ALBUM REVIEW: Cosmic Tears – Las Cruces

Connoisseurs of classic doom, rejoice! The long awaited return of San Antonio’s LAS CRUCES is finally here. It’s already been 12 years since their last record, Dusk, and a whopping 24 years since their transcendental Ringmaster that remains a staple of 90s doom and its subsequent evolution to all we have today. Concerned more with quality over quantity, Cosmic Tears is just their fourth album since they formed in 1994, and their longest effort to date clocking in at almost an hour.

Over the past three decades, LAS CRUCES have proven themselves to be keen purveyors of riffs, and there are plenty on show once again here on Cosmic Tears. Their guitar tone is as lush and crunching as ever, and their masterful combination of blues and metal results in a fantastic sense of groove in the musicality of the album. Their penchant for traditional doom gives us a selection of thunderous mid-tempo numbers, and instrumental album opener Altar Of The Seven Sorrows sets the sullen scene. The track itself doesn’t do too much across its runtime, but it blasts to life and keeps the maximum attack rolling throughout. Duelling guitars courtesy of Mando Tovar and George Trevino give a real sense of ceremony as expectations mount for what’s to follow.

The title track offers our first look at everything that LAS CRUCES are about by adding vocals into the mix: soaring, power metal-adjacent melodies delivered with aplomb by Mark Zamarron as the track swells. It reaches a point where it feels like something colossal is about to happen, but there is no pay off; instead they revert to the chorus they’ve already rinsed one too many times. For a track that lasts nearly eight minutes, it’s just missing that final sweet something and stagnates before reaching its conclusion.

Sadly, the majority of this record feels like a collection of copies – song structures are largely the same, similar tricks and twists are employed and the whole album leans a bit too heavily on Zamarron‘s admittedly spectacular range. Egyptian Winter needs calling out as well for carrying with it some frustrating production choices, namely an insistence to echo the vocals on “the Pharoah King constructs”. What comes out the other side is a muddled mix that frustratingly struggles to stay on the beat and takes away from the grandeur this track should carry.

Part of what made Ringmaster such a colossal record was the grittiness laced throughout. From the vocals to the riffs themselves, something felt dangerous and edgy about it. A lot of that is missing on Cosmic Tears. The closest we get comes late in the album with Holy Hell which is far and away the heaviest number on the record. The guitars crunch, there’s a bit more bite to Zamarron‘s vocal delivery and the drums feel unstoppable. This barrage is marked by Terminal Drift which follows as a brooding slice of atmosphere and ambience to settle the tensions once more. This one-two combo stands out as a particular highlight and reminds us what this band is capable of.

Those who fell in love with LAS CRUCES‘ older material may find themselves wanting here on Cosmic Tears on a largely singular release. While the vocals are impressive and the riffs are plentiful, this is an album that rumbles and rambles on just a little too long for the few ideas put forward. Worth dipping a toe, but this may not be setting many worlds alight this year.

Rating: 6/10

Cosmic Tears is out now via Ripple Music.

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