Curl Up And Die
…But The Past Ain’t Through With Us
Revelation
This would probably be labeled as a hardcore release, if hardcore was a hell of a lot slower and sludgier, more adventuresome and required its devotees to have a math-rock-esque love for time changes and complexity theory. That is to say, it’s good stuff. …But The Past Ain’t Through With Us is this Las Vegas band’s third release, another EP following hot on the heels of their last one (predictably titled We May Be Through With The Past), released earlier this year.
Once you get past the awesome album artwork and the silly/stupid song titles, you’ll find material that is at once both devastatingly powerful and surprisingly cerebral. CUAD kicks your teeth in and keeps you on your toes, infusing angular post-rock qualities and moments of lush, lulling beauty into their tough-guy sound without sacrificing any of the brutality that serves as their meal ticket. Add two cups Isis, three parts Converge and a dash of …Trail of Dead. Maybe a little arsenic for flavor. Shake vigorously. That’s CUAD.
After the first three bruising tracks, the final song on the EP almost seems a little out of place at first, but it’s by far the most interesting track on the disc. At 12 minutes long, “God is in his heaven, All is right with the world” builds from dreamy guitar work and eerie whispered vocals to the more aggressive distorted guitar meets machine-gun drumming and tortured screams to which we’re more accustomed. And then the melodics are back again, like waves breaking over the back of a beached drowning victim. It’s beautiful in the way that most of the really good Isis material is, and yet it’s completely uncompromising and distinctly CUAD. An acquired taste perhaps, but the more you listen to it the more you’ll most likely dig it. So is it just a really neat experiment for the band then, or an indication of where they’re headed? Either way, it should leave fans’ mouths watering while they look forward to whatever evolution the band have in store for us next.
Curl Up And Die: http://www.curlupanddie.net
