Haggith/Jack Bryant Benefit Preview, Zombie Walk Clarification, And Much More!!

Now full swing into October, I fully expect this month to ride our busy September into even busier and news-packed weeks ahead, and this post should help! Today, we have some new songs from a local solo grind project, new album uploads, clarification of an upcoming concert event, and leading things off, a preview for a very special event going on tomorrow before we preview the Friday-Saturday concerts. Read on below for all the details, and for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post from this morning, check the post below this one!

As you may remember, local grunge/alternative hard rockers Haggith will return to The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT for a special benefit event along with a diverse lineup of bands in honour of the late Jack Bryant. They'll join debuting local rock quartet Nikkfitt (featuring Fitswitch & W.F.O. alumni), classic rock cover trio The Seven Year Itch (a.k.a. Griphook minus Brian Oja), and local country band Thin Ice in an acoustic set on the lineup, so there's a little something for everyone! Plus, both Nikkfitt singer Nikki Bryant and Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie's girlfriend April Bryant are relatives of Jack's, so it's great to see everyone coming together to raise money for his final expenses tomorrow night! I will note that, from what I've read, The Seven Year Itch are definitely more classic rock based than their heavier counterparts Griphook, but they get less online promotion too (I don't think they have any pages yet), so keep that in mind if you're attending. The benefit will have a dinner and raffle prizes to help fundraise, and tickets are $20 through event hosts at the Facebook event page (and likely at the door), so check the above links for more details!

This should be a great event to help out the Bryant family with the funeral expenses, and all 4 bands deserve props for helping out! Nikkfitt's debut intrigues me, and Haggith of course should deliver some heavier hits as well at the site of their battle of the bands 2nd place run, so if you want to show your support to Jack's family, be at The Rockstar Bar tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Haggith at The Rockstar Bar this spring!



Next up, here's some clarification on the music schedule for this year's Soo Zombie Walk on October 26th, and thanks to Sykotyk Rampage guitarist Dirk Becker (who has a greater organizing role this year) for the information! In short, the previously announced sets from Sykotyk Rampage and Haggith will NOT be part of the afterparty, they will instead be during the day before the walk actually begins. Sykotyk Rampage will play at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre that day at 4:30 PM, with Haggith at 3:30 PM, and solo sets from former Terminal bassist Greg Callaghan & ex-Blackwater bassist James Watterworth at 2:45 & 2:00 PM respectively. The bands will be a part of greater & longer pre-walk activities including games, vendors, and more, which you can get more word on at the Facebook event page, though the bands aren't detailed there publically yet. There will still be an afterparty, which will be held at Coch's Corner that night after the walk, returning to this location for the first time since the former Foggy Notions hosted it in 2010. Details on their schedule are forthcoming, but note that since Coch's Corner moved to Queen Street East last year, the venue's live music has generally trended towards acoustic artists.

I do apologize for any confusion regarding our initial reports of the Zombie Walk entertainment, but given how each of the past 3 years only featured live bands for the afterparty, and that fuller information wasn't available at the time, the assumption did seem to make sense. The expanded pre-walk activities do seem like a bonus to help make this more of an all day event, but I hope that there is still a pull for big entertainment at Coch's Corner for the afterparty, so stay tuned in case we hear anything, and don't miss the Zombie Walk or the bands before it on the 26th!

Speaking of Sykotyk Rampage, five more of their eight announced 2013 albums are now up for free streaming on their Reverbnation page! "Environ-Mental Suits", "Wonder About Baby", "Revenge of Professor Perv & The Crimson Nipple", "Eye For An Eye", and "The Electric Mirror" are now online, joining the previously uploaded "Beat Your Ox With A Bag Of Kittens" & "Yamaraja" from last month, with only one album ("The Adventures of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy") still remaining as of this writing, and I do enjoy the cover artwork on all 5, either on an artistic or humorous basis! Note that "The Electric Mirror" is a new title confirmation (earlier covers didn't feature it), while the "Revenge of..." album is referred to as "Revenge of Prof. OCD" in all uses on Reverbnation aside from the official artwork. The vast majority of the songs are not ones I'm familiar with from live concerts (though some titles are familiar), and note that three of the five albums have linked song names that could point to a running theme or concept.

Now, like their 2012 albums and the second "Genius Mushrooms" album from 2011, none of these are available for sale as a full paid download, but stream the new albums (their first batch with Tony Briglio on bass) above, as I plan to do soon, and stay tuned for the last of the eight 2013 albums soon!

Finally for today, here's a pair of new songs from local medical goregrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm! Entitled "Neuroepithelioma" & (as embedded below) "Carcinosarcoma", these cancer/tumour-named songs from their split demo with Brutaly Fatal & Rotopsy were uploaded to their label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel in the last few days. Ringsnaps continues to deliver a divisive but unapologetic grindcore blend on these tracks, with guttural pig squeal vocals, and more programming than his other work. Interesting short songs here, but still feeling like they could use more instruments. Check out "Carcinosarcoma" below, and stay tuned for more from his bands!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!