Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Random Killing

It's now time for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, and given a major recent concert in Sault Ontario, this month's selected band was a no-brainer! As usual, this monthly feature series takes a look at a metal, hard rock, or punk band that's not based within an hour of the Twin Saults, but has featured a local resident in their lineup at some point in the past or present, and therefore, deserve some attention and notice on the SMS! We recently welcomed this band back to the local stage after the better part of 2 decades away, so let's take a look at them once again!
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Random Killing (Toronto, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics; Note that band pages credit some drummers under nicknames like "Ted" and "Deadbeat", but it's not explicitly clear whose real names they had. If you can help, message us at robertfigures@outlook.com!)

Andrew "Drool" Kiteley (vocals)
John "Rusty Talent" Hadju (guitar)
Jim "Mudd" Moore (bass)
John "Robber" Nielson (drums)

Kevin "Rodney Wastelands" Low (vocals)
Victor "V. Dumpster" Farkas (vocals)
Mark Watts (guitar)
Tony Mastromatteo (drums)
Mike Rosenthal (drums)
Tim Monahan (drums)
Sean Dignan (drums)

Official website: http://www.randomkilling.com
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/randomkilling
Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/therandomkilling
Official CBC Music page: http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/random-killing
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/sandorthegreatful
Official Bandcamp page: http://randomkilling.bandcamp.com

Local Info: The frontman of Random Killing for 25 years now, Sault Ontario native Drew Kiteley discovered punk when he found a Wendy O. Williams album, and became a lifelong fan after that. Moving to Toronto for school, he ended up being recommended by Bunchofuckingoofs singer Steve Goof to try out for Random Killing's vacant singer position, and he's been there ever since, fronting the band at a number of well received local dates through the mid-1990s. Recently working in stage design and rigging for theatrical and entertainment events, Drew comes back home frequently to visit family. Read more on his local past and band work via this Sault Star article!

Band Bio: Launched under the name Roy's Comrades as a joke in 1984, Random Killing soon became a full band, releasing their debut album "Take Our Flag" the following year, and following it with "This Whole World" in 1989, each sung by their original singers. After Drew Kiteley replaced Victor Farkas, Random Killing grew to become a favourite in the hardcore punk underground, while never signing with a major label in the process. Sharing the stages with the likes of The Dead Kennedys, The Dayglo Abortions, and Agnostic Front, their song "12" memorably became a recurring segment on both Sesame Street for many years, while the band played live on Open Mic with Mike Bullard in 1998 as well. Random Killing have released 5 albums with Drew on vocals, most recently 1997's "Stranded", and though the band's touring and album releases have quieted since, they still play a handful of shows each year, including this month's Hardcore Homecoming at The Rockstar Bar, and hopefully they'll be back soon!

Random Killing have definitely earned their place among Canada's notable hardcore punk bands, and their 1990s work speaks for itself! Actually, all of their albums are good, and all three of their singers are up to the task on studio material, but as the increasingly got heavier and more polished, they found more of their groove to me, especially on their last album "Stranded". Rusty Talent has always proved to be a solid guitarist with edgy riffs, and Mudd's bass is well done and flows nicely too on their various albums, though the drumming is a bit inconsistent given that position's many changes. Drool shows a nice ability to flip from punk signing to more aggressive tones too, and his stage presence only adds to their live experience, and it'd be nice to see the guys launch another large national tour and record another album! We had to wait 17 years for this month's return show in the Soo, and hopefully they're back home long before 2031!

All of Random Killing's albums can be bought at their Bandcamp page linked . above, as well as on iTunes, while eBay and Amazon have copies of their albums too. There's a solid amount of videos online as well, including concert videos and music videos alike, so be sure to check YouTube for them, and here's one of their music videos for their song "Undertaker"!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, we'll stay punk with a look at The Labour Of..., the Toronto indie punk band featuring Saultites and future Maximum RNR & Detroit bandmates Brenton Ellis and Curtis Faux! Look for that on or around October 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes (plus this month's CD review) soon! Thanks everyone!