YouTube Channel Profile Series: Evil Gobi

It's time for our last monthly feature post of March 2023, namelty this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This monthly feature series looks at YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts, in order to spotlight their uploads and encourage readers to check them out and maybe subscribe for more! This month's channel isn't the most plentiful out there but its content spreads a diverse and entertaining range for local rock fans, so here's what you should know about it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evil Gobi (http://youtube.com/mrevilgobi)

Owner: Former Oh!No Collective representative Alex Moore

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 1st, 2011; Videos uploaded from November 2016 through August 2020

Channel Summary: A personal use channel without overt Oh!No ties, Alex's channel is mostly devoted to local concerts & albums, with three videos of the former type (including a clip of touring rapper Garbageface at The Canadian in 2017) and two of the latter. His last two uploads are of EPs by defunct Toronto "drunk 'n roll" quartet Ultraviolence, who played here a few times at Coch's Corner at the turn of the 2010s

Why You Should Watch: Local music fans should at least give Alex's channel a look, both from the out-of-print local albums on offer and the concert videos, and the lack of a genre focus ensures that there's a little something for many tastes, even if the local bands featured aren't around these days! While not local beyond being bought at shows here, the Ultraviolence EPs are a fun reminder of their wild stage show from their run too.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Stiffler's Mom - The Demo: Alex's first (and most popular) upload is a YouTube copy of inactive local hard/party rock trio Stiffler's Mom's EP "The Demo", which was released in 2004 and hadn't surfaced online before Alex posted it to YouTube twelve years later. Featuring Bone Yard singer/drummer Greg Simpson and future Buzzsaw Jaw bandmates Michael Davies & Jon Ferguson on guitar & bass, the four song demo features a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" and three originals ("Yesterday", "Pearl's Necklace", and the Sin Stereo carryover "Enjoy The Show"). While somewhat inconsistent (especially on the cover), Stiffler's Mom delivered a fun batch of songs here, and it'd have been interesting to hear more of an original presence later on!

Gianni Gagoots Live 2: Two of Alex's three concert videos feature Gianni Gagoots, the mid-2010s funk/hard rock band known for their jokey Italian stage names and improvised jam instrumentals during their too-brief local run. The videos come from their LopLops Lounge headlining concert on April 15th, 2017, and feature ex-Redefined bandmates Matt Sibilo & Josh St. Amour alongside Rising Tide alums Liam Seymour & Frank McCormick, percussionist "Bergio the IceBurg" (they never gave his real name on their pages), and an unidentified guest congo player. Between these two videos (click here for the shorter of them), you get some unlabelled but fun and carefree jams, and it's a shame that the Gagoots didn't have a longer run, let alone that their Facebook page and most videos have been taken down!

Redefined (Sault Ste Marie) - Risk and Uncertainty: In August of 2020, Alex posted a copy of defunct local hard rock quartet Redefined's ca. 2002 studio album "Risk & Uncertainty" to his channel, bringing that album to a mass online audience much like with Stiffler's Mom's demo! The independently released CD featured future Gianni Gagoots bandmates Matt Sibilo & Josh St. Amour alongside Parabol singer John Barber and My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea. All 10 songs (including "Foggy Style" cut "M.T. Bundies") are linked by clicking here, though the song names were retrieved from the Oocities archive of their old Geocities page due to the album's liner notes not giving the titles. Redefined's Tool-influenced modern hard rock goes over well on this album, even 20+ years later, so fans from back in the day and of John's later groups shouldn't bypass this CD!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around April 26th for a big one, as I have randomly drawn St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's YouTube channel, featuring over three dozen uploads from their run to date! Watch for this profile next month, and for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Redefined - "Risk & Uncertainty" CD Review!!

It's now time for our 135th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and with new album releases not in any hurry at this stage of the pandemic, let's dip into the archives for a look at defunct local/St. Catharines hard rock quartet Redefined's debut studio album "Risk & Uncertainty"! Independently released after October 2001, their now-closed website erroneously credits this as a 4 song EP, possibly confusing it with one of the two preceding demos alluded to on their Geocities page's lyrics section. "Risk & Uncertainty" was primarily recorded at Easter Island Studio in Sudbury with producer Billy Bruhmuller, though the last two songs were done at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga. Redefined are represented here by future Driving Dave Home/Late Shift vocalist John Barber (recently of Parabol) and guitarist Matt Sibilo (now of Fort Creek), alongside ex-Swamped bassist Josh St. Amour and My Son The Hurricane drummer Dan (not yet Danno) O'Shea.

For the record, this review is tied in with Matt's concert at Reggie's Place with Fort Creek earlier this month. Physical copies of this nearly 19 year old CD are now out of print, but a free streaming copy was generously uploaded onto YouTube by the Oh!No Collective's Alex Moore last month, and song names below are linked to their timecodes therein. Curiously, the liner notes do not list the titles of the 10 songs on "Risk & Uncertainty", but the above lyrics page does confirm all of their names. Running for about 40 minutes, let's begin this long-awaited album review!

