State Of The Art: SPACE CADAVER [Album + Video Stream]

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Louisiana!

New Orleans’ Space Cadaver are a band that have fury and finesse, with a groove that stomps all over their songs. They have a sci-fi style and power to match the best in the universe. Guitarist/vocalist John Baleine, bassist Beto Arias and drummer Jason Meserole bring dark and light in equal measure.  Formed in 2015, Space Cadaver have shared the stage with heavyweights such as Conan, Acid King and Ufomammut. Their message of spacey doom is spreading quickly!

Their debut self-titled album has been available since 2017.  Guitarist/vocalist Baleine commented that “this album is a benchmark of 3 years of hard work and determination – an opportunity to grow…and have closure with a lot of dark things… It was a cleanse to purge the pent up frustrations around the suicide and murders of loved ones, drug addiction and the struggle to break free from the things that are no longer serving me.

Space Cadaver have a sound that melds Death, Doom and Stoner in a rock hard package. Their self-titled debut album is a tour de force of genre-defying metal. They may only have a bass, guitar and drums to work from, but they know how to work that to make an amazing cinematic sound that sonically destroys everything in the mainstream metal world.

The album kicks off with the riffy ‘The Infinite Black Sun‘.  This sets the band’s stall out, with Baleine’s growling vocals and thoughtful lyrics.  The sound that a three piece make is genuinely impressive.  The bass is high in the mix and the drums splatter through the fuzz storm of guitar.  There are light passages that bring the sound into a different sphere and the dark parts take you to a back alley and mug you.

The guitar dominates “Day Ruiner“, as the groove is augmented by a superb guitar solo that is full of heart and power.  “Storm” follows with the sound of hell coming out to play.  A grunge-type melody lends the song a spirit that cannot be dismissed easily.

Insufficient Reward” is a masterpiece in cinematic metal.  It ebbs and flows with an approach that composers of movie scores love.  I can imagine a video of someone escaping evil forces, running down dark corridors in space.  The drumming is superb on this tune.

The commercially accessible “Clock Hoarder” continues with its fantastic bass/guitar interplay. It also manages to tip its hat to old school thrash.  “Nowhere, Now Here” continues the album with a progressive, minor key insurgency. Once again, a cinematic sound, focusing on a picture in space of desolation and regret.

The closing two numbers, “Sword of the Lord” and “Draco’s Revenge” are urgent, epic sound songs that veer from blast beats to progressive jazz in the space of minutes.

Overall, Space Cadaver are a band that everyone should check out, before they check out (in space, naturally).

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About Adam Cox

British wordsmith for Metal Nexus. I love the underground of metal and the pomp halls of Prog Rock.

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