This Vicious Cabaret

City of Ghosts EP

Written by: PP on 16/04/2012 18:31:34

This Vicious Cabaret are a British post-hardcore quartet hailing from the city of Watford, the home of hardcore and metal greats such as Gallows and SiKth. It's a highly competitive scene which has produced many a good band in the past, and This Vicious Cabaret seem to be the next band with potential to move up the national circuit ladder based on their four-track EP "City of Ghosts" from last year.

Their chosen genre is emo-tinged post-hardcore, but with a retrospective vibe to it as they reference back the era from the early 2000s when the genre was still new and exciting. The guitars, for instance, take hints from both Alexisonfire's early records as well as the EPs and the debut album by Funeral For A Friend, and the (mostly clean) vocals are a little off-tune and unpolished in the vein of UK hardcore bands (think The Ghost Of A Thousand's clean parts here). It feels a little bit dated as a consequence, and the impact of the songs is slightly hampered by a questionable production, but as a whole the band are able to write some darn catchy songs. "New Disease" takes the winning prize for the catchiest song on the EP, but the others don't finish far behind, as the band goes for the emo-tinged choruses, albeit without the angsty and sissy vibe that sometimes becomes the dominating factor. You can tell that their vocalist has a background in bands rooted more in hardcore (at least in terms of what he's been listening to), and this is what sets them apart from the current trends within post-hardcore.

Perhaps "City of Ghosts" isn't a breakthrough EP by any means, but it's one that showcases a band that could go places once they further develop their sound in the future. Lets see what happens on subsequent EPs and an eventual full length.

Download: New Disease,
For the fans of: Funeral For A Friend, Finch, old Alexisonfire, Trusted Few
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 14.10.2011
Self-Released

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.