9 Times Dark - "Vicissitude" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 140th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and this month, we're taking a look at new local punk solo project 9 Times Dark's debut EP "Vicissitude"! Independently released to major streaming/download platforms on August 26th, this EP was recorded last year at Relentless Audio with producer Ryan McLaughlin, who also mixed As It Stands' "The Lost Tapes" EP. 9 Times Dark are solely (I believe) represented by local musician Christopher Raginskis, though if I am missing anything re: the album's personnel, note that 9 Times Dark don't have a dedicated band page outside of album sale locations. Speaking of which, this handy CDBaby link lists most of the official services hosting "Vicissitude", but it can also be heard on Relentless Audio's YouTube channel for free, and if you want downloadable mp3 copies, Amazon has it for $5.94. With 6 songs running for about 15 minutes, let's kick off our latest CD review!

If you noticed the relatively short run-time for 6 tracks, there's a reason for that, as half of them are sub-75 second bridging tracks, two being functionally instrumental. "Vicissitude" opens with the shortest of all namely "Frequencies", which just has the sounds of Chris (I assume) getting into & starting a vehicle, and fiddling with the FM radio dial, complete with many frequencies being quickly scanned. Not much to it, but I think he did record original song fragments to play on the "stations". This song leads right into the first proper song "Funeral Home", which definitely has a horror punk vibe to it in both lyrical themes and Chris' somewhat deeper singing voice, which has a bit of a Mike Ness quality to it. This contrasts with an upbeat modern punk vibe, which is cleanly produced and they play off each other well! Strong music all around, and this is a good way to sample 9 Times Dark early!

Third on the EP is "Celebration Of Life" (I'm noticing a theme), which is another short bridging track. Here, you get sampled dialogue of an angry woman, a vocal choir, and some processed effects over top of everything, and the woman helps segue directly into the next full song, "Last Date". The longest song on offer, this makes more good use of music contrasting with the words being sung, as this is seemingly an folksier acoustic number, but Christopher's lyrics & vocals (which remind me of Paul Kuhr from Novembers Doom in this setting) are much more sinister and downbeat. Not badly handled, I can easily picture this in a live-setting as a drinking song of sorts, but based on my musical tastes, I do prefer the more upbeat & rocking opener. The penultimate song is the last short bridging track, fittingly titled "The Bridge", but this one is a real song while it lasts.

If you liked "Last Date", this feels like a continuation of it in tone, with more of the downbeat low-register singing from Chris and a moody, dark tone. Again, not much of a song (barely longer than "Frequencies", but it fits where the EP has went. "Vicissitude" closes with "The Director", which brings things to a close on a punk trajectory (and you can probably guess that this isn't a movie director.) Musically, this really reminds me of Social Distortion, with less of the horror punk side despite the lyrical subject matter. While it's well performed and produced, and definitely full of interesting details you don't often hear in other punk lyrics, the song's pacing is a little flat compared to "Funeral Home", especially in the vocal levels. Not a bad song though! Fittingly, it closes with more FM radio dial fiddling as Chris arrives at his destination, bringing the EP full circle.

So, what are my final thoughts on 9 Times Dark's first EP? While it's very short, it's an interesting first foray that shows some relatively unique inspirations for the area! I believe Christopher took a lot of the funeral home lyrics from personal experience, and that definitely gives these songs their own flavour, and it helps to hear them together to see the story being told. The EP is lean, with only 3½ songs, but they showcase a good musical range, from gritty straight-forward punk rock to slow and downbeat numbers, and given the inspirations on offer, 9 Times Dark immediately have their own sound and place in the local scene. The production was very good, perhaps too clean given the music and lyrics on offer, and Chris is a solid musician, but I do want to hear more from 9 Times Dark in more ways than one, from this being a short EP, to the possibility of expanding beyond a solo studio project.

If you like Social Distortion-style punk bands, and/or some uniquely dark imagery in your punk rock, give "Vicissitude" a listen at the above links, and hopefully we hear more from Christopher and/or this project in 2021! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what are we reviewing in March? I have an idea of what I'm looking at, and while it will likely be another new album, I'm not going to immediately state the name yet, as the album in question hasn't been publically announced by the act in question at press time. Stay tuned for updates, and for a weekend concert preview post on the site tomorrow, now that some shows are back! Thanks everyone!

A New Music Video, Updates From A New Studio, And Much More!!

(Updated at 8:53 PM) I have a new news post for you guys to check out on this Saturday morning, including some big updates from a fast rising local recording studio, a slideshow from a familiar band, and leading off, a new music video from a long awaited local album. Here's what you should know! (This post originally plugged an advertised Sunday matinee from Tym Morrison tomorrow at Reggie's Place, but that concert was postponed earlier today. Stay tuned for news on the rescheduling!)

Here's the newest single and music video from local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's still-forthcoming new album! Abruptly teased on their Facebook page on Monday in their first post there in almost 9 months, the video premiered on label Tidal Records' YouTube channel the next day, and it's for their new song "No Control". Uniquely, the video is entirely seen on an old school CRT TV, complete with visual quality mimicking how it may have looked on that equipment. The video proper is a slightly slow motion clip of the entire band walking outside in the woods, and it fits the song well enough, though the audio doesn't seem to be synched 100% with the video (Dustin's singing is an easy way to tell.) I'll hold comments on the song proper for now, pending our presumed review of their new CD, but give the video a watch below!

