Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Traces & The Bottom Half

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Yes, our monthly look at one or two defunct/inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands is back, and like usual, bands are randomly chosen! This month, we're looking at two bands due to our first selection only having minimal surviving info, but there's talent from both sides of the border to take in this month, so here's what you should know!
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Traces

Genre: Progressive Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Tyler Tidwell (Clownsack, Swayze Train), guitar/synth/programming
Nathan Switzer (Highway 63, Monkey's Uncle, RamWagon), guitar
Cody Tidwell (Analog Deficiency), guitar

Info/Analysis: Launched in April 2010 as The Gaia Syndrome, Traces started as a progressive metal solo project for local musician Tyler Tidwell (a.k.a. final Clownsack drummer Skronko), who planned to release an EP and play live when a band was obtained. After the name change, their lineup was expanded via recent Analog Deficiency bandmates Nathan Switzer and Cody Tidwell, but surviving info from their Traces run is minimal at best due to their Facebook page's deletion and MySpace's layout changes, and they quietly disbanded in 2011. Four instrumental songs survive from The Gaia Syndrome days on both their Soundclick and MySpace pages, which showcased a promising Meshuggah-influenced sound with nice usage of different time signatures, but the production was inconsistent, and Tyler oddly used a drum machine here rather than actually drum on the tracks. Check out Traces above, and hopefully members stay active in music!
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The Bottom Half

Genre: Pop Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Lucas Castellani, vocals
Mark Rand (Cross Dog, Lion Ride, Bondar), guitar
Mitch Fryia, guitar
Mike Smykacz (Northwest, The Small Town Rivals), bass
James Moss (Young Running), drums

Info/Analysis: The Bottom Half were a short lived pop punk band that played locally from 2004-2005. Surviving information is extremely minimal on The Bottom Half's run, but they played at least one concert at The Oddfellows Hall, and guitarist Mark Rand told me that they mainly played pop punk as it was popular at the time. Four original songs from a planned album named "Beginnings Change" ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") can be heard at their MySpace page, which showcase a fun and upbeat pop punk sound that Mark may have undersold a bit to me, as members' talents and enthusiasm come through here, especially Lucas' fitting vocals! However, compared to the recent band work that members have had, it's clear that they've matured and grown a great deal in the past decade. Give The Bottom Half a listen above, and be sure to check out Mark, Mike, and James' recent band work as well to see what the guys have been up to!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month in this series, we've randomly chosen defunct local classic metal quartet Late & Loud for our next profile in this series, so Loudmouths should keep an eye on the SMS on July 10th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

News On Garden Of Bedlam's New CD And More, Plus Another Christmas Suprise!!

Here's another post to start your Wednesday off right with, and it's a mix of news and a Christmas surprise, including today's new holiday song upload, some updates to links featured on the SMS, details on a local photographer with some metal ties, and leading things off, details on an upcoming local metal CD release, so here's what you need to know!

I'd like to officially announce that our final CD review of 2011 at The Sault Metal Scene will indeed be of Garden of Bedlam's upcoming full length album "Everything Will Die"! There was a chance it'd have to wait until January due to my being out of town when the CD release show at The Canadian takes place on Monday, but drummer Derek Turner was kind enough to drop an advance copy off for me yesterday, so by New Year's Eve, there will definitely be a review of the CD on the SMS! That said, while I'll hold from commenting formally on the music yet (wait for the review), I'll tell you guys a few things to look for concerning the album. This preview image floating around on band pages is indeed the cover of "Everything Will Die" (sans the release date) while the album features 10 tracks clocking in at around 45 minutes in total length. We've heard almost all of them live before, ranging from "Against The Grain" to "Your Disgrace", but there is one new track entitled "2012" as well. I won't spoil anything, but I'll say it's unlike the rest of the featured songs. And yes, lyrics are present for each song in the "Everything Will Die" booklet, along with some nice photography throughout by Andrea Gosselin, so definitely check all of that out when you get your copy of the CD!

The album booklet also confirms that the CD was mastered at Silverbirch Productions in Toronto by Andy Krehm (same as on their debut EP) with artwork supplied by Derek's old Papa Fogals Chair bandmate Adam Chillman. I'll say right now that everything looks and is presented nicely, and the quality of the recording is top notch, but for anything else, you'll wanna stay tuned for my review of "Everything Will Die", which is coming next week! Stay tuned, and be at The Canadian on Monday night to get your copies of the album when they go on sale!

