Gnaeus, Rotopsy, And AlgomA Updates, And More!!

As we continue to clear out some recent news and notes, here's a new news post featuring some assorted recent updates, new album reviews from metal websites, and the latest from a popular young metal duo, but first, here's some news from a rising local band's new website!

Did you know that local post-punk/garage rock quartet Gnaeus have an official website? Using the fittingly creative URL of http://www.gnae.us, the site has been active for at least a month, and it includes sporadic news updates, never before seen photos, a contact e-mail for bookings, a biography, and even a store to buy merchandise! In terms of new items, the biography details their formation and sound more than Facebook does, indicating that they formed last summer, they have lost some band members in their early run, and they call Gnaeus "an experiment" with a "home grown sound from the drudges of a Northern Ontario border town that refuses to be compared." The online store doesn't have anything in stock right now, but listed items (presumably for future sale) include t-shirts, posters, a lock of synth player Brad Irwin's hair (for $25!?) and... their debut EP?

Entitled "Loomings" with the cover art embedded above, the store lists it for $10 but only says that it's "coming soon". The band has referenced studio work in the past, and won studio time with Tidal Records at March's VM Radio Battle of the Bands, but is "Loomings" underway, or just the planned name and cover for when sessions fully begin? We'll let you know when/if more is announced, but check out their site above, it's well made so far!

Next up, here's the latest from local goregrind duo Rotopsy, so what's new from Tyler & Dylan's camp? Well, this is arguably old news now, but Rotopsy played a surpsise set at the Shit Liver-headlined house party concert on April 25th, which wasn't announced in advance but was likely well recieved by attendees and Blood Shed loyalists! As for when we can next see Rotopsy, they're actually planning their first ever full tour for the summer! Named partially after their new album, the tour lists three confirmed local dates, including June 25th's Menstrual Munchies show and dates with venues to be announced on July 1st & 4th, though the latter is separate from the AxMinister show at The Algonquin. A June 8th Sudbury date to be announced is also listed, as is Rotopsy's first ever appearance at the Touch of Death Metal & Punk Fest in Cochrane in June!

Along with the second straight appearance from Tyler Gibson's Crucify The Whore solo project and local rap/metal quartet The Apocalypse Afterparty the day before, Rotopsy will rock this year's T.O.D. Fest on Sunday, June 28th, continuing the recent run of local bands at the Corchrane festival (8 hours north of the Soo.) For reference, out of town bands from upcoming local shows like Horse Lung, AxMinister, Pantychrist, and Menstrual Munchies are also scheduled, with more to be announced. Rotopsy have a busy stretch ahead, so stay tuned as more rolls in!

Also, here's some long overdue new reviews of local doom metal trio AlgomA's debut CD "Reclaimed By The Forest"! On April 24th, Kunal Choksi of Doom-metal.com gave the album an 8.5/10, calling it "thunderous" and saying that it grows on you and is "solid as walls" caving on. Nice review with comparisons to other major doom bands, so give his review a look at this link! On April 15th, Eigen Beheer of the Dutch website Zware Metalen gave "Reclaimed By The Forest" a 70/100, and while you'll need a translator to read the review, Eigen seemed to say that this CD was "a lush sludge doom syrup" with a solid sound, though I believe he wished some songs were faster. Give this review a look at this link! Finally, Christian Denner of German website Metal1.info gave the album a 7.5/10, calling them "quite a surprising band" with skilled vocals, though you can tell the symbolism of the AlgomA name was lost in translation.

Give that review a look at this link! Both of the latter reviews require an online translator to read them unless you know the language(s), but all three are positive and show AlgomA's global exposure continuing to grow in the new year! Read each above, and buy AlgomA's CD at this link, The Rad Zone, or through band members!

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

• You may have seen this coming via recent postings relating to frontman J.D. Pearce's concert promotional work, but his local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades are officially now signed with Tidal Records, as per recent postings on their Facebook page, which include teases of "some wicked stuff coming up". Logical move for the guys, so stay tuned for more! Also, we've changed the name of J.D.'s promotional Facebook group from Johnny Pints Presents... to Tidal Records Presents... in our links to reflect it's name change and their new cooperation.
• On April 19th, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith quietly released one more promotional digital EP named "Candy Is A Hooker's Name" onto his Bandcamp page featuring three songs (including the title track) from his upcoming full length solo album "The Warinside". Another nice bonus for fans in advance of the full CD's release, so buy it above for any price you want! And yes, we will review "The Warinside" when it's out.
• On April 20th, Telephone & Address mainman Chris Shoust revealed on their Facebook page that the local lo-fi punk/grunge solo project's new album will be called "Monster", and it's done and recorded with a planned pressing to occur "by July" while he gets funding for this CD. No word on the track listing, musical themes, or Bandcamp release yet, but stay tuned in the coming months for more updates on this (and "The Early Tapes"?)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews to come! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nudge), A New Local Metal Project, And Much More!!

