Our Recap Of The Last(?) Episode Of Metal Morpheus On The Borderline!!

Today on the SMS, let's finally cover the final(?) episode of the Metal Morpheus radio show on local internet radio station The Borderline! As you may know, Metal Morpheus ran for an hour (give or take) on Sunday nights at 9:00 PM from July-December of last year, with host/local metal singer Josh Amendola typically featuring a genre or national scene each week, with at least one metal act with local membership per episode. However, following a heavily revised version of October's all-local episode on December 5th, the series fell into reruns for a month, and no new episodes have been posted on the station website since re-airing the power metal episode on January 9th. I don't know what happened to Metal Morpheus, especially given that Josh was very early into a planned series of alphabetical spotlights of the scenes in various countries, and he was improving as an on-air personality as time went on, so hopefully he isn't 100% done!

The possibility exists that Metal Morpheus is just on an indefinite hiatus, and hopefully we see Josh pick things back up for the series in some form when the time is right! If not, ending with the Soo Metal episode is a good way to go out, even if it was severely altered from what originally aired! I never recapped the October version on the site due to only catching up to it in the timeline after it was taken down. Alas, I do apologize for that, but how would I have known that it'd be deleted and overhauled? Just as a disclaimer, Josh does reference both the SMS and myself in this episode, and while he did ask me for suggestions of local bands to play on air last year and for input on how episodes turned out, I never knew he was going to make an all-local episode. I was as surprised as everyone else! As of this writing, I have never been on The Borderline in any on-air or behind-the-scenes capacity.

As for the revised Soo Metal episode, it runs for just over an hour, and it starts with Josh playing defunct local alternative rock band (and Papa Fogals Chair predecessors) Sulfur's song "Our Glass Universe" (0:05) from their 1997 CD "How Empty I Am". Next, we get a song by old school local hardcore punk band The Big Kahunas with their original studio recording "The Fighting Princess Club" (3:55), before abruptly switching gears to inactive Vancouver grunge trio Denderah with their song "Sweetness" (5:50). I've never heard of Denderah, but their frontman Kwin Cymons is a Saultite, so his band's material clearly found its way to The Borderline's rotation before passing my radar! They're a solid group, give their album a listen at their Bandcamp page! A rare Sault Michigan act hits the episode next via inactive progressive metal project Life's Eclipse's song "Not Dead But Dreaming" (9:05).

Fondly remembered local hardcore punk band Fistmagnet's cover of "Live To Die" (17:15) is next, followed by local/London instrumental prog metal band Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe's song "All Roams Lead To Roads" (20:10) from their self-titled album. Prominent and dearly missed local hard rock quartet Garden of Bedlam follow with the title track from their full length album "Everything Will Die" (23:15), while the second half of the episode begins with death metal quartet The Bear Hunters' song "Transcend Judgement" (28:20) from 2020's "The Dead Testament", conveniently followed by ex-guitarist Josh Stephney's old hardcore band Bring The Fallen with the title track of their posthumous EP "Stand Before" (34:40). This episode's only live cut is next, courtesy of defunct local metal band Sativa Rose with their lengthy original song "Bellows of the Beast" (39:10).

Juno Award winning local/Toronto blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres come next with their dark ballad "Finality" (48:10) from their final studio album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", before heading back to Sault Michigan for defunct local epic death metal band Integrated System of Machines' song "Road To Valhalla" (52:10) from their 2008 album "Apocalyptic Visions". The episode ends with one more song by Denderah, namely "Natal Lies" (57:35), and no, neither this episode nor the last 100% new one from the previous week left any hints that the series was ending or taking a break. While Josh did leave some gaps regarding band members' full names or back stories (especially with Life's Eclipse given how we've covered them and Werehold Records over the years), this was an entertaining episode and showed how Josh was trying to expand the range of local artists!

Definitely give this and other episodes of Metal Morpheus a listen at the above links, as it is (was?) a good series and helped fill the metal void on The Borderline's scheduled rotation, and if Josh doesn't return to record new episodes, hopefully we hear more from him in some form, let alone more metal, hard rock, or punk-centric programming on the station! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New EP Release, New Videos, And A Local Musician's New Website!!

Before everyone settles in for the Super and/or Puppy Bowl, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning! Along with belated details about a local musician's new website, a new cover performance, and more local musicians on a popular music review series, let's lead off with a surprise new album from a talented newer band, so here's what you should know!

