LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Apocalypse Afterparty), A Tribute Song, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Die Mannequin frontwoman Caroline Kawa (a.k.a. Care Failure), who just passed away according to numerous social media postings at the age of 36. Read her obituary at this link. A standout presence on the Toronto alt-rock scene from Die Mannequin's launch in 2005 onward, Care will be familiar to SMS readers from her set with Die Mannequin at the former Roosevelt Hotel in May 2012, when they and Dearly Beloved stopped in town on their Danceland Tour, but a planned June 2014 return gig at The Rockstar Bar was cancelled. Die Mannequin peaked in the late 2000s and early 2010s with songs like "Bad Medicine" and "Dead Honey", and would land songs on the final two Big Shiny Tunes CDs in the process. Care also had a well received turn as an actress in the 2010 film Hard Core Logo 2, with the band factoring into the plot & soundtrack of the long-awaited film.

I wasn't at Die Mannequin's local concert, nor can I find public videos from it, but Care was an original and a very talented musician who crossed punk and alternative genre boundaries to strong effect, and it's a shame to lose her at such a young age like this. Do check out Die Mannequin's original material and live videos, and consider donating to Musicares in her name to pay tribute. R.I.P. Care! Now, here's a new tribute song to another musician we lost, and first, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local rap/party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will be among the openers at TOMORROW'S Madchild-headlined concert at Soo Blaster! Apologies for the short notice, organizers R-Evolution Media only confirmed The A.A. for this show in promotional materials posted online this week, though the Stanghettas were previously teasing their involvement on their personal Facebook pages. This marks a trilogy for rap concerts at Soo Blaster with The Apocalypse Afterparty as the lone rock band outpost, following their appearances at last fall's Tech N9ne and Afroman gigs, and clearly things went well for Paul & Amanda's minimalist hybrid sound to get called back TOMORROW NIGHT! Madchild is the Vancouver rapper best known from the Juno and MuchMusic Video Award winning rap group Swollen Members, who were easily one of the biggest domestic rap acts of the 2000s, so fans will want to note that aspect!

I don't know that Madchild does many Swollen Members songs live, but it'll be interesting to see him in town TOMORROW, and he has a deep solo catalog that dips into horrorcore now, even! Guelph rapper Robbie G (who also opened for Tech N9ne & Afroman here) is the top billed opener, and the other opening acts include Sound Syndrome, Sawbe & Stoney, RyxnNick, Ille$t, and Superskunk Lucas. For reference, Sawbe & RyxnNick were also seen at the Afroman show, and there may be other ties to the Tech N9ne and Afroman lineups if you count solo rappers who were seen in groups or ensembles (and vice versa). While uncredited on the poster, Madchild's own Facebook promotion of TOMORROW'S concert confirms that his DJ on this tour is Dow Jones. A later 10:00 PM start time is in effect, and tickets run for $34.11 online at this link or $25 if bought through local openers. 

Note that at there are higher priced VIP packages for meet & greets and signed posters and whatnot, plus a deal on a booth for 6 people, while at least The Apocalypse Afterparty were selling two tickets for $40. Also note that the online sale page says that this is all ages, but use your best judgement on that given the locale and timing of the concert. Should be a fun night for hip-hop fans, with The Apocalypse Afterparty back to bridge the gap between the rap and bass-led metal worlds, so keep TOMORROW'S show in mind, and here's The A.A. live at Soo Blaster!

We'll close today with a tribute song to a local musician who passed away two years ago, namely former Highway 63/Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer. A staple of the Sault Michigan scene since the 1990s, Henry died in February 2021 after a heart ailment at just 49 years of age, and he would have turned 52 this past Monday. In honour of his birthday, Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas (who played in a band with Henry back when he taught guitar across the river & remained friends long afterwards) posted a song in tribute to Henry named "Forever Highway 63" on his YouTube channel. Glen had actually been working on this song since the spring of 2021, as Facebook friends of his may recall, and he elaborates about how quickly the song came together and what he went through writing it in the description (yes, it is a lyric video too). His old Flat Stanley bandmate Tony Kajnar provides lead guitar in the outro.

Other than some directly music-centric lyrics late, the song isn't hyper specific to Henry, but it comes from a place of loss and respect, and it shows in Glen's voice. He's not a skilled vocalist and he admits as much in the description but the mood is right and I'm sure Henry would appreciate Glen's gesture here! Glen has other original songs with him singing on his YouTube channel, and while they're generally not musically heavy, his talents are present! Give "Forever Highway 63" a listen below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!

A Look At Tarnished's TikTok Videos (Part 2!!)

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to note that Highway 63/Mama's Boys singer/guitarist Henry Switzer's obituary is now online at this link. There, it says that he passed away suddenly at War Memorial Hospital on Wednesday afternoon at just 49 years of age (he would have turned 50 on March 27th.) Listed survivors include his wife Kristina, three children, three grandchildren, his parents, and three brothers. Funeral services will be held privately at C.S. Mulder Funeral Home in Sault Michigan on Friday, with a public celebration of life planned for "later this summer", though with the pandemic, who knows what form that could take. The lengthy and well written obituary goes into great detail about Henry as a father, husband, auto shop owner, musician, animal lover, and overall, as a good person. It is definitely worth a read whether you knew him well or not, and our continued well wishes are with the Switzer and Brooks families at this difficult time. R.I.P. Henry!

