With Antenna, Cave In reached the absolute apex of their brand of heavy alternative. Seeing no point in trying to remake a nearly perfect album, they shifted gears once again—this time going back into a heavier direction.
post metal
Record #540: Cave In – Jupiter (2000)
In all of my examinations of the nerdiest aspects of music critique, I have never found a band with a more convoluted creative arc than Cave In.
I was first exposed to the group a few years ago when I picked up White Silence in a lot of records that I bought to flip. It was an angular, abrasive piece of experimental metalcore that I was not into at all. I dismissed them as a band I just wasn’t into, and that was that.
Then a few weeks ago, a friend recommended Antenna, their major label breakthrough that blended alternative metal and space rock to make something that my friend described as “Deftones meets Sunny Day Real Estate.” After hearing the contrast, I delved deep into their discography to try to figure out what exactly happened.
Record #527: Emma Ruth Rundle – On Dark Horses (2018)
The last couple years, I’ve been noticing a trend of female singer-songwriters picking up electric guitars and coating their otherwise gentle compositions with thick layers of doom metal and shoegaze (see also: Chelsea Wolfe, King Woman). It’s a simple enough formula, but it works, and I am here for it. Continue reading
Record #518: God Is An Astronaut – Epitaph (2018)
Sucker that I am for post rock, I’ve never given much time to Ireland’s God Is An Astronaut. I’ve heard the name plenty, and I had a couple of their albums on one of my work playlists, but I never paid close attention to it.
But when I saw that they released a new record, I made a note of it. I haven’t noticed many good post rock records this year, and I had a hunger.
And by God (who is an astronaut), this record satisfies that hunger.
Record #497: BLAK – Between Darkness and Light (2017)
Post rock is a strange beast. While there’s no shortage of climax-chasing, effect-laden, instrumental guitar bands, it can sometimes feel like very few post rock acts are able to use that template to create authentically engaging music. Most of them are just boring.
But BLAK isn’t most bands.
Record #485: Lantlôs – Melting Sun (2014)
Every once in a while, I’ll hear a record that ushers me into new revelations, that shift my musical center within the moments of the first song.
Albums like Sunbather, Panopticon, and Palms self-titled album.
Melting Sun as firmly among them.
Top Ten Metal Albums For People Who Think They Don’t Like Metal
Heavy metal is a rich genre, but to the casual listener, it often just sounds like a bunch of noise. The blistering riffs, machine-gun drums, and screaming vocals can send many people running as far away as they can. And for a long while, that included me.
But, through a fortuitous string of events, I discovered that I love metal, with all of its raw power and crushing beauty.
But there are many metal records that offer all of the same heaviness with a healthy dose of conventional beauty. If you’ve been curious about metal, here are ten albums that offer all the power of heavy metal without all the chaos. Continue reading
Record #373: ISIS – Wavering Radiant (2009)
By 2009, ISIS didn’t have much room to grow. Oceanic had already stripped every scale of their nu-metal origin, Panopticon had established themselves as the Platonic ideal of post-metal, and In the Absence of Truth proved that there was room for groove in their glacially paced sludge. So what could they do for their closing number?
On Wavering Radiant, they turn it all up. The heavy bits are heavier, the atmospheric passages are even spacier—Ghost Key approaches metalcore in between ambient passages. Aaron Turner’s vocal performance matches these extremes in kind. His clean vocals have never been smoother, nor have his screams so punished his throat.This disc is also much more melodic than previous outings.
Keyboardist Bryant Clifford Meyer has a much more prominent role here, his organ and electric piano carrying many of the lighter sections along with Jeff Caxide’s watery bass guitar. The electric guitars are riffier, occasionally flirting with classic doom metal. Aaron Harris’ drum parts frequently roll on the toms, maintaining the increased rhythm that made In The Absence of Truth so enjoyable.
While ISIS disbanded the year after (claiming they had said everything they had to say as ISIS), Wavering Radiant is impressively prescient. The quiet moments point toward Jeff, Bryant, and Harris’ work as dream metal supergroup Palms, while the crunching heaviness and Turner’s ragged screams foretell his tenure with sludge giants Sumac–both formidable projects (Palms’ debut is one of my favorite records ever, metal or otherwise). This album captures them at a time before their present careers, when, for but a fleeting moment, they were ISIS. And Wavering Radiant has all the best parts of it.
Keyboardist Bryant Clifford Meyer has a much more prominent role here, his organ and electric piano carrying many of the lighter sections along with Jeff Caxide’s watery bass guitar. The electric guitars are riffier, occasionally flirting with classic doom metal. Aaron Harris’ drum parts frequently roll on the toms, maintaining the increased rhythm that made In The Absence of Truth so enjoyable.
While ISIS disbanded the year after (claiming they had said everything they had to say as ISIS), Wavering Radiant is impressively prescient. The quiet moments point toward Jeff, Bryant, and Harris’ work as dream metal supergroup Palms, while the crunching heaviness and Turner’s ragged screams foretell his tenure with sludge giants Sumac–both formidable projects (Palms’ debut is one of my favorite records ever, metal or otherwise). This album captures them at a time before their present careers, when, for but a fleeting moment, they were ISIS. And Wavering Radiant has all the best parts of it.
Record #349: Jesu – Conqueror (2007)
Jesu’s career is what happens when a member of a celebrated metal band (Godflesh, in this case) embarks on a sensitive singer-songwriter solo career but forgets to change his sonic palette.
That might sound reductive, but it’s why this album works so well. Thousands of musicians have sung these sorts of songs on their acoustic guitars (see: Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, James Taylor, Phosphorsecent, Fleet Foxes…that’s without even trying).
But few had the inspired idea of pairing those gentle melodies with huge walls of crunching metal guitars, glistening synths, and crashing drums. Justin Broadrick’s is a gentle voice in the eye of a hurricane, creating one of the most spellbinding records to ever come out of the metal camp.
But few had the inspired idea of pairing those gentle melodies with huge walls of crunching metal guitars, glistening synths, and crashing drums. Justin Broadrick’s is a gentle voice in the eye of a hurricane, creating one of the most spellbinding records to ever come out of the metal camp.
Record #332: ISIS – In The Absence Of Truth (2006)
After the twin giant steps of Oceanic and Panopticon, you might criticize In the Absence of Dreaming as being too safe a bet (like the band themselves have done). But then again, who doesn’t take a second to enjoy the view after climbing a mountain?