Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cavity - Supercollider


Label: Man's Ruin
Year: 1998

I know Hydrahead reissued this record after the fact and added two songs, and omitted one from the original release, but I don't own that, I own the Man's Ruin version, so that's what you get.

In a long and distinguished career peddling southern fried sludge, Cavity went out on a high note. A really, really high note. Prior to Supercollider, Cavity were the Florida version of Eyehategod, misanthropic, bathed in feedback, strangled vocals, and bludgeoning at every turn, they were really good, but had yet to release a record that would elevate them from the Florida swamps. Then, along comes this monster, holy shit. This album smoothed out some of the rough edges, and created massive waves of warm, suffocating tone. The songs ebb and flow, always heavy, but now allowed more dynamic breadth than before. Even the vocals had gone from screeching to bellowing, again, honing the attack. This record should have been huge, but with Man's Ruin about to fold under financial pressure, it just kinda languished. By the time Hydrahead got around to re-releasing it again, I think the thunder was gone.  It's too bad, because with all the faux stoner metal around at the time, the world needed Cavity's Black Sabbath by way of Black Flag assault. They stuck around and put out two more albums, both of which are really good, but Supercollider is the turning point of their sound. Essential.

I once had Cavity play my house in Athens, Georgia, and even though there were only a handful of people there, they still slayed, threatening to cave the entire house in. Interesting sidebar, my roommate slept through their set, a mere 10' away from the band atop a pile of his dirty clothes. Try doing that. Also, I learned that day that Cavity bassist Daniel Gorostiaga was in New Age Records straight edge band Powerhouse, and we shared a deep admiration for Chain Of Strength. Nice huh? Also, they had a member of the Miami band Load playing with them, and were perplexed that I could be, in my own words, "a huge Load fan". That dude was left on the side of the road before the end of that tour.

They have also had among their ranks members of Floor, Torche, Dove, and Where Fear And Weapons Meet, along with others. In fact, Henry Wilson plays on this record. 

 
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