''Heavy Pendulum'' is the seventh studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Cave In Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of '' Until Your Heart Stops'' through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalco ...

, released on May 20, 2022, through

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The ...

. This is the band's first album with bassist/backing vocalist

Nate Newton Nathaniel Isaac Newton (born December 20, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandit ...

, though late bassist/vocalist

Caleb Scofield Caleb Mark Scofield (October 6, 1978 – March 28, 2018) was an American musician who was a bassist and singer mostly known for the alternative metal band Cave In, and his own sludge metal band Zozobra. He was killed in an auto accident. Caleb wa ...

still has a presence on the record.

Background

In July 2021, Cave In signed to

and announced its seventh studio album will be released through the label. The album's title was revealed as ''Heavy Pendulum'' with the release of the single "New Reality" on March 15, 2022. The album's second single, "Blinded by a Blaze", was released on April 5. The album's third single, "Blood Spiller", was released on April 26. The fourth single, "Reckoning", was released on May 10; the song was written entirely by guitarist Adam McGrath. The album was produced by

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...

guitarist

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...

, who produced Cave In's debut ''

Until Your Heart Stops ''Until Your Heart Stops'' is the debut album by metalcore band Cave In. It was released in 1998 on Hydra Head Records. ''Until Your Heart Stops'' has been regarded as a landmark release in the metallic hardcore genre.J. Bennett, "Who's That Gi ...

''. "New Reality" features a riff that was written by late bassist/vocalist

in 2011. Additionally, "Amaranthine" features lyrics that were written by Scofield.

Musical style and lyrical themes

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' described lead single and opening track "New Reality" as leaning "into the quartet's sludgier inclinations." Jon Hadusek from '' Consequence'' referred to the song's riff as "heavy sludge and

stoner metal Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Slee ...

." Second single, "Blinded by a Blaze", has been described as

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal music, heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis (band), Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture (music), te ...

. Nicholas Senior of ''

New Noise Magazine ''New Noise Magazine'' is an American music magazine that focuses on artist news, band interviews, album reviews and underground culture. It was founded in February 2013, by Lisa Root, who had previously been the co-founder and editor-in-chief o ...

'' described the album as stoner metal, comparing it to

Red Fang Red Fang is an American rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2005. It is composed of guitarist and vocalist Bryan Giles, bassist and vocalist Aaron Beam, guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman. The band has released five studi ...

. Additionally, the album has been noted as having a strong

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

influence and "employing a wide-ranging amalgam of brooding

post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...

and "

Creeping Death "Creeping Death" is a song by American thrash metal band Metallica. It was released on November 23, 1984, as the lead and only commercial single from their album ''Ride the Lightning'' (" Fade to Black" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls", from the sam ...

"-era

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...

". "Blood Spiller" was written in response to several events that occurred in 2020. Frontman

Stephen Brodsky Stephen Brodsky is an American rock musician, best known as a member of Cave In, Mutoid Man, New Idea Society and Old Man Gloom. He also has a solo career and is a former member of Converge (band), Converge, Kid Kilowatt, Parasite and Pet Geni ...

stated:

If you laid out the timeline for 2020 like a recipe, it might look something like this: global pandemic +
lockdowns A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...
+ worldwide protests over the wrongful death of
George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...
+ election year = cocktail for end times. Somewhere in that concoction, we found ingredients for a new Cave In album. Blood Spiller is the sound of us swallowing it, getting ripped on the horrors within, and coming down to reflect on it through song.

Track listing

Personnel

Cave In *

– lead vocals, lead guitar *Adam McGrath – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Reckoning" *

– bass, backing vocals, tambourine *John-Robert Conners – drums ;Production *

– production, mixing *Zach Weeks – assistant producer, additional mixing *Richey Beckett – artwork

Charts

References

{{Cave In 2022 albums Cave In albums Relapse Records albums Albums produced by Kurt Ballou