Sicks Deep

I had the pleasure of going to a Sicks Deep show at a common rock venue in Manhattan, N.Y.C. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sicks Deep; your slacking. Sicks Deep has amazingly hard instrumentals on top of genius lyrics. Every member of the band gave off a unique energy on stage that literally intoxicated the audience and had them begging for more. Which would account for the encore they had to perform due to unanimous demand. As I glanced around at the roaring audience during their performance, it became abundantly clear that Sicks Deep has broken the mold with their music. - fullthrottlemusic.com

I feel badly for Sicks Deep. Well, not too badly, because they have the whole "on-the-brink-of-rock-superstardom" thing going for them. I do feel bad enough though, since they had arrived in Philadelphia just an hour before I met with them only to find out that they have no Satyricon to open for, and no show to play. The remaining dates on the "Return of the AntiChrist" tour have been cancelled. No one had thought to alert Sicks Deep to this development until after they had already gotten to the venue and found locked doors and ticket refund info.

I sat down with the band (along with their manager, publicist, and entourage-- a very entertaining group) in The Beer Garden, a foul-smelling bar decorated with patio furniture and Astroturf that's located in the back corner of Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. I wanted to find out what all the buzz is about. I was pleasantly surprised by the easygoing nature of this collection of people, their friendliness and the eagerness of the band to talk about their musical lives, experiences on MTV, and pink-haired SuicideGirls. The guys seem unaffected by the stares they draw from the Amish women selling pretzels across the way and instead turn their attention to pitchers of beer and my tape recorder.

This self-described hardcore band from New York has existed in some form since early in the decade for approximately four years. Their current line-up consists of frontman Kelly Abe, guitarists Mike Zamir and Gavin Pirell, bass player Anthony Falsetti, and drummer Nick Andrews. They have only been playing together for a year. Big things have happened in that short time, and huge things are on the horizon.

Most of America is familiar with New York-based Sicks Deep because of MTV's Battle For Ozzfest series, a reality competition show with a decidedly heavy flavor. The show itself is part The Apprentice, part The Real World, and part This Is Spinäl Tap. It is entirely Osbourne-helmed and features representatives from eight finalist bands (out of a pool of hundreds) living together on a tour bus and traveling with the Ozzfest lineup, performing all sorts of unglamorous backstage duties as well as crazy stunts like biting the heads off "live bats". At the end of the series, which is currently airing at The Ten Spot on Monday nights on MTV, one representative will win a spot on Ozzfest 2005 for his/her band, and all new musical equipment. Kelly, who represented Sicks Deep, was voted off by Sharon and Ozzy in Episode Five. However, all it took was those five episodes to propel Sicks Deep into the consciousness of even the most mainstream music fan. Now they're releasing CDs, playing shows like live music is going out of style, and talking to record labels about recording contracts.

Catherine Flecker: A lot of things have happened in the world of rock in the past year, good and bad. What I want to touch on specifically since it is so fresh in everyone's mind, is the fatal shooting of former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. On your website, you listed him as one of the primary influences of your sound. What has been going through your head on this loss of a man who had such an impact on the metal genre?

Nick Andrews: I think that the whole thing with Dimebag was just such an unnecessary tragedy. Darrell's music, and everything about him, was a huge inspiration to us and it's really unfortunate to have someone as important as he was in the metal community taken from us in such a ridiculous way. Our hearts go out to all his loved ones and fans. It's a terrible thing really, and we'll miss him.

Kelly Abe: Speaking on behalf of Mike and myself, we grew up listening to Pantera, and we're in a band right now because of Dimebag's inspiration. Hearing about his death was almost like find out that one of your friends got killed, like one you knew personally. His impact was so huge in our lives. Coincidently, he was killed on Gavin's birthday, which is also the anniversary of John Lennon's death.

Gavin Pirell: When I was in grade school, John Lennon was assassinated on my birthday, and just recently, Dimebag Darrell was killed on my birthday. My birthday has been littered with memorials of fallen rock legends, which is pretty terrible. Everyone knows who Pantera is, even though they never went commercial. They stayed underground like Metallica did until they sold out. He'll be greatly missed.

CF: The fact that he was shot by a crazed fan while playing a show, while right there onstage-- is this something you're more likely to think of now while playing a show? Are you more aware of what's going on in the crowd?

