YouTube Channel Profile Series: A Dire Setback - Topic & Hollow Sky - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we again look at YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists/concerts! As usual, we randomly select channels profiled in this series, but as our first pick just had one album uploaded, I limited things to two songs from it and added a second channel with minimal current content to round things out. Both are actually YouTube Music channels from bands who have released studio material on streaming platforms, so here's what you should know from them!

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A Dire Setback - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCN8MFZB-GJolSUXz9q5PDKw)

Owner: If anyone, a member of local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback, though this is an auto-generated channel to facilitate their material being hosted on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 28th, 2020; All videos posted on that date

Channel Summary: A Dire Setback arrived on the YouTube Music platform (and on other major streaming services) with their self-titled album in March 2020, and these nine songs remain their only finished and released examples of studio material.

Why You Should Watch: If you're a fan of A Dire Setback, especially from their late 2010s peak as a live act, then you should appreciate this album and its energetic modern punk rock attack! Of course, the guys had massive misfortune in timing when this came out, as the long-planned release date was just two weeks after the first pandemic lockdown began. As such, the album release party at LopLops was cancelled, the rollout of CD copies was slowed down, and they have only played occasional live dates since the restrictions eased up. If the album got lost in the real world shuffle at the time, why not stream it now? For actual and official videos of theirs, check out A Dire Setback's own YouTube channel.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

A Dire Setback: The first and most popular song/video on this album/channel is A.D.S.' self-titled song, and as on the rest of the album, they're represented here by Chris Nielsen (from Mike Haggith's Big Finish Band) on vocals & guitar, Matt Quinn on bass, and Nick Kainula (ex-State Of Misery) on drums. A highlight on the album for me, this song benefits from a familiar riff, clear production, and well contrasted melodic yet rough edged vocals from Chris and Matt, but I do find that the ending stretch is way too drawn out.

 

 

Faded: Of my favourite songs from "A Dire Setback", I wanted to highlight "Faded" as it is among the least streamed songs from this album on YouTube Music, and it deserves more love than that. While short and lacking a real bridge, it is among Chris' best showcases of his improving vocal range, and it has a fast and proficiently played pace, so it understandably goes over well in concert! Hopefully we see the guys back at it in 2026!

 

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Hollow Sky - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCaypkpPL23ShoNIOdKUsHSw)

Owner: If anyone, a member of local metal duo Hollow Sky, but this channel is also auto-generated to facilitate the band's music being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 2nd, 2023; Videos uploaded from that day through May of last year

Channel Summary: The current extreme metal project from Uncanny Valley alum Adam Fahrer alongside singer Liam Tallon, Hollow Sky (no relation) have released three singles to major streaming platforms to date, including YouTube Music, where you can hear them playing "The Spiral", "To Die For", and most popularly of all, "Burn Away". This technically sound metal track with some nu metal-inspired vocals is a strong showcase of what this young group brings to the table, but you'll get promising djent-influenced metal across all three of their studio songs so far, and hopefully 2026 is a big year for them! Be advised that YouTube Music attributes eleven white noise/sleep aid tracks by an artist named "Fluffy Duffy" as featuring Hollow Sky, and they were uploaded to the band's channel despite being completely unrelated.

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around March 26th, but stay tuned next for this month's album review! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series - SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again look at a YouTube channel whose uploaded content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts, in order to spotlight their uploaded videos for modern readers! For a second time in three months, our random selection gives us the same local band's YouTube Music uploads, but via two different albums of theirs, so here's what you should know!

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SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCkfrXp-Rf8KSTEjTarxxiOQ)

Owner: If anyone, Sykotyk Rampage guitarist/singer Dirk Becker, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the band's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 17th, 2022; Videos uploaded that day and on July 16th, 2024

Channel Summary: Four different YouTube channels exist to host parts of the back catalogue of local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage on YouTube Music, with this particular channel hosting two albums of theirs, albeit this time from two different time periods of the band featuring different bassists.

