Reviews list for Cave In - Heavy Pendulum (2022)

In case you didn't know, Cave In is one of the most diverse rock/metal bands out there. Sometimes they can be metal/hardcore, other times they can be alt-rock with prog and psych tendencies. For 3 decades, they've been on their own innovative path that has spawn several side-projects.

Their previous album Final Transmission was praised by many as a highly respectable tribute to tragically passed bassist Caleb Scofield. Sadly, the overuse of their softer side distracted me from the positives. Heavy Pendulum sounds to me like a more proper tribute. Cave In has displayed their creativity much more than before by give the alt part of their sound from Jupiter more of the dark heavy energy from Until Your Heart Stops. It may just be their highest point of their career since the late 90s!

"New Reality" is an awesome discovery for me from this band. It sounds so zany and they have good relation with Converge, with that band's guitarist Kurt Ballou manning the album's production and Nate Newton as their new bassist after Caleb Scofield's fatal vehicular crash. Beautiful pieces like "Blood Spiller" just smell an Oscar for the band. Then "Floating Skulls" floats back into the prog-rock elements of Jupiter. The title track is a psychedelic metal jam, one that I can one of the best Cave In songs in so many years. "Pendulambient" is an interlude that stays strong and important to whatever concept this album has.

"Careless Offering" rolls through with its rock-on riffing. Then we take a doomy trip in "Blinded by a Blaze". I also found what is truly my favorite song in this new era of Cave In, "Amaranthine", having some muscular sludgy groove. The band then turns to a Voivod-ish angle in "Searchers of Hell". A more blues-filled tone covers "Nightmare Eyes", with some catchy bass practically from the Antenna era.

"Days of Nothing" is one more interlude. It segues to "Waiting for Love" with smooth cleans by Stephen Brodsky as the instrumentation swings like a soundtrack for walking a lonely road in the desert. The semi-acoustic "Reckoning" follows with vocals by Adam McGrath, almost like the band's own BTBAM "Desert of Song". At last, we've made it to Cave In's longest actual song to date, "Wavering Angel". It can catch Gateway listeners off-guard because of the 12-minute length, but as the more progressive fan I am, I'm quite used to that kind of length. The bass is crystal clear and the opening chords are so d*mn good. The song itself is the perfect ending epic for this excellent album, so it's an amazing reward for someone like me who only found this band about 20 years after their highest peak of success. This recording can surpass even Soundgarden for me, and I can consider this song probably my personal Gateway/Infinite track of 2022. Absolute perfection! Caleb Scofield would be proud. RIP

Heavy Pendulum is a masterful offering filled with what made Cave In the modern rock/metal legends they are. While their music is quite talented over the years, it wasn't until this album that they've proven how wonderful they are even after their early peak. And for that, Cave In deserve their praise!

Favorites: "New Reality", "Blood Spiller", "Heavy Pendulum", "Careless Offering", "Amaranthine", "Waiting for Love", "Wavering Angel"