Realignment Project Updates, Including Their First Full Length Album's Release!!

Here's the latest from local industrial metal solo outfit The Realignment Project, so what have they been up to in recent months? With lyric video uploads from their fourth EP "Let You Fall" concluding by early February, project leader Matt Hicks announced in this vertical Facebook video on February 10th that his fifth T.R.P. release would be a full-length album with nine songs, rather than a six song EP like with their first four releases, confirming Matt's teaser that he was "working on something that's... a little bigger". He noted that he didn't have much of a strategy for what he was putting out at first, but was encouraged by his label East London Recordings to work on a longer album. While some music was heard in the background of that clip, we hear a little more in the vertical video embedded below from February 19th, which revealed the title of the album ("Long Cold Winter", which is not a hint towards the release timeframe, as you'll see later in this post.)

The video just lets us see a song in progress on a tracking computer, and my guess is that this is the opening of one of the songs based on the slow build. No point commenting on the fragment yet, but the Lego Mario figurines (misplaced heads and all) seem into it, so check out this early clip below!

The following week, Matt was interviewed by Jay Kelly of the British alt-rock band The New Serpents for an episode of his YouTube interview series The Snakepit Dialogues! It's called a "podcast" but I haven't found audio-only versions on podcasting services. Interestingly, we never see Jay throughout the interview, with most of the video featuring the show logo and text links, with Matt seen in black and white in a vertical strip on the left for the duration. After discussing the wintry weather still in the Soo at this point, Jay asks Matt about his styles of music, his recording methods and processes as a solo artist, what it's like coming up with lyrics, his then-newest EP "Let You Fall", the personal inspirations behind its songs, his quick EP recording pace to start, why he took such a long break from music after 2010 (Dirty Virgin and Riverin are briefly brought up here) and what led him back to music, ...

...its affect on his health and well-being, his hopes and dreams for his son, and where you can hear The Realignment Project online. This is a good interview that lets Matt dip into personal territory to explain his music and his background in a casual manner with thoughtful remarks, and Jay has a good presence as an interviewer, even if you can't see him! Not much talk of the full-length album ahead, but it covers some solid ground for Matt, let alone the music he's working on, so give his interview a watch below!

After showing a sample video of him playing a Realignment Project EP on vinyl, Matt uploaded this video on March 12th of him observing a new song on his computer, namely "An Ounce Of Your Cure", which was later confirmed to be the first single off of "Long Cold Winter". The following week, Matt revealed the cover artwork for the new album, and on April 7th, Matt confirmed that recording sessions had wrapped up. Remember, he moves quick to record and release new material! The full track listing was also unveiled then, and before he could even announce a release date, he announced on April 18th that he was already working on demos for T.R.P.'s next studio album! To hype "Long Cold Winter", Matt posted three videos (linked here, here, and here) featuring electronic beats from the album (I'd assume) along with imagery that he will likely use for each song's lyric video.

On May 29th, Matt announced that "Long Cold Winter" would be released on June 5th (this past Friday!) on "all streaming platforms", which definitely isn't true, as it's not even on Boomplay yet. You can actually stream it in full on Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp, and KKBox, and buy it on CD through East London Recordings. At press time, the vinyl copies of the album are not on sale yet, but CDs cost $17.90 via ElasticStage's print-on-demand setup. Digital mp3 copies are on sale on Amazon for $8.35, on iTunes for $9.99, and on a "name your price" model on Bandcamp. To further hype The Realignment Project's full-length debut, Matt filmed his first ever music video for the aforementioned "An Ounce Of Your Cure", which was uploaded to T.R.P.'s YouTube channel on Wednesday! This is a performance video in black and white with a grainy filter added in post-production.

The video features Matt singing and playing guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard across four different camera angles at his home studio. Maybe not ideal to visualize the lyrical themes, but it does show off Matt's multi-instrumental talents very nicely! I'll hold comment on the song pending our review of this album, and given our immense backlog and the glut of albums released in the past six months, I'm likely going to review it in February, shelving our planned review of "Let You Fall" (which was scheduled for October) for now so we can move later reviews up a month and try to ease back into a timely schedule. Stay tuned for all that and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone, and here's The Realignment Project's music video!

Defunct Local Band Profile: Gates Of Winter

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, and for a second straight month, I have randomly drawn a very prominent local metal band whose name is Ga___ Of ______! I don't plan stuff like this, but it does give us another high profile local band of the past who accomplished a lot in their run, so here's what you should know on them!

