In the late ‘90s, basic metalcore started to evolve into something else with more intricate songwriting, odd-time signatures, and even some actual musicianship. The heavy hitters in the scene were the three big C’s – Converge, Coalesce, and Cave In (The fourth on the Mount Rushmore of ‘90s mathcore being either Botch or Dillinger Escape Plan, we’ll let you argue it out in the comments. Also: MotherFUCK the actual Mount Rushmore.) And while Cave In diverged off the metal path, they quickly formed their own unique sound with undeniable musical creativity and talent. We spent a lot of sleepless nights (actually just one night) getting sucked into the event horizon of their impressive spacey catalog and have emerged on the other side as an enlightened celestial being ready to share our knowledge. (P.S. Stop using Mt. Rushmore as an example of good things.)
7. Antenna (2003)
Neckbeard-y hot take incoming: This is the least Cave In sounding Cave In album. How many times have you seen this story? Band known for a certain sound gets signed to major label, releases a too-polished, overly-produced album that does not appeal to wider middle America audience while simultaneously alienating their core fans. “But… but… isn’t this their most popular album?” Yes, and “The Phantom Menace” was the highest-grossing movie of all time until “Avatar” came out and those are both terrible.
Play it again: “Seafrost” and “Breath of Water” These actually sound like outtakes from “Jupiter”
Skip it: “Penny Racer” We bet some record label exec told them they needed an alt radio-friendly hit and they tried to eek one out.
6. Final Transmission (2019)
This is a mixed bag of unfinished demos that possibly never got to be refined due to the sudden death of bassist Caleb Scofield. There are still great moments here though, some with an understandably somber tone. On “Shake My Blood” the band’s love of Failure is put on full display. Given time this could’ve been one of their best releases.
Play it again: “Shake My Blood” and “Winter Window”
Skip it: “Lanterna” Sounds like a first draft of something that needed some rewriting
5. Heavy Pendulum (2022)
Ok, let’s start with the good news. Cave In are still active and put out an album in 2022, Nate Newton from Converge, Jesuit, and Doomriders amongst others is now playing bass and doing the screaming vocals, the first two songs are absolute ragers. Things start to get a little hit-or-miss afterward though. It’s tough to put on our finger on it but something just feels off in some of these songs. You know like when the cast of an old TV show does some hamfisted reunion and you can just tell everyone is just tired and maybe a little strung out? It’s kinda like that.
Play it again: “New Reality,” “Blood Spille,r” and “Careless Offering.” Too bad there aren’t more songs like these
Skip it: “Waiting For Love” The riffs are there but man, the whole thing just makes us uncomfortable
4. Perfect Pitch Black (2005)
After their brief stint on major label RCA, Cave In spent a year or so licking their wounds from the experience and returned to their home on Hydra Head and to a sound closer to what many fans remembered. They rediscovered the heavier metalcore sound mixed with the spacey operatic elements while dialing up the experimental weirdness a bit. Most bands after their big-time record deal falls apart typically break off to do self-indulgent solo projects or even worse, form a “supergroup.” Luckily they were able to course-correct here though and avoid the cringey burnout phase.
Play it again: “Trepanning” Fuck yeah
Skip it: “Tension in the Ranks” Uh-oh, was this leftover from “Antenna”?
Honorable Mention: Beyond Hypothermia (1998)
Not included in the ranking since it isn’t a studio album but a collection of their first hardcore-era 7”s and various songs from compilations with a revolving door of vocalists. Most of these songs were written while the band was still in high school which is astonishing when you think about how most high school bands sound like the inside of a Guitar Center on some kind of “play all of our instruments at once” day.
Play it again: “Crossbearer” We dare you to find a hotter opening song
Skip it: “Crambone” Or at least skip the first 8 minutes until the Metallica medley starts
3. White Silence (2011)
For many die-hard followers of Cave In, this was their least favorite release on first listen. But just like how George Costanza was able to get a woman to be interested in him by repeatedly dropping a little earworm “Cuh-STAN-za,” this started to grow on people also. (Seinfeld references are still relevant, right?) They went to a weirdo realm on this but kept that shit heavy. Stephen Brodsky takes a bit of a backseat on vocals here and lets Scofield’s screams do the heavy (pun intended) lifting.
Play it again: “Vicious Circles”
Skip it: “Iron Decibels” We appreciate it but, nah
2. Jupiter (2000)
A year prior to “Jupiter” Cave In released the “Creative Eclipses” EP which teased out a new direction the band was heading in musically. “Jupiter” picks up right where “Eclipses” left off and yes, the mosh parts and the screaming were gone but what was left was something entirely new. And much like its namesake Jupiter, the album feels like a massive presence with weight that draws you into its orbit of celestial violence and beauty. (Dear reader, please submit the last line of this blurb to the fine folks who hand out the Pulitzer Prize, they are going to shit themselves.)
Play it again: “Big Riff”
Skip it: Trying to get all Pitchfork-y in your album reviews
1. Until Your Heart Stops (1998)
We’re ending this ranking with their first album which probably seems like we’re just being lazy in our writing but (need joke here). After burning through a few frontmen, the group became a four-piece and Brodsky took over vocal duties on both singing and screaming for the first and only time. Not many in the mathy metalcore genre of the time could’ve pulled off an ambitious 8-minute epic space odyssey like “The End of Our Rope is a Noose” without it being a catastro-fucking-phe but Cave In sure did it.
Play it again: The whole thing – even the “Segue” songs
Skip it: Being a lazy Hard Times writer who can’t even end a review without (need another joke here)