After scattered studio work teasers in mid-2021 and over four months of public silence, new local alt-hardcore duo These Magnificent Tentacles released their debut EP "Surfacing..." onto their Bandcamp page this past Monday! The band never 100% confirmed they were working on an album, just new songs, so this was a nice surprise during a quiet stretch! Featuring their current two-man lineup of Slumshine's Brenton Ellis and ex-Pixo Control bassist Steve Edwards, "Surfacing..." was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer/Tidal Records head Dustin Jones, and it is a short release, only containing three songs. One is "The Abyss", which was their debut single when the band launched, while the other two are titled "Sewer Sailor" & "The Sea Serpent & The Rainbow". The cover artwork appears to be a painting of Brent's, going along with his prolific visual art work.

Despite being a three song EP, "Surfacing..." costs $10 on Bandcamp, though you can stream the songs free there, and teasers of availability on other digital platforms have not come to fruition yet. No word either on a possible physical release, but for reference, Slumshine have put out CDs, and These Magnificent Tentacles have played one live concert, so the possibility is there. I won't comment on the songs yet, as it's looking very likely that "Surfacing..." will be this month's CD review on the SMS. Stay tuned for that, and check out T.M.T.'s debut EP above! 

Next up, here's a new video from prolific local metal/folk punk solo musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page, where he covered Steve Vai's instrumental "For The Love Of God"! The video is heavily filtered with Chase's performance mirrored and de-colourized in very Rorschach test-y fashion, which is a neat look! Chase plays along to the original song very well, even if this isn't an optimal way to actually see his playing of the song given the filter, but check out this solid cover below, and stay tuned for more from him!

Also today, let's look at some more local representation on the popular indie music review series You Rock! with Thomas Christ! In the 3+ hour episode #19 from January 12th, two local acts made the cut for live reviews, including Inner City Surfers bassist Brad Example's solo song "The Queen's Secrets" (2:01:50), which Thomas positively reviewed, while we dip more into hard rock when Thomas checked out defunct local grunge trio No Arrow's song "Genocyde Revealing Part 1" (2:32:15), and he praised the song for its mix, Nirvana vibes, and it's raw, live essence. Always good thoughts from Thomas about bands here and abroad, so check out all of the talent below!

Finally, while the ever-prolific local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith wasn't in episode #19 of You Rock!, I do have stuff to talk about from him today, via his new website, which I've put off discussing for way too long. Perhaps a very belated successor to his once exceptionally detailed Facebook page biography and discography, his cleanly laid out website gives a massive updated biography, running down Mike's career as a musician from Windsor to the Soo to Thompson. Mike's major bands (from S.C.A.R. to Between The Ditches) also get subpages outlining their runs and highlights, even considering The Din to be distinct from the acid jam era of Mike Haggith & The Din, though the articles do leave out some very minor details. Curiously, James White is not credited as a former bassist with the band Haggith, though he never performed on an album with them, so that may explain his omission.

The discography on the website only reflects The Din and solo albums Mike put out since moving to the Soo, though way back when, I did save a text document listing every album by Mike's old Rotten Records catalogue numbers, which is good for reference! You can also order Thompson-era albums through the website. Very professional looking site with great insight into Mike's career, especially in a local sense, so fans of Mike's extensive career will definitely want to check out his website above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site this week. Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Tym Morrison, And Tarnished), Plus A New Video!!

With the concert restrictions easing up in Ontario, it's great to see that we have multiple acts playing live in Sault Ontario this weekend, including one band who actually returned last week (my apologies!) As such, this post is loaded with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including for one E.U.P. gig, but we do have a new video to wrap things up with. Here's what you should know on this Thursday night!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will play their first concert of 2022 when they hit nearby Cedarville for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT at Snows Bar & Grill! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this concert on their Facebook page on Monday. Last seen in Rudyard in December, Tarnished's concert TOMORROW will take place as part of the annual pub shuffle (or pub crawl) during the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest, which is the annual winter festival in Cedarville and Hessel. The official program is on the area's chamber of commerce's Facebook page, confirming that Snows (a new location for our coverage) is one of five Cedarville/Hessel bars taking part in the pub crawl, so if you're interested in taking part in the festivities, definitely inquire within while you still have time! Tarnished will basically be the wrap party for the pub crawl at Snows.