NA: Well, we haven't really played many shows since this happened. My perspective, personally, has definitely changed. On the brighter side of things, I hope this means that security [at shows] will get tighter. I mean, I know I've gotten into shows plenty of times without so much as a pat-down. In that situation, something could easily be brou - suicidegirls.com

The following are CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com) user/purchaser
reviews of our last EP, “The Blackacre sessions”:

this is F*CKIN AWESOME
Reviewer: SphinX
great music this is hell alot better than anything ive heard well worth
buying
FOREVER
Reviewer: dark lord (stc)
THis is the best band i have herd in 3 years. its the kindof shit that should
be herd EVERYWHERE. buy this cd or i will dimolish you!!! details at
five...
oh my fucking god!!!!is the best sound that i ever listened before!!
Reviewer: Diogo Portugal
keep up the good work guys...the cd is really good...me and my friends of
Portugal are really crazy about this sound...fuck yes men...see you
soon!!!
Awesome
Reviewer: Tracey
Out of all the bands from Battle for Ozzefest that have produced a cd, this
bands album is the best. Keep up the excellent songs and hope to hear a
new album soon.
metalica is d*p sh*t conpared to this!
Reviewer: tsunomi
this r the coolest by hells recednition far
kill da life i wanted and make it yours!
Reviewer: tsunomi
to cool for reality, its insanitation, inhumanity ! i say take it from hell and
conseal it in you. like i did in me!
􀀁!::::: Secured In Hell :::::!
Reviewer: DeAn
Sicks Deep is my FAV band since "The Foundation" Album that CD is
Fucking Awesome! even know I don't have that CD but I'm still looking for
it. (can anybody Help me find that CD?) But Shit I got me "The Blackacre
Sessions" Album That shit is the BOMB (Blow your Fucking Brain Out)I'm
telling you you better fucking get that SHIT. Before you sitting down
Crying at home like a little BITCH! 1 more thing about this shit go to
WWW.PUREVOLUME.COM/SICKSDEEP Check out they new song!
Sicks Deep - Secured In Hell Now that Shit ROCK!!!!! Woo-Hoo! Peace
AIM:Shadowman505
f*ck these guy"s are good!!
Reviewer: nemesis
f*ck these guy's rock!!!:|:|:> master sound!!
greatest than DeAtH!!
Reviewer: Gorath
A great cd, a great band & a great future. Buy It!
Awsome
Reviewer: Lance
This is some heavy music! I love it! This makes great work out music-it
really pumps you up!
worth buying
Reviewer: kendra
this is some of the best s**t i've heard in a long time!!!i can't wait till they
can get a cd actually out to buy in stores!!!
this cd is the s***
Reviewer: kacey
this cd rocks!!!it's worth buying!!!
this shits the best ! go buy it!
Reviewer: kc
this is the shit!!!I promise you'll love this cd!!!
excellent
Reviewer: Bobby
you guys rocked out....awsome!!!!!
100% WORKOUT MUSIC
Reviewer: NIR
THIS CD IS WORTH PURCHASING AND LISTENING AT YOUR HOME,
CAR, OR BETTER YET AT THE GYM. THE MUSIC KEEPS YOUR ASS
MOVING AND DOESN'T ALLOW YOU TO QUIT. EVERY ONE OF THEIR
SONGS ARE POWERFULL AND KICK ASS. BUY IT, YOU WILL NEVER
GET SICK OF IT.
AWESOME!!!!
Reviewer: Kyle
This cd is my favorite to this day. Proof is one of my favorite songs. It
was kinda expensive for 5 songs but it's worth every cent. If your into
bands like Mudvayne, Pantera, Disturbed, or Killswitch Engage, you'll love
this cd.
Kick Ass Shit
Reviewer: Metalmasher2005
I have to say that this band is awesome, I love heavy metal, and every
song on this CD makes me wanna rip somebodies head off! This is one of
the only bands That is Extremely Heavy, and yet you can still hear his
real voice! You kick Ass guys!
Kicks Ass
Reviewer: Sicks deep
This album is worth all the money, go out and bye it!! hope more albums
are made cos they just kick ass!!
THIS IS BETTER THAN METALLICA
Reviewer: kingman
This cd kicks ass I use this cd when I go paintballing. This consider the
best band I have ever heard. Metallica sucks ass. Sicks deep is the best
band in the world.
Great energy in all of the songs. I have listened to the cd everyday
and I can
Reviewer: Daniel
The CD has a nice cover to it, I like the art and design of the Sicks Deep
CD cover. The songs are mixed well together and flow from one to the
other nicely. One thing I wish was that the booklet inside the CD was
longer and had the lyrics to the songs but I understand that it isn't cheap
to get all that manufactured in the CD's. I can't stop listening to the songs
on the CD thought, I absolutely love everything about the songs on the
CD.
DEF FUCKING AWESOME!
Reviewer:
Fav CD
Reviewer: Debbie
This is my favorite cd as of today..it's been playing in my cd player over
and over and I still can't get enough of it!!
Good music
Reviewer: Jordan
So long as music is good, it's worth buying; and the music is great so it's
definately worth buying!
Best ever...
Reviewer: Erica
Every single one of the songs on this thing are killer. Sicks Deep are by
far my favourite metal band right now... and yeah, Kelly's a god.
one of the best cds in my collection
Reviewer: Sal
great,powerful cd that has a sound like no other.can't wait to see these
guys live feb 25th.
This cd kicks major ass... i cnt wait to buy their cd. I really want a
hoodie of
Reviewer: Taylor-rose
This cd is really - cdbaby.com