Now, today's post otherwise keeps us in Sault Michigan for our second look at the videos posted by Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished on their TikTok page! We covered their first 27 videos there on the site last month, running through December 11th, so let's pick up where we left off! As was the case last month, I can not get the embed code for TikTok videos working on the SMS, and if you are Sault Ontario reader and find videos without working sound, then odds are the audio is geoblocked in Canada. 

On December 14th, the guys shared two videos of Alex & Josh's acoustic performance on Eagle 95.1 FM's morning show, where you can see them playing fragments of "Metalyn" with Alex & Josh, and the holiday classic "Run Rudolph Run" with Alex & Nathan, both of which have made their way to Facebook already. What didn't go there is this clip of Alex talking about their appearance on the Eagle, including brushing off the vehicle for the drive there, and clips of DJ/station owner Tim Ellis asking the band about availability of their "Down To The Wire" EP. Then-drummer Gary Croad even makes a brief appearance, despite not performing. Fun look at the behind the scenes stuff you can't seen when listening to the radio, if obviously short given the nature of TikTok! Ensuing videos include an example of "beautiful wall art" at "the band pad", and a handful of pre-Christmas uploads

These include two late-night rehearsal clips (one jokier than the other) that I believe were related to their studio version of "Run Rudolph Run" that you may have seen on Facebook a couple of months ago. The others in this batch are two episodes of their ultra-literal TikTok series "A Note In Review", where Josh reviews a musical note. On Boxing Day, Alex starred in this video showing off some of his Christmas gifts and teasing Tarnished's 2020 plans to put out some new music. Speaking of which, their next proper performance clips were posted on December 30th, where Tarnished (Gary included) covered Aerosmith's "Same Old Song & Dance" and played their own "Cabin Fever", with Alex manning the camera while singing sans guitar. Fun performances while they last, though whether the gratuitous lightning improves things on the Aerosmith cover is up to you.

On January 3rd, Tarnished uploaded a video of them setting up and having a Nerf battle at the private New Year's party that Alex & Josh performed at, and while video of that set was not shared on TikTok we already covered a Facebook video from that event on the SMS. That same day, a slideshow clip set to AC/DC's "Back In Black" was uploaded to commemorate the band hitting 600 likes on Facebook (though I'm surprised that they'd celebrate one social media milestone on a completely different social media platform.) Their next three videos are not musical whatsoever, instead having them sum up Jurassic Park in a nutshell using brief re-enactments, running commentary, and movie clips. Reminds me in a way of That Guy With The Old Glasses' old movies-in-5 seconds videos! Lastly for now, a January 10th video featured Alex & Josh shopping for furniture at Big Lots.

Either I miscounted videos last month or they've deleted videos since, but only 7 TikTok videos are left on Tarnished's page that I haven't addressed on the SMS yet. We'll save those for an upcoming post, but that's all for today, and we'll be back with a new news post by Thursday! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Henry Switzer

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local singer/guitarist Henry Switzer, who suddenly passed away earlier today, according to numerous postings on Facebook from friends and family. A staple of the Sault Michigan music scene dating back to the 1990s (if not further) as both a musician and guitar instructor, Henry will be more familiar to current readers from his work fronting the 2014-2020 classic/hard rock cover band Highway 63 and their sister group Mackinaw Trail, but bands of his have been a staple of our E.U.P. coverage as long as I've been following Sault Michigan. You may have seen Henry live with local favourites The Mama's Boys, his 2006-2012 band Monkey's Uncle (née Jager), and their successors Sir Charge through 2013, with his son Nathan (now of Heavy Lies The Crown) a regular bandmate of his throughout the 2010s.

I don't feel comfortable going into great detail here about Henry's health battles in the past year or so, but he was candid on Highway 63's Facebook page in March about wanting to come back to live performances following a heart ailment (obviously before the pandemic began), and the band ultimately cancelled a planned Rudyard Days festival in June. Highway 63 would return for one more concert in August, when they played outside of Henry's automotive business Hank's Body Shop to send off Nathan before he moved downstate, and his last public music work was in a series of classic rock studio covers that you can check out above and on his YouTube channel. I never had the honour of meeting Henry, but the outpouring of condolences definitely paint him as a kind soul, a devoted husband and father, and a great music teacher, and his strong vocal range and guitar skills were apparent throughout his local music career.

As of this writing, details on services are not online, but I would keep tabs on The Sault Evening News' obituary page for further information. My kindest thoughts are with Nathan (I can relate to losing a parent) and to Henry's wife Kristina at this difficult time, but from everything I've read, it's apparent that he was a fighter, and he will be sorely missed. R.I.P. Henry!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

For our first news post of 2021, we're dipping into the video well for some recent uploads from a handful of local musicians, and we'll start in the Sault Michigan area with new videos from local hard rock quartet Tarnished's Facebook page! After being absent from their "Run Rudolph Run" cover last month, drummer Gary Croad got a rare starring role in one this video uploaded last week, featuring him... riding a bike? Given the non-winter setting and the backing track by his long-defunct local band Set To Random, I severely doubt this video (entitled "To The Road And Back") was made recently, but Gary does tease a discussion topic at the end that never visibly arrives. It's nice to hear a bit of Set To Random, but as for your interest in seeing him ride a bike, who's to say! Embedded below is a new performance video live-streamed on New Year's Eve, filmed at what appears to be a private New Year's party (I hope they were minding social distancing recommendations.)