FYI, Cedarville classic rock band Shipheads on Shore will end the night at The Islander Bar in Hessel, so two participating venues will have live music. As for Tarnished, they'll be on at 8:00 PM TOMORROW at Snows (1187 South Park Avenue, 38 minutes south of Sault Ste. Marie), this is a 21+ event, and as far as I know, there's no admission fee for the concert alone. Of course, please follow any stated public health measures at Snows Bar & Grill, let alone other bars in the pub crawl. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, after previously playing there last weekend as well! Again, apologies for the short notice (and for missing last week's gigs), they only announced TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S via their Facebook event page yesterday, and while last week's were announced on the Tuesday prior, they entirely slipped me by. Remember, Soundcheck often only announce their concerts on less than a week's notice, and have done so on the Friday of before. It's atypical of Soundcheck to play the same venue in consecutive weekends, but seeing as they couldn't play anywhere during the return of pandemic restrictions in December, I'm sure they were itching to get back on stage as soon as they could, and Reggie's likely felt similarly!

You can take in Terry, Cameron, Paul, and Glen's brand of old school rock favourites and select country cuts TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, but please be mindful of the current capacity restrictions at Reggie's, follow any posted public health & social distancing guidelines, and do not forget your vaccine passport. Visit the above links for more details, I apologize again for missing last week's shows, and here's Soundcheck live!

Lastly for announced hard rock concerts in the area this weekend, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first publically advertised concert of 2022 THIS SUNDAY when he plays a matinee concert at the aforementioned Reggie's Place! Apologies once again for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its official Facebook event page on Tuesday, and remember that he also often first announces shows on social media the week that they occur. Similarly grounded from the stage since December, this will be Tym's first show since his Mane St. Cafe gigs late last year, and his first SUNDAY matinee at the downtown Reggie's since November, following an early December cancellation there. I know Tym was eager to get back on stage, and hopefully there's a receptive crowd for his extensive setlist and vocal/guitar skill on SUNDAY as he so often got last year!

As usual for Tym's weekend matinees at Reggie's, this concert has a 3:00 PM start time, no cover, and presumed 19+ age limit, but please follow and respect any social distancing and public health measures in place at Reggie's to ensure that everyone has a safe time. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Finally for today, here's a new song from young local punk quartet Vanity's YouTube channel, namely a demo recording of an original song named "Hard Feelings"! If you follow the band on Facebook, you may have seen teasers this week for a self-titled physical CD of theirs (limited to 50 copies), though aside from the print run number and track listing, they didn't glean anything specific about how the release will go, how much CDs will cost, if it will see a digital release, or if the songs on the disc are the same six demo versions on YouTube rather than more complete studio recordings. We'll definitely keep you guys posted, but give "Hard Feelings" a listen below!

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Smeltzer & Gorrifier

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, continuing our monthly spotlight of local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands from the past, all as randomly selected from our inactive band links! Given our random pick last month, I optimistically pencilled today's first band in for a single band profile, but alas, not enough media or information is publically available all these years later, so we're doubling up with another randomly selected band, this time a solo studio project. Here's what you should know!

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Smeltzer

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Punk/Alternative

Lineup:

Steve "Knuckles" Mozarowski (RedD Monkey), vocals/guitar
Paul "Pauliford" Stanghetta (The Apocalypse Afterparty, The Fury), bass
Kevin "Kevo" Overton (RedD Monkey, Gates of Winter), drums

Info/Analysis: Active from around 2005-2008, Smeltzer were a common sight for genre fans at the time, primarily from appearances at Oddfellows Hall all-ages shows opening for bands like Propagandhi, Means, and The Full Blast. After dissolving, Smeltzer held a one-off reunion in 2011 at The Oddfellows Hall, while Steve and Kevin would later succeed them in the cello-infused local favourites RedD Monkey, and Steve would cover Smeltzer's "The Jock Song" with that band and as a solo artist. Smeltzer had original songs and once teased releasing an album called "Dropping The S-Bomb", but MySpace's degradation has left none of their media online, and I can't find any videos. I recall liking Smeltzer's grungier alt-punk sound and darker aesthetic compared to members' later groups, and while it's a shame they didn't run longer, follow RedD Monkey & The Apocalypse Afterparty for members' diverse recent material, visually & musically alike!

