Narcissus

Cleveland's Narcissus have been around for three full-lengths now, and Crave and Collapse finally sees them getting the push they deserve. It's gotta be said right off the bat that the Cave In reference points here are aplenty and can be a bit distracting, but once past that the listener will find themselves lost in the dreamy melodies and catchy, spaced-out rock metal that this rather lengthy release holds. There's a lot of scream-y, abrasive hardcore kind of stuff here as well, but it still has a certain sheen about it that continues the feeling of falling, falling, falling that makes this disc so endearing. The band shines the brightest when exploring their knack for melody and damn near radio-friendly rock; John Pope's clean vocals alone set this band above their peers. Again, this is all reminding me a lot of some of Cave In's more recent output, but I'm reaching for this more than I'm reaching for Antenna, so Narcissus is doing something right.