While we're on the subject, let's talk about Andrea Gosselin, the local photographer who took the shots of Garden of Bedlam for their new album's booklet. Her work is awesome, but I wasn't aware of her work before recently, and now, she deserves some long overdue exposure! Her website features a nice portfolio of her photograph work ranging from maternity photos to nature photography, but she has two sections in her gallery with a musical slant. One is of band promo shots, and in that gallery, there's 5 photos from the "Everything Will Die" photo shoot (one of each band member & one full band shot.) Very nice work, and I like the fire elements, so if you want to see them, click here, highlight "Gallery", click "Band Promo Shots", and check out the last 5 photos there! Aside from those (and there's much more from the shoot in the booklet), Andrea has a lot of other local metal photos in the "Live Shows" section, including shots from the Motley Crue & Heaven and Hell/Megadeth concerts at The Essar Center, and from a number of Sense of Truth concerts in 2008 & 2009, among others, so check the above links to give these photos a look! I wish we could see these photos bigger, but overall, Andrea's work is excellent, and hopefully she keeps up her great photography talents in music areas & beyond! Check everything out, and Andrea's website is now in our Other Local Metal Links on your left!

Now, before we get to our next Christmas song uploads, here's three assorted stories related to links featured on the SMS, specifically changes and additions concerning them. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, studio, or company name:

• I've added the defunct local recording studio Lucky Limb Studio to our Other Local Metal Links on your left. This is the studio where local hardcore quintet As It Stands recorded their second EP "Kill The Music, Save The Children" in 2007, but I know little else about this studio, which didn't appear to last too long. Check their MySpace page out above, which also features "Bush Raids" from that As It Stands EP!
  
• I've moved Sault Michigan metal project Traces to our inactive band links due to their likely breakup. Featuring Swayze Train & Hoist The Sails members in their lineup, Traces were last visibly active on December 23rd, 2010, when they last logged into their MySpace page, and their Facebook page was also deleted this year, so I assume they've disbanded. Disappointing news, but the members are sure to have great stuff in the works!
• I've removed local concert booking agency Unsalted Records from our Other Local Metal Links due to the closure of their website (likely from an expired domain name) and a lack of alternate links. Ran by Free Beer guitarist Dustin Goodall, they booked a couple concerts with metal supporting acts in 2009, but I haven't heard much from Unsalted Records specifically in years. Disappointing, but hopefully Dustin returns to booking at some point!

And finally, here's today's Christmas surprise for you guys as we inch closer to December 25th, and it's a song I'm returning to the internet from defunct Sault Michigan metal quartet Nixxon Dixxon! During their local run from 2006-2010, you're bound to remember Nixxon Dixxon's proficient covers and originals at concerts big and small alike, and around 2008 & 2009, they posted some clearer recordings of a few songs they played live onto their MySpace page. I remember that they uploaded covers of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" at one point, then pulled both in lieu of a recording of their original "High Life", which itself was later deleted without explanation. Now, my foresight is admittedly bad, so I didn't get all of these songs before they were taken down, and I'd love to get copies of them down the road (any help?), but I did snag one when I had the chance! I do have Nixxon Dixxon's cover of "Paranoid", which I uploaded onto our YouTube channel earlier today, and it definitely shows the band's talents well! Brandon Carr's singing fits nicely, and the rest of the band (now of Trail's End & Splitshot) are on fire as I'd expect, especially Chris Hubbard on guitar!

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED WITH THIS UPLOAD!!! All credit for this song goes to the former members of Nixxon Dixxon, I'm just trying to spread the posthumous word and restore this song to the internet for fans to enjoy! Remember, this song has been deleted from the internet for possibly 2 years, you can't hear their cover of "Paranoid" anywhere else! It's a solid cover, so definitely check it out below, and stay tuned for updates on the members' next musical moves!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more Christmas surprises, news and notes, and concert previews over the next while, along with our next YouTube Channel Profiles on Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), Plus Lots Of Assorted News!!

The news keeps rolling in, but before I mention that, just a reminder that we will shut down our current poll on Monday and unveil our new monthly poll that same day. It's no secret what the topic will be, if you've followed us over the last couple years, as July is typically for the poll on best concert of the first half of the year, so get speculating! Now to the news, as we have a new song from a local solo artist, some new Woods of Ypres articles, a cool photo series from a local photographer, and lots more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

