ALBUM REVIEW: Heavy Pendulum – Cave In
Progressive post-hardcore legends CAVE IN have never played by anyone’s rules except their own. Rising through the ranks with the likes of BOTCH and CONVERGE, they would soon push past the admittedly loose shackles of metallic hardcore to forge a sound and identity that remains largely without peer or parallel. Their legacy stands unblemished, and for a minute it seemed they might never add to it again. 2018 saw the tragic passing of bassist/vocalist Caleb Scofield, with 2019’s Final Transmission – a collection of the band’s final recordings with Scofield – leaving some to wonder whether that would mark the conclusion to the CAVE IN story. Fortunately, it didn’t. This Friday they return with Heavy Pendulum – their first full studio record in over a decade. Sprawling across a fulsome 70-minute runtime, it’s a triumph by just about every metric one could imagine.
Perhaps the most obvious comparison point for Heavy Pendulum lies in 2005’s Perfect Pitch Black. Released after a self-professedly frustrating experience on a major label, that record saw the band consolidate much of what they’d done previously into a unique concoction of space rock, post-hardcore, psychedelia and much more. This album does something similar, drawing from the band’s immensely deep well while pushing forward at the same time. It’s clear from the outset too, with the opening pair of New Reality and Blood Spiller alone ticking many of what you might call CAVE IN’s most quintessential boxes. The sludgy heft of White Silence, the soaring anthemia of Jupiter, the metallic urgency of their earlier work; it’s all there and then some, but never does it feel like a band coasting on former glories. Their boldness remains, as indeed does the quality of their output.
Of course, comparisons to Perfect Pitch Black make a fair bit of sense considering CAVE IN’s current circumstances; frontman Stephen Brodsky even acknowledged as much when we spoke to him and drummer JR Conners for an upcoming feature. Their first full-length release without Scofield, Heavy Pendulum finds the band once again assessing their place in the world – both sonically and otherwise. Joining them on this journey is their long-time friend and CONVERGE bassist Nate Newton. Having collaborated with each of the members in various other projects, Newton was the only man for the job really. He slots in comfortably, bringing much of the bellowed ferocity you could often count on from Scofield. Their late bandmate’s presence remains too though; the aforementioned New Reality features a riff he wrote back in 2011, for example, while his lyrics fuel a raging mid-album highlight in the form of eighth track Amaranthine.
As mentioned however, Heavy Pendulum isn’t just about looking back; in fact, some of its finest moments come when CAVE IN seek to expand their already broad horizons. Tenth track Nightmare Eyes delivers perhaps the doomiest heft they’ve ever mustered for example. It comes rolling into view with Newton’s rumbling bass and Conners‘ steady drums before soon thundering into the kind of gigantic riffing groove that would make SLEEP proud – albeit with the band’s own spacey embellishments. Elsewhere, guitarist Adam McGrath takes lead vocals for the first time in a while on the delta blues-esque Reckoning. He seems intentionally preacherlike here, asking listeners “How about a revival?” over hand claps and fuzzed out and acoustic guitars in one of the album’s most instantly memorable offerings.
Honestly though, everything here is top notch. Heavy Pendulum is the sound of a band firing on all cylinders for a full 70 minutes. From the bluesy swagger of the title track, to the smouldering menace of second single Blinded By A Blaze, to the riff-laden fury of Searchers Of Hell, it soon reaches a point where to speak of highlights would have us going through the record in its entirety. Broken up by a couple of well-placed psychedelic interludes, the overall effect is one of an impressive and considered journey. It all reaches a head with Wavering Angel – a staggering 12-minute epic that builds from quiet acoustic delicacy to a grand and soaring conclusion that gives the album the sense of climax it deserves.
Ultimately then, Heavy Pendulum sees CAVE IN add another peak to a discography littered with many others. It sounds great, it flows brilliantly, and it’s definitely best taken in as a complete and single work. That may be asking a lot of some, but, like much of CAVE IN’s work, the more you give it, the more you seem to get back. This pendulum may swing for quite some time, but rest assured every second and detail is worth it. Long live these total legends.
Rating: 10/10
Heavy Pendulum is set for release on May 20th via Relapse Records.
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