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Gates Of Winter

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Progressive/Death Metal

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics. This doesn't include session drummer Jon Morrison, who recorded during the "Perihelion" sessions but never joined the band)

Lee Thomas Maines, vocals/guitar
Bryan Belleau (Melinda, iT), guitar
Steven Angelo Furgiuele, bass
Brian Holmes (Machines Dream), keyboard
David Gold (Woods of Ypres), drums

James Chiverelli (Kalle Mattson), drums
Kevin Overton (RedD Monkey, Smeltzer), drums
Jonathan Harvey (Chronic Demonic), drums

Audio/Video: Gates of Winter released a self-titled demo EP in 2005, but it is not available on streaming services, and was basically disowned by the band due to its recording quality, their musical evolution, and the usage of programmed drums. They more famously put out their sole full-length album "Lux Aeterna" in 2008, which is on major streaming services today. A studio copy of their non-album single "Torment" exists but is not currently online. Songs and teasers from their unreleased EP "Perihelion" were sporadically posted in the 2010s, but as Gates Of Winter perfected the material and became heavier & more technical, they often took these files down, and also limited video uploads from their 2000s run as a live act despite a lot of well shot and recorded live videos existing from the era. Their YouTube channel does host select videos from back then, including this one of them playing "Winter Flight" at one of their final gigs at The Grand Theater in 2008!

Info/Analysis: Launching in 2003 and becoming the biggest homegrown metal band of the mid-late 2000s, Gates of Winter were mainstays of local concerts for the next four years, including headlining the first two Second Stages at Rotaryfest and sharing the stage here and afar with notable bands like Quo Vadis, Wolven Ancestry, and Fuck The Facts, along with headlining many shows at venues from The Oddfellows Hall to LopLops to Algoma University. Harbouring a stable lineup aside from their drummer position, the band played their last three local gigs after putting out "Lux Aeterna", all at The Grand Theater in mid-late 2008. Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold joined behind the kit that year, also adding his new bandmates to Woods' lineup. The "Gates of Ypres" era ended for both bands by early 2009, with Gates of Winter going on a year's hiatus, before returning (sans any drummer) in 2010 as a studio-only project.

 

With Bryan and Steve moving out west, and Brian eventually leaving the band outright, the now three-piece Gates of Winter pushed forward on their follow-up album "Perihelion", but updates on the album (later EP) got more and more sporadic, and the band last updated social media with new activity in 2019. Gates of Winter were the first local headlining band that I ever saw in concert back in early 2005, and they always impressed with their intricate and dark brand of metal that called to mind bands like Katatonia and Amorphis in their original run. Extremely talented group of guys that always operated very professionally and with a drive to improve musically, and it's a shame that the "Perhelion" sessions never reached a public finish line, as they were cranking up their progressive and death metal bonafides on the teased material. Hopefully Lee, Bryan, and Steve resurface when the time is right, they have been missed!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our latest randomly selected band of the past will be hard rock quartet Sailor's Tongue, so look for that profile on or around April 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB), Without Compromise Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local musician Paul Leclair, who passed away yesterday of complications from cancer at the age of 74, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a hard rock or metal musician, Paul will be familiar to many from his work as singer/guitarist in local bands like Midway, Moonshadow, and (most recently) Dorian Grey, who played classic rock at local venues for over a decade and were gigging as recently as last summer. For many years, Paul was the secretary-treasurer and vice president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 276, and was a key asset in helping local musicians of many stripes to work through business, contract, and insurance dealings, as well as to get work visas put together to be able to perform/tour in the United States. He was occasionally referenced in SMS posts via his union work.

While I never had the honour of meeting Paul, we were briefly slated to judge a battle of the bands together alongside Soundcheck's Terry Eaton at the former Rednecks Saloon (Nicolet Tavern) way back in February 2015, but it was cancelled when the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands was scheduled to begin less than two weeks later. He was a good and very knowledgeable person who helped so many local artists over the years through the union, and he will definitely be missed. R.I.P. Paul!

Today's post otherwise catches us up on some recent news, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative/punk cover band BookcluB will rock The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for online page-less local Tragically Hip cover band The Luxury as part of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this show late last week via Bon Soo social media advertising. Modern day concerts outside of the opening ceremonies at Bon Soo rarely cross our radar, but this is an exception, and this special mid-week concert is reportedly being held "to show our appreciation" to Bon Soo supporters. This will be BookcluB's second publically advertised gig of 2026 (last seen at The Kiln last month), but you may have seen frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones playing outside of The Machine Shop as Dos Amigos this past weekend!

