By Ryan Falla
Las Vegas natives SicociS have been making a serious name for themselves in the metal scene; often regarded as the best local metal act by Las Vegas publications. The content present in the record ‘Requiem of the World’ shows off their talents in the best way possible. This record fuses melodic death metal with prog elements and power metal into a formula that is so cohesive with its multitude of elements, it’s almost indescribable.
Do you like early Dream Theater? There’s a little sprinkle of that with SicociS.
The two-track epic ‘Dawn of the Final Day/Dawn of the New Day’ throws down a beautiful and ever-changing melody that flows as smoothly as it runs long. Power synths drive a thrashing guitar that fuel the music with a dark sense of energy; yet it prevents the bright tones in the mix from becoming overpowered by the melodic-death metal elements that flow in and out of the music.
Tracks like ‘Warship Omerta’ and ‘Isolated Salvation’ perfectly capture the spirit of SicociS; instead of going all out with the tonal fusions present in their epically-focused songs they build show off a focused identity. The approach SicociS takes lies heavily on the side of melodic power metal, it’s almost a Yin to the Yang of hardcore metal elements that share a space within this record.
Instead of these elements creating a sense of forced layering or over-ambition, they create a strange balance that mates melodic prog metal made famous by bands such as Angra, Dream Theater, and Devin Townsend, with the darker spectrum of melodic death metal.
This record is truly epic, it isn’t just a conglomeration of tracks to build a body of music. Like a film, it is one cohesive body of work that stirs your emotions in a way that can be described as “musically cinematic “.
With great records you can spend all day picking apart track by track to explain why it should be considered such a great record. The best reviews of a great record either deconstruct the album as if it were a thesis project or offer the listener a quick base of reference before diving.
‘Requiem of the World’ is an open and ever-flowing record that floats through air and crashes into your psyche with a lasting impression. I can only really describe this record as “new-prog”, there are just too many old-school elements mixed with a modern day metal philosophy that defies almost all previous benchmarks to judge quality.
SicociS sets the tone not only for the future of prog metal, but the bright career path they’ve carved for themselves. If you want to hear prog metal head into a bright, new direction, ‘Requiem of the World’ is the record for you.
Rating: 8.5/10
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Record Label: M-Theory Audio
Release Date: February 24th 2017
Track Listing:
01. Beyond the Quantum Waves (4:58)
02. Dawn of the Final Day (Requiem of the World Part 1) (5:55)
03. Dawn of the New Day (Requiem of the World Part 2) (7:39)
04. Isolated Salvation (5:55)
05. Principium et Finis (1:24)
06. The Signal OutcryD (1:49)
07. Transitus Novum Principium (2:10)
08. Warships Omerta (3:55)
09. We Shall Rise (4:20)
10. With Open Eyes (5:09)
11. World Torn (4:47)
Total Duration: 48:01
SicociS links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram