After a quiet Halloween hangover, we're back for November 2026 with this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This monthly feature post looks at upcoming albums, CDs, and EPs from local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians who have publically confirmed recording sessions for albums are underway. Here, we have seven entries, including one newly added EP and one more with substantial updates, and anything with new content (as opposed to minor date adjustments) is noted with the album name in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!
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Bone Yard 225's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "F.A.F.O.", "Gypsy Spell", "Fuck!", "Welcome To The ShitShow", "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" (Mike Posner cover)
Background: After months of teasers, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225
began releasing their own songs on major streaming services in July
2024, fifteen years after the pre-225 band debuted as a
country cover quartet. Their first three singles (all recorded at their
home studio) were posted online by January 2025, though it took until last May for the band to confirm on their Facebook page
that they were indeed working on a proper album. As of last August, it was reportedly "album tracking time", while this video
from that month shows bandmates Alex D'Ettore & Warren
Reville recording backing vocals for their cover of Mike Posner's
"I Took A Pill In Ibiza". That will be one of "a couple of covers" for
the album, as confirmed by frontman Greg Simpson during recent concerts.
"Fuck!" was renamed "The F Word" on streaming services in December, but
it's not clear if the less explicit name will stick on the album. The
band was still "in the studio finishing shit" as of December 4th, source here, and a new single "Welcome To The ShitShow" was released on streaming services in August.
Current Release Status: In
that Facebook post from May 2025, your local 225 said that "the album
is coming along nicely", but announced release timeframes of "by the end of 2025" and "early 2026" have came and went. While
singer/drummer Greg Simpson did release an EP with his old band
Stiffler's Mom, it's hard to compare the release methods and schedule
given that "The Demo" came out in 2004. It is neat to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren are going all in on a studio album, and stay tuned for updates!
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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite
Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"
Background: Ever
the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work),
originally named
"A Story
About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo
albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy
elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page,
as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has
hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more
than his prolific original material.
Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.
Current Release Status:
Chase elaborated on Facebook in mid-2024 that the album was 95% done
earlier that year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard
drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or
recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs
uploaded to Facebook in 2023 were clarified as not being
planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP.
Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out
when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of
it!
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Eden Plague's third album (and first under that name)
Rumoured Songs: "Primogenesis", "Colony Of Parasites"
Background: Local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters had teased plans to record a "final album" on their Facebook page
in July 2024, during the band's long slowdown in activity dating back
to late 2017 (which included the unceremonious release of their second
album "The Dead Testament" during the pandemic), but they surprised many
by relaunching under the new name Eden Plague in May of this year. Nik,
Mitch, Justin, and Johnny immediately signalled that they were working
on new original music, debuting at least two songs during their mid-2026
concerts. They were recording two singles in studio in July (with Nik
seen tracking vocals at Mission Control Studios in a Facebook "Story"),
and the guys recently took a break from the stage, as they were "shifting
all gears to our debut LP" (as Eden Plague). The band allegedly "discreetly revealed" the album name on social media earlier this year, with a free copy of the album promised to whoever figures it out first.
Current Release Status: The band has vaguely given a "sometime in 2027" timeframe for the release on Facebook, but things sound early for the final product, as as of September 3rd, five songs were still in demo stages. The former Bear Hunters are no strangers to album
recording sessions, and with no pandemic and band activity uncertainty
clouding things in 2026, here's hoping that this gets a deservingly
widescale release when things are done!
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Fort Creek's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road", "Sweet Rosie"
Background: Local
southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples
until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of
their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page.
The guys would play it regularly at concerts from 2022-2023, with
studio sessions taking place in early-mid 2023 as well. After the
departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer
Anthony Fabiano in the fall of 2023, Fort
Creek opted
to start the album over, and
have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the
past three years. Their first single
(the acoustic "One For The Road")
was posted online in January 2025, with the band confirming plans to now
record a 10 song album at then-drummer Phil Greco's own Jettison Studios prior to returning to live
concerts. Their new single "Sweet Rosie" was released to major streaming services in September, which featured the studio debut of drummer Sam DeDominicis. New bassist Arthur Lacasse appears in the music video, but Liam Seymour played bass on a session basis.
Current Release Status:
Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s
lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and crew have largely kept things
somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road".
There are a lot of
unknowns,
especially given the 6+ years of production time and their decision to
basically start over in 2023, and that this is a band
that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit
before their rhythm section left. It
will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for
updates!
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Mike McCleary's new album
Rumoured Songs: "Carousel"
Background: Background: A
talented studio hard rock musician who has released multiple solo
albums in the past (albeit almost entirely delisted from streaming
services as his musical approach and personal life changed), Mike announced plans to record an instrumental album in 2023, but
after a year+ public hiatus, he opted to shelve that unfinished album in
2025 in favour of a new album with vocals. He signed with Swedish indie
label Rexius Records,
with plans to put out an 8 song album covering "a variety of topics"
and featuring "some fun, catchy, and energetic rock music for everyone
to enjoy". A teaser video from the sessions was posted onto his Facebook page
on December 6th, and the
planned first single ("Carousel") was released online in June.