Alas, I only heard about this outdoor gig via a Facebook "story" (one of the posts that vanish from that strip on your news feed after being viewed once or twice), so here we are. I wish bands wouldn't rely on "Stories" (a couple have been posting new videos as "Stories" that are impossible for me to link to in posts), but I do apologize for missing that here. You can see the full BookcluB experience with their fan friendly and unique range of covers TOMORROW NIGHT! Note that the picture attached to the band's Facebook post plugging TOMORROW'S show includes guitarist Brandon Ruch, who moved out of town last fall, so I don't 100% know if they just used an old band photo or if he is actually returning to the Soo for this gig. As for The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog, Billy Bastards, Redefined, Sidekicks, and Late Shift alumni) they deliver a faithful and talented take on Hip classics from the 1980s and 1990s, so don't bypass them!

While tickets were reportedly briefly on sale early, TOMORROW'S indoor show will be FREE with a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), and if you don't have one yet, they will be on sale at Mill Square if you come out. This is an all ages show at 8:00 PM. Should be a fun mix of covers (especially for Tragically Hip fans) TOMORROW at Bon Soo, so visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Finally for today, here's a band we haven't talked about in way too long on here, namely local rap metal project Without Compromise! I admittedly slacked in covering them for months on end, and I apologize for that, but it didn't help that project leader (and former Winkstinger guitarist) Jason Ladouceur quietly left Facebook last year. However, Jason is still working on Without Compromise, and has continued uploading music for the former Less Than Zero to its Bandlab page and YouTube channel! A lot of his newer music and art has been along the lines of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness, and he has seemed to embrace AI as tech, so keep that in mind. In listening to Jason's newest material, the music is getting more varied, with metal songs mixed in symphonic and electronic elements, and while his vocals are still a work in progress (and sometimes buried in production), he is applying them in different roles and methods of singing.

 

I won't pretend to understand the artistic ethos of Without Compromise in the past year, but there is definitely talent on display, and Jason can still shred when the song calls for it! He has seemed to play down the rap aspect (at least for his own vocals) in his newest songs, but note that his song "Todayz" seems to include an AI model of Eminem rapping. There's promising music to check out here, so dig through their Bandlab and YouTube content above to see what he's been up to, and here's one of Without Compromise's newer uploaded songs, "In The Darkness"!

 

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst, Silent 9, And Headrush!!)

On this blustery Monday night, let's devote it to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the months ahead, including for a popular nightclub's upcoming schedule and a big booking for a prominent act, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will headline the opening night concert at this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival on Friday, February 7th! This booking was announced on the band's Facebook page yesterday, and marks their return to The Machine Shop, a venue that they've played multiple times as both openers for touring acts and for private functions. The official program also lists this concert, among multiple other family events at the Canal District and downtown for Sault Ste. Marie's annual winter carnival, though I don't believe any of the other Bon Soo-linked concerts fit the SMS' coverage. Silent 9's concert caps off a busy first day for this year's Bon Soo, so definitely read on there to find out what all is going on on day #1 for the opening ceremonies and beyond! This all ages concert takes place from 8:00-10:00 PM, and admission is free with your $12 Bon Soo button or $8 jacket tag. See above for more details!

Next up, the early 2025 band schedule for The Esquire Club was (re-)posted on their Facebook page yesterday! The Second Line West nightclub had previously posted a schedule that was quickly taken down and amended (it's mostly similar but I did notice that the now-defunct Soundcheck were listed for a weekend in the spring on that version). Like in recent years, the schedule stops at the end of June, with the venue taking a two month break from live bands in the summer before picking things back up in September, so aside from this month's mostly-concluded slate, who is coming to The Esquire Club in the first half of the year among hard rock-leaning acts?

First up is local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, who will play their first local dates of 2025 on Friday, February 14th & Saturday, February 15th! This talented young group have not corroborated these bookings yet on social media, but they just played their first ever Sudbury gigs at The Coulson Entertainment Center over a week ago, which has hosted Bone Yard 225 on multiple occasions in the 2020s, and despite teasing working on stuff behind the scenes otherwise to start the year, they have hinted at more dates to be announced. As it turns out, HeadFirst (who last played at The Esquire Club in mid-December) drew both the Family Day long weekend and, in the case of the Friday nighter, Valentine's Day for scheduling, so keep both angles in mind if you're coming out for either gig next month! You can enjoy their hard rocking originals and covers next month at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details on HeadFirst's upcoming activity!

