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With some workable ideas and powerful delivery that manage to hold up despite the occasional bonehead move, the Basque ingenues of Wicked (dull name from the country that inspired Guernica!) impress me much on this debut EP. Some Tristania, Moonspell, Paradise Lost, recent Dark Tranquillity, a good helping of 69 Eyes and a dash of pastoral Opeth (e.g. the acoustic and electric tradeoffs within “The Last Preface”) makes for a fairly delectable goth-metal pie. I even hear references to the more obscure early gruff-throated greats like Lake of Tears and Cemetary, but that might say more about my age than Wicked’s musical apprenticeship. No points for originality this early on in the band’s creative process, but “Dorian” and “Dreary Song” are, from a songwriting point of view, as good as anything by the heavyweights within the genre. Major demerits for the worthless songs “And Thrash for All” and “Elmo Rocks,” though. I’m not one to downgrade bands for largely goofy lyrics, even if the combination of po-faced goff sentiment and English as second-language make for curious bedfellows. But there’s really no need for a band saturated with melancholy and atmosphere to write one-off tributes to thrash utilizing various bands’ song titles within the lyrical couplets, ala Mustaine’s similarly poor work on Youthanasia closer “Victory.” And a piss-take on a Sesame Street character? Really, guys?
| Tracklist |
| 1. Intro |
| 2. Dorian |
| 3. Walking Beside You |
| 4. And Thrash for All |
| 5. The Last Preface |
| 6. Dreary Song |
| 7. Elmo Rocks (Bonus track) |
: 25:40
| Buy other Wicked albums |
