Cave In have often been described as chameleons. However, those tree-dwelling lizards can really only change their color, which is a poor analog for the Boston quartet’s sonic shapeshifting abilities. They’re more like some sort of Lovecraftian cephalopod, changing its color, shape, and size at will. From the brutal metalcore of their early records to the soaring space rock of Antenna, Cave In has thrived on reinventing themselves.

But on Heavy Pendulum, they somehow manage to fit every facet of their career into a single—albeit massive—record. They follow all of their seemingly contradictory instincts to their breaking points, creating what might be the most Cave In-y Cave In record of all time.

The elephant in the room, of course, is Final Transmission, a collection of songs birthed out of demos by bassist Caleb Scofield after his tragic death. It seemed as perfect a swan song as any band could ever have. And by all accounts, that was the intention. But after playing a series of tribute shows with Converge bassist Nate Newton taking his place, it became clear that the spirit of Cave In wasn’t done.

And good thing too: from the opening blitz of “New Reality” to the epic twelve-minute closer “Wavering Angel,” every second of Heavy Pendulum shows a band still as vibrant as ever. Heavy hardcore riffs are put side by side with spacey guitars, brutal screams, and Stephen Brodsky’s trademark soaring vocals. There’s even some cheeky classic rock wankery a la Brodsky side project Mutoid Man’s cover series (see: the Led Zeppelin-esque title track).

As much as I love this record, I find it hard to describe in useful terms. The songs are like an eldritch entity that defies understanding, shifting in form before you’ve had a chance to understand what you’re looking at.  Take for instance “Blinded By A Blaze,” which transforms from delicate and atmospheric to crushingly heavy across a a run time that feels far more brief than it’s seven and a half minutes. Or take “Bloodspiller,” which satisfies both the fans of their more space rock material and their more earnestly metalcore stuff.

But one thing that is sure is that Heavy Pendulum is fiercely uncompromising. Where the melodic and aggressive portions of their career had at one point felt at odds with one another (the demos for Perfect Pitch Black found them kicked off of RCA, for instance), on this record they are at peace with being every part of themselves. They feel just as at ease playing plodding space metal tracks like “Nightmare Eyes” as blistering hardcore tracks like “Floating Skulls” (which, despite its brutal riffage, has one of the catchiest melodies on the album). And with its fourteen tracks spanning over seventy minutes, its the most ambitious thing Cave In has ever done. And honestly, it might be the most rewarding…even if I’ll probably end up taking it one disc at a time.