This video features frontman Alex Traynor and bassist Josh Fair (seen above celebrating their 600 Facebook fans milestone) in a garage acoustically covering Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", and it's a solid rendition with MUCH better audio quality than their two-man unplugged shows from the spring lockdown! Whether an attendee's audible request for Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" was met afterwards is not known, but give this New Year's jam a watch!

Next up, here's some new videos from Mackinaw Trail/ex-Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, as posted or shared to both bands' Facebook pages in the last couple of months! These videos (two shared from his personal Facebook page in recent weeks, one posted on his YouTube channel in November) are all classic rock covers that he's worked on in studio as of late. The Facebook videos are both of his tracking computer during the apparent mixing process for his covers of Boston's "Amanda" and Heart's "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", the latter re-written from a male perspective. Henry has teased posting actual videos of him doing these songs, and though neither song's final video is up publically at press time, the sample clips have promise! Embedded below is his YouTube cover of "When I'm With You" by the Canadian arena rock band Sheriff, which he recorded as a gift for his wife.

Given the personal nature, it's hard to say whether his other teased studio covers will resemble this one visually, but it's a well recorded cover that puts his strong singing voice to good use, and I'm sure his wife appreciated this kind gesture! Give this and more a look above & below!

Now, let's head to Sault Ontario, starting with some new videos from local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet, courtesy of drummer Matt Waples' YouTube channel! While their latest long-term concert hiatus is truly out of their hands, they have been staying busy by selling a new round of band t-shirts online, plus these new videos that Matt posted in the first couple days of the new year, which largely just feature a relevant (to varying degrees) photo in between a zoom out of the band's logo and relevant credits. These include half of their songs from the "Fed Up!" split ("iBomb", "Lifer", and their cover of The Rebel Spell's "Murderers"), plus their regular album track "End Me", and as embedded below, both their cover of The Fuckin' Burnouts' "Evil God Hater" and their own "Got Beat Up". Besides having two songs, I picked that one to feature here because it actually has a slideshow of Destroilet pictures!

This well edited video has lots of live concert clips, band photos in general, familiar cameos, memes, and even some outside stock images for effect (the kid plugging his ears among them. Maybe he's just too young for hardcore punk?) Definitely a good watch for fans, especially when we can't actually see Destroilet live in the near term, so give this a look below!

Finally, here's a new acoustic cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" by former Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik "Buzz" Boissineau, as posted on his YouTube channel on Sunday! The video starts with Buzz offering well wishes and a personal update to viewers, and you do get a sense of his honest feelings there! The cover proper is well done and has strong vocals, and given that my mom was a big John Lennon fan, I think she would have liked how this came out. That said, the high camera angle pointing down at Buzz isn't ideal. Give this a watch below, and hopefully we hear more from Buzz soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Friday! Thanks everyone!

Project 906 Concert Preview, A New Live Album, And Much More!!

In what I project will be our last post of the month on the SMS, we have some assorted shorter topics from recent weeks, a new cover video, and a new album release to take note of, but first, here's one more concert preview for the Canada Day long weekend, ironically in Michigan!

We'll start today by wrapping up our publically known and advertised hard rock concert previews in Brimley, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino! Quietly postponed two weeks from the venue's originally advertised date, this will be their first stop at "your perfect up north retreat" since August of last year, and it's the first of three scheduled stops that they're making at the waterfront bar and restaurant through September. Fans of 906's hard rocking covers should have a fun time in Brimley tomorrow, so don't miss out on all of the action then! This 21+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, we have a new live video of Project 906 to share! This was filmed at their Strongs Tavern set last week during the Brenda Holmes benefit fun run afterparty, as filmed by attendee Tina Knox, so what should you know on it?

Shared to the band's Facebook page on Monday, this is of Project 906 covering Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" alongside a young attendee named Riley on his own guitar. Nice of the guys to invite the kid on stage, and while Joe Jenkins' placement isn't optimal for view of the band, he's clearly engaging with Riley and playing along with him, which is nice to see! The cover's solid, and Billy Bernier's vocals are particularly strong, so give this cover a look below, and don't miss Project 906 in Brimley tomorrow night!

Next up, we have a surprise album release to take note of on here, namely a new live album from Sault Ontario solo artist and former Din frontman Mike Haggith! Entitled "From The Nickel Stage", this was recorded at Mike's solo acoustic headlining set at the Nickel Days festival in Thompson, Manitoba this past Sunday, and was quickly released on a "name your price" model on his Bandcamp page on Monday. The album is comprised of 7 songs, 6 being newer originals (including the title track for his next planned studio album "Bridges"), as well as a cover of The Din's original song "Missing". Whether this set had additional outside covers or not isn't clear, but this does all fit into a half hour set with room to spare. This is Mike's first album as a solo artist since the release of "The Warinside" three years ago, and his first live album in four years, so this has been a long time coming for his revived solo project! With all of this stated, is a review imminent?