Why You Should Watch: Given how fragmented (and incomplete) Sykotyk Rampage's discography is represented on YouTube Music, this channel is really only for band completionists who regularly consume streaming music via YouTube. Their complete 70+ album discography is available on their Bandcamp page, which should be stop #1 for fans of the masters of the crash, but if you had a particular affinity for these two albums, like the ones we looked at in September, note their YouTube presence!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

DIRTY WOMEN: The older of the two albums here is 2008's "Blue Chinese Metal Crash Punk", one of three albums that singer/drummer Paul Becker, guitarist/his brother Dirk Becker, guitarist Shane Kokis, and then-bassist Brian Cattapan (Paul's son-in-law) put out that year. Named for the band's own description of their genre, none of these songs have visibly became setlist staples from their 2009-2017 run as a live band, and I haven't reviewed the album yet either, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel from their tried-and-true brand of improvised crash rock. The 8+ minute blues rock jam "Dirty Women" will be right up established fans' alley with a fun and carefree nature, and it lets the guys show their skills well throughout!

 

Almost Ready to Go: The longer and newer of the two albums on this particular channel is August 2014's "Kitty Farts And Other Play-Full Noises", which was among their early studio releases featuring ex-The Fury bassist Tony Briglio in place of Brian. Again, not an album that I have reviewed for the SMS yet, nor one that sourced regular songs from their late-period concerts, but it will be an accessible listen for new fans given the songs' relatively shorter length and that it's not a concept album like many of their other albums of this era. The opening song "Almost Ready To Go" is a tighter and more driving rocker with some trippier guitar flourish that would have been a live favourite if re-learned thusly!

Got You by The Balls: By far the most heard song on this particular YouTube Music channel, song #3 from "Kitty Farts..." must have gotten attention from its title more than anything, as it doesn't do anything drastically differently from their usual sykotyk formula, and Paul's singing is really buried in the mix here. Fans with their environ-mental suits at the ready will definitely be into this crash rocker, which has solid guitar riffs, but it's nothing established fans haven't heard elsewhere.

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our next randomly selected channel to profile will be that of YouTube user videosofbedlam, featuring four videos of the late lamented local hard rock quartet Garden of Bedlam, so look for that on or around November 26th, and for a new news post next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! In our last monthly feature post of the summer months, we have another spotlight of a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk music/concerts. This month's selection is a YouTube Music channel for a prominent local band, if not as comprehensive as you may expect, so here's what you should know on it!

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SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCrjvSyO3DGjK1fVMyvgT3kw)

Owner:  If anyone, Sykotyk Rampage guitarist/singer Dirk Becker, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the band's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 19th, 2022; Videos posted that day and on March 19th, 2024

Channel Summary: Four different YouTube channels exist to host parts of the back catalogue of local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage on YouTube Music, with this particular channel hosting two albums of theirs from 2013, incidentally both part of concept chronologies. 32 songs are hosted between the two albums.

Why You Should Watch: Given how fragmented (and incomplete) Sykotyk Rampage's discography is represented on YouTube Music, this channel is really only for band completionists who regularly consume streaming music via YouTube. Their complete 70+ album discography is available on their Bandcamp page, which should be stop #1 for fans of the masters of the crash, but if you had a particular affinity for these two albums, note their YouTube presence!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

GATES: The earlier of the two Sykotyk Rampage albums on this channel is "Yamaraja" from August 2013 (its sequel followed two years later), which notably uses one word titles for all songs on offer except the self-titled closing number. Notable for being one of their first albums with bassist Tony Briglio (joining Dirk, singer/drummer Paul Becker, and guitarist Shane Kokis), "Yamaraja" is an album that I have yet to review on the SMS (with how many Sykotyk Rampage have, who knows when I will!), but as good a place to start as any here is the opening song "Gates", which will appeal to fans of their Paul-sung crash rock originals, complete with background chanting to go along with the loose theme around Hindu gods. There's more where that came from on the full album!