Next among SMS-amenable acts is the aforementioned Silent 9, who will return to The Esquire Club for their first times this year on March 21st & 22nd before returning on May 9th & 10th! If you have missed seeing Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve's fan-friendly blend of classic and hard rock covers in a normal nightclub setting, you'll want to keep both of these spring weekends in mind, especially given the gap since they last rocked The Esquire Club just after Halloween! Speaking of which, neither of these 2025 weekend bookings fall on holidays (the former gigs are after St. Patrick's Day and well before Easter, and the latter are a week out from the Victoria Day long weekend). Like with HeadFirst above, expect these shows to be 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for much more on Silent 9's 2025 schedule, and look for them after Bon Soo's opening ceremonies next Friday!

Lastly for now, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush (not to be confused with the aforementioned HeadFirst) will keep the good times going on Second Line West when they return to The Esquire Club on March 28th-29th and then on May 30th-31st! This skilled 1980s-centric group played their first shows of 2025 here just this past weekend, and while a different Head____ band will be there next month, fans of Headrush will get their fill later this spring, when the snow should be gone to boot! No word yet on if we'll see them elsewhere before late March, but neither of these weekends falls on a Canadian holiday either. As with the shows above, expect Headrush to take the stage at 9:30 PM on both nights with no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 or older to attend. For more details on Headrush's upcoming gigs, visit the above links!

Other existing bands on the early 2025 schedule are not hard rock-leaning that I am aware of, but I do want to point out that new local rock cover band Separate Wayz (scheduled for weekends in April and May) appears to be the new band from former Soundcheck bandmates Terry Eaton and Jim Michaud, alongside Terry's old Mourning Wood/Soundcheck bandmate Steven Flint, but we await full details on their sound and lineup. Click here for more on them as it's announced! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site shortly! Thanks everyone!

Slumshine/These Magnificent Tentacles Tape Details, A New Video, And More!!

News has somewhat been slowing down as of late, but here's a full news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, including a new performance video and some assorted recent stories. Leading off are details on physical copies of a local punk veteran's recent album exploits that may or not be belated for the SMS, so here's what you should know!

This may fly under the radar unless you know frontman Brenton Ellis personally, but he is (still?) selling his acoustic punk solo project Slumshine's 2021 EP "Slumlord" on cassette tapes, as well as tape copies of his inactive punk/alternative duo These Magnificent Tentacles' EP "Surfacing..."! Brent definitely released Slumshine's vowelless debut "SLMSHN" on tapes in 2019, but he hasn't posted on that project's Facebook page since 2021 despite playing live at Fringe North last year, and never promoted an active sale of "Slumlord" on tapes there.  However, I saw that Brent (a.k.a. B.G. Ellis) would be selling art at the Fishbowl Festival's flea market at The Klub at the Pall Mall on Queen Street East on Sunday, and in his teaser picture, there were cassette tapes! Not having any of Slumshine's tapes yet, I went down there and bought "Slumlord" and "Surfacing", which he charges $10 apiece for.

Brent is an accomplished painter & visual artist, so he hand-designed the art on his tapes, rather than use the Bandcamp cover art in a cropped or stretched form factor. On "Slumlord", Brent creatively gave the tape reversible artwork and liner notes, and while side A has "Slumlord" as seen on Bandcamp, side B (with reversible referencing artwork) has five bonus tracks named "Reversible Straightjacket", "Doubt For Life", "Prelapse", "Into The Inferno", and "Breeze Of The Sun". This is the sort of thing that I'm surprised Brent doesn't advertise, as it could boost sales of the tapes if people knew that Bandcamp only had 6/11ths of the story! Be advised that the "side A/B" labels fell off of my copy very easily, so have a glue stick handy. As for the These Magnificent Tentacles tape, it is less ornate for packaging and details, and has no bonus songs, but it uses thicker liner notes & promotes their Tidal Records affiliation.

What I didn't buy there was what appeared to be the original "SLMSHN" album on tape, distinguished by abstract painted liner artwork (as showcased in the Bandcamp copy's cover art), but at the time, I just took them for alternate art of "Slumlord" rather than a separate older album. If I described this accurately, then silly me, and hopefully Brent is selling his art again soon so I can grab that tape also and see how different/similar it is to the digital copy! Definitely keep an eye on when/where Brent will be selling art (or playing live) next to see if you can buy his recent albums on tape, and while copies of "Surfacing..." seemed limited, the Slumshine albums were well stocked. See above for more details!

Next up, let's take a brief detour to Sault Michigan for a new video from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel last week! A newly filmed live rendition of the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", this is their first true performance video uploaded here featuring new bassist Luke Bernard, and he and the rest of the band are sure dressed for the occasion here! No videos from their abbreviated (and non-local) Christmas tour last year surfaced online, but this may help make up for that, if a few months late to really be seasonal. Filmed at their own space named "The Cave" (related in name only to Sykotyk Rampage's jam room), it looks like Theatre of Night pulled out all of the stops to give this video the presentation of their live concerts, complete with full staging and light/smoke effects, and it comes across very well in this video. I wonder if they filmed any more songs like this at the time?

