Cavity A.D. - "Wraith", 2019

After the disappointing comeback album "After Death", I wasn't looking forward to another record by this new incarnation of Cavity. Released in 2019 in an even more limited edition than the previous one, for a total of 400 vinyl copies, "Wraith" actually proved to be a more focused effort, largely correcting the misfire of the former record.

While following in the same stylistic footsteps of "After Death", the album sports a more refined production; the wall of distorted guitars is finally at the forefront when needed, with Ed Matus seemingly more comfortable in his role, even offering a number of overdubs, such as clean, haunting arpeggios, to keep the songs a bit more varied. Make no mistake, it's still a monolithic record, with basic song structures that revolve around minimalistic, repetitive riffs and ritualistic rhythms; still, there are more melodies, and the martial drumbeats are wrapped in an industrial rock-coated armor, conveying a colder, merciless atmosphere. Rene Barge also seems to be in excellent vocal shape, delivering a manic, unsettling performance, obsessively punctuating each song.

It was reassuring to see that Cavity hadn't completely lost its edge; in general, the material on "Wraith" is definitely more consistent than "After Death"'s, with more impactful grooves and more intriguing arrangements. While not abandoning the near-metronomical, tom drum-driven approach to the percussion, the band manages to build up a mounting tension throughout each song, although it never really finds a release; it's like watching one of those movies featuring a series of events that lead to an emotional climax before suddenly cutting to black, leaving you hanging. But as the old saying goes, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

The album creates atmospheric sonic landscapes and apocalyptic scenarios. At times, it could be compared with some of the heavier material by Corrections House, the side project of - coincidentally - Eyehategod's Mike Williams and Neurosis' Scott Kelly, two musicians from bands that certainly bore more than a similarity to Cavity in the 90s; the way "Wraith" revisits the industrial music of the 80s on songs such as "Into Wolf" or through the hallucinated dirge of "Possessed" is very similar, featuring blood-freezing, filtered sounds and robotic beats that have more in common with Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK or Clock DVA than with Nine Inch Nails.

Despite its impenetrable, uncompromising nature, "Wraith" flows surprisingly well for its 37 minutes, especially when compared with the relatively boring "After Death". It's an enigmatic record, and some of its artistic choices can leave you a little perplexed, even frustrated, but it's probably part of its charm. While not reinventing the wheel, its saturated, mesmerizing wall of noise reveals some moments of pure beauty and others of nightmarish grimness, making it an overall enthralling listening experience and a redeeming final album by Cavity.