Canadian crossover rockers Sumo Cyco announced that their latest release Initiation is titled as an invite to fans to enter their world. An interesting world it is. Mixing up the world of reality with a comic book inspired world called Cyco City, it takes a little while to wrap your brain around what is going on. Is it ska-punk, is it post-rock, is it heavy metal? Whilst this doesn’t always make a band easy to get in to – or always enjoyable at first, it is a common recipe for boom or bust. Is there far too much going on that is becomes a twisted mess, or a masterpiece in genre melding?
Well the first thing to note is that there is really no letting up throughout Initiation. At 11 songs and under 41 minutes, everything is snappy and there is little room to settle. I am generally not a fan when there isn’t a huge amount of variety in tempo, but if fits naturally here. The mid tempo groovy feel with the angry hardcore mixed with peppy ska keeps things interesting throughout.
Ska punk is a common undertone to most of the record. With the heavy metal riffing, screamo and electronica acting as additional ingredients in differing quantities on each track. The lyrical backbone throughout mixes the ventures of the real and fictional world, with a focus on overcoming negativity and learning to find belonging in a divided world. You could quite easily remove the fictional part of that world and it sounds an awful lot like the real world we live in.
Opening with Love You Wrong and Bystander showcases the heavier and anthemic side of Sumo Cyco. Clearly destined for the big stage. M.I.A is straight up quirky ska-pop punk, which feels very natural for this alt crew. Sumo Cyco also love to get creative with their music videos – set in the weird dystopian world of Cyco City, and under the vision of charismatic vocalist Skye ‘Sever’ Sweetnam. If you have a strange aversion to an overload of colour then be warned. I suggest maybe checking out some black metal videos instead.
So does this amalgamation of genre soup hit the mark? There is no shortage of vision and passion, and as a result it produces a coherent final product. Clearly Initiation is destined for crowd engagement, and Sumo Cyco have taken a massive step to hitting the mainstream masses. Any band that takes a creative vision and produces something unique is to be celebrated. A first album release on a major metal label Napalm Records, and a cracking one at that. Purists may turn their nose up, but don’t listen to them. Listen to Initiation instead.
Score: 8/10
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