I'd say no, as precedent goes to studio albums, and with "Bridges" announced for later this year (if not with recording sessions underway), I'm inclined to wait for that album and not risk delaying it by reviewing a live album with versions of these songs that aren't the final studio copies. Plus, who knows if The Din's ongoing July 21st, 2018 teaser has anything to do with said album, as no one's showing their cards regarding the date yet. Still, give "From The Nickel Stage" a listen above to hear Mike's Manitoba-based new material, and consider buying it as well!

Also today, here's a new solo cover video from Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, courtesy of the still-on-hiatus band's Facebook page on June 17th, but it's not of a song you might be expecting. The cover in question is "I Can Only Imagine" by the Christian rock band MercyMe, which Henry spoke above on how the song was inspiring to him and that hoped to "touch people's hearts" with this performance. This may seem out of left field, but Henry's singing is solid, and remember that Sault Michigan has more of a history with Christian rock than Sault Ontario, with notable bands like Seeking Reverence, Outshined, and OmegaRock in recent years. Give it a look below!



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

• Nashville hard rock quartet The Dead Deads have been added as the second openers for the Seether/10 Years concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on August 11th, as per promoters Allstar Promotions' Facebook page on June 18th. This 3/4ths female group have an energetic and creative sound with influences from grunge to science fiction, and they're definitely worth coming early for! Tickets are still available for $46, so act now before it's too late!
• Though curiously not advertised on Rotaryfest's website, their individual performer Facebook event pages indicate that Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements have been added as the opening band for Stage 2 on Saturday, July 21st at 1:30 PM! This makes them the only heavier band playing on the last day, which we already outlined in our post on the Rotaryfest schedules, so I won't restate our original write-up here. Hopefully The Elements have a blast in their Second Stage debut next month!
• If you've seen references to a concert from Jesse Cook at The Sault (Kiwanis) Community Theater Center on March 31st, 2019, be advised that this is not the prolific local metal and punk guitarist going solo. Rather, this Jesse Cook is a Juno Award winning flamenco/jazz guitarist from Toronto, and genre fans would be well served to give this show a look! Of course, you can see the Soo's Jesse Cook with Winkstinger, Handsome Sandwich, The Wyld Stallyns, and the aforementioned Elements at local stages near you later this year, but wouldn't it be something if he opened?

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stegadeth, The 3 Day Millionaires, And Tym Morrison), And More!!

Before we get into I Mother Earth/Finger Eleven fallout and such on here, we have a weekend concert preview post to tackle, and unusually, every hard rock band playing in the Soo this weekend has SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as all announced a show or two with seven or fewer days notice! To round things out, we have some new videos from the E.U.P., but let's get our concert announcements/previews rolling!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will return to Reggie's West for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via their official Facebook event page yesterday. After spending their last few concerts at The Rockstar Bar (including last weekend), this fan favourite group will return to the former Roosevelt Hotel for the first time in almost two months TOMORROW & SATURDAY, so if you're up for another hard rocking weekend of classic hits, head to the west end! As usual for The 3 Day Millionaires' Reggievelt stops, expect 9:30 PM start times, no announced cover charge, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The 3 Day Millionaires live!

Next up, prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will add to his existing Gliss Steak & Seafood matinees TOMORROW & SATURDAY with his debut SATURDAY NIGHT at... Boston Pizza?! Again, apologies for the short notice on the Boston Pizza show, it was only announced via it's official Facebook event page on Monday. This announcement is very unexpected, especially given how you don't often see musical performers at chain restaurants locally, but this should be an intriguing locale to check out Tym's acoustic hard rock classics, so consider sticking around at the restaurant and sports bar at 601 Great Northern Road once the Leafs game wraps up on SATURDAY! Of course, Tym's ongoing arrangement with Gliss will continue with matinee shows tomorrow and Saturday evening, so keep his regular supper-time shows in mind this weekend too!

The Gliss matinees are 6:00 PM shows with no announced cover charges or age limits (but mind the locale), while SATURDAY NIGHT'S concert at Boston Pizza (beside Soo Mill) has an oddly specific start time of 10:15 PM, with a presumed 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit this link and above for more details on these three shows, and here's Tym live!



Finally for this weekend's concert previews, here's one more new announcement, as local punk trio Stegadeth will play their first ever solo headlining concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at Room 21! Apologies again for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page this past Saturday. Last seen earlier this month opening for Shit Liver, this should be a prime opportunity for fans to see Bill, Tiffany, and Johnny in a more intimate locale, and with their fan favourite covers and growing roster of originals, don't miss out above Low & Slow on SATURDAY! Note that there have been no public indications as to whether Stegadeth are playing acoustically or with electric instruments, but given the usual artist range and venue size, don't be shocked if the former is an element. A 10:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charges are in effect. See above for more details, and here's Stegadeth live at The Rockstar Bar!



