Cauls: EP2

By RingMaster Review on September 19, 2012 • ( 0 )

If you are looking for a band to offer something different, music which is equally challenging and rewarding than look no further than British post hardcore band Cauls. They are a band which has ignited the North East of England and beyond with their inciteful and imaginative sounds, now with the release of their new collection of stunning sounds named EP2, the band is ready to intrude on and ignite the nation.

The bio sheet for the release from the Newcastle quartet states that their sound has evoked comparisons to the likes of At The Drive–In, mewithoutYou, Deftones, and Mars Volta. It really is hard to disagree though you can add essences from others such as Fall of Troy, Sunna, and to a lesser extent The Blood Brothers, such their expansive and impactful sound. The EP is stunning, a thrilling and chilling in the respect of tingles it ignites, release which inspires mental and physical reaction throughout and beyond its leaving of the ear.

Formed in 2009, the line-up of guitarist Graham Morris, bassist Andrew McCaffery, and Chris McManus on drums, impressed and fired up hearts with their impressive live shows and muscular progressive instrumental sounds. The trio though felt something was missing and after a lengthy searched for, found and recruited vocalist Michael Marwood and the rest is glorious if still young history. Their two twin track releases in If Bored, Pull Tab Marked Tab and Crave Divan of last year set ears burning with hungry satisfaction but with the new release the band has emerges as something even more immense and mightier, the music leaping from great songs on the previous releases to extreme quality on EP2.

Released on September 24^th through Blank Records, the release is astonishing and thoroughly refreshing; the band creating sounds which leaves one breathless and glowing in its uniqueness and skilled soundscapes. The release opens with Whistler, its atmospheric start emerging from a resonating primal bass twang and plunging rhythms. As the guitars singe the air with their sonic caresses the bass finds a snarl to its watchful brief, holding back its intent as the melodic mini suns and expressive heated vocals light up the haunted ambience. All the time the track is slowly evolving into a storm of blistering energy and passion for a burning climax, and an excellent start.

No Motion is an At The Drive-In/Radiohead flavoured piece of joy equipped with acidic melodies and Joy Division like discord. Maybe less dramatic than the first track it still fires up the imagination and appetite which the following Iris Brickfield eagerly and very successfully feeds. With intimidating whispers and soaring vocals the track is a hypnotic and darkened ambient clasp on the passions, ethereal and raw, warm and shadowed, and quite majestic.

After the brief melancholic instrumental The Durande, the release ends on the towering Ahsonnutli, an eight minute triumph encapsulating the magnificent musicianship, inventive songwriting, and emotional impact of the music in one perpetually evolving slab of sonic grandeur. Its starts as a riot before settling into a reflective soul, though soon it is crusading through an array of seamlessly connected and fiery sounds, the band seeding elements of doom, stoner, ambient, and aggressive rock to their progressive weave. It is startling, glorious, testing and fully rewarding.

EP2 is a masterpiece, a release which marks the band as one of the most talented and inspirational emerging bands in the UK and beyond. Cauls will burn your ears whilst treating them to the best original and gratifying sounds heard in recent years.

www.facebook.com/caulsband

RingMaster 18/09/2012