I wasn't expecting to have a second news post today, but due to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS that just came to my attention, we'll rush another one, but check out more new concerts, videos, and other updates in the post below this one! Now, we have the aforementioned late notice gigs, a Sault Michigan metal band's recent updates, and more assorted news and notes, but first, here's a new local metal project we recently came across!

We have a new local metal project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, that being a new solo metal project named StrykerGC! Led by a veteran local singer/guitarist named Troy Isaac Kulka (who also uses the "Wyatt Erp" alias here and there), he had previously been in a British Columbia rock band named Angel Dust, but has been producing his own solo music since November, launching under the StrykerGC name last month (including Facebook & Reverbnation pages.) While relatively new, StrykerGC are looking to release his recent solo recordings as an album named "Life's A Bitch" on iTunes, and songs towards that goal are now streaming on Reverbnation, so how do they sound? Troy's solo music has elements similar to those of veteran local hard rock artists like Tym Morrison and SweetKenny, harbouring a classic metal sound with blues influences, and a good vocal range, and it will be interesting to see how far StrikerGC goes!

Note as well that Troy is looking to form a full band for this project, so if you're interested to get more details, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post yesterday! One YouTube copy of StrykerGC's song "Black As Night" also exists on Troy's YouTube channel, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from this new local band discovery as we hear it!



Next up, we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT, as Marquette, Michigan hard rock quartet Nudge will be rocking The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan for two nights this weekend! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via their Facebook event page on Tuesday, and they slipped our radar until now (thanks to frontman Danzo McCracken for the heads-up!) Last seen at The Frog in February, this weekend's shows are their third & fourth Sault Ste. Marie dates since drummer Eric Schlumpf returned to their lineup, and they do indeed follow Danzo's traditional Wednesday & Thursday acoustic gigs at The Frog, so hopefully they went well! Nudge's entertaining modern hard rock covers always find a receptive audience, and you can rock out with them once again TONIGHT & TOMORROW at 9:00 PM, with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges in effect. For more details, check the above links, don't miss Nudge's E.U.P. returns tonight or tomorrow, and here's Nudge covering Static-X in Munising!



Staying across the river, local classical metal band Theatre of Night recently overhauled their official website, and there's some interesting new stuff there, so what should you know? Along with an expended slate of online pages (including ones on Twitter, Soundcloud, and Pinterest), they now have an updated blog with recent news, including the revelation of a new original song named "The Killing" that will feature guest vocals from Italian singer Ida Elena DeRazza, and that their first album "Christmas Night" is almost sold out of it's original instrumental CD pressings. Their website doesn't have any brand new material yet that we haven't already heard, but it does include a tab for future tour dates, which has to be encouraging for long time fans! Studio work has been slow for Theatre of Night in the last year, but their talent and originality speaks for itself, and hopefully we hear much more from the Giles brothers, Craig, and Gaby soon, so keep an eye out!

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

• These Sins of Time frontwoman Alexa LeClair is again looking for musicians for her current hard rock project (still unclear whether it's T.S.O.T. or something else), now focusing on a guitarist or bassist. At last word, Sault Michigan's Ethan Twardy was on drums, though it's unclear whether they're looking for an additional guitarist or if Dalton Boissineau left. The aim is to tour and make CDs, but if you're interested, message Alexa via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from May 4th!
• Local thrash metal band Pillory have quietly parted ways with guitarist Josh Amendola, as per his move to their former members list on their Facebook page. A public reason was not announced there, but note that Pillory have not made a Facebook post since March. Josh had replaced the late Andres Duchesne in the band last year, but only played with them at a few early 2014 gigs. Hopefully all's amicable, and best of luck to Josh in the future!
• The most recent installment of Local2's bi-weekly music profile video series Tuned with Donna Hopper was posted on May 3rd, and while you can watch it at this link, note that it doesn't focus too much on metal or hard rock bands, instead mainly covering White Pines Collegiate student band The Pine Tones. It does feature a plug of the Alice Cooper show in Sault Michigan next month though!

That's definitely all for today, but we'll see you guys at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for the Jack Spades EP release show! Thanks everyone!

End Of Existence's Album Release, Lots Of Musician Searches, And Much More!!

March has arrived, and it's time to get to some overdue news and updates at the SMS! Today, we've got news on a brand new local metal CD release, a bunch of updates relating to a central Sault Ontario concert venue, lots of news from a local solo artist, and a pile of local musicians looking for new bands & musicians, so here's what you need to know!

As expected, Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids epic metal band End of Existence finally released their debut album yesterday! While postings of the album on iTunes, Amazon, Reverbnation, and similar sites have yet to be publically revealed on band pages, it is definitely available now on CD Baby for $9.99 in mp3 format! According to the track listing there, the self-titled album features 12 tracks clocking in at about 52 minutes in length, and we've heard most (if not all) of these songs at least partially so far. While the album is now on sale, and it's definitely worth purchasing to support the band, this might be even more appealing: End of Existence are offering mp3 copies of the album for FREE right now! To help promote their search for a new singer to replace Bob Helsten, you can e-mail the band right now to request a free copy at endofexistenceband@gmail.com! I've already done so, and I encourage you guys to buy and download it as well at the above links to enjoy the fruits of End of Existence's labour! And finally for today's news on End of Existence's debut, I can confirm right now that we should be reviewing this album on the SMS in early April, so our reviews are set for most of the spring! Stay tuned for more on this new local album release as it comes in!