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Gorrifier

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Technical Death Metal

Lineup:

Robert Sartini (Pillory, The Peach Thieves), all instruments 

Info/Analysis: Originally active for a brief spell in 2014, Gorrifier was a straight death metal project of Rob's, playing original songs distinct from his YouTube covers of that time period. Their Reverbnation page and its six original songs were quietly pulled from public view by year's end during a mass social media exodus for his non-Pillory projects, but it quietly returned at some point circa 2016, albeit without new material.With brutal song titles like "Grotesque Creation" & "Psychological Nightmare", you can expect punishing death metal from Gorrifier, whose intense originals foreshadowed Pillory's shift to death metal during their mid-2010s revival, and while production wasn't pristine, these showcased Robert's ability and improved Death-inspired vocals very well! Give Gorrifier a listen to see what you think, and hopefully Robert returns in one project or another!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around March 10th for our first single-band profile of 2022, or artist in this case, as we'll be looking at ex-Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie's inactive solo project! Tune in then, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

A New Treble Charger Video Discovery & Much More News & Notes From The Last While!!

Let's get a new news post on the site on this Sunday morning, including some assorted shorter items, local musician appearances on two indie artist spotlight YouTube series, and leading off, a flashback 15 years back of a big local band in a somewhat unexepected setting. Here's what you should know!

Here's a neat find, a VHS recording of inactive local/Toronto indie/punk band Treble Charger playing a live acoustic concert in a record store back on June 14th, 1997! Recorded at the time by Brennan Manoakeesick and uploaded to YouTube user LaFarm's channel last week, this (as best as I can tell) was recorded at the old Musiplex store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and presumably comes from Treble Charger's tour cycle in support of their then-new third album "Maybe It's Me". Bill noted that they were playing before a set by "The Amazing Transistor", which I believe referenced the Winnipeg indie rock band Transistor Sound & Lighting Co., who were labelmates of theirs. The 26 minute video features Treble Charger (minus Rosie) playing "10th Grade Love", "Friend of Mine", "Ever She Flows", "Fade", and "Morale", and it's definitely interesting hearing Treble Charger unplugged at this stage of their career!

Despite persistent "snow" on the video proper and some noisy static at times, the video and audio quality of this is really solid, and you do get some nice views of Musiplex, which looks like it was a huge record store with a great selection of albums! Fans were receptive to this short set, especially the kid taking pictures, and it's neat seeing a band as big as Treble Charger telling the sound guy what to fix with the levels, almost like they were back on the local circuit. If you love Treble Charger's Bill-led indie rock material, don't bypass this classic unplugged set below!

Next up, here's some more episodes of the YouTube series You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which is slowly getting more and more of a local flavour as Saultite musicians discover the series! In episode #18 from January 5th, Thomas heard and reviewed at least three songs by local artists live during the three & a half hours long episode, including Inner City Surfers bassist Brad Example's solo song "Someday" (46:28), marking his return to the series after appearing in earlier installments. While not a hard rock song (more of a bluesy folk number), Thomas praises his passion and songwriting! The ever-prolific Mike Haggith continues his regular run of You Rock! appearances later with "2145" (1:07:36) from his 2020 album "If Ever Comes The Day", and Thomas also gave it a strong recommendation for its beautiful vocals and melody, and how it would translate well to just a piano.

The local contingent of that episode ends with defunct local grunge/psychedelic rock trio SBD (both Brad & Dann have submitted material for You Rock! before, so it's only natural) via a demo of their original song "Ess" (1:39:00), preceded by info about how SBD formed. Thomas complimented how fun the song sounded like it must have been to record and called it "very fun". Nice to see more local talent getting widespread exposure like this from a dedicated community of independent musicians, so give episode #17 of You Rock! a watch below!

As for the other YouTube series where a host checks out independently recorded original songs live with a dedicated community including Saultites (Your Music Live by Studio Live Today's Pete Johns), there's definitely been less of a local element in their last five episodes, though a Brad Example song does end episode #83. The aforementioned Mike Haggith did finally return to the series in episode #86  from Friday, with Pete checking out the title track from "If Ever Comes The Day" at the 44 minute mark. Pete praised the song's arrangement and melody, calling both it and Mike himself "very cool", so give all of that and loads more indie musician reviews a watch below!

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

 

• In a mild & locally unique variant of a name change, local indie/punk quintet Northwest have tacked "The" to the start of their name on their Facebook and Bandcamp pages, complete with a new band logo calling them The Northwest. A reason for the alteration wasn't publically announced, but it could be related to the commonality of Northwest as a band name (three other bands on Bandcamp are named that) or just signifying a fresh start after largely being dormant during the pandemic. We'll let you guys know when The Northwest announce their next plans!
• Relaunched local/Barrie punk/metal band Spades GT (née Jack Spades) will play in their new hometown on April 14th when they're among the openers for both The Dayglo Abortions and Random Killing at The Queens Nightclub! 2019 Oh!No festival performers The Speed Humps are also on the bill, FYI. This could be the first chance Greater Toronto has to see the new look Spades in action, so keep it in mind if you're in the area, and click here for more details!
• Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will play their first publically advertised show of 2022 when they hit the road for frontman Alex Traynor's old Mount Pleasant home base on February 26th! The show will see them open for Mount Pleasant rock bands Venom of Virtue and Bang Up Tape Job at Rubble's Bar, and hopefully this Lower Peninsula gig goes well to help kick off a hopefully busy year! Visit the Facebook event page for more info!
  

