and Shit Liver's new original "Shit Will Prevail" from last night! Apologies for a brief sound issue in the Shit Liver video, I don't know what caused it to quiet down early on.





And finally, let's cap this post with updates on a prominent returning local band, but they'll have a new identity now, as local hard rockers Stillbroke have officially changed their name to Borderline Divine. A reason for the name change hasn't been publicized, but the new name was confirmed on a new Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Sirie launched earlier today. Personally, I find the new name's a downgrade, but considering the lineup changes and lengthy break since the last Stillbroke concert in March 2010, this could be good to signal a new chapter in the band's history. As such, the new Borderline Divine page confirms that the band's lineup still features longtime frontman Jesse Frigault on vocals & guitar, Mitch on guitar & backing vocals, and Sam DeDominicis on drums, with no new bassist found yet. The Facebook page does say that Borderline Divine play "original music driven by emotions" and a diverse cover selection, with Mitch saying on his personal page that they'll be playing soon at a bar near you. It's good to see the band progressing more towards a full fledged return, as it's been way too long since we last saw Stillbroke, but hopefully Borderline Divine can continue their legacy and grow to new heights in 2012! Become a fan at the above links, and stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, along with our review of Theater of Night's "Christmas Night" album on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison), The Return Of Stillbroke, And Some Stuff From The Past!!

Hey guys, I've cobbled together some stories for a new news post! Things have slowed down since the weekend, but I try by best to make sure something new is up every three days (or sooner), so I've supplanted two new stories about returning bands (including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS) with some new "old" discoveries I thought I'd share. Let's get things started!

Caveman Morrison are finally returning to the stage! The prolific metal cover trio will play their first concerts in over 4 months next weekend (November 25th & 26th) at The Roosevelt Hotel in what will surely be some entertaining nights of music! These will also be their first concerts with their new lineup, which now includes Redundant bandmates (and brothers) James White on bass & Rick White on drums, himself returning to Caveman Morrison around 18 months after leaving the band's bass position. How will their new lineup sound after 4 months away from the stage? Next weekend, we'll know! Admission is likely free both nights, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is listed for both shows. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's awesome to see Caveman Morrison back, and if you've missed them this year, next weekend's as good a time as any to witness their return! I completely missed the band's brief mid-2011 stint with Jacques Marceau & Willie Bellerose in their lineup, but hopefully the White brothers can rock as hard or harder in the newest version of Caveman Morrison! Stay tuned for more from Caveman and Tym Morrison as it comes in!

Next up, it looks like local hard rock quartet Stillbroke are resuming activity! The 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands winners have largely been dormant since the spring of 2010, with only their bassist changes & a brief scheduling for a private birthday concert this January showing any signs of life. That said, the recent news I've seen indicates that there's been yet another lineup change, as it looks like Stillbroke have parted ways with guitarist Chris Villeneuve. A reason for his departure hasn't been publicized, but the band's pages are for the most part badly outdated anyway. Chris originally joined Stillbroke in February 2010 during their major lineup overhaul, though I think he only played one concert with them. I remember he had talent, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and best of luck to Chris in the future! That said, bassist Mitch Sirie has apparently moved to guitar to replace him (just like in The Bear Hunters), so once again, Stillbroke are looking for a new bassist. Both Mitch & frontman Jesse Frigault have been openly looking for a new bass player on local musicians' Facebook groups, so click here and here for details if you're at all interested in playing bass for them.

Mitch also said in his post that Stillbroke are hoping to resume playing live in "a month or so", which would be awesome (and long overdue) if this holds up! It's about time that Stillbroke come back, as they were a talented and easily listenable hard rock outfit that definitely had momentum on their side before they faded from activity! Hopefully they can pick up where they left off almost two years ago, and when new band details come in, I'll absolutely have them here! Check the above links for more!

We'll close today with some newly discovered blasts from the past, and first, here's a neat find I came across relating to local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester! An old website of theirs from circa 2004 can still be accessed via an archive copy at The Internet Archive Wayback Machine, and it features some good information and biographical notes from their mid-2000s era with singer Ritch Fullerton (including their Chester-referencing stage names), so it's definitely worth checking out for old band info. However, the neatest find of all relating to this now-deleted website is that there's an audio/video page that actually features two audio recordings that you can still listen to seven years after the fact! Though the present links are mostly dead (including three deleted videos from Local2's predecessor LTV News), two live audio clips remain online via an old personal Shaw page from guitarist Gabe Tessaro, and they're of That's Chester covering Kiss' "Detroit Rock City" and Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down"! Nice quality, and it's good to hear some older That's Chester audio, so if you missed the Ritch Fullerton era and wanna hear That's Chester rock some heavier stuff from the mid-2000s, give their proficient takes on these classic songs a look at the above links!