Redefined's first studio album begins with it's longest track, "Vertigo Center", which seems to be about trying to save yourself and be a better person. I like Josh's isolated bass tracks to lead into verses, and everyone performs well in hindsight, making this a good introduction to Redefined's very Tool-inspired sound, especially helped by John's vocals. Danno's has some catchy drum fills late, and I like how the song builds to heavy choruses, but softer lyrics can be muddled in the mix. Next is "Face Down", which seems to be themed around fear of the inevitable. The heavy choruses are where this song shines, especially compared to the somewhat shaky verses, with John's angrier singing flowing really well as the intensity varies. Strucutrally, this song isn't as technical as the opener, and it could use more lyrics, but it gives Matt a good showcase for heavy hard rock riffing, and while I may be biased from it's long presence on their old PureVolume page, it is pleasantly familiar!

The third song is "M.T. Bundies", which you may recognize as the heaviest track on the well-remembered compilation album "Foggy Style Volume 1", put out by the former Foggy Notions nightclub circa 2003. I already looked at this song on the SMS last June in my review of "Foggy Style", so I won't go into the same detail again, but I now know that this song is the shortest on "Risk & Uncertainty", and it's lyrics reference wanting to end a relationship. In short, I liked the tonal shift from the ska-inspired verses to the heavy choruses, and everyone delivers musically, especially Josh on bass, and this is a highlight on both this album & "Foggy Style"! Afterwards, we have the CD's partial title track "Risk", which seems to allude to unfairness & depression. I like the psychedelic guitar work, and as on "M.T. Bundies", this one veers a little away from the Tool influence in the intense chorus.

The vocals seem a little forced on the verses, the late breakdown feels out of place, and the ending on just a quiet drum hit didn't feel right, but this is a solid track for modern hard rock fans all the same! The first half of the CD concludes with "Fellow Bedwetter", a metaphorical title referencing a predestined fate you can't change. The first half of the song is largely a nice instrumental showcase, but when John jumps in, the Tool-esque sound becomes fully formed again, and the choruses are very catchy. The plodding bridge is a slight buzzkill though. Everyone gets moments to shine, and Matt & Josh are a good compliment in particular, so this is definitely another album highlight for me! Song #6 is "Shackles", where one speaks up against a bad influence or oppressor holding them down. The verses have an odd carnival music cadence to them, but like on "M.T. Bundies", they contrast well with the heavy choruses, and don't feel as out of place as the isolated bass in the bridge.

I am admittedly not a fan of the isolated moan before the last chorus, and I did detect some shakiness as the song got heavier, but the song works for fans of Redefined's heavier songs, if not as technical as some others. That's followed by "Mad At Me", which seems like it's about regretting not introducing yourself to a crush. This one has a little too much of a stop/start structure for my liking, and the solo bass from Josh is getting overdone, but John's singing is well controlled, and Dan's technical drumming is arguably his best yet on the CD! Definitely not my favourite song as a whole, but elements do work. Eighth is "Travis Walton" (I don't know if that's named after someone specific), which seems to be about confusion and mixed messages.  The fast instrumentation outside of the main verses is very welcomed by this metalhead, especially the crushing breakdown at the end, and I like the lyrics too! That said, this is by no means a technical showcase.

There are stronger compositions, but I can see this song going every very well live, and Matt & Danno particularly shine here. The penultimate song is "Insane Dog", which has themes of demanding & deserving honesty. A very Tool-ish structure to this song (not a surprise, given many of the players), this all works in it's favour, aside from Josh's isolated bass tracks, which are well performed but grind things to a halt again. I liked where it was going, but it felt like the song got too repetitive after a while despite strong musicianship. The album closes with "People On Skis", which is the most lyrically ambiguous song on offer, especially given the title. I like the staccato riff to start this one, and the song itself has a catchy, high energy rhythm with nice soaring vocals from John. Everything comes together nicely, including one of Josh's best performances, and it's a solid closer overall!

So, what are my final thoughts on Redefined's debut album, almost two decades later? While not perfect, this is a strong first effort with solid songwriting, especially given the guys' age at the time, and having a Tool-influenced band locally in 2001 must have been a thrill in that regard! Some songs definitely reminded me of Maynard and company, but others were primarily from John's singing, whch was a consistent presence, if shaky at times on softer verses. Matt showcased a good technicality to his playing, if sans guitar solos, while Josh's bass work had really impressive moments, and Danno's drumming was often very impressive, if a departure from the brasshop collective we all know and love today. I like the creative lyrics they used too, with lots of metaphors and a sparing inclusion of their song's titles. That said, there were things to address. Tool is a great influence, but it would have been nice to get more musical variety on offer.

