The third full-length album from the suburban Boston band Cave In might well be the final nail in the coffin for many who have been fans of the band since their metal days.
1998’s singles collection Beyond Hypothermia and 1999’s Until Your Heart Stops presented Cave In as a force to be reckoned with, featuring pounding guitars, hyperactive drums, and the throat-shredding shouting of a succession of lead vocalists. Following Until Your Heart Stops, Cave In took a drastic turn toward a more spacey, progressive sound along the lines of Hum or Tool. In two years, the band released two decidedly more downtempo EP’s and 2000’s Jupiter before jumping ship from independent label Hydra Head Records and signing to entertainment mega-conglomo BMG’s RCA imprint.
The result is Antenna, a near-perfectly produced collection of accessible pop songs that leaves little hint of their metal past, and even avoids the prog-rock noodling of Jupiter, and will most certainly alienate even more fans of their metal days than Jupiter ever dared.
The album is expertly crafted, as almost every song is flawless in its production and execution. Unlike the band’s early work, not one note is out of place, and not one drum beat is off tempo.
This can be counterproductive at times, as some songs sound almost robotic. Stephen Brodsky’s crystal-clear voice at times sounds bored, as he tries to stay within the range of the song instead of letting his voice break more often. Where he does go outside of his vocal range a bit, for a couple of fleeting moments in “Stained Silver” or “Inspire,” the songs become much more infectiously energetic.
Antenna’s melodies and harmonies are somewhat unorthodox. Bassist Caleb Scofield complements Brodsky and Adam McGrath’s guitar work beautifully, as he strays from their melodies and throws each song into a whole new direction, particularly in the stunning “Breath of Water” or the nine-minute “Seafrost.”
About the only part of Cave In that has stayed constant since the early days is drummer John-Robert Conners. Conners plays like a madman throughout, and is still as tight and inventive as ever.
Antenna’s biggest missteps usually involve Brodsky’s lyrics. Brodsky is generally successful in painting vivid abstract imagery with his words, but his poetic attempts sometimes backfire, as in “Beautiful Son” (“Hair is finally growing back over his wounds/Still it makes him want to hurt the ones he loves” is particularly cringe-worthy). The bridge to “Youth Overrided” (“All these memories/bailing out on me/gone into the void/God must need them more anyway”) sounds more like Brodsky pining over a lost puppy.
Brodsky makes up for any lyrical mishaps with “Breath of Water,” a beautifully written cautionary tale about wandering out into the snow alone. The death of the song’s protagonist: “I’d rather spare the truth/from anyone who cares to know exactly how they found him” is somewhat bone-chilling over the thumping bass and a wash of effects-drenched guitars.
Unfortunately, all the talent in the world is still not going to win over all of Cave In’s previous fans. But for all its shortcomings, Antenna will most likely appeal to a very broad range of music fans who will listen and enjoy without any of the politics that come with being part of the independent metal scene.