Sea of Green � Chemical Vacation 
Label: Music Cartel 
Rating: 
 

I'm sometimes accused of being rock purist. By that, I mean that I typically don't go for bands that have a similar sound to established bands. That's pissed off many of a reader of my reviews but most times the copy is inferior and I have to point that out. 

What does that have to do with Sea of Green?  My first impression when listening to this CD was here is a really good Alice in Chains knock off. The first song, "Angry Scars," really falls into the AIC category and in many ways these guys are much better at the AIC sound than say Godsmack. 

Upon further listen, I discovered there is more to these guys than simply ripping off AIC. Falling somewhere into the grunge / stoner rock field, Sea Of Green manage to carve out their own little niche by taking old school 70's hard rock and mixing it with AIC style grunge. Surprisingly, they pull it off. 

The AIC comparisons come in to mostly in the vocal department but some of the guitar phrasing and tones also have a familiar AIC ring to them. AIC fans will feel comfortable with most of the tracks but they do take off in some slightly different directions on some of the tracks. 

What makes it work for Sea of Green is their power and songwriting. Lesser songwriters would come out wholly derivative but Sea of Green capture their own identity somewhere along the way.  A band like Nickelback comes across with some of the same influences but where Nickelback still to their modern influences, Sea of Green go further to the band's that influenced groups like AIC. 

Sea of Green may be too derivative for some but they are worth giving a listen to and manage to put their own stamp on the music and more than adapt songwriters. 

Listen to samples and Purchase this CD online