Intro to Revenge: The longer and more popular album of the two here is October 2013's lengthily titled "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2: Revenge Of Professor OCD & The Crimson Nipple" (the first album in this series immediately preceded it and the third "Adventures Of..." album came out in 2014). Another concept album ("Chastity Boy" is Tony's band nickname) featuring "story" tracks peppered in between the songs, the most popular upload on this particular channel is the opener "Intro To Revenge". This one features Tony setting up the storyline for the album and where things picked up from the first album in this series. Not a song in itself beyond the backing music, the story being set up is definitely sykotyk and it'd be a fool's errand to sum it up here (especially when I don't know when I'll be reviewing Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy's adventures here), but it'll start you on book #2 of this epic story!

American Dreamer: Of the actual songs on "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2", I most want to highlight "American Dreamer" for its near-7 minute length and the fact that, as of this writing, it has zero hits on YouTube. I know Sykotyk Rampage have dozens of albums to comb through, but no one has played this song there? Starting with a solid bass solo, this is a showcase for Dirk's distinctive punk snarl on lead vocals, which don't get deployed enough on their albums, and the freewheeling nature of their improvised hybrid rock attack comes through well without seeming overlong despite the length! Give this and much more a listen above!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around September 26th for another randomly selected channel, and this time, it's via Vern03, who filmed six videos at the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert here in 2007! Look for that on or around September 26th, and for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Agnosticism - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series returns to kick off a new year with another look at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts, and as luck would have it, we drew an auto-generated YouTube Music channel for a second straight month! Incidentally, this act in question has become this year's first monthly album review pick due to Ha!ls' concert earlier this month, in order to tie in an archival review with a recent concert. Here's what you should know!

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Agnosticism - Topic  (http://youtube.com/channel/UC7Lm8kLNksj62-bk0TnsR3w)

Owner: If anyone, Agnosticism frontman Mikhal Muto, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the project's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 7th, 2022; Videos uploaded from two days later through July 2024

Channel Summary: This channel exists as the home of Hails/Vanity First guitarist & Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal Muto's folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism's studio material for YouTube Music streaming purposes, though the songs can be experienced on regular YouTube as normal videos as well. The project's full-length album "Happy Pills" is streamable on YouTube Music, as well as two of their EPs (one being last year's "A Letter Of Resignation"), their most recent standalone single, and three single postings of songs from other releases.

Why You Should Watch: If you want to hear Agnosticism's studio back catalogue, this is a good (if not comprehensive) way to do it, though note that other major streaming services also have these same songs, so pick and choose based on your own preferences for layout, content, and subscription models. Some services, most notably Apple Music, have exclusive content, though not everything there is available for sale, just streaming. Of course, Mikhal does run a standard YouTube channel for Agnosticism, which features "Happy Pills" as well as some standalone uploads and two free EPs not on all streaming services ("Chaotic & Dysfunctional" and "Eat Shit & Die"), which both notably feature songs later taken on by Vanity First, so don't bypass that channel either.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

i'd probably kill myself if i had the motivation: This a slight teaser for our first album review of 2025, which hits the site later this week, but Agnosticism's first album released for sale on iTunes (not just to hear for free) is their September 2022 full length album "Happy Pills". Normally, I would highlight a song that I like the most in this sort of situation, but to avoid skewing my thoughts of the album in advance of my review listen, I'll instead point you to "I'd Probably Kill Myself If I Had The Motivation", a long and emotive song that lets Mikhal spread his wings as an acoustic singer/songwriter. A demo version of this song was included at the end of this album as well. For more in-depth thoughts on "Happy Pills", look for my review of the whole album on the site by Friday!

Song 3: Surprisingly, the most popular Agnosticism song on their YouTube Music channel is the basically untitled "Song 3" from their November 2022 EP "4 Hours", released less than two months after "Happy Pills" (it will be eligible for an album review on the SMS no sooner than July due to my self-imposed 6 month buffer period between reviews of the same project's albums to avoid potentially showing a bias). This spare and short song escalates well with self deprecating jabs at Mikhal's solo music and song lengths, so keep that in mind as an example of his range as a lyricist, even if it can be a little too quick to make out all of the words at points!