We are 7-8 months out from this performance being timely, but the performance itself is solid and accurate to last year's studio revision, and fans of Theatre of Night's metal versions of Christmas classics should be right at home with this rendition below!

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

 

• In a rare public acknowledgement of their status, Gates of Winter guitarist Bryan Belleau revealed in a comment reply on the Woods of Ypres Fanclub Facebook group on Saturday that the Sault Ontario progressive death metal band "didn't officially disband", but life caught up to them and took them "in different directions", though the guys still talk daily. Bryan noted that "Gates 2" (their unfinished album "Perihelion") "may exist at some point" in the future. Gates of Winter have been inactive since the spring of 2018 after working on the new album since 2010, and they haven't played live since 2008. Fingers crossed that we haven't heard the absolute last from them!
• Local indie punk quintet The Northwest's song "Shoreline" was featured on the February 25th episode of the CBC Radio One series In The Key Of C, where host Craig Norris spotlights rising Ontario musicians each Saturday at 5:00 PM. According to the show's Facebook page, The Northwest were the last of 12 bands played on that episode. If you missed the live airing on 89.5 FM (which is easy, as the band only announced that they'd be on that morning), the episode will likely come to the CBC Listen mobile application in time, though at the moment, the newest playable episode is from January 7th. Hopefully The Northwest got lots of new fans here!
• I have moved St. Ignace, Michigan metal guitarist Ted Olson's solo project to our inactive Sault Michigan band links. The Heavy Lies The Crown axeslayer has not issued a public update to his solo Facebook page since posting a picture of his headless guitars in November 2021, though of course, he has been more than busy since with H.L.T.C. in studio and in concert. Follow the band for more on what Ted's been up to in the past year+, but hopefully he resumes solo work down the road!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for St. Patrick's Day weekend concert previews and more on the site in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!

Theatre Of Night - "Dreams Of Winter" Album Review!!

With a very quiet concert weekend ahead, let's get this month's 162nd CD review up on the SMS, and to end the year, we're going seasonal with a look at Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's sixth paid album "Dreams of Winter"! Independently released on their Reverbnation page on December 2nd, this is their first album with a paid release (Spotify playlists excepted) in almost 5 years, and is effectively an expanded revision of their 2011 album "Christmas Night", a seasonal release that foretold Theatre of Night's future as a touring act. Credits for the album aren't listed, but they have worked on and teased Christmas studio plans for years, some of which may or may not reflect the final product on this album. Their current lineup includes returning keyboardist Craig Harrison and guitarist Steve Giles from "Christmas Night", now joined by singer Rachel Mender, bassist Luke Bernard, and drummer Erik Sales.

Note that Scott Andringa was their bassist from 2017-2021, but it's not clear if he recorded anything present on the released album. You can buy "Dreams of Winter" at the above links for $9.99, and it can also be heard on most major streaming platforms, including on YouTube. As this album is mostly re-recordings, I won't re-review most songs, but I will compare them to the original album as to what changed. For reference, I am using the original all-instrumental 2011 version of the album for comparisons, not the later digital copy that featured vocals from ex-singer Gaby Koss and guest Ida Elena on select songs, and click here for my review of the original album. Featuring 14 tracks running for about 56 minutes, let's begin another Christmas night, 11 long years later!

The track listing of the albums have differences, but both start with "What Child Is This". The new version keeps the same arrangement but with some extra crescendos, and crucially, Rachel on vocals in the second half. She puts her pretty, operatic vocals to good use, with an effective drop in pitch late! I'm not sure that the added early instrumentation truly added anything, but you can see why this song kicked off the albums and their live Christmas concerts! Moving way up to track #2 is "Carol of the Bells", which is more or less a verbatim re-recording from the original a decade ago, and while there's no differences to speak of compositionally, the production quality is definitely cleaner and less fuzzy on the new version! Given how the Trans-Siberian Orchestra popularized this carol in a metal context, Theatre of Night's version continues to fit their mold very well!

The next eight songs are in order on both albums. Next is "Road To Bethlehem" (no "The" at the end anymore), which remains a short original instrumental with an identical arrangement. New recording quality aside, the biggest difference is that the opening 15 second introduction gradually gets louder, whereas it was a static volume originally. This mildly eerie orchestral piece still sets an interesting mood at this early stage! It is followed by "Little Drummer Boy", which sees the return of Rachel on vocals, but not singing the complete lyrics, opting not to do the "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum" parts until the title character asks Mary if he can drum for the baby Jesus. I assume they opted to hold that until the boy actually started drumming in universe, but something feels missing when you don't have them there. Otherwise, this is the same song with higher production values, and it's a strong & dramatic rendition!