It's finally happening: Garden of Bedlam are playing a Roosevelt Hotel metal night! The high profile local metal quartet will make their first ever appearance at The Rosie on Thursday as the headliners for what should be an awesome night of metal! Believe it or not, this will be Garden of Bedlam's first local show at a venue outside of The Rockstar Bar since they opened for Kiss in August, but a change of scenery is never bad! The co-headliners were originally supposed to be Saskatoon hardcore quintet Harmful Effects, but they can no longer make this concert. I'll note that their MySpace page indicates they're playing a show in Toronto on Thursday, so that could be why. Still, they're a solid band, hopefully they come here in the future! In their place will be The Bear Hunters, once again returning to The Rosie to deliver a brutal set of melodic death metal! Opening will be Winkstinger, the extreme quintet who always deliver an intense and chaotic blast of metal whenever they take the stage, so they'll fit right in on Thursday! As is usual, there will be no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This will be an awesome concert, and I will absolutely be there to rock out and have a great time! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's some long overdue Woods of Ypres-related articles I've been waiting to share with you guys! Firstly, an interesting interview with frontman David Gold was posted onto the blog Musical Immigrant on June 26th, where the blog's creator asks David a series of questions on his musical tastes, purchases, and influences! The interview, which is part of a series called "Press Play >", doesn't delve into too much Woods of Ypres discussion (save for his opinions on the band's albums for one question), but it's a cool look into David's diverse musical tastes, so check it out at the above links! The same man who interviewed David there also posted a short article on May 21st detailing his CBC work in Windsor, and how he was instrumental in Woods of Ypres' appearance in this 2003 CBC Television report! Very interesting, give that a look too at this location! Finally, correspondent Kirk Maltais of the Virginia-based Magazine 33 interviewed David via e-mail before their June 9th show in Richmond, Virgina, and you can check out the review at this location as well! Posted on July 1st, the interview features David talking about how the Pain & Piss tour was going, their Earache Records signing, the sounds of "Woods IV", what to expect with "Woods V", the meaning of their name, and much more! Another nice interview, well worded and thought out, definitely check it out (along with the rest) at the above links!

Thirdly today, here's a brand new original song from Sault Ontario solo artist Mike Cliffe! Entitled "Thaule Birth", it's an instrumental rock song that seems to mix a slower classic rock vibe with oriental synthesizer sounds, which is an odd combination, but well played! It gets repetitive after a while, but it's a nice soft number that shows Mike's diverse musical range, even if it's not heavy! If you want heavy, you'll get your fill at his Reverbnation page, where "Thuale Birth" is now featured (check the bottom of his total song list.) He also uploaded the song to his YouTube channel on Monday, accompanied by video footage of a bike ride he took down the local hub trail and some of the recent fireworks from the holiday weekend. Irrelevant, but relaxing, so check out Mike's newest song "Thuale Birth" below, and at the above links!



Fourthly, here's a cool note from a local photographer we haven't featured much on here. I'm talking about the talented Brian Tremblay, who's one of the best known photographers in Sault Ontario. Why mention him here though? Well, aside from some scattered band photography, including a nice shoot with Turner Up's Brent Royer-fronted lineup last year, he did a series called "So You Want To Be A Rock N' Roll Star" last summer, which featured solo photographs of various prominent local musicians! The photos are all in a stylized black & white colour scheme, featuring numerous musicians and band members by themselves with their instruments, and the shots are great! But are there hard rock musicians? Indeed there are! The two albums in the series include (among many others) Full Circle frontwoman KT Antler & drummer Scott McClurg, Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie, That's Chester drummer Ric Datson, and former Driver guitarist Joel Poluck (now of Mora Lee Sound), just to name a few. Outstanding work, they (and the rest of the talented artists shot) look great, and hopefully Brian does more work like this with other musicians! Check the above links for much more, including this link to see the photos on Facebook! And yes, Brian's now in our "Other Local Metal Links", he's long overdue!

And finally, here's some assorted shorter stories from the last little while, in alphabetical order by band or site name:

• Local progressive rock quartet Machines Dream have been added to "The Sinister Stage" TONIGHT at Foggy Notions! They're actually replacing RedD Monkey on the lineup, who were briefly reported as being on the show last night before dropping out. The official poster has been updated to reflect the addition, so go see Frightlight, Greg Callaghan, and Machines Dream TONIGHT at Foggy's, which is just seconds from the Tenaris Second Stage!
• If you didn't notice, we've resumed using custom banners on The Sault Metal Scene's main page itself! With more room to work with now, it made sense, so I started by adapting Gates of Winter's album "Lux Aeterna" to the banner, while incorporating our current logo in a blended sort of way. Hopefully it looks good! My plan is to update it weekly, so stay tuned, and give me feedback if you have any cool ideas!
• Sault Michigan metal project Traces (fronted by Swayze Train drummer Tyler Tidwell) have a Facebook page too! It's barely updated, and hasn't been touched since September, but become a fan at this location, cause you never know when Traces could re-emerge!
  

That's all for today, but I have some big stuff on the horizon, including our "favourite shows of the first half of 2011" poll on Monday, the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series on Friday, two concert reviews next week, and the likely reveal of which CD we're reviewing this month, so stay tuned for all of that, plus news as it happens! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Hope you American SMS fans are having a great Thanksgiving! If you can spare some time away from your turkey dinners, we have some news to get to today, so here's what's in store! Today, we have the latest news from Half A Man and Winkstinger, and previews of this weekend's known local hard rock/metal concerts, but kicking things off is a newly discovered local band!