 

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

Rhythm & Brews Concert Previews, New Videos, And Much More!!

Let's get a proper news post up on the SMS after what feels like somewhat too long, and while the hard rock concert calendar in Sault Ontario remains slight as restrictions are phased out, we do have a pair of shows to preview today in the region, plus some assorted stories and new videos. With all of that said, here's what you should know on this Thursday evening!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This will be Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron's first concert weekend of 2022, their third total that has had public advertising, and their first set of gigs at The Rapids Lounge since they made their live debut there in July. This talented supergroup of Nixxon Dixxon, 415E, Monkey's Uncle, and Ten Kings alumni should deliver a strong weekend of hard rocking tunes for fans in the E.U.P. so consider a trip to the Soo Kewadin tomorrow and/or Saturday! Both of these Rhythm & Brews dates are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charges and 21+ age limits, but please respect and follow any public health guidelines posted at the lounge/casino to ensure everyone has a safe time. See above for more details, and we'll let you know when Rhythm & Brews videos of any kind surface!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario for some new videos, starting with the latest from local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek! After publically spending the holidays and renewed pandemic restriction period holding merchandise giveaways, the band posted this video onto their Facebook page yesterday, featuring short clips of a song from their upcoming EP! The end credits imply that they were recording at Voodoo Bones Studios in 2020, but if that's an accurate date, they've been sitting on the tracks for quite a while! Regardless of when the were in the studio, they are planning to release the EP this summer. The video proper just has black & white teaser images with some post-production effects, plus some warning alerts at the start to set the mood. There's not enough here to critique the songs yet, but give the teaser a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Fort Creek's camp!

Also, young local punk band Vanity have posted two new original song demos to their YouTube channel in the past couple of days, titled "Playboy Magazine" and, as embedded below, "White Ghosts"! The former is mid-tempo with heavier choruses and somewhat nasal clean vocals, while the latter is more of a straightforward punk song, and both are promising signs of diversity from this rising group! No word yet on if they are indeed making a bassist change, but give Vanity's new originals a listen above & 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: 

 

• The Glambition fundraiser concert at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre has been postponed once again to Saturday, April 23rd, as per a quiet update to its Facebook event page. This is the fourth public date for the Pauline's Place benefit (scheduled to feature The Apocalypse Afterparty), with the prior three called off due to rising COVID-19 case counts and/or the Ontario capacity restrictions, including the last planned date of this past Sunday. Hopefully things level out enough for Glambition to finally occur!
• Local alternative/hard rock quartet Handsome Sandwich revealed on their Facebook page on January 21st that "we have not been stagnant during this period", and that recording sessions for their debut album "Lettuce" were ongoing, with drummer Johnny Belanger completing drum tracking that week, even including this photo. Before then, Handsome Sandwich hadn't posted on Facebook since their Rockstar Bar show in November, and hadn't referenced "Lettuce" at all since a pre-production update in July, so it's great to see that they are still hard at work! Stay tuned for updates!
• If you're wondering why we never recapped Mike Haggith's Facebook live-stream concert on January 25th, it's because he postponed it the morning of due to "feeling pretty run down" after a busy month, so he "opted to take today to rest and refocus". The live-stream will now take place on February 12th (one week from Saturday), and scheduled guest Jacob Quarrell will be interviewed as planned for the new date. Given Mike's day job, his explanation makes a lot of sense, and I'm surprised he hasn't postponed a prior live-stream for similar reasons before. Hopefully everything works out for next weekend, including both share contest covers!

 

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

Where Are The New Albums? February 2022 Update

For our first post of February 2022, here's this month's Where Are The New Albums? post, continuing our monthly spotlights of upcoming metal, hard rock, and/or punk albums from local musicians that have publically confirmed that studio recording sessions have begun for them! This is mostly a holding pattern installment, as not much was publically elaborated in the past month from the four remaining artists with announced upcoming albums, but one does have updated info, as noted with the title in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on to hopefully find out!