And finally, here's an old website for a closed local concert venue that some of you guys might be interested in! Off and on, you may remember that 119 Gore Street housed a concert venue under varying names and owners through last fall, such as GLOW and Nite-Life Dance Club. From 2007-2008, the bar was known as The Other Place, and it filled a niche as a more metal-friendly bar during it's short run under this ownership, largely thanks to booker Mike Gaetano, who maintained an official website I've only just found for The Other Place during it's run! The page includes info on bar specials, events, photos from inside, and details on upcoming concerts at The Other Place between April and June 2008, including concerts featuring Garden of Bedlam, No Arrow, defunct local metal band Heresy (anyone know anything about them?), and the later cancelled show to be headlined by Winnipeg metal band Dreadnaut that June. I don't know why The Other Place dropped from local view in late 2008, but at their peak, there was a lot of good things going down at the future GLOW, and it's cool to come across this site after 3 years! Give it a look, and maybe down the road, another bar will return this Gore Street spot!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our next poll and more news over the next few days! Thanks everyone!

News From Mike Haggith, Woods Of Ypres, As It Stands, And More!!

Happy Boxing Day, everyone! Hopefully your Christmas was awesome, and hopefully you guys got lots of stuff! If you guys were expecting an official announcement on the New Years Eve metal show at Foggy Notions, then you might have to wait a bit, as official word hasn't been given beyond the promoter's personal Facebook page. Plus, the lineup might still need adjusting too. Something's gotta come soon though, so keep an eye out! For today, we have assorted news from the last little while, so here's what you need to know! Oh, and previews of concerts taking place tomorrow through Wednesday are coming TONIGHT!

We'll start with local solo artist Mike Haggith, who announced on his Facebook page on Thursday that he has postponed the release of his next album "Suspended Animation" due to the music lacking a certain "drive". He also announced that the album's track listing will be greatly altered to remove songs that aren't up to his standards, and to add new ones. What this will mean for some of the instrumental takes posted on his Reverbnation page isn't known yet, but stay tuned for updates on the new release info! With that said, Mike has uploaded three full songs from "Suspended Animation" with vocals onto Reverbnation, those being "Sun Perfume", "The Institution", and a new addition to the setlist, "Trinity". I won't go into heavy detail with my opinions on them, as I still hope to review this album down the road, but I will say that the vocals complete each track! Of course, there's a lot of Mike Haggith solo material that's came out recently too if you're getting anxious, and it's now supplanted by the addition of his "Live At The Outback" album onto his ReverbNation store!

It features only three of the announced tracks, with "Tuning" unavailable. Odd, but really, would you count guitar tuning as a "song"? The three posted tracks from the album go for 99¢ each, or $3.25 as a whole, with ringtones going for $2.49. If you wanna buy Mike's first ever solo live album, click here! Video uploads of two of the live tracks can be checked out at this location as well! I'm still leaning towards a review of "Laps In A Lake Of Fire" over "Live At The Outback" if I do review a Mike Haggith album next month, unless the "Suspended Animation" delay isn't that long. Time will tell though, as there many announced local metal albums that we're waiting for, so I couldn't guess what we'll review next at all! Stay tuned though, and check out the above links for all of the newest Mike Haggith solo material, as there's a lot of songs worth your time!

Next up, here are the latest news items from Woods of Ypres, now back in action following frontman David Gold's return to Canada! On Thursday, he announced a rough timeline of upcoming band events on Woods of Ypres' Facebook page, starting with writing, rehearsals, and DVD editing in January and February! That's all good to hear, especially the unexpected news about a DVD! That'll be interesting, I wonder what we'll get in that? Then, it's mentioned that "Woods IV: The Green Album" will be reissued worldwide through their new label Earache Records, with a warm-up Canadian tour planned as well. David mentioned the Earache reissue news on his Governor's Ball interview, and it's nice to see the album get wider press! Looks like "Woods V" will be pushed back as a result, but it'll be worth it when it comes out! And as for the warm-up Canadian tour? Fingers crossed they play a show here! David also added that the band hope to write and rehearse more in April, followed by the beginning of full time touring "everywhere" in May. Awesome news, hopefully this plan sticks without delay! One more quick Woods of Ypres note: Their first merchandise item on Earache Records' store is now on sale! It's a $5 Woods of Ypres patch, pick it up today at this location! Stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres news as I hear it!

Thirdly today, here's the latest news from local hardcore quintet As It Stands! Firstly, if you've been wondering why we haven't heard anything lately concerning their show tomorrow at The Speak Easy, here's why. The band deleted the Facebook event page, alluding to a likely cancellation for the show. That's a shame, it'd have been fun! They have been keeping busy booking some Southern Ontario shows for next month though, including a new show in Ottawa on January 29th with hardcore band After the Vendetta, and more news on their January 28th concert in Windsor with The Voodoo Mafia. It's amazing how quickly they've been able to secure out of town shows after their return, that's a very good sign! They also announced that their original material (presumably their two newest originals) are now on rotation at Energy Rock Radio, which is awesome! It'd be nice to hear their original EP on there too (If you have a copy or the songs from it, let me know!) Get full details on the above stories at their official Facebook page! The future's looking very bright for As It Stands, I'll keep you posted with more news as I hear it! And of course, make sure to see them on Tuesday at the Soo Music Mash-Up show at The Oddfellows Hall!

Fourthly, three local metal bands have launched brand new Facebook pages! One is the new Facebook page for local hard rockers Stillbroke, which is (more or less) their first updated news or information on an official band page in quite a long time. The new page is pretty sparse at present, but it does confirm the band's current lineup (including new bassist Mitch Sirie), so it's worth becoming a fan of to stay in the loop! Speaking of bands featuring Mitch Sirie, his death metal band The Bear Hunters also have a new official Facebook page as well! It includes the band's lineup, a logo, and lots of amusing anti-bear statements! Good stuff so far, remember to check them out on New Years Eve, once I find out more info! And the final new Facebook page is courtesy of new local death metal quartet State of Misery! Nice to see a page from them that anyone can join and become a fan of! It confirms their lineup and also includes influences, an "odd" biography statement, and mentions that page updates and news are coming "soon". Good to hear! I'm a fan of all three pages, and if you guys want to keep updated, I'd say you all should too!

And finally, just some news on three link deletions from the SMS. I deleted two bands from our listings, those being defunct local solo project Recognition and Sin Stereo, who are now better known as Stiffler's Mom. I left them on the SMS following the shutdown of their only internet pages on GarageBand because it looked like they were on iLike with their songs posted there. On recent link checking, I found that their iLike "pages" were neither official nor featured any real audio or band material. It's nice to see iLike add them to their server, but they're certainly not real band pages, so I finally deleted them from our listings. I also edited both bands' entries in our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series (linked above) to reflect the reality of their internet page situation, with media links on both now taking you to my YouTube uploads of the songs on the SMS' YouTube channel. The other deletion was for the old website for Hempfest, which has long since changed owners and isn't directly run by people connected with Planetary Pride anymore, as the old site was hosted through there. So there's the deletions, in case you guys were wondering where certain links went!

That's all for now, but stay tuned TONIGHT for my previews of concerts taking place through Wednesday, and just for reference sake, I plan to attend ALL FOUR shows that we're previewing tonight! Stay tuned!

SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Splitshot), Another New Local Band Page, And More!!

Hey there, metalheads! Here's some local metal news and notes for this Monday night, including ANOTHER new local band's website, a lineup change in a local hard rock band, some more music discoveries from a local band, and more, but first, here are some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

New Sault Michigan hard rockers Splitshot have announced a pair of dates THIS WEEKEND at The Bird! This will be their second set of weekend dates since their inception, after playing at The Bird this past weekend. Details weren't specified, but judging by general tendencies of past shows at The Bird, this should have a rough start time of 10:00 PM with a 21+ age limit for both of these concerts, on Friday night and Saturday night. As usual for Sault Michigan bar shows, you must be 21 to enter. Apologies to everyone for the short notice, these shows were only just announced this afternoon on the band's Facebook page. Remember, Splitshot are the new local hard rock cover quintet featuring Nixxon Dixxon alumni Chris Hubbard and Kyle Beaumont, so you know there's some talent and good stuff in store! No audio or video of them in action yet, but make sure to check them out this weekend if you're in the mood for some live hard rock! Check the above links for more, and I'll have more on Splitshot as it comes in!

Next up, we have a brand new local metal band page to share! They're not a new band, we first told you about them in August, but only now do they have an actual page. The band is Sativa Rose, the local metal cover trio featuring singer/guitarist Andrew Angelic, singer/bassist Adam Veale, and former Dreamscape drummer Alex Palmer, and they are now officially on Facebook, thanks to their new Facebook page! There's lots of band info there, including listed genres ranging from thrash metal to punk, booking info, some live photos, and information on their next live concert on Christmas at Foggy Notions! It's great to see them finally launch an actual page, maybe this will help get them some more well deserved exposure! There's no audio or video posted there, but check out Adam Veale's dad John's YouTube channel to check out live videos from Sativa Rose, including some with guest singers Jason Roy from Havadder and Tym Morrison! Stay tuned for more Sativa Rose news as it comes in!

