Search - Collapsar :: Collapsar

Math + riffs = Collapsar

Boris Kaplun | Reston, VA | 05/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine - Behold... the Arctopus with less speed and more structure, The F'ing Champs with more metal, and Dysrhythmia with more energy. Add the obligatory King Crimson worship of any respectable math rock band. Now take away most of the completely pointless instrumental meandering and add some heavy riffing and stunning lead work. That's Collapsar, sort of.



Armed with two guitars and a drum kit, the Lafayette, Louisiana trio play metallic math rock. In a rare turn of events, however, they seem to have opted out of using the calculus book as their only songwriting tool. While the heavily distorted and somewhat discordant riffs that crash into one another and collapse inward on themselves can often come across as extremely convoluted and are constantly being wrung through myriad tempo and metric shifts, they are effectively accentuated by underlying harmonic interactions and blissful flights of melody. There is no bass, but the guitars are so dense and do such a wonderful job of complementing one another that the music doesn't feel empty or sterile.



Songs like "Uno" place dissonant riffage side by side with light, airy guitar work that recalls the instrumental noodling of Discipline-era King Crimson. "Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla" reminds me of Behold... the Arctopus's "Alcoholocaust", with over the top technicality and a soul-ripping solo towards the end that is nothing less than an absolutely astounding display of bizarre guitar manipulation and creative use of effects pedals. "King Kong Died For Your Sins" enters with lengthy sustained notes soaring over a complex aural foundation in an introductory sequence that can almost be called majestic, only to drop into somewhat uncomfortable sonic territory with uneven percussion and strange guitar noises. The track transforms completely around halfway through into a soothing stretch of space rock backed by winding synthesizers. Tracks like "Sleep Robot" and "Robot Wins", while rather brief and easily dismissible as filler, are a nice contrast to the remainder of the album and feature trippy electronic soundscapes.



This album was apparently recorded in one day and mixed in one more, but the production job turned out surprisingly good. The distortion is thick and heavy, with an edge of rawness. The drum sound is simply stellar - natural and resonant. As previously mentioned, there is no bass... it isn't a major problem here, but I would definitely like to see what these guys could do with a full-time bassist. Overall, there's a general "live" feeling to the sound - lacking polish while remaining very energetic and active.



A commendable debut, and highly recommended to fans of Crimson-inspired instrumental tech metal that places as much emphasis on songwriting and coherency as it does on technicality."