Next is "Christmas Night" (formerly "Arabian Christmas Night"), which retains the original instrumental piece's structure but does tone down some of the twinkling and windy background effects, and I think I hear some vocal harmonies layered into the recording. Not a heavy song, but a pretty bridge between established carol renditions then and now! The albums' shortest song "Away In A Manger" follows with Rachel's return on vocals and more of a prominent drum track than on the original. Erik is a little loud in the mix here, especially given the softer nature of this carol in both versions, but Rachel's addition fits very well, and it's a nice mellow break as we reach the mid-point! Song #7 is "Dance of the Sugarplums" (previously named "The Nutcracker"), which remains an instrumental with the same structure, but Steve does show off a little more on guitar, and the drums are more prominent & rock based.

I think this revision is the best of the instrumental ones so far in terms of adding to the song, giving this holiday ballet staple some extra zest! The second half of "Dreams of Winter" leads off with "Silent Night", which Rachel sang on the Spotify version of "Christmas Night" too. Unlike her prior songs on the new album, her vocals are used from the start rather than after an instrumental verse. Her vocals are well done again and suitably orchestral, but I'd have dialed them back a little just given the song's mellow & spare tone. Still effective, and maintains the original version's musical framework! "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" is next up, and for the first time on the album, Rachel sings on consecutive songs, but only to do partial choruses and the final verse. You have her here, why not use her? The drum track is also more prominent here, so fans of Erik's work will be happy!

Well performed version of this classic carol that sticks to old formulas with additions, but again, I'd have had Rachel sing more of this. The run of eight consecutive songs in order across both albums ends with track #10, "Star In The East" (no more "A" at the beginning). While still an original instrumental, this arguably has the most changes to the song proper yet, including a shorter intro, a steady percussion track (the original had no drums), and an electric guitar solo rather than the spare plucking fans originally heard. As such, the 2012 version is definitely more metal, and it does feel a little more like a Theatre of Night song compared to the slighty muzak-ish original! With "Carol of the Bells" launched up to song #2, the final two songs imported from "Christmas Night" remain as tracks #11 & #12 here, with "O Holy Night" up next.

The longest song on offer then & now, this version keeps the same arrangement, but adds drums and vocals to the mix, and they are a massive help, as the original was kind of monotonous as just a keyboard/guitar instrumental. Clearly the prior re-release with Ida on guest vocals became the canon version of this carol to update! It's still a little long compared to prior songs, but adding in the full band heft was the right call, and Rachel arguably has her strongest vocal performance yet! The final song adapted from "Christmas Night" is "Hark The Herald" (no "Angels Sing" at the end anymore). Like the original, this is a orchestral-heavy rendition, but about 1:20 in, Rachel and Erik jump in to add vocals and drums to the proceedings. They generally help things out, but having Rachel only sing some verses partially with the instrumentation "singing" first just made the song sound unfinished.

Leaving in the low, spare, and drawn out ending of the original more or less intact isn't what I'd have done, but it's still effectively performed! The last two songs on "Dreams of Winter" are new to Theatre of Night albums and were not on either the original or the patched revision of "Christmas Night". First of them is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and while this is new to their discography, the formula is not dissimilar, including a sparer intro and a full band middle section with vocals, plus Craig's solid orchestral keyboard work throughout. Alas, this song also does the "Rachel sings only the back half of some verses" thing, which I really don't get (if the band is "singing" the first chunk, it should be a more prominent solo from Steve than what we're getting). That aside, this carol has always lent itself well to rock covers and Theatre of Night do it justice, and I like that the outro wasn't dragged out for as long as on earlier tracks!

The new album closes with a rendition of "We Three Kings", This is arguably one of the heavier cuts on offer, and the chugging riff is solid (if a little low in the mix). Mercifully, Rachel's verses are all intact here, and the composition is strong on this carol, with a nice symphonic fade out to boot, but this is a song that is repetitive on its own, so playing it traditionally (if metalled up) for 5+ minutes means that it does drag a bit by the end. Solid rendition all the same, and a nice bonus to cap off the album with!

