Cave In - Final Transmission

Be it the raging metalcore of their debut, the space-rock tendencies of its follow-up (the masterful Jupiter), or the arena-ready sound of their major-label release Antenna, Cave In established early on that they had little use for genre-defining boundaries. And it’s a trend that continues on the band’s latest record, Final Transmission.

Final Transmission is not only the Massachusetts-based band’s first release since 2011’s White Silence but also the final album to feature the late bassist Caleb Scofield, who passed away unexpectedly last year during the sessions for the record. Far more than just a tribute to a fallen comrade, Scofield’s presence on the record is felt from the first note to the last, as much of the album is built upon his last demos for the band.

Final Transmission starts off on a bittersweet note with the title track, a short recording of Scofield humming along with his guitar - the kind of ‘work-in-progress’ idea that every musician has on their phone. While a track like this would normally feel like an interlude, given the context of the record, it’s an incredibly effective opener.

The first single released from the sessions, “All Illusion” features a lyrical contribution pulled from Scofield’s journals. Propelled by an adventurous, proggy arrangement and Stephen Brodsky’s emotive vocals, the song is a perfect encapsulation of everything that Cave In is capable of.

Meanwhile, the bouncy jangle of “Shake My Blood” and metal onslaught of “Winter Window” continue to bludgeon listeners’ ears while “Strange Reflection” revisits Cave In’s space-rock days. The album-closing “Led to the Wolves” (primarily composed by Scofield) is a ferocious slab of riff-driven fury that hearkens back to the band’s metal-core roots. The song highlight’s what Scofield brought to the band and is a fitting tribute to the bassist’s incomparable talents.

While it might not be the best place to start for the uninitiated (I’d probably recommend Jupiter), there’s no denying that Final Transmission is still a pretty remarkable achievement for Scofield’s bandmates, as the band took a tragedy and turned it into a cathartic piece of art for both themselves and their fans. The fact that the album just so happens to be one of the band’s strongest collections of material to date is merely an added bonus.