Killing the Calm

Caesura
Abstract Clarity

Local band Caesura" www.myspace.com/caesura2012 " Caesura’s debut LP, Abstract Clarity, offers a dozen tracks of heavy alt-rock with progressive and metal overtones. Hewing to no specific genre, the album dances between a variety of influences all falling under the increasingly diverse post-grunge rubric.
The winners of Heavy Frequency Magazine’s award for 2008’s best new band crank out serpentine guitar lines and alternating melodious/screaming melodies. There’s more than a little Tool in its DNA, along with heavy doses of Stone Temple Pilots’ pop aspirations and Thursday’s menace.

Producer Chris Cosgrove keeps the vocals sounding mostly natural on the verses, with a flavor of the unprocessed proto-emo of Sunny Day Real Estate or Helmet. But on the refrains he usually aims for FM with the thick, ropey chorus effects of Nickelback.

Singer Joel Vissia’s voice is constantly variable, with more than a bit of the marble-mouthed Southern-twanged howl of Scott Stapp, as in the howling moments of “Perfidy” or “Backburner.” The vocal sits a bit high in the mix most of the time, which is a little bit of a problem when Vissia goes pitchy, like in “To the Fore” or “Hierarchy.”

Abstract Clarity boasts some pretty nice hooks, especially in the anti-suicide anthem, “I Say,” or “Pulse,” which creates a propulsive tension from a lithe, almost lilting guitar rhythm with a deceptively simple riff laid on top. The shifting time signatures of “Backburner” and hot and cold lurches of “Parallel Sun” offer several moments of genuine surprise.The title track, running almost eight minutes, is the album’s defining moment. Its almost-epic midpoint breakdown is mysteriously evocative, before building to a satisfying, energetic crescendo.

Mike Christman’s drumming is solid, though the sound sometimes feels a bit hollow on its own. Still, it cuts through the mix well with the ensemble.
Like a lot of heavy music, the album occasionally lapses into monotony. Vocal melodies and delivery tread in the same footsteps a bit too often, and most of the songs employ awfully similar arrangements, either starting with strident power chords or, more often, jangly/echoey guitar rolls.
But hey, nobody bitches about AC/DC or Black Sabbath going back to the same sonic well time and again.

Abstract Clarity is a decent debut from a band that will undoubtedly grow into a more personal style.

— derek donovan special to ink
- Ink Magazine