Ahead of the re-release of their debut EP Requisition in early February, ZT caught up with one of New York’s freshest metal bands, Sicada.
Formed just over a year ago in late December and coming out of Staten Island, New York, Sicada may have only recorded six songs in their short career so far, but they’re six songs that show plenty of promise. So much so that they caught the attention and signed a deal with Tridroid Records for a digital re-release of their EP Requisition.
In fact, it’s only really five tunes as the opening track is just an intro. Either way, they’re packed with plenty of infectious grooves, powerful riffs and sizzling guitar solos that creates an appealing mix of death and thrash metal. But with plenty of other bands doing a similar thing and a long road ahead of them if they really want to reach the top, why start another new metal band?
“All four of us share the same love for music and want to create our own material,” says vocalist/guitarist Louis Adipietro. “We want to follow in the footsteps of the musicians we look up to. We naturally leaned toward a faster, more aggressive style of metal. We like to incorporate different rhythms and tones, we try to not box ourselves in with the simplicity of one single genre.”
Few bands seem happy to be labelled with one genre, but if you’re a fan of thrash at the heavier end of the scale then that’s where Sicada sit. There’s a raw edge to them, probably as this is their first recording beside one previous demo, but otherwise there’s plenty to get stuck into.
“We’ve been told that we adopted a NYHC vibe with our vocal style,” Louis continues. “It was not exactly our intention but it is cool to us because most of the bands we are into aren’t from the east coast. We like aggressive, heavy music, groovy rhythms, and tasty riffs. We welcome all the subtleties found in different genres when creating our material.”
As to the recording of Requisition: “It was a fun experience, we took our time to create the sound that we were looking for. Our EP is compacted of five of our best songs and we are super proud of it.”
It also features some striking artwork by Ipoet Poetra of Five Milligrams who has done artwork for bands such as Napalm Death, Shadows Fall, Morbid Saint and Carnivora. A sure sign that they truly care about their art as well as a good tool for crafting some attractive merchandise no doubt.
Coming from New York is sure to open up plenty of opportunities given the cities constantly bustling music scene. So far they’ve managed to share a stage with Havok, Battlecross, Whitechapel, Psycroptic and more all in their hometown.
“We have been playing frequently in surrounding states of New York, taking all the opportunities we can to open for bigger bands and play local shows. There are a lot more bands in a city like NY rather than a smaller town. It can be a challenge to stand out among the sea of bands these days, although sometimes it can be helpful with as many people as there are in the music scene.”
All this has helped them sign with Tridroid Records, which is sure to increase their exposure to other metal fans: “We’re looking forward to being backed by a label as it should help us widen our audience. We are excited to have others supporting our music and we think it is a step in the right direction for us.”
Next up they’ve got a tour with Eye Of The Destroyer and Gomorrah down the US East Coast and by the sound of things will have some more music out by the end of 2016. Whether that will be a full album or not we’ll have to wait and see.
“We plan to tour our Debut EP Requisition throughout the U.S. We are excited to play with more bands and we strive to create a bigger fan base. We’re working on some new killer music to be released later this year and we are looking forward to the future.”
Requisition is re-released February 12 through Tridroid Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNAeGCtcLk
