YouTube Channel Profile Series: SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! In our last monthly feature post of the summer months, we have another spotlight of a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk music/concerts. This month's selection is a YouTube Music channel for a prominent local band, if not as comprehensive as you may expect, so here's what you should know on it!

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SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCrjvSyO3DGjK1fVMyvgT3kw)

Owner:  If anyone, Sykotyk Rampage guitarist/singer Dirk Becker, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the band's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 19th, 2022; Videos posted that day and on March 19th, 2024

Channel Summary: Four different YouTube channels exist to host parts of the back catalogue of local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage on YouTube Music, with this particular channel hosting two albums of theirs from 2013, incidentally both part of concept chronologies. 32 songs are hosted between the two albums.

Why You Should Watch: Given how fragmented (and incomplete) Sykotyk Rampage's discography is represented on YouTube Music, this channel is really only for band completionists who regularly consume streaming music via YouTube. Their complete 70+ album discography is available on their Bandcamp page, which should be stop #1 for fans of the masters of the crash, but if you had a particular affinity for these two albums, note their YouTube presence!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

GATES: The earlier of the two Sykotyk Rampage albums on this channel is "Yamaraja" from August 2013 (its sequel followed two years later), which notably uses one word titles for all songs on offer except the self-titled closing number. Notable for being one of their first albums with bassist Tony Briglio (joining Dirk, singer/drummer Paul Becker, and guitarist Shane Kokis), "Yamaraja" is an album that I have yet to review on the SMS (with how many Sykotyk Rampage have, who knows when I will!), but as good a place to start as any here is the opening song "Gates", which will appeal to fans of their Paul-sung crash rock originals, complete with background chanting to go along with the loose theme around Hindu gods. There's more where that came from on the full album!

Intro to Revenge: The longer and more popular album of the two here is October 2013's lengthily titled "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2: Revenge Of Professor OCD & The Crimson Nipple" (the first album in this series immediately preceded it and the third "Adventures Of..." album came out in 2014). Another concept album ("Chastity Boy" is Tony's band nickname) featuring "story" tracks peppered in between the songs, the most popular upload on this particular channel is the opener "Intro To Revenge". This one features Tony setting up the storyline for the album and where things picked up from the first album in this series. Not a song in itself beyond the backing music, the story being set up is definitely sykotyk and it'd be a fool's errand to sum it up here (especially when I don't know when I'll be reviewing Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy's adventures here), but it'll start you on book #2 of this epic story!

American Dreamer: Of the actual songs on "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2", I most want to highlight "American Dreamer" for its near-7 minute length and the fact that, as of this writing, it has zero hits on YouTube. I know Sykotyk Rampage have dozens of albums to comb through, but no one has played this song there? Starting with a solid bass solo, this is a showcase for Dirk's distinctive punk snarl on lead vocals, which don't get deployed enough on their albums, and the freewheeling nature of their improvised hybrid rock attack comes through well without seeming overlong despite the length! Give this and much more a listen above!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around September 26th for another randomly selected channel, and this time, it's via Vern03, who filmed six videos at the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert here in 2007! Look for that on or around September 26th, and for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Videos From & After Spades GT's Album Release Concert!!

Today's post catches us up further on updates from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's July activity, and as you may recall, they headlined the release party for their new album "United" at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto on July 5th. While we still don't know when the former Jack Spades will return home to Sault Ste. Marie, we can witness what happened at The Bovine for ourselves, as ZigSeven's Dave Galante was on hand to film the proceedings for his/the band's YouTube channel! You may recognize Dave from filming at Walterstock III and the Steve Edwin McLeod memorial concerts (both featuring Spades), so kudos to him for coming out to their headlining show last month, let alone filming over an hour & 48 minutes of content! The video begins with Dave talking to the camera before and after getting a sandwich near the venue before the show began, and you've gotta love his fancy sunglasses!

The first band on July 5th was Spades guitarist Daniel Horton's other band The Fast Life (whose frontman Andrew Moorehouse was a guest backing vocalist on both Spades GT albums), and they got 12:30 of footage for Dave's video, so click here to jump straight to the beginning of what he captured that night. After some between-set mingling, we next see the stars of the evening, as Spades GT actually played the middle set rather than closing up for unannounced reasons (maybe there was a scheduling issue?) Dave filmed 40 minutes of action from J.D., Daniel, Tyler, Matthew, and Sean here, and in order, they played "United", "Hands" (featuring guest backing vocals from G.F.U. frontman Jeremy Cibirka), "Demons", "Red", "Strong" (featuring guest rapper Mersinary like on the studio track), "Cenobites", "Wrecked", a cover of Turbonegro's "All My Friends Are Dead" (featuring Andrew Moorehouse on guest vocals), ...

..."Final Girl", and "Die On Our Feet" (featuring ex-guitarist Jay Sarrazin like on the studio version), to end their set. Of note, their set alternated between "United" and "Sewer City Radio" sets back and forth, though the Turbonegro cover did briefly interrupt that pattern. After Dave mingles outside The Bovine between sets, the video closes with York Region punk band G.F.U.'s closing set, and he filmed 48 minutes of punk action from this talented veteran act. Click here to go straight to their set to check out what they had in store, and watch for a member of Spades GT getting on stage midway through! There's a lot to take in here, but kudos to Dave for filming all that he did, and he got some solid quality (and horizontal!) footage of full sets here, and Spades GT sounded raw and in your face as you'd expect! You also get some quality visuals of The Bovine's interior and the packed house for the bands' sets throughout the video's runtime!

