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!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Scott98633225 & RedD Monkey's Channels

While I take in the Elements/Late Shift concert, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we continue our monthly looks at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels featuring at least a 50% count of local metal, hard rock, or punk-relevant videos! For a third straight month, we're looking at two channels due to one selected channel not having enough content for three distinct videos, but both feature some punk EPs worth checking out, so here's what you should know!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott98633225's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/scott98633225)

Owner: Likely Scott Cudney, former drummer of the Sault Ontario punk band The Big Kahunas (credited only as BK)

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 15th, 2011; Only video uploaded on June 14th, 2013

Channel Summary: Scott's only upload on his channel is of defunct local punk band The Big Kahunas's EP "Only Thoughts", which was released in 1994. Details are extremely minimal online for The Big Kahunas, and their lineup is credited only by first names, but Destroilet's Christian Foisy told me that their members were Jenson Van Buskirk on vocals, The Bombed Squad's Pat Suriano on guitar, Steve Gagliardi on bass, and Scott Cudney on drums. If you can fill in any blanks, please let us know! "Only Thoughts" features 7 songs (none are titled on this video, though the last song is a cover of Blondie's "Heart of Glass"), and they indicate that they had a skate punk sound with good intensity, a nice sense of humour, quality guitar solos, and decent production for the era! It's definitely worth checking out for fans of local 1990s punk, and hopefully more comes out on The Big Kahunas! Thanks again to Christian for the extra info!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RedD Monkey (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtCHTAma0urIe8BoTwfWLRA/) 

Owner: A member of inactive local/Toronto/Kelowna hardcore punk/classical trio RedD Monkey, identity unclear, though the channel is credited to the band as a whole

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 8th, 2012; Videos uploaded on June 3rd & 4th, 2013

Channel Summary: The band's second official YouTube channel (following this channel full of 2011 live concert footage), the included videos comprise the vast majority of RedD Monkey's released original material, including their entire 2010 debut EP "Thought Control Tower" and all but one song on their 2012 album "All Baroque", though neither are uploaded in their listed order on CD or digital copies.

Why You Should Watch: You should give this channel a look as it's the most complete YouTube source for RedD Monkey's released discography, and it showcases their fact paced cello punk at good measure! Note however that the channel doesn't feature live videos, material from their unreleased "Opus 2" album, or "Dr. Fatty" from "All Baroque (though you can stream the latter on their Bandcamp page), while this channel hasn't been visibly used since these songs were uploaded.

Our Recommended Videos to Check Out:

RedD Monkey - The Clock's Dement: The last uploads on this channel were all 7 songs from RedD Monkey's June 2010 debut EP "Thought Control Tower", including "The Clock's Dement", "Friar's Ire", "Lethargic Rampage", "Fight Skateboard With Fire!", "No Teeth & A Lazy Eye", "The Attic", and the hidden bonus track "Fo' Dozen Cookies". Their only CD with former Gates of Winter drummer Kevin Overton, "Thought Control Tower" fleshed out their familiar blend of Pete Mozarowski's classical cello work with brother Steve's aggressive punk edge, and though this EP isn't as heavy as their second album, it contains some of RedD Monkey's most familiar originals!



Wild International: The rest of this RedD Monkey channel features 13 of the 14 songs from their second (and final?) CD "All Baroque" from June 2012, also their first with Joe Bumbacco on drums, and it includes the songs "1st World Problem", "Zombie Epoch", "Monkey's Paw (5th Wish of the Swamp Donkey)", "Turbosledt 2027", "Nudie", "Bog", "Poe", "Rats", "Lotus Song", "Screaming Couch", "ODIN!", "NCO Song", and (their most viewed video) a cover of One Day As A Lion's "Wild International". Notably featuring some edits from physical copies (including slightly edited titles, the last 3 songs being broken up from the original "That 13 Min. Song", and the absence of song #8, "Dr. Fatty"), this is still a quality album for RedD Monkey fans that takes them into faster territory without sacrificing their punk, rap, and classical styles!


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! So, what's coming in this series next month? Through completely random selection, we'll be looking at three channels for the first time this year due to the first channel we chose only having one distinct local video type, and the second only only having one video total, so we're at our maximum for March. With that said, we'll be looking at the YouTube channels of MrFortierg (with Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide concert videos), SueInside1 (featuring the defunct local band's last music video), and kennybekendam (featuring T Treble Charger concert videos), so look for all of them on or around March 22nd, and for our Elements/Late Shift concert review later today! Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage's Newest & Next Albums, Plus New Solo Audio Uploads!

Today's new news post is split in two directions: Half new material from a prolific local band, and half new songs from a pair of local guitarists, but the prevailing theme of new original tracks flows through this post, so check it all out below, starting with a newly released local hard rock album!