So, what is the final verdict on Theatre of Night's second Christmas album (or it's re-recording?) Overall, this is a strongly done update that adds a lot to the existing songs and better reflects Theatre of Night as the live band that we know and love today! With the exception of "Star In The East", the songs are seriously identical structurally (I bounced back and forth in Audacity to cross-reference the 2022 changes), but adding vocals to most of the carol renditions is largely a plus, and I had forgotten that Greg Giles' drumming on the original wasn't a constant across those songs, so having a more regular inclusion of percussion was very welcomed. On the whole, these songs were generally heavier and more varied with the expansions, and Craig's orchestral flourish on keyboard helps set these apart! However, I don't really like the "Rachel only sings half of a verse" approach used on some songs.

Given the heavier, full band approach, letting Steve loose on guitar would be a plus if it happened more, and I do think Theatre of Night slightly missed the boat by not basically making this a verbatim studio version of their live concert, complete with bridging spoken word narration. Still, this is an improvement on "Christmas Night" (original or revised), and it'd be neat to see Theatre of Night tackle more Christmas classics down the line! Buy or stream "Dreams of Winter" at the above links, I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and stay tuned for our review of Chase Wigmore's newest solo album on the site early next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Fort Creek), A New Album Release, And More!!

After a quiet holiday season weekend, we're back on the SMS with a Monday night post including some updates and videos from two different local bands, a new and quite seasonal album to buy/stream, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the end of the year. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will cap off 2022 with a New Year's Eve party on Saturday, December 31st at The Water Tower Pub! As far as I can tell, this will be Fort Creek's first ever appearance at the Great Northern Road venue, and doing so on New Year's Eve is definitely a big way to debut there! Last seen with their "Christmas blowout" at Soo Blaster earlier this month, Fort Creek's new lineup continues riding high with assorted live dates and their recent charitable initiatives, and hopefully their hard rocking covers and select originals prove to be an ideal way for revelers at The Water Tower Pub to ring in 2023! This 19+ event does not have an announced start time (likely no earlier than 8:00 PM), but The Water Tower Pub is going all out with this, including an appetizer buffet, midnight toast, and party favours included in the $60 ticket fee, and if you believe their Facebook post, "tickets (are) going fast".

There is also an overnight New Year's Eve hotel room package at the on-site Water Tower Hotel with breakfast and a concert ticket included for $175 ($275 for two people), so see above if that interests you. The admission fee will scare many off, but they're just pulling out all of the stops to make this party one to remember, and hopefully there's a sizeable crowd for Fort Creek to end the year with! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's a surprise (yet still long teased) album release, as Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night have put out their second full-length Christmas album "Dreams of Winter" on their Reverbnation page! On sale there for $9.99, it was posted on December 2nd, and is their first actually on-sale album (free Spotify playlists excepted) since they quietly released "Guntower Democracy" in 2018, and it 100% confirms their teasers and hints at putting out another Christmas album, effectively an expanded re-recording of their 2013 instrumental album "Christmas Night", but now with vocals from Rachel Mender on some songs. While every song on "Dreams of Winter" is a revision labelled as "V2" (version #2), two of the songs were not on the original "Christmas Night" album, namely "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" & "We Three Kings", and some songs have been renamed and re-ordered.

Song lengths are similar to the original 2013 versions, implying that they largely kept the old arrangements, but how different is "Dreams of Winter"? Due to the holiday season timing, I'm actually going to try and review this album before Sunday so it's timely for the holidays (it'd be odd reviewing this next month), and if this makes the site by Sunday, I'll bump our planned Chase Wigmore album review to early January, as it'll be still as relevant and about as new then. In any event, a new album review is coming, but if you want to hear some new-ish Christmas carols gone symphonic metal, buy or stream Theatre of Night's new album above!

Also, here's some new videos from one of new Sault Ontario metal trio The BAG's concerts at Reggie's Place this past weekend! Filmed & posted by attendee Stephanie Laplante to the band's Facebook group on Sunday, these were uploaded in a batch post along with a few photos from the gig. The videos see The BAG covering the instrumental bridge of Golden Earring's "Radar Love", playing an apparent new original song with a punk sound (if it's a cover, I couldn't match the lyrics up with anything), and as embedded below, them covering Marilyn Manson's version of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)". Alas, all three videos are under one minute long (the punk original clip runs for just 20 seconds), and they're also all shot and uploaded vertically, but luckily, the sound holds up across the board, and Stephanie was at a good angle to capture the whole band despite the aspect ratio and the somewhat dim lighting.

From what we hear of The BAG in these videos, they sound good and are rocking out as well as you'd expect, though I'm not sure that "Sweet Dreams" is the cleanest fit for Spencer's vocal range given how slow and creepy the Manson version is plotted out. Check these out above & below, and stay tuned for more from The BAG!

