Cave In - Until Your Heart Stops (1999)^{Release ID: 1805}

Mathcore's development has been helped out by a few bands that are far more metalcore. Cave In took on a more progressive-ish side of metalcore that might make you think of mathcore though it has only reached elements of that subgenre, and the end result sounds massive!

Their debut Until Your Heart Stops shows what a boundary-breaking band they can be and would make you up for many listens. Instead of going as melodic as Killswitch Engage, expected is the violence of changing rhythms you might also hear in The Dillinger Escape Plan, Coalesce, and Converge, the latter's members Kurt Ballou and Jacob Bannon appearing a few times in the album. Many different elements form the uniqueness in Cave In's mighty sound, for a new underground attitude.

The two-minute opening punch of "Moral Eclipse" pounds through with killer energy, complete with distorted guitar breakdowns, driving percussion, and screaming vocal alternation. "Terminal Deity" has repetitive riffing but it's OK because of its evolution into madness that you can understand more in later listens. "Juggernaut" sounds more progressive but in a beginner's level, with a storming riff onslaught unleashing energetic hardcore, though there are twists back and forth into strange melody, jazzing up things while making the song worth headbanging to.

A longer definition of the album is the 8-minute epic "The End of Our Rope is a Noose". There's an ambient soundscape Isis would have later, before a mid-paced blend of progressive metal and metalcore, sounding slow before a ricochet into chaos. Then we have a psychedelic stoner bridge before the nastily great heaviness rises once more. Normally I don't like bringing interludes into detailed light, but "Segue 1" stands out as a cool interlude to breathe in for a minute. You can consider that one instrumental experimental emocore! Then there's a sudden jump into the title track, with the most Slayer-ish riff-fight you'll ever witness, before some last melodic twists and concluding with the noise-ridden interlude "Segue 2". Following this is "Halo of Flies" with stomping guitar and percussion effects, and vocals ranging from harsh to soft.

"Bottom Feeder" is an under-3-minute mid-tempo clean-sung track that reminds some of Helmet in the semi-relaxing verse, before some more ugly yet beautiful noise. It's forgotten yet so unforgettable! Then "Segue 3" is another brief weird noise interlude. "Ebola" has the most frantic intro, yet it continues as the most melodic song here. The 14-minute "Controlled Mayhem Then Erupts" travels the mathy metalcore lands one more time before sailing the ambient noise seas into the unknown...

Until Your Heart Stops is not an album to simply summarize, but it's known as an interesting diverse addition to the metalcore revolution. It's the perfect way to start this band's career that would end up taking a less heavy turn. Don't let their legacy stop!

RIP bassist Caleb Scofield

Favorites: "Moral Eclipse", "Terminal Deity", "The End of Our Rope is a Noose", "Until Your Heart Stops", "Bottom Feeder", "Controlled Mayhem Then Erupts"