Current Release Status: Your
guess is as good as mine, but as this is is a one-man project likely
aimed at streaming services, this album could pop up at any time, and
may be close given that an advance single is was unveiled this summer.
The
Rexius Records connection is a variable, but Mike is a strong
musician with morals and a lot to say about himself, and hopefully this
album comes out successfully in the near future!
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The Realignment Project - Signal Decay
Rumoured Songs: Unknown
Background: The current industrial metal solo project from Dirty Virgin/Riverin alum Matt Hicks, The Realignment Project are known for their quick recording schedule, with four EPs and a full length album being released since the beginning of last year alone. In April, Matt confirmed on the project's Facebook page that he had already begun work on their second full length album, days removed from the release of their full length debut "Long Cold Winter". Sessions were complete as of October 5th, with the cover artwork and name "Signal Decay" unveiled four days later.
Current Release Status: Matt plans to put "Signal Decay" out physically via East London Recordings and digitally on major streaming platforms next month, though an exact date has not yet been unveiled. This release timeframe is on par with that of "Long Cold Winter", and Matt has already began writing for his third T.R.P. full-length album, so he's definitely keeping busy as 2026 winds down! Stay tuned for further updates on "Signal Decay" and music to come!
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The Reeves' debut EP
Rumoured Songs: "Future", "Waiting On The End", "Till The End", "Don't Even Bother"
Background: The new hard/blues rock band from former Skinbox/Haze bandmates Brad Irwin & Steve Edwards alongside Long Shot alumni Adam Dawe & Jeremy Ganuelas, The Reeves debuted at Toystock last year, and prior to their second gig ever at Rotaryfest Stage 2 in July, the Rotaryfest program indicated that they would be playing "a
collection of songs that will become their debut EP". After playing just one more show, they began recording the EP at The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music on September 8th with producers Dustin Jones (interesting to see him not at his own Mission Control Studios) and Frank Deresti. Sessions were ongoing as of October 14th, with teaser videos shared to their Facebook page, and they showed everyone but Adam recording parts for the EP in social media postings. While a title has not been formally revealed yet, the presumed lyrics "Feels like I'm waiting on you..." have been shared a few times as photo captions.
Current Release Status: No idea, especially as it's not publically clear if the sessions have wrapped or not, but it is an encouraging sign to see The Reeves hit the ground running as an original band! Members all have experience in original bands who have released studio material in the past in different projects, so this ain't their first rodeo, and hopefully things progress naturally for a release presumably next year!
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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around December 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, scheduled for one week from tomorrow. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!
Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play at least one more show before Toystock, as they'll go "uncorked" for an acoustic concert at The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the show was first announced via the venue's November concert calendar on their Facebook page yesterday, and we'll outline relevant shows ahead there in upcoming posts. Also, note that Bone Yard did not announce TOMORROW's show on their website's concert calendar, hence why I didn't allude to it in our post yesterday, and that would point to it legitimately being booked on late notice. Regardless, this will be Greg, Alex, and Warren's first stop at this Great Northern Road nightclub in almost a month, and hopefully the good unpl... er, "uncorked" vibes are flowing all night TOMORROW! As usual, this is a one-nighter, with Tex Riviera & The Ride playing there on Saturday.
Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where reports of The Rapids Lounge's closure were slightly premature, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will play at the local Kewadin Casino's nightclub for one final weekend TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook page yesterday. Kewadin Casino is definitely still closing The Rapids Lounge to make way for heavy renovations at the Soo branch (including a water park and a new replacement sports bar), but there has been a stay of execution, as their entertainment page now lists bands all month, and we'll address the pre-Thanksgiving weekend performers in an upcoming post. In fact, Tarnished had previously indicated that their Kewadin gigs in August would be "the last show(s) at the Rapids (Lounge) for us", so if you enjoy Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's retro hard rock cover attack, why not one more go-around while you can?
We'll hop back to Sault Ontario next for concerts from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (7.3?) at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but in a brand new confirmation, they have been tapped to headline the New Year's Eve party at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Thursday, December 31st! Jay's Facebook page
confirmed that booking via this AI-generated poster (that notably
doesn't include the 7.3 in the name or branding), which also indicates
that it will be a 1980s-themed party at year's end. New bassist Dan
Beaupre will be used to that, as his other band The Sidekicks' Halloween
concert at The Water Tower Pub was identically themed. No word on if
costumes will be encouraged, but expect lots of 1980s covers and retro
frills then, and as the guys set up shop in the west end this weekend,
more vintage rock covers from Terry, Travis, Dan, and Johnny are to be
expected! Neither this weekend's nor next month's shows are marketed as
"epic crossovers" with their recently quiet sister band Separate Wayz.
Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, we'll bop back across the Michigan border for shows at the not-closing Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Munising classic/hard rock cover quintet The Sky Pilots will play their last EUP shows of the year TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen there back in May, the current group from former Swayze Train & Electric Motor Fish frontwoman Melissa Strand have become a fan favourite live act across the peninsula, and hopefully their often heavy slate of covers find a good audience in St. Ignace on both nights this weekend! As usual for their (or any) concerts at The Northern Pines Lounge, tomorrow & Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the nightly event pages on the band's Facebook page for more details, and for a preview, here they are live in Munising last year!
