Album Review: Cazador – Failure to Thrive (Self Released)

The In today’s society, it can sometimes feel like that there are no solutions for the problems of humanity. The unavoidable tidal wave of static seems it may doom all of us… yet a voice can still be heard. A voice of fear. A voice of anger. A voice unafraid to embrace the dark and churn it to some semblance of light.

This is the voice of Cazador.

One of the best kept secrets in the Boston underground scene, Cazador have been bringing their nervous brew of subgenres to audiences in New England since 2015.  Blending a thick and gloomy sludge atmosphere with the melody and urgency of post-metal and hardcore, this act has begun to emerge as one of the more unique and raw up-and-coming sludge acts in New England.  Major influences for the band include the post-metal/sludge titans of Isis and Neurosis fused with the melodic hardcore sensibilities of sounds in the ilk Deftones and Poison the Well.

Upon release of their studio debut ‘Broken Sun’ in May 2017, and a subsequent tour of the Northeast and Midwest, Cazador made themselves known as a quietly charismatic collective with an emotional edge through their impassioned, high-energy performances.  With their new full length titled Failure to Thrive due out July 12th 2019, the collective is very much looking forward to the future while expanding their sonic horizons and sharing their unique brand of emotionally charged sludge with the masses.

If you knew nothing about Cazador and you pushed play on the album, you might be left scratching your head after the lengthy intro of R62.7. It echoes quietly at first but builds in dread with feedback, angry sounding reverberating rumbles. It seems designed to leave the listener feeling uncomfortable and unsure so when the the heavy hits, which it does, it will knock most on their asses.

With a crash and a bang, Skeleton Crew unleashes all manner of sludginess and it seems as though we’re off and rolling. So it’s something of a surprise that it switches to melody that echoes within the emptiness. Eventually combining the two for a strong finish.

Children of Man serves as a short mellow intro to Kingdom which is distant and warm at first. Soft melody and emotional sounding vocals begins to build upwards without ever seeming like it is increasing in intensity. Instead it’s all about subtlety and sweetness until it’s not. The fuzz hits like a sledgehammer to the head.

Carrying on with the heavier and more in your face side of things now, the title track calls on the spirit of hardcore and punk. Spinning and spitting without much in the way of order at first. Then, just as now expected, it drops away for melody driven guitars to pick up the slack. Entrancing, this segment is easily the most wonderful of the entire album and all but confirms this as an album of the year contender.

More emotionally driven music with another short one in the form of Edema. The last of these intermission style tracks as the double header of Comfy and Sassafras end things. The former keeping it heavy on the bass to a maddeningly intense point while the latter is a final showcase of beauty over brawn.

It’s very difficult to not fall madly in love with this album. It’s a strong showcase of how sludge and post-like melodies can go so very well together. It’s simply brilliant.

Cazador – Failure to Thrive Full Track Listing:

1. R62.7
2. Skeleton Crew
3. Children of Man
4. Kingdom
5. Failure to Thrive
6. Edema
7. Comey
8. Sassafras

Links

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