Thirdly today, have you been wondering where Stillbroke have been lately? The only things we've heard about them since May have revolved around the bassist position, and in this new update on the local hard quartet, that's where we go right back to. Stillbroke have parted ways with bassist Nathan Bouliane (again) and replaced him with Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie! Nathan actually told me at the Total Chaos show that he left for musical differences, more or less, so that explains his departure, but I won't go into too much detail without online sourcing. Now, official statements from the band haven't been made, with their old Facebook page deleted and their MySpace page untouched since Kyle McKey was still on bass, but Mitch told me about his involvement in Facebook conversations. Those close to the band backed this up in the same conversation, and Mitch's personal Facebook page confirms his involvement. It will be very interesting to hear what Mitch has to offer in Stillbroke, as he has shown he's more than capable on bass with his April Eyes solo project (yes, it was re-renamed from Animas again.) I sense a heavier Stillbroke, am I alone in thinking that? Here's hoping they're gigging again soon, and that they update their MySpace page too! Stay tuned for more as it comes in!

Fourthly, remember yesterday when I shown you guys the various solo songs that Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison had posted on his official website? Well, I hinted towards some extra music from Caveman Morrison that I wanted to share later, and later is now! If you head to the music page on Caveman Morrison's official website, you'll get three Caveman Morrison studio quality covers, of Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction", Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight", and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid"! These have programmed drums and feature Tym Morrison's very talented guitar playing, but you may notice that the Judas Priest and Black Sabbath covers feature a different singer. It at least sounds like someone else, I know how Tym sounds both live and in studio. I think it's former Caveman Morrison singer Dean Duguay, who sang with the band through their last local run and in their Calgary period, but that's not stated for me to be verifiably sure. Still good though, the vocals suit each song, and each track is heavy! You can of course hear these songs in current Caveman Morrison setlists as well! Good stuff, Tym should make more studio covers of metal songs! There's also a sample of Tym's solo original "Moon Patrol" there from his "next album" that we saw on his solo music page, in case you're interested! Check it all out at the above links!

And finally, here's three quicker updates to get to. These are in alphabetical order by artist or topic name, as usual!:

• Anyone out there want a Lion Ride calendar? Their Facebook page is hyping sales of an official 2011 band calendar, and though I can't tell what form it'd take or if it's even a serious statement, it'd be cool to see! If you want one, click here and show your support!
• Local experimental hard rock solo artist Mike Cliffe has posted a new song on his Reverbnation page! Entitled "Gollum Jam", it's a straightforward bluesy rock jam tune, with one major difference: Gollum from The Lord of The Rings is singing! Actually, it's just some very strange vocal effects to create a robotic high pitched voice that sounds a but like Gollum. Very odd and original, but worth checking out, click here to do so!
• Here's a note for those of you who use MySpace for personal or band pages. Today, MySpace started changing ALL profiles to the new profile layout. Note this if you have a MySpace page you don't update frequently or haven't switched over, because this will basically kill your old custom HTML profile themes, though songs, photos, and information are left alone. Head to MySpace A.S.A.P. to re-customize your profiles and get caught up! Yes, it's an inconvenience, but hey, do you want a white blank shell of a MySpace page?
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news very soon, and our December update of our "Where Are The New Albums?" post on or around Thursday! Thanks everyone!
MIKEY BISHOP

New Kiss Videos, Upcoming Album Updates, And A Look Back At 2008's Case's Music Battle Of The Bands!!

I'm back with at least one more assorted news post before we review Sykotyk Rampage's "Bella Disgusta", and today, we have some newly uploaded videos, and some new details on a couple upcoming local metal albums, so let's start with a pair of new videos!

Hey Kiss fans, we have two new videos to share from last month's Kiss concert at The Essar Center! These come courtesy of YouTube user bigphatwilly, who uploaded these videos onto his YouTube channel on Friday. Neither are of the highest quality video we've seen compared to similar videos of either song, but here's what you should know! One is a two minute clip including the first part of "I Was Made For Loving You", preceded by Paul Stanley's crowd rallying that led to his zipline voyage to the other end of the arena. The audio isn't bad when it's just talking, but when the song starts, it does get staticy. However, bigphatwilly's seat gave him a great angle of where Paul landed for the song, so that's worth noting! Click the song's title to check it out! The other is embedded below, and it's his video of "Detroit Rock City"! It's a far angle clip that has some blur, but it captures the pyro explosions pretty well! Other than that, it's about the same audio and video quality as the "I Was Made For Loving You" video, but cause it's longer and has the full song, it's embedded below, so check it out! And for more new Kiss videos, click here or visit the above links!



