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Colorado's finest extreme metal outfit, Denver's own Cephalic Carnage, define their sound as "Rocky Mountain hydro grind." What this translates to in a more literal sense is grindcore with tinges of death metal, thrash, black metal, and doom metal. And it is an extremely jazzy, sound, too. So that is the "jazz" part of "jazzercise" (mentioned in this review's title). And the "exercise" part comes into play when considering just how technical C.C. are -- their instrumental prowess can be described as nothing less than truly acrobatic.
And there is ample variety present in their sound, as well, which could almost be expected since it does mix in several very different subgenres of metal. But it is also varied in the sense that the songs on Cephalic Carnage's third full-length range from less than ten seconds to well over twenty-one minutes in length. On the whole, "Lucid Interval" is a terrifically inventive, original, style-defying, genre-melding shape-shifter that falls somewhere between Naked City, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Exhumed, Cynic, Cannibal Corpse, Bathory, Soilent Green, and Pig Destroyer.
The number of standout tracks is abundant on this beast. The lead-off "Scolopendra Cingulata" is but one example, as it finds a grumbling bass intro exploding into a no-holds-barred onslaught of fiery, churning riffs, blasting drums, and vocals that alternate between Cradle Of Filth-worthy black metal shrieks and Dying Fetus-esque near pig squeals. The opener then opts for a jazzy, lightly acoustic-strummed verse before exploding again into another decapitating barrage of brutality. The number is also of note for featuring some unorthodox, yet still kind of melodic guitar soloing. Following this up is "Fortuitous Oddity," a more traditional and old-school-derived blast of straight-forward grindcore. It is a truly furious blast, too, as it is sixty-five seconds of surging, seizure-inducing guitars and machine gun fast blasting. Then, following the comparatively expansive and broad mini-epic that is "Anthro Emesis," comes two more cuts of traditional, Eighties-like grind in "The Isle Of California," which is filled with insane, "rat-tat-tat" grindcore blasts; and "Pseudo," a really freaky and nightmarishly weird, six-second-long freak-out that conjures up memories of "Scum"-era Napalm Death.
"Friend Of Mine" is, again, back on the epic side of the line, as even though it is only four minutes long, it boasts an epic scope and contrast by weaving in some positively doomy textures into its usual mix of rapid-fire grindcore. And then, following "Rebellion," which features some insane drumming (including some Dillinger-lite, stop-start bursts of breakneck, grinding blast beats), comes two instrumental numbers in the form of "Zuno Gyakusatsu" and "Black Metal Sabbath." (The latter of these two tunes is an expansive instrumental piece that first-and-foremost plays like a piece of full-on, heavily jazzy grindcore, but also mixes in some elements of black metal and stoner rock for good measure.) And "Cannabism" (a nod to the band's bong-ripping influence) proceeds to finish the above-described song's thought, as a piece of pure, traditional doom metal (although, from a more literal standpoint, it is just a brief little interlude-type track consisting of ten seconds of doomy, chugging riffs.)
And there are still more highlights to be had, here, too. "Misguided" is a crushing and frantic number with impeccable blast beat-laden trapkit annihilation and brutal pig-squeal vocals that pin the listener's ears back. But this song, no matter how excellent it may be, almost pales in comparison when placed alongside track number fifteen, "Arsonist Savior," an epically-epic, twenty-one-plus-minute long epic that is bursting with more mind-bogging, dexterous drumming. And finally, the set rumbles to the finish line with a not quite-forty-second-long untitled bonus track, and a nice inclusion that adds to the overall theme of this immensely surprising and meticulous album.
True, one could make the argument that "Lucid Interval" does sound a little bit haphazard at times. But at the end of the day, any extreme metal fan is sure to realize that it is still a slab of mighty fine grindcore/extreme metal, with a touch of Colorado class.
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