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Chase James Wigmore's new albums

Rumoured Songs: Multiple

Background: Ever the prolific artist and songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore posted on his eponymous Facebook page in August 2020 to announce two more distinct acoustic albums and the long-gestating completion of his 33 part rock opera "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". In 2021, Chase released three more free albums to YouTube, including one of those acoustic albums (the black metal-infused "Ruins Of Life"), Awokest's new album "Beyonder", his classical piano release "The Symphonic Organism", and a progressive metal double album entitled "Living Divisions", all going straight to YouTube, at least initially. Most recently, Chase posted two songs onto his YouTube channel from a planned new metal album named "Sonic Apocalypse", which is scheduled for release this year.

Current Release Status: Your guess is as good as mine, but remember that Chase is very prolific and varied in his musical interests, and not every album of his has seen a formal paid release, either by finishing its lifespan as a demo, or by being released online for free. In fact, he hasn't released one of his brand new albums for sale since "One Last Act Of Defiance" on Bandcamp in December 2019, though note that he posted a dozen back catalog albums from various projects of his onto his Bandcamp page last summer, so some of his more recent free albums could follow there. Stay tuned for updates from his camp when they roll in!
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Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's fourth album

Rumoured Songs: "Lost & Found", "All Broke Down", "No Control"

Background: Local Celtic punk veterans Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide began recording sessions by October 2018 at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, as per their Facebook page. In January 2019, the band confirmed that they were indeed recording a fourth studio album (and first since 2012), which will presumably be released through Tidal Records, and will also be their first album with second guitarist Liam Seymour & drummer Chris Johns. While "All Broke Down" was initially cited as the first single in December 2018 (source here), the first two released singles were "Lost & Found" in March 2019 & "No Control" in December 2020. Credits on the above songs' music videos note that Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios in St. Catharine's is mixing the album, as he has done for multiple Tidal/Mission Control releases. Dustin posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel last year, but it's not publically known whether or not they'll also be used as new Tide originals.

Current Release Status: When The Tide shared a teaser clip for "Lost & Found", they mentioned that the album was "coming soon", which doesn't tell us much, especially as the band has only posted two updates on Facebook in 2021. This may be partially due to fiddler Sheldon Jaaskelainen's recent out of town commitments, with 3/5ths of The Tide performing as Jonesy Land last summer. Still, with recording sessions well along the way, and two music videos now public, it's likely that Dustin and company aren't early in the process, but we'll let you know when more comes out on the album!
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Handsome Sandwich - "Lettuce"

Rumoured Songs: "All or Nothing", "Bitter"

Background: After taking a year+ long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" (but functionally alternative/hard rock) band Handsome Sandwich reunited last summer with a new lineup, with returning members Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now joined by singer Taylor Emlaw and bassist Mitch Sirie. Via their new Facebook page and YouTube channel, the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously being covers-only in their 2017-2020 run), posting two YouTube videos of them jamming new original songs planned for it. On June 25th, Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album will be titled "Lettuce", it will be recorded at Unsalted Audio with producer Dustin Goodall (pictured with the band and Bill Priddle), and that pre-production started on June 27th. Most recently, the band confirmed that drum tracking was completed the week of January 21st, following a handful of live dates in late 2021.

Current Release Status: No clue, especially given that we have no prior Handsome Sandwich albums to go off of, but the new look band has definitely hit the ground running since resuming activity this summer! Staying busy and creative when proper non-socially distanced concerts can't happen isn't a bad idea either, so stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp!
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The Uncanny Valley's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”, "Fumbling Through"

Background: The new classic hard rock band from 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, fans will have seen original material of theirs right from the start, as The Uncanny Valley debuted their own songs in their first live concert at The Canadian on New Year's Eve 2019. Live concert & jam session videos have followed on their Facebook page featuring their own material as well. After posting a teaser audio clip of "Sweet Like Sugar" in September 2020, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man" in October, finally confirming there that they are working on their first album, though no other details have followed suit. The album will presumably feature new bassist Brendan Bertrand, who replaced Adam Fahrer in the band early last year.

Current Release Status: No clue, which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar profile for many readers, not to mention the complications of the pandemic and their public hiatus since releasing "Middle Man", though their new lineup have played live a few times in the second half of 2021. That said, they are a talented group who seemed to be taking the right steps for the future, and hopefully more updates on The Uncanny Valley's debut album follow when ready! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, such as it was! This series will return on or around March 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile tentatively scheduled for next Thursday, weekend concert previews allowing. That's all for today, but stay tuned for our first news post of the month tomorrow! Thanks everyone!