Guitar solos would have been a help, and the occurrences of Josh playing bass alone between verses got a little old after a while. The production quality was good given the age, but softer stretches could be muddled. I can't speak for Redefined's 2004 recording sessions that gave us "Pitters" (did the intended EP ever come out?), but "Risk & Uncertainty" was a solid debut from this talented band who had a lot more to offer through the mid-2000s, and it's definitely worth checking out for new and old fans alike! Give it a look at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! As for next month in this series, I am unsure what I'll be looking at yet, but here's what I do know. A new paid album release from a heavier or punk band will take precedence, and our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post will have hints to that end on October 2nd. If we have to dip into the archives again, our 6 month anti-bias buffer period remains in effect.

As such, do not expect Redefined's 2004 EP(?) or an Inner City Surfers or Chase Wigmore release next, but anything else unreviewed within genre range is fair game. Given the lack of concerts nowadays, I couldn't begin to suggest a convenient tie-in album yet, but who knows what the fall season holds, and I will keep you posted in the weeks ahead, but stay tuned for more news & notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

An Archive Local Hard Album Upload, A New Live-Streamed Concert, And More!!

Here's a new post to check out on this Saturday morning, and it includes some new videos from some familiar faces we haven't seen much of as of late, but leading off, here is a surprise local album discovery that hard rock fans of two decades ago may be very curious about!

The only(?) studio album for early-mid 2000s local hard rock quartet Redefined has finally surfaced in full online! The Oh!No Collective's Alex Moore uploaded his CD copy to his YouTube channel (which also hosts Stiffler's Mom's demo EP) yesterday, so huge thanks to him for posting it and letting me know about it in the first place! Entitled "Risk & Uncertainty", this album was independently released circa 2002, and features their classic lineup, including Parabol singer John Barber, Fort Creek guitarist Matt Sibilo, former Swamped bassist Josh St. Amour, and My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea. The first 8 songs were recorded (locally?) at Eater Island Studio, while the last two were done at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga. Curiously, the album's liner notes do not list the 10 songs by their titles, but an archived copy of their old Geocities website features each track's lyrics, so I was able to get these to Alex, and alas, the site back-up didn't have flames or loud noises.

Note that track #3 ("M.T. Bundies") was included on Foggy Notions' 2003's "Foggy Style" compilation album. I now have everything ready for an eventual review of "Risk & Uncertainty" on the SMS, but will it be any time soon? I have no idea, but if members are playing live in some form in the near term, that could be a good sign. Give Redefined's CD a listen below for some early 2000s alternative and Tool-influenced hard rock action!

Next up, remember Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-streamed Facebook concert series from the spring? Well, it's back in a couple of ways! On July 21st, the series abruptly resumed after a two month hiatus via an outdoor set from Ottawa folk musician John Allaire, described as being held on "the Gowans Imperial Pub patio". John's a very talented musician, so if you like folk, give his hour+ set a watch at this link! The other new installment of "Songs & A Six-Pack" took place last night, and is actually a make-up date of sorts, as this one features local acoustic hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns! You may recall their severely abbreviated set in episode #4 of "Songs & A Six-Pack" in April, which ended after just 13 minutes and two songs due to technical difficulties, so it is great to see the brewery and band coming together for a do-over! Unlike last time, guitarist Jesse Cook isn't stuck outside, but drummer Jonas Gasperas is nowhere to be found for unannounced reasons

The set proper starts with this 9 minute video, which mostly features setup and talking with the live viewers, and while they do cover Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" with Rob Speers on lead vocals, the guitars are inaudible. Unlike in April, The Stallyns do launch a new live-stream feed afterwards (as embedded below), where they opted to switch to a cell phone camera. This may seem like a step down from their stationary setup, especially with the vertical camera angle that doesn't show Jesse, but at least the phone can pick up the guitars! This video features The Wyld Stallyns covering The Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner", Huey Lewis & The News' "If This Is It", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Against The Wind", Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River", The Lonely Island's "Dick In A Box", Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time", Skid Row's "18 & Life", David Bowie's "Let's Dance", and The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"

Christina Speers sings lead on the Bon Jovi, Timberlake, Skid Row, and Bowie covers, Rob handles Steve Miller and Bob Seger, and they share lead vocals on the rest. Overall, this was a good set with a nice array of tunes to hear, and the Speers and Jesse were clearly having a lot of fun, but there didn't seem to be as many plugs for Northern Superior's beer selection as in other "Songs & A Six-Pack" episodes. Check out the whole live-stream above and below, and hopefully The Wyld Stallyns return to the stage at some point!



Finally for today, have you been wondering about the delayed next installment of local/Thompson, Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith's #LockdownLive at-home concerts? Well, Mike finally updated everyone to the imminent plans via this Facebook video uploaded yesterday (and embedded below), where he confirmed that the renovations that postponed #LockdownLive XIV last month have concluded, and episode #14 will go live on Friday, August 28th at 7:30 PM! Mike didn't reveal a theme for the episode, but he did tease that it will have new and old songs, plus updates on new studio work. Give the video a watch below for more updates!



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