Nu-metal group Sicksense are looking ahead to better days.
While the Phoenix, Arizona-based outfit have their debut album, Cross Me Twice, coming out later this spring, they’re also working through moments of depression and emotional heaviness through their newly-unveiled single, “In This Carousel.”
The new song — which Revolver is premiering right here, right now — coalesces a minor-key frenzy of spiraling, neoclassical guitar mania with brooding nu-heaviness and snap-driven electronic production. Vocalist Rob the Ripper (also of Stuck Mojo) drops into screams and raps about feeling lost, while co-vocalist Vicky “Killer V” Psarakis hits a mix of gut-tensing growls and high-note melodicism.
Rob the Ripper explains in a statement that the song arose as the group were facing artistic adversity — notably, Sicksense underwent a handful of lineup changes just as Psarakis’ previous band, the Agonist, were breaking up.
In-song, the pair are weighing in on “feeling isolated, the frustrations of people misunderstanding you, and the unfortunate realities of facing those dark moments where you find yourself contemplating ending your own life.”
“As much as people talk about battling depression, the perspective is often that it’s a paralyzing sensation,” Psarakis adds. “I don’t think that’s the case, or maybe it just differs from person to person. For myself, I always felt like it was the opposite. You’re constantly moving, working, going through all the motions of life, but it never feels like you’re progressing. Point A to point B is like a circle and no matter how much you walk, you keep finding yourself at the start line.”
“In This Carousel,” they suggest, is about how depression is “not something that can just magically go away,” but something you can seek help for and hopefully work through.
You can check out the new single now via the neon-glowing music video up above.
Cross Me Twice is due out March 28th via Earache Records. The album follows a pair of EP releases and includes the group’s three 2024 singles: “Wildfires,” “On Repeat” and “Masquerade Parade.”