Finally, here's the latest from local/Toronto progressive metal band PROV3RB5, starting with a lineup addition, as they have enlisted former Role Models drummer Phil "Philly Gee" Greco as a full band member! He was officially announced via their Facebook page on November 25th, replacing existing bassist Bryan Lee, but his joining the band was hinted at on personal accounts in the preceding weeks (though he joined after the recording sessions for their debut EP "What Dreams May Come"). Phil is arguably better known locally as a punk drummer, but he has the chops to hang with Ben & Bryan, and it'll be interesting to see how he fits in on future originals! Elsewhere, their song "Treasure Forest" was featured & positively reviewed on the web series Local Band Smokeout last month (the relevant clip was posted to PROV3RB5's Facebook page), but just as a disclaimer, "local band" doesn't mean the Soo, the show covers local bands from any market who want their songs reviewed on air.

PROV3RB5 have also been selling a new line of official band clothing that you can check out/buy at this link, and on December 6th, and they shared this "Reel" from Phil's personal page of the early drum tracking for their first new song since he came on board. Not much to see/hear yet, but good to see things are underway! For a longer video, they did share this video of guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing the solo from "Particles", but I can't embed it here as he's playing along to the studio track, and Facebook content matched it to itself, so external embedding is not allowed. Solid work though, so check out all of the new PROV3RB5 updates above, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: quasarwaves, These Magnificent Tentacles - Topic, and steelsour7319's Channels

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, continuing our monthly feature spotlights of YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts! As the first channel that we randomly selected only had one video, and the second only had four songs (one a re-recording) primarily from one EP, we're tripling up this month, but there's an interesting array of performances to take in, so here's what you should know! 

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Lee T Maines (http://youtube.com/quasarwaves)  

Owner: Former Gates of Winter frontman and Woods of Ypres guitarist Lee Maines

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 8th, 2010; Only surviving video posted on December 2nd, 2011

Channel Summary: As fans should remember, local progressive death metal band Gates of Winter slowly worked on a third album named "Perihelion" from their 2010 return from hiatus as a studio project through their last public activity in 2016, with most teaser clips from the sessions being taken down as the guys worked on perfecting the material. Alas, the album never came out, but one of the few surviving clips is Lee's only remaining video on his YouTube channel, where he played 51 seconds of the riff from a song tentatively named "Wormhole Mechanics" to test track mirroring. It's a shame that "Perihelion" was never finished, as Gates of Winter's pure technicality was excellent on their 2010s sample media, and Lee's in fine form here, but hopefully we'll hear completed songs in some form down the line!

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These Magnificent Tenatcles - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCJIHHa1lrPJwMyCeErf9k8g)

Owner: An original member of local alternative/punk band These Magnificent Tentacles, identity unclear, though the uploaded music was from their run as a duo

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 23rd, 2022; All videos uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: This is an auto-generated YouTube channel made to host songs submitted by Brent & Steve to YouTube Music, thusly featuring their debut EP "Surfacing..." from the previous month and the original (but very similar) studio version of its opening song "The Abyss", which is actually the most viewed upload there. These Magnificent Tentacles have since expanded to a full five-piece band, but have been publically dormant for four months now, so it remains to be seen how fast they could put out new material for streaming services. Still, these are entertaining and varied songs that point to a promising future, and hopefully that will be realized in 2023!

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Steel Sour (http://youtube.com/steelsour7319)  

Owner: A member of 2018-2019 local hard rock band Steel Sour, identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 9th, 2019; Only video uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for this short lived group, their jam session video cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" was their final public act before dissolving later that year. Steel Sour featured a massive seven piece lineup (at least for this jam), including Robert Nevitt on vocals, backing vocalist Nicole Ambeault, guitarists Rick Atkins, Randy Russell, and Fred Dunn, bassist Steve Bentley (with impressive wig), and drummer James White, notably featuring multiple members of Re:Born, Lockdown, Big Mistake, and Dealing Without. Despite the manpower in this basement, the cover is lively, energetic, and doesn't feel rushed, and it's a shame that Steel Sour didn't keep going!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! To end 2022 in this series, we're doing multiple channels again, as the first randomly selected channel only has one video, and the second only has a handful of similar uploads. As such, we'll be looking at the channels of YouTube users AtYourC3rvix (featuring a live Uncanny Valley video) and mikemccleary3123 (featuring five original songs of his, some with accompanying videos or lyric tracks). Look for them on or around Boxing Day, nd stay tuned for more news & notes (and this month's CD review) in the coming days! Thanks everyone!