Sykotyk Rampage Concert Preview, Woods Of Ypres Updates, And More!

Good afternoon metalheads! Hope you guys enjoyed my review of "Brace For Impact" by Detroit yesterday! If you haven't read it, it's the post immediately below this one! Next review is in just under 4 weeks when I finally take a look at the newest album from Sykotyk Rampage, who return to the live scene tomorrow for this concert we're going to preview! Stay tuned afterwards for more assorted news stories!

Tomorrow night, Sault College, in association with this year's Scotties Tournament Of Hearts, are holding a Battle of the Bands as part of the festivities for the tournament! As you may remember, private auditions were held on January 21st at The Outback at Sault College, where local bands with at least one Sault College student competed to fill one of four spots for this battle, the first local one since the Kiss battle in December! Each band will play a half hour of music, and when all is said and done, the first place band will leave $750 richer! Second place wins $500 and third gets $150. As I hinted above, Sykotyk Rampage are one of the four bands competing tomorrow night, in their first live performance of more than two songs since October at The Outback! Bringing their unique brand of hard rock to the masses once again, Sykotyk Rampage are the only metal act on the lineup tomorrow night, though there's no shortage of talent! The other bands are, in alphabetical order: local classic rockers Blackwater, local rock band Middle of Nowhere, and indie rockers Nebraska Arms! Though not metal, all three bands have large fanbases and should put in great performances tomorrow night!

Admission is FREE to all area post-secondary students, so bring your Sault College, Algoma, or LSSU IDs tomorrow night! Guests are welcome if accompanied by a student. I don't know if there's an admission price for non-students without guests, they haven't said if there is or if it's restricted. Doors open at 8:00 PM, the battle commences at around 10:00 PM! The battle will be held at The Heartstop Lounge, which is the bar/lounge area in The Soo Curlers Association Curling Rink on Anita Boulevard (on Northern Avenue past Alexander Henry Collegiate.) It is 19+, so make sure to be of age! It's great to see another battle to give local bands a chance to show their stuff, even if only four bands are competing. One might look to the Kiss Battle results to predict a winner, as Nebraska Arms were finalists, while Sykotyk Rampage and Middle of Nowhere were not, but this is a whole new ball game! Don't count Blackwater out either!

And of course, being a metalhead, it's great to see Sykotyk Rampage back on the scene! Will we hear songs from "22"? Who knows, but it will be another fun set from these guys! I'll be there, best of luck to them and all the bands! To preview what to expect, head to their Soundclick page to hear hundreds of songs from their back catalog! And here's a video for one of their signature songs, "Drinking On The Weekend"!



While we're on the subject of videos, here's two that will interest Woods of Ypres fans on a more lighthearted level! Both come courtesy of frontman David Gold's YouTube channel. Firstly, he uploaded a video where he shows where he's storing the ideas for the band's next album, "Woods V"! I won't spoil anything, just watch it. Is this how all bands come up with song ideas?



Keeping with the kinda offbeat tone, here's the other video! Have you ever thought to yourself "I wish washing my car was more metal?" Here's how to make it metal: Put Woods of Ypres decals on your car and blast "The Northern Cold" while you run it through an automatic car wash! And boom, even the car wash becomes a headbangable exercise! Check it out!



Next up, some local music forum related updates. If you're a casual viewer of The705Scene forums, and you noticed that the forum selections aren't popping up, you're not alone. Looks like admins are disabling casual views of the forum at present, so if you want to read without posting, you're gonna need an account. Luckily I have one, so it won't impact any news from The705Scene still making it to the SMS as I hear it! Just figured those of you without accounts might want to know. The other updates come from the new forum for local metallers Caveman Morrison! Lots of activity and new topics there, among the more noteworthy ones: Caveman Morrison are available for special gatherings and parties, they've been trying to get bookings in St. Joseph Island, and they are learning songs from bands like Slayer, Living Colour, and Kiss! Check everything out, and join the discussions, at this location!

Two more quick topics to get to today. Remember when I mentioned that Nixxon Dixxon's weekend dates at the end of the month at Kewadin Casino conflicted with concerts already scheduled featuring Peril? Well, something did indeed give, as Peril moved that weekend's shows to Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace. But if you were hoping to see Peril that weekend, don't worry, they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge on the March 12th weekend! And finally, a new DJ for Energy Rock Radio has been announced, and it's none other than "Castle Farms" author Duane Roy! I guess his radio exposure on Rock 101 has led to some great positive heights! Congratulations Duane! And yes, I will review "Castle Farms" on the SMS, school and general SMS activity have been consuming a lot of my free time. Soon though!

That's all for now, next post could be this month's preview of two more out of town bands with local members! Or it could have my review of tomorrow night's Sykotyk Rampage show! OR, it could be another news/preview post. Or a combo? We'll see how things shape up, but you guys will get one of the three next! So keep on the lookout!