CAPSULE
Blue
(Robotic Empire)

TOTAL FUCKING
DESTRUCTION
Peace, Love and Total Fucking
Destruction
(Enucleation)

ZOZOBRA / CLOUDS
Bird of Prey / We Are Above You
(Hydra Head)

LOS LLAMARADA
Against the Day
(Avant!)

CELESTINE
At the Borders of Arcadia
(Milkweed)

LIKE BLACK HOLES IN 
THE SKY
Tribute to Syd Barrett

(Dwell)

BEFORE THE RAIN
...One Day Less

(Major Label Industries)

MORE REVIEWS

At this point I am just so fucking happy that  Cave In caved in. We may have lost (the band hasn’t officially broken up though) one of the most interesting proposal in hardcore metal of the last decades, but judging by the solo work of some of its members, we are all much better for it. Both Zozobra (Cave In’s vocalist and bassist Caleb Scofield) and Clouds (Cave In’s guitarist Adam McGrath)  are by now unleashing their sophomore efforts so how are these two faring in the current underground musical landscape?

A couple of years ago Scofield surprised us with Harmonic Tremors; a potent record of striking harshness but that also contained several passages of more accessible sounds. In it, we could find several points of reference where Zozobra seemed to be paying homage to acts like Godflesh and even to more alternative heavy acts like Chum (that’s what I said in my review of Harmonic Tremors), but this time around the results are much more acerbic. In many respects, Bird of Prey is a much sludgier and grittier work.  The first three songs are full harshness, “Heavy With Shadows” kickstarts with a bass that sounds like a tractor getting revved up and “Treacherous” conceals an afterthought of a  guitar solo, elsewhere, an enveloping riff rolls out a swift sick groove. Occasionally, clean vocal lines back up the chorus, but the greatest part of Bird of Prey is spent rolling out mid tempo tunes filled with angry tones and bitter overtones. “Laser Eyes” closes out in full stoner mode; two minutes of psychedelic feedback are followed by five minutes of indecision; killer grooves and more psychedelica. Were the rest of the songs as bold as this one, Bird of Prey would have flown more freely.

Of Clouds’ debut Legendary Demo I said ‘this guy is going for the jugular and he isn’t wasting time’. That album flawlessly mixed stoner rock with rootsy classic rock influences in quite the revelatory manner and while We Are Above You is entirely a more modern and more dynamic beast, it still lets some of those influences seep in. The opening stuck up riff of “Empires in Basement” reminded me of Only Living Witness’ “Prone Mortal Form” which comes to reveal that both artists may not only have location in common while the gorgeous ever morphing slow number “Slow Day” recalls an already mutated modern day Pink Floyd. That’s intriguing because there isn’t really much of progressive rock to Clouds, but McGrath’s willingness offer an album based on variety is evident by the cocky display of admirable range. Truthfully, We Are Above You almost lives up to its title.

Zozobra MySpace                                  x

Clouds MySpace                                       x

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