Finally for today, here's the latest from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63, whose teased return from hiatus is advertised for next month, but what can be said now? On April 8th, frontman Henry Switzer revealed on their Facebook page that "my wrist is now beginning to heal and I can play guitar a bit now." He had earlier pointed to focusing on his health as a factor in Highway 63's break, but we hadn't heard this much until this month. Good to hear Henry's wrist is feeling better! The following week, Henry shared two videos from his personal Facebook page of him tracking vocals for studio versions of Cheap Trick's "The Flame" and (embedded below) Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" that he recently recorded. Teasers for upcoming Highway 63 set additions, or just him getting back in the musical groove? It remains to be seen, but how do these sound?

These renditions are solid, and Henry puts his strong vocal range to good use on each, especially on "Immigrant Song", and they're quality teasers of what's ahead, I'd assume! However, the videos themselves feel like they have a frame rate issue, and Henry admitted to being "still a bit camera shy", hence why he's not facing the camera at all on either clip. Check these out below, and stay tuned for more from Highway 63 when it rolls in!



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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Oceania & Nathan Switzer

Here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, our monthly spotlight of one or two inactive or defunct local metal, hard rock, or punk bands, in order to showcase and feature them and their accomplishments for current readers! Our final 2017 installment is on two bands for the first time since March due to the first randomly chosen band not having enough surviving material so sustain a solo profile, so one more was added to fill things out. There's some familiar faces in this month's bands, so here's what you should know!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oceania

Genre: Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Lawrence "LaR Noxous" Davies (Black Like My Heart), vocals/guitar
Nick "Dilbert" DiLabio, bass
Chris Rancourt (Slow Motion Theater), drums

Info/Analysis: Succeeding LaR and Chris' old band Slow Motion Theater, Oceania were active briefly from 2004-2005 as a jokingly-formed Green Day tribute band, though they would add original material to their set shortly after. The band played live a few times in 2005, primarily at The Oddfellows Hall (opening for Take One For The Team that July), but few surviving updates followed, aside from LaR's reposting of Oceania's acoustic song "Picture, No Sound" on his YouTube channel in the 2013 (plus a posthumous full band cover), while Chris would later find notability as the head of Laris Records and Northern Rocks Magazine. I can't judge Oceania themselves based on surviving media (especially with their PureVolume page's songs still not working), but if the acoustic song below is any indication, they had an accessible punk sound, and LaR's performance is solid, if still a little reserved vocally! Check out more of his later solo music above, and hopefully some more Oceania material turns up at some point!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan Switzer

Genre: Progressive Metal/Techno

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Nathan Switzer (Highway 63), all instruments

Info/Analysis: Active only briefly in late 2010 and early 2011, this solo project was the mastermind of former Analog Deficiency & Traces guitarist Nathan Switzer, prior to him joining his father Henry's classic/hard rock cover groups Monkey's Uncle & Highway 63. Nathan was aiming to self-record and release an EP called "Life" in 2011, but no updates followed there, and assorted demo recordings posted to his Soundcloud page through 2013 did not receive any public follow-up elsewhere tying them to his 2010 work. His only current song posted before 2011 ("The Beginning", embedded below) has an aggressive and proficient sound with solid production, as did the now-deleted "The End", while his later postings ranged from brutal metal (as in his "new guitar tone test") to some techno originals that show some good variety, including on the comedic "I'm Cool Too" featuring Half Stupid alum Matt Williams. Nathan's a very talented guitarist, and it's be interesting to see him resurrect his original material at some point in the future!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month (and year), we'll kick off 2018 with a randomly selected Sault Ontario band to commence another 2-1-3-1-2-1 cycle between the Twin Saults, and the band in question will be defunct local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade! Watch for that on or around January 10th, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Today's news post at the SMS is devoted to new and recent video finds on YouTube, so what lies within this post? Let's start with a source that I only just discovered via our Defunct Local Band Profile of That's Chester yesterday, that being guitarist Gabe Tessaro's YouTube channel! Launching back in November 2015 shortly after bandmate Eugene Orlando's sudden death, the current Obsession guitarist posted three exclusive That's Chester clips there from three late period concerts of theirs. I'll share the other two in future posts, but we'll start with this clip from Rotaryfest's main stage in July 2015 (the band's final traditional concert with Eugene), where they covered Deep Purple's "Hush" to close their headlining set. Filmed from a sharp side-stage angle, this isn't an optimal view of the guys (drummer Ric Datson's completely obscured by speakers), but it's a solid cover of this classic song with a neat nighttime ambiance, so give it a look below, and watch for Eugene on the keyboard!

Next up, here's a video of local pop rock cover quartet The Killer Hooks covering Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" from a show of theirs last month at The Rockstar Bar! While not a hard rock-based group, you may recognize some of their members from prior local bands, like ex-Gsis Murphy frontman Tony Marcello, his former Midpoint bandmate Rob Struk, Touch of Class alum Tony Rota, and Glory Days drummer Paolo Erme. Filmed by a friend of the band named Gillian (source here) and uploaded to Tony's YouTube channel on Thursday, this video is just of the song's first minute, and it's very red from the bar lighting, but from what we hear, this hair metal ballad is well done! If anything, Tony noted that "the crowd does all the work on this one", referencing their eager singing-along of the opening verse, and it's great to see that everyone's engaged and into their set! Give this video a look below, and visit the band's website for more on their full setlist and schedule!