Note that, in the host segment bits with Dave using his camera in "selfie mode", he added post-production effects and a logo noting that the video was now in "Zigview". Fun way to differentiate from the band clips and not distract from them with the added effects and logo! And yes, that is former Project 421/Re:Born singer/guitarist (and past bandmate of both J.D.'s and Dan's) Blair Burch as the photographer, he has been snapping pictures at a lot of GTA concerts since moving to Southern Ontario last year. Click here to see his ample shots from the release concert, and relive the complete release party (or see what you missed if you're in the Sault area) below!

We'll close this post with a brief video from guitarist Matthew "Fang" Voros from Spades' Facebook page on July 6th, where he thanked everyone for attending the album release party. There, he called it "a big hit" and "a great time", while also complimenting seeing familiar and new faces alike. Nothing really new here, but it is neat to see Matt take the lead in some official Spades GT social media content, so give it a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: vflindall & sisuunicorn705's Channels

After a couple days marred by remembrances of two fallen metal musicians, we could use a pick-me-up post, so here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! As always, this monthly feature series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels with a 50% concentration of local metal-relevant videos, so you guys can know more about them, the contents, and why you should watch and subscribe to each. This month, we're looking at two Sault Ontario-specific channels that, though not featuring the highest quality videos, are both notable in their own ways, so read on below for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! (Edited on October 16th, 2013)
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vflindall's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/vflindall)

Owner: YouTube user and Toronto resident V. Flindall (full identity not clear)

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 10th, 2008; Videos posted on January 14th, 2009

Channel Summary: Though not from Sault Ste. Marie from what I can tell, V. Flindall's YouTube channel consists entirely of 11 videos from a January 2009 concert at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto, which featured defunct local hardcore punk quartet Detroit! Capturing at least a half hour of their set, the included videos feature Detroit playing most of the songs from their 2008 demo "Let The Hammers Fly" (save for "Shithouse Ratt" & "KilloRama"), along with "Pyre Driver" & "Bloodlet" from their second/final disc "Brace For Impact", a couple of unreleased originals named "Inhuman Macheens" & "Earthbound", and covers of 7 Seconds & Minor Threat material. As Detroit were known for their very short original songs, four of the posted videos feature two songs each.

Why Should You Watch: I'd check this out to see one of Detroit's earliest concerts, and to enjoy their old school fast paced hardcore fury from a good viewing angle! However, these videos are not of the highest quality, with staticy audio, too warm lighting, and a visibly low resolution, with singer Brenton Ellis' vocals noticeably hard to pick out at times, so if you want higher quality videos, these might not be what you want. (If you want a higher quality alternative for live Detroit videos, try dnahahaha's YouTube channel.) Note as well before subscribing that V. Flindall hasn't used their YouTube channel in at least 3 years.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

DETROIT Lord, Beer Me Strength / Pyredriver '88 : It's hard to pick just one video of Detroit's originals from this channel, so I settled on the one with the most music, that being the third last clip from V. Flindall's uploads, which features Detroit playing their originals "Lord Beer Me Strength" & "Pyre Driver", the latter of which had yet to be released on CD. Brent, Curtis, Mark, and Mikey are in full brutality on the former song, while the latter sees their more punk influenced style, and Brent's on stage charisma & crowd banter are as good as you'd expect! If only the video quality was better overall.



DETROIT Walk Together Rock Together (7SECONDS): The most viewed video on V. Flindall's channel (and the last) is Detroit's cover of 7 Seconds' "Walk Together Rock Together", which is only slightly longer than most of their originals. The quality is similar to the other videos on this channel, but if you can get past the quality issues, the guys pump out a solid cover here, and their energy's on full display!


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sisuunicorn705's channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/sisuunicorn705)

Owner: YouTube user & likely Sault Ontario resident sisuunicorn705 (real name unknown)

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 8th, 2012; Videos posted from then through August 25th, 2012

Channel Summary: I'm not sure who sisuunicorn705 is, but kudos to her for making it to The Canadian Nightclub on August 24th, as ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach was there for karaoke night! He was in Sault Ste. Marie that weekend to shoot scenes for the new movie "Swearnet" with cast members of The Trailer Park Boys, and while in town, one of his stops was at The Canadian, where he and Mike "Bubbles" Smith celebrated his early birthday with some karaoke, and 1:55 of their rendition of AC/DC's "TNT" is in this video! This is admittedly more notable for the circumstances of it all & seeing Sebastian locally in a non-concert setting, as it is cut short, and has VERY loud & staticy audio (so make sure to turn down your volume), but it's still awesome to see this! Note however that sisuunicorn705's only other video is of her cat talking to birds, which is cute, but has no music connections.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! So, what's coming up next month in this series? We're gonna take a look at former Amethyst/Meatplow drummer Phil Temperao's YouTube channel, which features three solo videos from early last year, including songs from his most recent project Sebastien 6, so look out for this profile on or around January 22nd! Stay tuned as well for more news and notes this weekend! Thanks everyone!