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Album Details

• Artist: Engine Down
• Album: Demure
• Label: Lovitt
• Year of Release: 2002
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-08-09

A month or so ago (2004) I was fortunate enough to catch Sparta at the University here in Calgary. It was just before their new album (Porcelain) came out and they showcased almost the whole album at the show. They brought along a couple of great bands and one of them was VA-based Engine Down. They play a very hypnotic style of rock, some may even consider it emo but this music is almost too smart and dark to be called emo. They have a new album coming out this year on Lookout but that will not be released until later this summer. With that being the case I decided to pick up their last album at the show and was given one of the most original pieces of work I have heard from a band in a long time. Why this band isn't bigger is beyond me. The songs all seem to have a bittersweet element to them. There are a lot of minor keys that are toyed with and yet there is always a ray of hope due to the vocals of Keeley Davis. For those of you in Calgary, you might liken his singing style to that of Zuckerbaby's Andy Eichhorn only without the pop overtones. If ZB had kept a more serious sound to their music they might still be around. Engine Down's wall of guitars at times overpowers Davis but for the most part, the mix remedies this and you are held captivated by his lyrics. Listen to the fairly mild "Detour" for some of the more accessible moments on the album. "Pantomime" is a little more aggressive and yet one of the cool moments on the album. They also know how to switch it up as shown on the ballad "Closed Call", complete with female backing vocals and piano accompaniment. Demure is an album that requires careful exploration. I may have overlooked this band had I not seen their hypnotizing live show.

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