Closing with some audio-only uploads, here's the teased YouTube copy of local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver's half of their and AlgomA's split "Trading Faces"! All six of Shit Liver's songs for the album are featured in this video, which was uploaded to their YouTube channel on September 5th, it's day of release. I'll hold comment until our review of the split later this month, but if you'd rather stream or preview the songs here instead of Bandcamp, you have the option below! Note that AlgomA have not posted their half on YouTube yet, but a fan has uploaded the whole thing in a single video, which I won't share at present out of respect to the brand new release.



Finally, here's a cover of Alter Bridge's "Watch Over You" by Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, as uploaded to his YouTube channel last week! Recorded in his music room, and set to a montage of autumn scenery, this is a quality cover with clear emotion, and while I can't confirm if Highway 63 cover this song live, this shows off Henry's vocal abilities well in particular, so check out this Sault Michigan mainstay's newest solo cover below!



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

Rotaryfest Stage 2 & Din Videos, New Covers, And Much More!!

After a relatively quiet weekend on the site, here's a new news post for your Monday morning! Today, we have some recent videos relating to a music festival last month and some new covers from a familiar veteran, with some assorted notes to cap things off, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with some new videos referencing last month's all-original Stage 2 at Rotaryfest, with a pair of sources spotlighting the Second Stage and it's importance to the music community! One is the newest episode of SooToday's music webseries Tuned With Donna Hopper, which was posted online yesterday, so what should you know from it? In the episode, Donna interviewed Stage 2 manager Chelsie Parayko at the festival about what to expect at the stage, what it does to help original artists, and future ambitions for the Clergue Park stage, with performance footage from The Din and The Wild Iris' opening sets bookending the interview. In terms of scoops, Chelsie did note that Stage 2 is currently a one day event due to funding concerns, but she hopes to expand it to a longer timeframe in the future, and perhaps to two days (like it was in 2006 & from 2009-2013.) It's not a terribly long episode, but it's good to see more positive press from Stage 2, complete with a nice look at the stage and Tidal Records' merchandise table!

As SooToday's video host doesn't allow external embedding, we can't feature it here, but we can embed this, Rotaryfest's "Talkin' With..." video featuring the aforementioned Din, as posted to the festival's Facebook page just over a month ago! Apologies for the obvious delay, this and The Wild Iris' similar video passed us by until the past week. Joining the earlier "Talkin' With..." videos from Nilah Moss' Vimeo channel (no word on why these 4 clips were never together on the same page), it features the alternative/hard rock trio jamming in studio, describing their live sound and stage show, and noting the perks and benefits of playing on the Second Stage (presumably in part to help the stage's crowdfunding campaign), while also plugging THIS FRIDAY'S CD release show and showcasing their recording setup. It's a shame that Nilah couldn't interview Liam Seymour, Machines Dream, and Id Iota from Stage 2 in a similar fashion, but these videos all gave Stage 2 some positive press, and likewise for the bands that played!

The Din's video is entertaining, and has a bit of the humour you often see in their Facebook videos (more on them this week), with a nice look at how they get their recordings and music down before it makes it's way to our players! Give these new videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for much more from The Din as the week progresses!

Also today, here's some updates from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock musician and Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, who happens to have a YouTube channel! Though the Monkey's Uncle/Mama's Boys alum doesn't post live band videos there, he has shared a number of solo covers in the past year that he recorded (though most do include images from Highway 63, these are advertised as solo recordings.) His videos include covers of songs by Foreigner, Steve Perry, Styx, and Journey, plus his entry into The Stone Temple Pilots' vocalist search (him doing "Vasoline"), but embedded below is his cover of Heart's "Alone", which appears to be dedicated to his wife. Not a bad rendition, if a little bit of an adjustment to hear given that most notable versions are sung by women, but you can sense the emotion and intent for the cover! Give it a listen below, see more from Henry's channel above, and don't miss Highway 63 at The Rapids Lounge THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY!



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

• Recently dormant concert promoters Allstar Promotions revealed on their Facebook page this weekend that they "should have a show to announce in the near future", which would be their first since last July's Theory of a Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theater. It's been way too quiet lately for major non-tribute bands at Kewadin Casino, so hopefully we get more word soon! Note that this capped off a status where they addressed some confusion about whether they were the promoters of Saturday's cancelled FireHouse show (they weren't), but we won't go into detail otherwise out of respect to all parties.
• If you saw brief mentions on Facebook last week about Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements dropping out of the Big Brother show at The New American Pub on August 20th due to a member's work conflict, then not to worry, as they were quietly re-added to the lineup! It's not clear if the work conflict was a mistake on one end, addressed in some form, or will result in a guest performer, but we'll let you know if anything is stated publically!
• With local post-punk quartet Gnaeus' successful release of their debut CD "Meditations" on Friday, the album can now be purchased digitally via iTunes and the Google Play Store, so you can get it for $8.91 (or 99¢ a song) on both services! Keep both in mind, but if you want a hard copy, head to your favourite local music stores, M&M Meats(!), and/or The Tech on Friday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!

Local Band Lineup Changes, Another Band's Demise, And More Updates!!

