Comets On Fire

Avatar

[5/5] There’s a lot more to Comets On Fire then Orange amps and slip-on Vans. Over the course of their career, the band have done for spacey resin-rock what At The Drive-In (and later the Mars Volta) did for post-hardcore by dragging something totally new, kicking and screaming, out of the old. Interestingly, Avatar is more accessible than the pipebomb fury of 2004’s Blue Cathedral, successfully managing to shoehorn a plethora of influences (tribal, stoner, even “progadelic”) while leaving room for droning dual guitars to collide with bass lines for what seems like infinity. The band really start to bear their fangs on tracks (“Holy Teeth,” “Sour Smoke”) that growl with animal instinct and iron-on-T-shirt allure. And the haunting closer, “Hatched Upon The Age,” will stick in your head long after you’ve turned the stereo off for the night. Clearly, Avatar is further proof that Comets On Fire are one of the most relevant bands of this decade. (SUBPOP) Casey Lynch



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