SycAmour, a six-piece post-hardcore band from Ypsilanti, Michigan, is set to release their six-track EP entitled Obscure on November 3rd. With influences spanning from bands like the well-renowned Panic! At The Disco to The Devil Wears Prada, it should be clear that this isn’t your typical post-hardcore band.
Obscure opens extremely peacefully with “Rose-Tinted (Bloodshot)”. You hear a ticking clock which transitions into spectacular clean vocals similar to Lower Definition which are layered over a piano and slow drumming. It didn’t take very long for me to predict that I was in for quite a treat. The clean vocals are spectacular, the chorus is catchy, the guitar leads are fairly standard but effective, the drumming is impressive, and the addition of the keys adds another dimension to the music. You can expect to hear all of these aspects frequently over the course of the 25-minute Obscure with a few extras thrown in here and there.
The second track on Obscure, “Nooses (On The Looses)”, is definitely one of the strongest. The guitar leads are extremely impressive and there is a very cool rapping part near the middle of the track that is reminiscent of Linkin Park. The screaming on “Nooses (On The Looses)” is much stronger than it was on the first track and the clean vocals have remained top notch. As previously mentioned, the guitar leads are also much better on this track and they are probably my favourite part of the entire EP.
The other tracks on Obscure that really caught my attention were “Get With The Times, New Roman!” and “Chloroform”. With a chorus that sounds eerily similar to Panic! At The Disco, fast-paced verses, and a mammoth breakdown, “Get With The Times, New Roman!” has nearly everything imaginable and SycAmour has managed to blend it all together seamlessly in this track. The final track, “Chloroform”, opens with some odd instrumentals which makes it sound like a Middle Eastern tune. Your mind will quickly be cleared with doubt when the vocals come in, though. Both the harsh and clean vocals are particularly strong on this track and it’s good instrumentally. The only thing that I didn’t like about “Chloroform” was the auto-tune bit heard near the middle of the track that reminded me of Abandon All Ships. Despite that flaw, “Chloroform” is my personal favourite track and I think that many others will feel the same way.
SycAmour is currently an unsigned band, but I strongly believe that they will not remain that way for much longer. They do more than enough to stick out in a genre that is laden with mediocrity and they kept my full attention on their debut EP, Obscure.
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