Before we post our review from last night's Roberta Bondar Pavilion metal concert, here's one more news post, and it's got sort of a negative bent. I say that because most of the stories relate to band member departures, with one leading to a band breakup, but we do end happily with some updates to some of our feature posts on the site! Read on below for this latest news post!

First today, I can now confirm that Brimley metal band Half A Man have officially parted ways with singer Dillion Semasky. A public statement about the move hasn't been made, but frontman Erik Rintamaki confirmed that Dillion did indeed leave the band via e-mail with me yesterday. A full reason for his exit wasn't given, but the tone of what I've heard is not negative, and Half A Man do hope to possibly jam with Dillion at LemmaFest, seeing as he's playing there that night with Munising metal quintet Infathom already. Dillion had joined Half A Man in December, but was only featured in one rehearsal video before questions of his band status arose in the spring, thanks to statements about Half A Man's next projects as a trio. I figured that Dillion would add an interesting dimension to their sound with his extreme style of vocals, but this move is probably the best for all parties, and hopefully Dillion continues to rock the U.P. with Infathom! As recent postings have indicated, Half A Man are reverting to a trio for their upcoming album & LemmaFest set, with Erik back on vocals, but it's not uncharted waters for them. Remember, their first gig in the summer of 2010 was as a trio due to then-drummer Doug Reed's absence, so they should do just fine as a three-piece! Stay tuned for more Half A Man news as it rolls in!

Next up, here's the latest updates from Skeyes of Seven, the new local hard rock band featuring Sense of Truth, Half Past, and Tripod the Dog alumni! Updates have been quiet from them since their March inception, but in one recent development, it looks like they've parted ways with drummer Chris Thompson. A reason for his departure has not been announced, but Chris was quietly removed from their lineup on their Facebook page in recent weeks. As a result, the band is currently looking for a new drummer, as per a post by frontman Cory Murchison on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday. They're looking for an "experienced & dedicated" drummer, and to message either Cory or guitarist Alain Fletcher on Facebook if you're interested. Cory also added that Skeyes of Seven are hoping to become an all original band and release an album, but they are planning on doing some covers initially, with Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Tool, and Deftones covers in the works. Hopefully they get a new drummer soon, as we've missed them all on stage, and hopefully they find a perfect fit! And though I don't know why Chris left, he's still got Frightlight and Half Past (if they're even still alive) to fall back on, so best of luck to him for sure! Stay tuned for more Skeyes of Seven news as I hear it!

Finally for lineup changes, newer Sault Michigan metal band Hoist The Sails have apparently parted ways with guitarist Nathan Switzer, just weeks after we found out that bassist Joe Niemi had also left. Again, no public reason for Nathan's departure has been announced, but he's no longer listed on their Facebook lineup. I figure it has to have been a recent move though, as he's featured in the band's latest video from April 18th. This is really disappointing if true, especially knowing Nathan's talents as a guitarist, but hopefully he pops up in a new band soon, and in case there's an active search, message Hoist The Sails at the above links if you're interested in playing guitar or bass for them!

Now originally, we also had another lineup change, in that Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories had parted ways with singer Sean Roush on Sunday for personal reasons. However, the band confirmed on their Facebook page last night that "until further notice, we no longer exist. The band is disbanded." I assume this is partly due to Sean's departure, but no official reasoning beyond that was given. I'll note that their brief statement does leave open the possibility of a return ("Until further notice..."), but it may have needed better wording. I know that drummer Mike Rynberg has worked really hard to get Chained Memories off the ground since their late 2009 inception, and they've had promising lineups since then, but things have been visibly unstable for band membership and positions, and I don't believe they ever posted audio material. I personally don't know why things haven't moved forward much, but hopefully the guys stay active in area bands, and hopefully their next projects can succeed where Chained Memories couldn't if this is indeed their end. Best of luck to Mike, Sean, Ryan, and Mikaela in the future, and I've moved Chained Memories to our inactive Sault Michigan band links!

Let's end this post on a positive note, so here's some recent updates to some of our monthly feature posts! First, I've updated all of the entries in our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series to reflect the results and finishes of the Humane Society Battle on April 20th, including the withdrawls of Cowboys & Indians and The Moves, both of which had alumni from many of the battles we covered in the series. In our Defunct Local Band Profile Series, I've added a minor reference to the Death Rise profile to note guitarist Johnny Belanger's current work as Caveman Morrison's drummer, while for the Life's Eclipse profile, I added a brief note that guitarist David Mills is also a member of the Eckerman metal band Moss, which is now linked there. I restored a photo to the Out Of The Mouth Of Babes profile, while the State of Misery profile has saw numerous changes to reflect their latest reunion, including a new photo of their current/original lineup, notes on their current status, and the departure of bassist Devon Overman. Because they're re-activated, their profile's title once again has an asterisk (*) at the end. Finally, I added a brief mention to the From The Ashes Of Angels profile about frontman David Waite's current Colorado-based acoustic solo project Jibber N' The Beanie. There's more updates to come, but check the above links to get caught up on these newly updated SMS feature posts!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review from last night's Roberta Bondar Pavilion all ages metal show later tonight! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Palms To The Sky), Plus Additions & Removals To Our Band Links

Happy Saturday, metalheads! We have another big post today, including three three bands removed from our band listings and three brand new additions, but kicking things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Here's what you need to know!

