A New Album, Mike Haggith Updates, And New Videos!!

We have a new news post on this Sunday morning, which includes some new videos, big updates on a prominent local musician, and leading off, a new album release from a very prolific local group, so here's what you should know!

Local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage have released yet another new studio album onto their Bandcamp page, and it's their third in a five month span, and 68th total! Officially dated with a February 1st release date despite being posted on Bandcamp last week, this has the unwieldy title "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of The Stoned Ape: Hal​​​-​​​lu​​​-​​​ci​​​-​​​no​​​-​​​gen​​​-​​​ic​​​-​​​Mus​​​-​​​i​​​-​​​cal​​​-​​​Brain​​​-​​​Scans​​​-​​​3", and it is the belated sequel album to their prior two "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of..." albums that were released in 2011, harbouring the same scheme of songs generally having one word names. However, "Genius Mushrooms 3" has a whopping 27 songs, including one for each letter of the alphabet in order, and it would have to be a double album if released physically. Sykotyk Rampage also jokingly claim that this album is not associated with the prior two albums in this series, or the "bands" that recorded them.

Allegedly, "they stole our idea", and this album was just in the works for 12 years and not rushed out in 2011. Now you know!? Given the double length, "Genius Mushrooms 3" is on sale for $15, but you can of course stream the whole thing for free on Bandcamp as well. Will this be reviewed on the SMS? Not short term, as I'd rather review these albums in order and I haven't yet looked at the first two, but a review of either of their September 2022 albums ("Scott's Pub & Crash Music" or "Love Muffin") will hit the site no later than next month. Still, be sure to give this and dozens more of Sykotyk Rampage's unique brand of bluesy alternative and psychedelic rock a listen at the above links, it's quite an experience!

Next up, here's the latest from local alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith, who has finally spilled the beans about his recent plans, especially in regards to his homebase after previously teasing a move out of Thompson, Manitoba last fall. This will be no surprise to anyone who knows Mike personally, but on his Facebook page yesterday, he revealed that he has moved to Barrie, Ontario for work reasons and career advancement opportunities, but Mike does plan to become active in the music scene in Barrie, including solo concerts and possibly "calling the boys" for full band sets. He didn't 100% confirm if he meant his local band from Rotaryfest last year, but note that Mike is much closer now (Barrie is 6 hours east of the Soo), and keep in mind that his hometown of Windsor is a 4 hour drive from Barrie. Also, don't forget that his old Haggith bandmate Daniel Horton already moved down there with Spades GT.

Regarding his upcoming album "All The Best In All You Do", Mike confirmed that "good progress is being made in the studio", and he's hoping for it to come out in mid-2023, perhaps with a release concert. He also plans to resume monthly live-streams and album review videos in the spring now that he has a dedicated area to host his video recording setup. Mike had a very productive run with his best received solo output yet during his five years in Thompson, but hopefully Barrie proves to be just as fruitful artistically and personally, and we'll definitely keep you posted when more comes out on his next musical plans!

Also today, here's some brief clips of local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's new lineup playing at the Walter Froebrich memorial concert at The Rockpile in Toronto last night! Uploaded by YouTube user Belgian Jasper, this is a compilation video of six bands from the event, plus interviews with attendees/performers about Walter and what it means to pay tribute to "the metal mayor of Toronto". Spades GT turn up 1:19 into the 5:49 video, and are seen/heard for about 25 seconds, though remarks from members of Anger By Design are overlaid during it. Not a long look at the expanded Spades GT yet, but they sound good for what little we see, so check it out below, and R.I.P. Walter!

Finally, here's a new video from local progressive metal band PROV3RB5's Facebook page yesterday, which sees guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing a 72 second chunk of their song "Sea of Tranquility". Thankfully, the live instrumentation is enough for this video to avoid being content matched to itself by Facebook algorithms, so it can be embedded here, and Ben has a strong, technically sound handle on things as you'd expect! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from PROV3RB5 in 2023!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!