Conceived from the mind and influences of L.A. native David Sais, Cetacean was realized in 2015 with a complete line-up that includes Daniel Pouliot (Ancestors, Horse the Band), Trae Malone (Ex-Black Sheep Wall), Swansong (Exhausted Prayer), Benigno Esaú, and Stephen Charouhas!
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‘Earth is a Whisper’ is a rather ambiguous track that switches its guise from billowing to progressive in the flash of a hat and then in comes the most gratuitous vocal insurgence ever – it is a very clever change incorporating a blackened sludge mix that only comes into play when you least expect it, so the band’s diversity cannot come into question here at all. They lull you into a false sense of security and reward you with these cunning tracks and this makes them a very unique outfit.
‘Relationships Deteriorate’ starts off more or less the same as before with a plume of smoke and a haze of cymbals the track meanders into its range of sight and stays within its boundaries – for now. But here it comes the vocals that sink a million battleships, and now in a progressive vein it changes once more. The harmonies are really creative and forward thinking, although listening to the band on record I can see a bigger pull for seeing them in a live setting as this is quite potent and not easy to pin down.
‘Outpour I II III’, the edginess is ever quickening on this track as it battles its demonic forces and cuts a new force field into its own territory! The drama continues to unfold in a cosmic array of expressive and intense magnitude. Nobody could foresee this climatic element without first engaging on a level with its primary encounter and now I have I find it is very hard to ignore.
Progressive is a genre that is always hard to get into unless you really enjoy it as there are so many too-ing and fro-ings but somehow Cetacean have succeeded their own boundaries and come up with an EP that has the workings of genius’s. It still incorporates the magnitude of aggressive and the beauty of progressive – you could call it pro-aggressive for want of a better word, as it ties you into its web of deceit.
I am not sure I have ever heard anything as diverse as this that also incorporates this gruelling, madness like beauty and the beast, with such amazing results it is quite breath-taking.
The fact the band use saxophones and all lend a hand with the vocals is a defining moment for them and they should be very pleased with the results they have forged together! Ones to watch!
Cetacean Breach Submerge is to be released 27th May 2016 via Apes who looked up Record.