Two weeks ago, I first alerted you guys to a potential upcoming hardcore concert featuring Saskatoon metalcore band Palms To The Sky and Ottawa breakcore rockers The Breathing Apparatus. They needed a booking then for this show, part of their "WinTour Sucks" tour, and now they have it! On December 17th (one week from Friday), both of these talented hardcore bands will make their way to Foggy Notions for this hard hitting concert! A 10:00 PM start time is listed on the Facebook event page, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend this show. It's also interesting to note that Mike Gaetano, a former concert booker from The Other Place (now GLOW) is putting this show on! Nice to see him booking again, I remember him bringing some great bands to town a few years back! It's great to see these bands get a finalized concert in town, their hardcore sound will be sure to attract many fans to Foggy's on the 17th! Check out both bands and more concert details at the above links, and thanks to Mike for alerting me to this confirmed concert! Also note that on the event page, Mike alludes to a Garden of Bedlam concert at Foggy's on December 18th. I won't report this as confirmed until either the band or the venue do, but let me just say that there is something to that statement. I'll keep you posted!

Now, we'll discuss three newly found local bands! All are from Sault Michigan, two are older, one is new, and the new one links with an older one! Here's what you should know!

Firstly, it's the new solo project from Sault Michigan metal guitarist Nathan Switzer! You may recognize him from his work in the local metal bands Analog Deficiency, Traces, and Deprecor (more on them in a second), along with the fact that he's the son of Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer. Well, with updates on his bands slowing in recent months, it's nice to know he's still active in the local scene, thanks to this very new project of his! Nathan's playing instrumental progressive metal in his solo work, and is apparently hoping to release a solo album entitled "Life" in the future. He's currently writing original material towards that goal, with current song titles including "The Beginning", "First Breath", and "The End". Might this be a concept album detailing the progression of a person's life? Time will tell! We haven't heard much on the project since mid-November, but Nathan has uploaded two solo originals onto his official SoundCloud page! I have to say, I'm impressed so far! He's got a firm grasp of his instruments, he's playing at a very proficient level, and the production is surprisingly good! "The End" is especially heavy and technical, while "The Beginning" shows a nice melody and it's own heaviness! I can't wait to hear more, Nathan's solo work is very promising! Check out the above links for more!

While we're on the subject of Nathan Switzer, I came across another old band of his on MySpace! Entitled Deprecor, they only appeared to be active in February 2008, but played a style of industrial death metal. Nathan covered guitars while "T.J." played bass and drums. I'm not entirely sure who T.J. is, so if you can fill me in, e-mail me! Apparently, Deprecor formed out of boredom, and the band hoped to write heavy and melodic metal from varying influences. Honestly, their profile is pretty sparse (can't say if it's their fault or the new MySpace layout's), but one thing makes it worth posting on the SMS: A song! Entitled "Break", you can stream it on their MySpace page, and it has promise itself! It's slightly repetitive, but the riffing's solid and if expanded on, it could be a great base for a metal song! Quality's good too, Nathan has a good ear for home recording quality! Check the above links for more on Deprecor, who are now in our SMS band links as well!

The final new band that we have to share today is BlisteringBane, a solo death metal project out of nearby Kincheloe, Michigan! Active since August, the sole member of BlisteringBane is local musician Jordon Jones, who supplies all instruments on his original material. He's influenced by everyone from Slipknot to The Smashing Pumpkins, and has 10 original songs uploaded on this project's MySpace page! The recording quality isn't sparkling, but Jordon has talent! He has some good riffing talent, and the addition of keyboards on some songs is interesting, but a lot of the BlisteringBane songs sound very similar, and have a few too many sections where it feels very empty except for the guitar playing. His singing, what little of it we get, needs work too, though I think on songs like "Look Into My Eyes", he does succeed at a more experimental sound! I think Jordon does have promise, and it'd be interesting to hear these songs with better production and a fuller more fleshed out sound! Check out BlisteringBane at the above links!

And finally for today, I have deleted a handful of bands from our band links. Do you remember late last month when I mentioned that MySpace had converted all profiles on the site to the new layout, regardless of existing themes or preference for the old style? Well, for the most part, this didn't affect band specific materials beyond custom themes, but some bands have seen their profile hit harder than others. In the past, I've only added bands to our links that had were currently active, had audio/video material, sufficient bio information, and/or professional-looking page design elements. That being said, after looking at older MySpace pages of defunct local bands recently, I've found a few defunct/inactive band profiles that are just too bare and lacking compared to the vast majority of other bands we list on the SMS. This is partly because of their old profiles being crippled by the new MySpace layout, but their sound descriptions and lack of qualitative information were major too. With that said, I have removed these three defunct local bands from our listings: the local hardcore bands 9MM of Hate and Bloodshed At Dawn, and local metal trio Eyes Set Fire. No offense is meant to the members or fans of these three bands, there just isn't enough information or material there for them to be worth keeping on the SMS. There might be more coming, so keep an eye out!

That's all for tonight, but I will have more news and notes very soon, and yes, our next CD review will be over the coming week at some point! Stay tuned for more!