Next up, here's some topics related to a new-ish local recording studio that recently launched, namely Relentless Audio! You may have seen discussion about this studio on social media in recent months, but this studio has actually existed since April 2018, so what should you know about them? Relentless Audio is headed by veteran local punk musician Ryan McLaughlin, who you may recognize from the emo-era As It Stands and Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking, among other projects. Ryan has recorded a number of audio demos through there, though visibly more to showcase his production, and much of his pre-2020 work was with acts not from the Soo, but he definitely has talent in mixing and producing regardless of artist locale! Ryan was writing under the band name Great West Falls last year, complete with guest vocals from the Nevada-based David Valles, but only their single "Better Than This" is still up (the other went down with their old Soundcloud page.)

If Great West Falls are still active and launch a social media/band page, they would easily fit our coverage, solid upbeat hard rock sound there! After months of sporadic updates, Relentless Audio resurfaced in July to announce that they were working on material with local musician Christopher Raginskis, later revealed to be under the project name 9 Times Dark, and their debut EP, entitled "Vicissitude", came out on August 26th! This completely flew under the radar (9 Times Dark's only online presence is via postings of the album), but click here for relevant links to every major online service hosting the EP. Musically speaking, 9 Times Dark are a punk act with a bit of a dark edge, and if they had a proper band page, I'd absolutely add them to our band links too! As such, this album is absolutely in the cards for an early 2021 review on the SMS, and it's great to see Chris finally get a band going after all these years! Give the opening song a listen below!

There is one more big local album project that Ryan is working on with some old friends of his, but we'll keep that for an upcoming post. In any event, Relentless Audio are now linked on the SMS, and hopefully Ryan keeps up the great work! We'll close today with a new slideshow video all about local punk trio Redundant! Drummer Rick White posted this to his YouTube channel on Wednesday, and it features photos of him, Justin, and Andrew on stage and having fun on & off stage, including some familiar local and out-of-town faces along the way, as set to "All By Myself" from their 2018 debut EP. Despite playing on the studio recording, former bassist James White is only sparingly featured here. Fun trip down memory lane even still, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (415E & The Pixo Control) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

For today's post at the SMS, we're focusing on this weekend's metal & hard rock concert previews in a solid weekend on both sides of the border, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this weekend and some more new dates for later in the year, so read on below for what you need to know for your hard rock show plans! (Updated at 11:34 PM)

Local alternative/hard rock trio The Pixo Control will return to the stage THIS SUNDAY at an unfamiliar venue, as they'll be rocking out at The Hard Times Bar & Grill! Apologies for the short notice, the show was just announced on Tuesday. Located at 652 Wallace Terrace (near Goulais Avenue and down the road from Tenaris Algoma Tubes), this isn't a concert venue that we're familiar with, but it's been open since at least 2008, and has hosted live bands sporadically. It remains to be seen if Sunday's show will be the start of anything bigger, but it does coincide with Hard Times' Customer Appreciation Day with related meal deals, so keep that in mind! This will be The Pixo Control's first live set since their Passport To Unity involvement, and their grungy originals should find a solid audience on Sunday night! Opening for them will be Great Chamberlain frontman Chris West in a solo set, and he should be right at home with his indie/alternative material, especially with bandmate Michael Mikus on hand fronting The Pixo Control, so don't miss his set either for some entertaining lighter music!

This show has a special afternoon start time of 1:00 PM, it is ALL AGES (probably thanks to the timeslot), and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an interesting show, partially thanks to the new-to-us venue, but there's some talented young musicians all around to take in on Sunday afternoon, so keep it in mind! For a preview, here's The Pixo Control live at Superior Heights Collegiate earlier this year!



Also in new dates, we'll head across the river to the Sault Michigan and St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branches, where a band playing at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT have some additional gigs this year at the casinos to report! The band in question is local metal standouts 415E, who will follow this weekend's shows with brand new St. Ignace dates on August 1st & 2nd and on November 7th & 8th, which sandwich new Rapids Lounge gigs at the Sault Kewadin on October 17th & 18th! Before them however, they've also had their June gigs at The Rapids Lounge bumped from June 13th & 14th to next weekend for unannounced reasons (replacing previously announced Peril gigs on the 6th & 7th, and with classic rockers Crossroads now taking the June 13th weekend.) My source for the new and altered gigs is Kewadin's entertainment page. First things first though, as 415E will be at the St. Ignace Kewadin this weekend, so don't miss Chris and Dave (and company?) tomorrow and/or Saturday!

This weekend's shows (and the other new/moved dates) all have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no announced cover charges, so check the above links for more details! It's nice to see 415E staying busy with some new dates, but it'd be nice to get some more confirmation about their recent lineups, album, and perhaps gigs outside of the Kewadin umbrella. Don't miss the original and cover action this weekend though, and here's the guys covering The Stone Temple Pilots!

