Cave In
Special Guests: STAKE
Venue: Room 2, Glasgow.
Date: 28th October 2022.
Review By: Dave Buchanan
STAKE
As Room 2 in Glasgow starts to slowly fill, Belgian noiseniks STAKE take to the stage to deliver their brand of dissonant, alternative sludge. Kicking off with some choice cuts from their fantastic new album, LOVE, DEATH and DECAY, the Glasgow crowd gradually start to warm to their cacophonous tones. And as the room fills up, STAKE seize the moment and ramp up the intensity.
To be honest, I think STAKE would give this type of performance whether they were playing to 1 or 1000 people, as they seem to love every minute of time they spend on the stage, and as they delve deeper in to their back catalogue, the band only become more of a force to be reckoned with, dropping downtuned riff grenades left, right and centre.
The fabulous ‘Dickhead’ (about a banana, apparently) from the 2011 album ‘All Is Chaos’, sounds monstrous, with Brent’s smoky melodies sounding even more imposing live. But the Meshuggah-esque ‘Careless’ gets my vote for song of the night, as the band lock into the most colossal groove of their set.
The band bring their performance to a close with ‘Everybody Knows’, from the 2020 EP ‘Catatonic Dreams’. It’s utter chaos. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. As vocalist Brent literally shoves the whole microphone in his mouth (whilst still screaming) and the band ring out their last chord, you get the overwhelming feeling that this band should be far more well known than they are. At 6 albums in, you’d think they’d have said all that needs to be said, but I honestly think they are now just showing what they are fully capable of. 
(4 / 5)
Check out our full review of the bands new album LOVE, DEATH and DECAY, out now on Hassle Records.
Cave In
It’s been 15+ years since the mighty Cave In played Glasgow. But to make up for their lengthy absence, the band serve us a 90-MINUTE set of what feels like a ‘Greatest Hits’ playlist. With the Glasgow crowd now fully limbered up, the band waste no time in tearing into Heavy Pendulum opener, ‘New Reality’. The band are firing on all cylinders from the get-go, and they don’t slow down for a second. The doomy ‘Blood Spiller’, and ‘Floating Skulls’, follow, somehow sounding even bigger live than they do on CD. But it’s not long until they start hurling out the classics such as ‘The End of Our Rope Is a Noose’ & ‘Joy Opposites’. To no surprise, even on the last day of their tour, the band sound well oiled, and the thick, thunderous sound in Room 2 gives those older tracks even more girth than we’ve heard in the past.
The multi-vocal, sludge rock coated machine continues as the band jump back into some new material, spoiling the fans with ‘Careless Offering’ and the brooding ‘Blinded by a Blaze’. And it’s those more haunting, atmospheric moments that really showcase how masterful Cave In are at delivering such a wide spectrum of dynamics and emotions. The highlight, though, is ‘Wavering Angel’, which hears the band really lean into that venerable side, before bringing the house down with a wave of elephantine riffs.
The encore of ‘Big Riff’ and ‘Sing My Loves’ closes the set in emphatic fashion, with post-closer chants of “CAVE IN!, CAVE IN!” from the Glasgow crowd. Even though it’s been well over a decade since Cave In have graced our shores, I get the feeling that after this performance and reaction, it won’t be that long until they’re back. 
(5 / 5)
Check out the bands new album Heavy Pendulum, out now on Relapse Records.