If you're a fan of the original crash band, you'll like this, as Sykotyk Rampage have officially confirmed their slate of 2012 albums, but before that, they've finally released their last album from last year! As you may remember, they announced 6 new studio albums last year, with 5 being either uploaded or put on sale in August & September, but "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts of Stupidity" remained unreleased. Well, the band finally uploaded the album to their Reverbnation page yesterday, and now you can stream it for free! Note that it's not posted on their Reverbnation store yet, but neither is it's predecessor "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts of Intellect", so either they're being uploaded simultaneously on purpose or they're meant to be free. "GMWTOS" is considered by the band as their 25th album despite the late upload, and it has the same lineup and recording information as the rest, so nothing's too different. The track listing is actually two songs longer than band pages originally suggested, with songs named "Silence" and "Nobody added to the end, both of which were cut from the first "Genius Mushrooms" album last year. Probably most familiar on the track listing is the song "Acreage", which has been a recent live setlist addition, but longtime fans of Sykotyk Rampage will be right at home with this material!

Also, if you're curious about who sings what, drummer Paul Becker handles lead vocals on all but three songs, two of which his brother Dirk sings lead on, and one being an instrumental. So will I review "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts of Stupidity" on the site? I hope so, but probably not for a while, as a whole pile of new albums we're mentioning in a second will take precedence soon, and I wanna review the two "Genius Mushrooms" albums in order anyway. I will say that "...Stupidity" is heavier than "...Intellect", but whether that makes it better is up to you guys to decide. Stream it today at the above links for some solid new crash music, and if it goes on sale, I'll let you guys know!

With that all said, Sykotyk Rampage have officially announced six more new albums coming out this summer, making this the second straight year that they're releasing a half dozen albums! Just to compare, they only put three out in 2009 & 2010, so the guys are definitely making up for lost ground. In intended chronological order, the albums are entitled "Jonathon, Your Music Sucks!" (pictured), "Sykotyk Ramp-age", "Anal Disruptions", "Smells Real Good On A Bad Night", "The Cross", and "Will Do Anything, Seriously?", which will put their discography to 35 albums when released! All of the albums have had their artwork posted on their Facebook page, so click here to check them all out. Varying quality for the cover art, but that's par for the course from recent years. All have 11-12 planned songs, though track listings for them haven't been announced yet to my knowledge, so I don't know if there's any prevailing themes or concepts at the moment, though the previously posted "Roll A Doobie" sounds likely for one of the six. Release dates are apparently scheduled for July & August for these 6 albums, but note that many of their recent albums have been noticeably delayed from their actual release/posting dates, so note that the given dates aren't necessarily concrete.

I'm definitely looking forward to these next 58 or so Sykotyk Rampage songs, and fans of their unique take on alternative hard rock and blues should as well! It's hard to judge the albums based on artwork and album titles, but some definitely sound more irreverent than others, and I wonder if the anti-religious message on the artwork for "The Cross" will mean anything more? I definitely plan on reviewing one of these new albums in August if any are out by then, and like with last year's releases, precedence will go to the heaviest album, not the first, because keeping a chronologic order for such a prolific band is tough without falling behind. As updates roll in for Sykotyk Rampage's next new albums, stay tuned for more news on this unique local quartet's next moves!

We'll close this post with some recent new audio uploads with a pair of local guitarists, starting with local solo guitarist Mike Cliffe's new original song "Bowl of Grain"! Uploaded to his YouTube channel late last month, Mike says that this originally started as a blues number, and it still retains some of that vibe, though with some extra sections that add a creepy or ominous vibe, before ending as a hard rocker with atmospheric backing sounds. It's one of his better recent originals in my opinion, and the visuals really fit the song well too, so give his solid new song "Bowl of Grain" a listen below!



And finally, local solo guitarist Neno Jovanovic has uploaded a new original sample track in-progress onto his YouTube channel! Also posted late last month, it's a 1:50 hard rocker that has a catchy riff, and it shows Neno's talentes well, especially given that it's his first publically posted original composition on YouTube in over six months! I like where this is heading, so give Neno's new sample a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage's Newest Albums, Hempfest & "Woods V" News, And Much More!!

Back to news today, and we've got plenty, including some more new albums, "Woods V" updates, the first details on next year's Hempfest, this week's classic video, and the identity of our next CD review! Also, take note of this week's custom banner, as we hype the Whitesnake concert at Kewadin Casino on Friday! That'll be a big show, so make sure to get your tickets if you can! Now, to the news, so here's what you need to know!