Light Pollution: Bypassing me at the time due to (in part) Agnosticism's lack of a true social media page beyond Instagram, their most recent original song on streaming services is "Light Pollution", quietly released on July 9th of last year, with no sign yet of it being part of a new album or EP. Curiously marketed with a picture of Mikhal under a "Happy New Year" banner despite being released 5 months prior to January 1st, this song has a folksier yet fuller structure while still harbouring his distinctive emo/pop punk-inflected vocals, and while I like my Agnosticism to be more intense than this, it's good to hear some new material from Mikhal's acoustic act, and here's hoping for more from them in 2025!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series' second installment of the year will come on or around February 26th, with next month's randomly selected channel finally giving us some actual video content (that moves), namely YouTube user CrazyCarLover1990's channel, featuring 14 videos of Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide live in the early 2010s! Look for that then, and for more news and notes (plus our "Happy Pills" review) this week! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Heavy Lies The Crown - Topic

Here's our last monthly feature post of 2024, namely this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series look at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk concerts or videos, and to end the year, our latest random selection gives us a channel full of recent studio material from a prominent E.U.P. metal band, so here's what you should know!

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Heavy Lies The Crown - Topic  (http://youtube.com/channel/UCKwhucUypBGTe1gc5d7hnSA)

Owner: If anyone, Heavy Lies The Crown frontman Brandon West, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the band's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 10th, 2019; Surviving videos posted from December 2021 through the present day

Channel Summary: This channel exists as the home of the St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band's studio material for YouTube Music streaming purposes, though the songs can be experienced on regular YouTube as normal videos as well. The band's two full length albums are streamable on YouTube Music, as well as their non-album (yet?) singles "Marble Skin" & "These Walls", and single uploads of two of their album tracks.

Why You Should Watch: If you want to hear H.L.T.C.'s studio back catalogue, this is as good a way as any to check the songs out, though note that other major streaming services also have these same songs, so pick and choose based on your own preferences for layout, content, and subscription models. Note that the band's first uploads to their YouTube Music channel were the songs from their September 2019 debut EP "Scatter Brain", but that release was quietly pulled from streaming services, presumably as they re-recorded all four songs with their expanded five-piece lineup on their 2021 (and originally self-titled) album "Knucklebutter". However, their official YouTube channel features "Scatter Brain" in this playlist, along with other audiovisual content of theirs from the early 2020s.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

"Voices": The most popular video on Heavy Lies The Crown's YouTube Music channel is their single "Voices", which was on 2021's self-titled full length album, with no title alterations when the album was re-released under the name "Knucklebutter". Featuring Brandon alongside guitarists Ted Olson & Nathan Switzer, bassist Danny Tucker, and drummer Cale Krist (who have all since left the band), this song felt to me like a "Scatter Brain" holdover and is suitably heavy, if with clean vocals to spice things up. H.L.T.C. have catchier songs than this, but it was a highlight on their first full album!

Jell-0: From H.L.T.C.'s 2024 sophomore album "Built For Us", I wanted to highlight "Jell-0" for three reasons: It's one of my favourite songs on that album, it was an advance single complete with music video, and it has surprisingly low listens/views on YouTube Music compared to the rest of the album in spite of that (six of the other ten songs have more hits). Then featuring Brandon and Ted alongside current bassist Christian Cook and then-drummer/now-guitarist Jaxon Massaway, "Jell-0" is a fast and brutal song that made great use of ominous guitar riffing and Brandon's harsh vocals, and I only wish that the song didn't end so abruptly!

Marble Skin: Alongside full and instrumental versions of their newest song "These Walls", Heavy Lies The Crown's newest songs (not yet attached to an album) also include their new single "Marble Skin", which was posted to streaming services in April, three months after "Built For Us" came out. A suitably brutal (if very short) song featuring Nathan back on guitar to replace Ted for a brief spell, this song has overly processed vocals but it is a promising number towards their upcoming studio plans!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! On or around January 26th, we'll kick off 2025 with another randomly selected channel to shine a spotlight on, and it'll be another auto-generated YouTube music channel, namely Agnosticism - Topic, so if you like the Sault Ontario folk punk solo project, stay tuned for that next month, and for our 2024 year-in-review post next! Thanks everyone!