Next up, here's some assorted updates related to Pim Street concert venue The Canadian Nightclub! Firstly, the March 30th concert scheduled to be headlined by Victoria, B.C. sleaze rockers The Lust Boys is indeed a go, as confirmed on a new Facebook event page for it! There was some venue unsure-ness, but it's good to see things remain where they were originally announced! No other details have been announced for this likely 19+ event, but I'll let you guys know as more is announced! In other Canadian concert news, we now know the ticket price for April 7th's Ypres Metal Fest, as confirmed by promoter Rich Moreland on that event's Facebook event page last night. The admission will be $20, which is more than worth it given the 11 band lineup, the high profile bands scheduled, and the tribute nature of the show. This will be a great event in David Gold's memory, and hopefully all of you guys (of all ages) can make it out! And finally, the Canadian's Jay Perron revealed on their Facebook group on Tuesday that they're looking for web designers willing to create and maintain an official website for The Canadian Nightclub. If you're at all interested, call (705) 253-3257 A.S.A.P. and ask for Carmen! Stay tuned for more news on The Canadian Nightclub's upcoming metal & hard rock shows!

Thirdly today, here's the latest news on local solo hard rock artist Mike Haggith's recent work! As revealed on his solo project's Facebook page last week, his independent record label Rotten Records changed their name to Galactic Records for unannounced reasons, and vocal recordings for his upcoming album "Neighbourhood Watch" are forthcoming, hopefully within the next two weeks! He also revealed the newest (and very different) track listing arrangement for the new album there, which has seen the songs "Stalking Booze & The Raptor", "Nightmare On Reed Street", "The Day The Lights Went Out", "My Angel", and the album's title track removed (again for unknown reasons.) In their place are new songs named "To Whom This May Concern" & "Wicked Midnight Ride", which now implies that "Neighbourhood Watch" will be shorter than was projected earlier this year. Slightly disappointing, but if this helps the album come out sooner, than it should work out! Finally in Mike Haggith news, his Facebook discography page (which featured info & artwork for all of his dozens of back albums) was recently deleted as part of Facebook's refocusing on partner music sites, so the vast majority of back album information is now gone unless it's reposted, which I hope happens at some point.

While it'd be a lot of work, I'm sure, Mike's Facebook discography was great to read up on earlier Rotten/Galactic Records releases and hear information on new albums, and hopefully his prediction of a reposting of it not happening "anytime soon" is an overestimate! Notably, the same thing happened to Sykotyk Rampage's Facebook discography too, and I hope they bring theirs back in some form as well! For now, stay tuned for more on Mike Haggith's future solo work and the release of "Neighbourhood Watch"!

And finally for today, here's six recent local musician searches for metal/hard rock bands in Sault Ontario, all of which come from the Musicians Wanted Facebook group over the past month! Like the last time we grouped these together, the respective posts inquiring on this topic are in alphabetical order by the posting users' names. Are you interested in joining or jamming with a new local band? Read on below for details!

• Aftersight/Route 69 singer Ed Vowels is looking for a bass player for an unidentified rock band he's currently working on. Whether this is a reunited Aftersight or something new isn't publically known, but scroll to his post on February 23rd (as "Eddie V.") through this link if you're interested in possibly joining up!
• Late & Loud guitarist Jonathan Tiberi posted on the Musicians Wanted group yesterday to gauge interest in forming a stoner/doom metal band this summer, inspired by bands like Sleep, as a separate entity from Late & Loud. This could be interesting if it moves forward, so give Jon a shout at this location for more details!
• Gates of Winter frontman Lee Maines posted there on Friday inquiring about recruiting musicians for a new project that would play slower Isis/Meshuggah-inspired metal with original material & a heavy groove. I don't think this means anything towards Gates of Winter's status (just a separate project), but knowing Lee's talent, this could be a huge band if it takes off! Click here and move to his post on Friday for details!
• Ex-Dirty Virgin bandmates Matt Hicks & Matt Clement are looking to join a new band as singer & guitarist, though what this means for their Riverin project's future is unclear. Matt Hicks described his vocal style as a mix of James Hetfield & Sully Erna, which is intriguing! If you're interested in shooting them a reply, scroll to their post on February 14th at this link for more info!
• Skull After Betrayl frontman Mike Vincent is still looking for musicians of any type for a new death metal project, which appears to be separate from Skull After Betrayl. Varying bands are listed as influences, but if you're interested in possibly being a part, check out Mike's post from Tuesday at this location!
• On February 9th, Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie inquired about finding a new bassist for a local hard rock band he's in. First instinct says that the band he means is Borderline Divine (formerly Stillbroke), implying that Jake Hache has already left, but official band sources haven't confirmed that news. I'll keep tabs on this story, but if you're an interested bassist, find Mitch's post from last month by clicking here!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post TOMORROW, along with weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!