Staying in the E.U.P., we'll head to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where we'll see Charlevoix metal trio Peril rocking out TOMORROW NIGHT! Remember, this is a one night only gig, as Peril's originally announced Saturday show has been moved to Boyne City for unannounced reasons. Tomorrow's show completes a two weekend stay at the regional Kewadin branches, as the originally announced June 6th & 7th shows are off and now belong to 415E, so if you don't want to wait until July to see Jeff, Brooks, and Adam live in the area, be at The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night! Their classic metal covers will be on hand tomorrow at 9:00 PM, there is no cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! Easily a favourite for out of town heavy music in the Eastern U.P., Peril should deliver another solid night of music tomorrow, so don't miss them (or Jeff's Kiss tribute Kiss'd in St. Ignace in July), and here's Peril live in 2010!



Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is expected to enter the 26th straight week of his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill with a solo acoustic gig SATURDAY NIGHT! Remember, due to the immense length of announced bookings on his website, we cover his Harp shows a month at a time, so we'll address his likely June gigs when confirmed on Facebook. Unfortunately for fans however, Tym will only be playing once this weekend for a third straight week due to a previously booked Friday night show by Tiller, a new local acoustic trio featuring former Huckster guitarist Sean Halliday, as per The Harp's Facebook page earlier today. No word yet on if Tym's weekly run has been redacted back to once a week or not, but his unplugged hard rock covers should be in full swing on Saturday regardless! Admission is likely free, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live at Mill Square last summer!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, and much more as we enter June! Thanks everyone!

Kiss Battle Of The Bands Times And Details

More details have came in for the Kiss Battle of the Bands! Here's what you guys need to know, this will be updated throughout the day as I learn more! Looks like another band dropped out, as yet another band has confirmed involvement! On a Facebook status post, Sykotyk Rampage singer/guitarist Dirk Becker announced that they're in the battle, and were looking for input on what songs to perform! This leaves another opening for a band's removal, but I'm not reasonably sure to make a guess, so I'm gonna wait and see. For the record, the 20 bands I assumed were in the lineup are in the last post, so one of them is out. Remember, I'm NOT connected with the organization of the Battle in ANY WAY! Well, it's great to see Sykotyk Rampage confirmed for the Battle, they're one of the most unique bands in the Sault, it'll be interesting to see how far they go! Thanks to the Frigault family, Mikey Hawdon, Tony Marcello, and Glen Thomas for this additional info: The battles will have a daily cover charge of $4, and each night of the battle will start at 9:00 PM! Sadly, it is NOT all ages. Crank Sound Distribution are handling the sound for the entire battle, ensuring that everything will sound awesome! Also, the individual band order will be decided by a random drawing on each night of the battle! You won't know when you're playing until they draw your band's name! Each band gets about 5 minutes setup time too, guitarists must provide their own amps. With that in mind, here's the bands I know to have confirmed their day for their performance! This is in no order except for when I first heard the news. And remember, this can always be subject to change, I'm just calling it as I see it: (NO LONGER UPDATING BANDS ON THIS POST, CHECK THE NEWEST SMS POST FOR UPDATED INFO!) MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH: 1. Garden of Bedlam (Source: Announcement on event page, link here) 2. Nebraska Arms (Source: Announcement on event page, link here) 3. Flat Stanley (Source: Drummer Glen Thomas told me on MSN) 4. Sykotyk Rampage (Source: Facebook group e-mail from the band) 5. Dirty Virgin (Source: Band announcement on event page, link here) 6. Huckster (Source: Band announcement on event page, link here) 7. Blues Harvest (Source: Keith Conway on their event page, link here) 8. Stiffler's Mom (Source: Greg Simpson on a SooNet forums thread) 9. 10. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1ST: 1. Stillbroke (Source: Band announcement on event page, link here) 2. Lion Ride (Source: Band announcement on event page, link here) 3. Sense of Truth (Source: Drummer Kev Riain on our Facebook page) 4. Bring The Fallen (Source: Wall posting on their Facebook page) 5. Gsis Murphy (Source: Wall posting on their Facebook group) 6. The Billy Bastards (Source: Announcement on event page, link here) 7. Wishbone (Source: E-mail sent to attendees on their event page) 8. Nixxon Dixxon (Source: E-mail from guitarist's mother Cami Hubbard) 9. UNKNOWN DAY: (Sources come from Tym Morrison, Rick White, and a list provided by Jay Perron from The Canadian) Caveman Morrison (21st to sign up, entry depends on a dropped band) The Fury (No official word, but they are confirmed entrants) Middle of Nowhere (No official word, but they are confirmed entrants) (Note: MBM have dropped off due to inavailability of their drummer, source is from a reply on their Facebook page's wall. Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide are likely off too due to conflicting tour dates in Southern Ontario, but if you hear different on them, let me know!) E-mail me at robfigures@hotmail.com or message Rob Figüres on Facebook if you have ANY info on the battle! If something's wrong, changed, missing, or mistyped, LET ME KNOW! I'm doing my best to keep everyone informed in the absence of official statements, so I need all the help I can get! Thanks everyone!