So earlier today, I discovered a new local band named Traces, out of Sault Michigan. Originally named The Gaia Syndrome, Traces are a progressive metal project masterminded by local musician Tyler Tidwell, who plays guitar and handles the synths, programming, and engineering on their original tracks. He only just launched the band in April, announcing plans to write and record an album in the near future and round out the band's lineup. Since then, he's added Nathan Switzer (son of Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer) and his brother Cody Tidwell to the band on guitars. You'll recognize Nathan and Cody from their work in another local metal band, Analog Deficiency! Traces are currently looking for a drummer, bassist, and singer to round out their lineup, with plans in place to tour and release an EP next summer. So how do they sound? Actually, they sound very promising! The songs have great progressive riffs and good time signatures, and are actually pretty heavy and well written! I'm noticing a heavy Meshuggah influence too, which I welcome! Of course, it's hard to judge 100% without full instruments (especially with the drum programming sounding so unrealistic), but if they keep progressing higher, they'll be a definite band to watch out for locally! Check out the above links for more on Traces (The Gaia Syndrome's link has an interview with Tyler too), and I'll keep you posted with more as I hear it!

Now we'll preview this weekend's slate of local metal and hard rock concerts, of which I only know three. Sault Michigan could have something, but we don't tend to get as much internet notice over there, so if there's a show going on across the river, let me know! Firstly, local classic hard rock cover band Turner Up will return to Foggy Notions tomorrow night and Saturday night for the first time since the addition of new frontwoman Krista Marshall! The criteria at these shows is the same as it ever is, 10:00 PM start times, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. The night's still young when it comes to this new era of Turner Up, so I'm sure many of you haven't seen the new lineup in action. All the more reason to go check them out this weekend, right? The voice up front may be different, but Krista's got some pipes, and their sound will largely be the same otherwise, so make it on out to Foggy Notions this weekend if you can! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and check out the above links for more! Remember, to get a taste of what you mighr expect with the new lineup, click here for some old Johnny Lunchbox videos with Krista and Jeff Gray!

The other new show this weekend is the third in Tym Morrison's weekly arrangement at Foggy Notions, as he returns there for a solo concert on Sunday night! As is usual, this will be an acoustic set from the Caveman Morrison frontman, who'll break out some of his favourite metal, hard rock, and other hits to play for fans in an intimate setting! Same ground rules as the above Turner Up shows should apply here, especially given that this is also at Foggy Notions. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Note that this is the last announced date of his Sunday agreement with Foggy Notions, but materials relating to it still say he'll be there "every Sunday", so there could very well be more announced in the near future! Either way, it should be a fun night on Sunday, so if you want to hear Tym in action while Caveman Morrison searches for another new bassist, then you'll wanna be at Foggy Notions on Sunday night! Check out the above links for more, and visit his official website to hear solo original material, including some newer surprises that I'll share in the near future!

Fourthly today, here's the latest from Brimley hard rockers Half A Man! We haven't talked too much about them since their Halloween party/video shoot, but here's what's been up! Their Facebook page now features tons of photos from that Halloween party (which featured a concert set) and decent quality live videos as well, including one video featuring frontman Erik Rintamaki singing "Freedom Ride" with a horse mask on! As well, the band posted a new promo picture and the video mix of their debut single "Drunk", which is what they recorded a music video for at that Halloween show. Heavy and catchy, it sounds good, and it has some nice aggression while still being accessible! The other new piece of news is that Half A Man are really hoping to play a live concert next month, and will open for anyone and play free! They were looking at The Satisfied Frog by name, but will play anywhere. Think you can help them out here? I'm not much help to suggest anything, as I know I miss a lot of shows from the lack of internet plugs for many on the Sault Michigan side of things, but if you can suggest something to help them out, send them a message at their Facebook page! I'll have more from Half A Man as I hear it!

And finally, Sault Ontario extreme metal quintet WinkStinger have quietly started two new internet pages! Their first new one is on Reverbnation, and aside from a photo, there's little to say there yet. The other new page is on MySpace, and it definitely has more going for it, including their lineup, some humorous sound descriptions, and audio postings of some jam session quality originals! I think these are the same ones we saw on Joey Velcro's YouTube channel, but don't quote me on that. Not bad stuff at all, including their songs "From Bullshit To Buzz (Lies = Weed)", "Cheese Grader Face", and "Chud Nugget", which wasn't on YouTube before, so it's a new one! Sounds good, very heavy and fast, with aggressive and very moshable vocals, and nice guitar work! This'll become a live favourite for sure, hopefully! Check out the latest from WinkStinger at the above links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more very soon, cause I have some more intriguing news and notes in store! Thanks everyone!