Two more of Sykotyk Rampage's new albums are online for streaming on their Reverbnation page, so get your environ-mental suits ready! The local crash band uploaded their 27th album "Karrs" on Sunday, with their 24th "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Intellect" uploaded over the last two days, finally finishing last night. Only that album's direct successor, "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Stupidity" remains to be posted, though keep an eye out for it! Neither the newest albums nor the last three are on their store yet, but I expect that they'll be there to purchase soon as well. What can we expect from the newest albums? "Genius Mushrooms" is definitely more experimental than some of the other new releases, but it's definitely not the heaviest album they've ever put out. There were also a couple of changes with the track listing, as a song named "Action" replaced "Parked", and the closing track "Nobody" was omitted in lieu of two new songs, "Iditerod" and "Shiver". No reason was given for the changes, but seeing as we got an extra song out of it, it all works out! As for "Karrs", it's similar in sound to "Bucket Of Ham" with it's varying styles, ranging from heavier crash numbers to softer and slower tracks, but all of it is very sykotyk!

I won't divulge too much on them though, as I hope to review them down the road, but fans of blue Chinese metal crash punk will be right at home with both of the newest albums! Check the above links to listen to both of them, and stay tuned for more updates! While we're on the subject of Sykotyk Rampage, I would like to formally announce that we will review one of their new albums this weekend on The Sault Metal Scene for this month's CD review! But with 6 new albums (one yet to be released), which one will we review? Well, after listening to the 5 released albums (the second "Genius Mushrooms" album aside, I want to do those in order), I've chosen "Zombies", the 29th and "newest" of the 2011 Sykotyk Rampage albums for the next review! Why'd I pick "Zombies"? Basically, because it's the heaviest of the new albums, though does that correspond to the best? Time will tell, but stay tuned for my review of "Zombies" at the end of the month! And yes, harsh music lovers, I do plan to review the other new Sykotyk Rampage albums released this month, just not immediately, as I space out multiple album reviews by the same band to avoid biases. That said, look out for a new Sykotyk Rampage review of some kind early next year!

Next up, Hempfest is indeed coming back next year! Looks like organizers are getting an early start on preparations for the 14th annual marijuana culture festival to ensure that all the kinks are worked out, especially given the mixed reception I heard fans had for it's return. What should we know almost a year out from the next Hempfest? Well, it will take place in Ophir once again from August 6th to 13th of next year, adding an extra Monday to the schedule for 8 days of Hempfest (presumably camping for the first 4 days and entertainment for the rest again.) I'm a bit surprised it's not later in the month like usual though, but it should all work out! Admission is $100 at the gate or $75 in advance for the full week, with drops if you come later (-$15 or -$10 a day respectively.) Single day passes will be $20 (there's no package deals past Friday), and though tickets aren't available yet, there are purchasing links at the official Facebook event page. This year, there will be vendor fees, so visit that link for details on that front too, but I don't know of medical marijuana exemptees will get free admission again. As for the lineup, no one is confirmed yet, but I've heard preliminary hopes from a few bands that they'll be back next year. Hopefully Robert Neron and the Hempfest organizers have an easier time managing Hempfest next year, as it deserves to succeed and last locally! As details come out for the 2012 Hempfest, I'll have them here!

Now, here's some news from Woods of Ypres as the recording sessions for "Woods V" continue at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario! Producer Siegfried Meier has been keeping fans updated on the sessions via his Twitter and Yfrog pages, mostly via some cool studio photos of David Gold and Joel Violette working on their tracks, but Siegfried did leak a possible song title for Woods V: "Death Is Not An Exit", which David seemed to confirm on his own Twitter page on Thursday with what could be that song's chorus lyrics. If true, it sounds like a good song title! Despite plans to not return to Twitter until September, Joel Violette did some tweeting to say that "Woods V" is "sounding huuuuge" and update fans on the weather situation in Goderich last weekend, which saw hailstorms and a tornado, though from what I can gather, nothing related to the "Woods V" recording sessions was damaged. As for David Gold's Twitter page, he is finally mentioning the sessions, including saying that at least one song has been completed and that there was tracking delays due to the storms. Good to hear everyone's safe, and I can't wait to hear more from the recording, so stay tuned for more "Woods V" updates as they come in!

And finally for today, here's this week's classic video! For a third time, we have an old video of Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Monkey's Uncle from the Jager days to share on the SMS, so here's what you should know! Like my previous classic video upload of their cover of "Hair Of The Dog", this comes from likely the same St. Ignace concert in February 2008 at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino. This time, it's of what was then Jager covering Nickelback's "Figured You Out", but how does it sound? Missed start on the video aside, they do mostly a good job, although Henry Switzer's vocal range doesn't pull off the chorus as well, and the guitar sounds a bit off. Bit dark too, but that's the fault of the lighting inside, as the video quality is pretty good. Filmed by a concert attendee and uploaded onto the band's MySpace page on February 16th, 2008, you can watch the original video at http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/28444179. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! All credit for this video goes to Monkey's Uncle and the original filmer, I'm just spreading this video to a wider audience like it deserves! So with that said, check out this week;s classic video of Monkey's Uncle covering "Figured You Out" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news, weekend concert previews (including Whitesnake), our next Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Infathom, our "Zombies" review, and more this week! Thanks everyone!