Cave In bassist goes spelunking with mixed results.
Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors
[2.5/5] The fact that Zozobra leader Caleb Scofield also plays bass in Cave In is something you need to know immediately because he employs an identically punishing growl and offsetting, distortion-smeared singing that's a dead ringer to Cave In frontman Stephen Brodsky's technique. In many other circumstances it could be a trivial bit, but now it's merely an unavoidable comparison. Sure, you can point to Zozobra's usage of industrial-tinged, earthy electronics ("Levitator," "Peripheral Lows"), or the bad Hydra Head cliché of repetitive, bass-heavy droning, but both don't necessarily create positive deviations from recent Cave In material. Whereas Brodsky and Scofield manage to play off each other like pros, Scofield shows a weird ambivalence to his vocal style choices on
Harmonic Tremors, with his growling and clean singing following each other rather awkwardly, and meandering, metallic space rock filling in the musical gaps. Sometimes things glimmer with the promise of Zozobra's intended offerings of earth-shattering pounding ("The Blessing," "Invisible Wolves"), but ultimately they fall short.
(HYDRA HEAD) Brian Shultz
Official Website: http://www.hydrahead.com
Post a Comment