ALBUM REVIEW: Glass Enclosed Nerve Center – Caustic Casanova
There are many times when listening to a new album where you have a strong idea of what to expect before pressing play and losing yourself in the record. The only thing to be certain of when listening to CAUSTIC CASANOVA is to expect the unexpected, and new record Glass Enclosed Nerve Center is certainly consistent with that. Their self-described genre agnostic style is filled to the brim with jarringly acute destructive riffs ever-changing to keep you on your toes.
Any thirst for riffs can be quenched from the off with opener Anubis Rex, a track filled with exuberant hope and a youthful energy unrelenting for almost a minute and a half before the vocals enter. This upbeat feel hits a slightly different nerve to the rest of the album, resembled in the end refrain “I thought I was in love before I knew you”. There is occasionally a tone akin to PIXIES in the vocals as they cut through with a sting above the persuasive rhythms from the combination of Francis Beringer and Stefanie Zaenker leading the line. Their voices complement each other well, sitting in a similar range to one another and allowing their song-writing to shine through as they swap from unified powerful hooks to entangling harmonies with ease.
Despite the rapidly-changing and often unpredictable riffs throughout each track, CAUSTIC CASANOVA have a talent for retaining continuity and natural feel during the cacophony of changes. This being the first record to feature second guitarist Jake Kimberley who joined the outfit in 2019, it feels elevated from previous releases. The interplay between Kimberley and longstanding guitarist Andrew Yonki is constructed with precision, even harking to THIN LIZZY in the opener with their directly harmonised melodies, doubling for their dominating riffs to really add impact in contrast. Lead single Lonestar is easily the heaviest track on the album; it’s full of raucous dissonance, and also driven psychedelia from cleverly interweaving vocal harmonies and almost tribal wailings. The main contender for this accolade would be Shrouded Coconut, featuring a monstrous sludgy ending to the call of “the new religion”, and we certainly count ourselves as converts.
Perhaps the grooviest riff on the album goes to A Bailer Con Cuarentena with rampaging guitars, and almost dance-inspired party offbeat drums. The playful rhythms throughout are infectious, almost tongue and cheek at some points with the addition of cowbell and barraging blast beats in the latter half. The guitars will likely take most of the acclaim and rightly so with their tasteful complexities, but the rhythm section truly binds the whole ensemble together, in particular Zaenker on drums. Complex and arresting at best, she often grabs the listener with slight rhythmic variations begging you to be caught off guard while galvanising everything with her tasteful arresting grooves. She grabs the adorned chaos by the scruff of the neck and takes us with it.
If anyone is left in any doubt about their genre-swapping credentials this deep into the album, then look no further than 22-minute epic Bull Moose Against The Sky, which opens with a folk sea shanty-inspired chorus which moves swiftly into a doomy progressive masterpiece. Certainly the most dramatic track on the album personified in Beringer’s vocal performance screaming into the void “who’s side are you on?”, it features perhaps the only moment on the album that could be characterised as gentle. While perhaps songs of such magnitude aren’t to everybody’s taste, you certainly have to respect the ingenuity to tackle such a feat. It shows almost all aspects of CAUSTIC CASANOVA’s extensive range, but we still wouldn’t doubt that they may find even more sounds than are on display here.
Glass Enclosed Nerve Center is unrelenting, rarely taking a moment to breathe from its distorted theme and absorbing rhythms. The constant hits of energy are something to behold, grasping you and leaving you eager for the next hit of calculated revolution. Their masterful approach to each instrument and nuanced arrangements could easily become self-indulgent to lesser songwriters. This quartet however fearlessly take each song wherever it needs to go regardless of how many corners it takes to get there.
Rating: 8/10
Glass Enclosed Nerve Center is set for release on October 7th via Magnetic Eye Records.
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