Sickamore – At the Break of Dusk (EP)
Release Date: October, 2012
Seattle based metal band Sickamore is a hard working young band doing their best to make a dint in the side panel of heavy metal. Boasting influences such as Bullet for My Valentine, Motorhead, and Queensryche, I was totally intrigued and I really looked forward to diving into their three song EP At the Break of Dusk. As with anything I listen to for a review, I went into this without setting my hopes too high. After two listens to this EP, I’m glad I set my expectations pretty low because this EP did very little to really blow me away or make me feel like I had a great listening experience.
The first song “Engine Room” actually got things off to a good start and it captured this kind of Overkill meets Motorhead kind of vibe but the song as a whole just didn’t really grab me. The 2nd track “Running Away” started off really great with this awesome Queensryche/Iron Maiden inspired mellow intro but then all of the sudden, I felt the mood completely killed by the vocalist. The song as a whole than totally lost the vibe and lost me as it kicked into this upbeat kind of tempo. The change felt contrived and disjointed. I really liked where I thought it was going but ended up feeling lost. Don’t get me wrong. The song itself didn’t suck but it just didn’t feel natural and it felt like it kind of plodded on. Closing out the EP was “I Know U Know” which featured some really great guitar playing but some juvenile lyrics and that kind of plodding, down tuned thing that gets really old after three songs.
Sickamore is not a bad band by any means. They can certainly play but I can’t help but feel that what they exceed in with musical ability they lack in the ability to construct memorable songs. All the songs I listened to were forgettable and mediocre at best. SIckamore has great ideas but they don’t seem to be able to follow through with them to create consistently great songs. “At the Break of Dusk” is the kind of album that I could imagine hearing in the background of a party yet nobody really seems to be drawn into asking “who is this?” It’s great background music but not something I would run to when I really want a good dose of great metal.
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