Next up, here's updates on a pair of local albums! I've edited our September "Where Are The New Albums?" post to reflect these, but that was posted three days ago, and I'm not sure how many of you go back to read stuff that old, so I'll tell you guys what's new on that front! Firstly, recording sessions for Garden of Bedlam's full length debut, tentatively titled "Everything Will Die", have NOT completed yet. At Thursday's Endast show, frontman Buzz told me that there were still some vocal tracks to finish up at Stereo Soul Studios, and he said that the Kiss situation and opening for them threw their recording schedule out of whack. But never fear, they are almost done!

The other new update comes from Sykotyk Rampage, who recently made some changes to their release schedule. Rather than releasing a double album named "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Intellect" with 25 songs, they will split the album into two separately packaged albums with 12 songs each. One, retaining the original name and album artwork, will have the first 12 songs in order, while the second half will now be titled "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Stupidity" (artwork on your left), and will feature the remaining songs, with the exception of "Silence", which was removed from the track listing. Maybe it really was just silence, explaining the removal? Both halves of this concept series which delves "into the realm of hallucinogenic musical brainscans" are still scheduled for a December 1st release, but if their last two albums are any indication, they could very well be released later than that. For more information on Sykotyk Rampage's 24th and 25th albums, check out their discography on their Facebook page!

And finally for today, here's a classic video find that I couldn't help but post online to help keep it well exposed! Yesterday, when I was researching Stillbroke bassist Nathan Bouliane's first tenure with the band, I came across SooToday's review of the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub which Stillbroke competed in. And wouldn't you know it, there was a video attached, which was filmed by SooToday's Tyler Simpson and later edited and posted with the article! It featured 30 second clips of all 9 competing bands, including Behind Society, Caddy Street Avenue, Fountain of Betrayal, Horizon, Imination, The Soo Country Rollers, Stillbroke, The Unforgiven, and Vitamin X, followed by the award announcements from former Case's Music owner Mike Case. The winners in the high school division were Stillbroke, and the elementary school division winners were Fountain of Betrayal, with each band recieving $100 and recording time at Green Room Studios. I know Stillbroke used theirs to record "Sick & Tired", though I'm not sure what came of Fountain of Betrayal's recording time. Individual awards went to Stillbroke's Jesse Frigault for best singer & Nathan Bouliane for best bassist, Caddy Street Avenue's Andrew Dal Cin for best drummer, and one of The Unforgiven's guitar players for best guitarist, though I couldn't make out his name in the video, which I'll show you guys in a second!

It's been over 2 years since this battle, and I wanted to point out some other interesting notes from it, if that's alright! Firstly, I noticed that SooToday's above article referred to the bands as "the future of the Sault music scene", but of them, I think only two are still active under that name, Stillbroke and Caddy Street Avenue. There's lots of familiar faces though, like The Unforgiven, who I remember seeing at an outdoor show at Bellevue Park that year. Interesting to see Stillbroke's original form too, which also included current drummer Sam DeDominicis on guitar & original members John Armstrong on drums & Joe Kargianakkis on the keyboard! You may recognize John, Joe, and Nathan as members of the local indie band The Outside Lights as well. I'm really interested in what happened to Fountain of Betrayal (pictured), cause for elementary school kids, they were pretty talented, and were metal to boot! It's odd seeing some musicians in multiple bands too, but I've heard that happening before at other Case's Music functions. The bands were of varying quality and genre, but most of them had some real promise! And, it's nice to see that all of the awards except one went to the metal and hard rock bands, but that's the metalhead in me talking!

The Case's Music battles were a great way to help out young local musicians, and here's hoping they come back in 2011! Because the SooToday article isn't liable to be read frequently enough to give this video proper exposure, I decided to upload it to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel to give it the exposure it deserves! Remember, I didn't film this video, Tyler Simpson from SooToday did, he deserves 100% of the credit, and I'm uploading this with THE BEST POSSIBLE INTENT! The original video file can be downloaded at this location, or from the original SooToday article, and I MEAN NO HARM OR INFRINGEMENT! That being said, check out the highlights of the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands below! (The Unforgiven are 0:31 in, and Stillbroke are at 4:31, with Fountain of Betrayal and the awards immediately following them.)



That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of Sykotyk Rampage's "Bella Disgusta", which is looking likelier and likelier to be our next post! Stay tuned for that, and more!