Collapsar - Integers

Date of Release: Nov. 20, 2007

2007 CD: Escape Artist Records EA34.0 (USA)

Ripped with Exact Audio Copy
Encoded with Lame 3.97 at VBR/44/JS


Tracks
01 - Axiomatic Fragment
02 - The Great Caldera
03 - Spooky Action At A Distance
04 - He's Got An Axe!
05 - Drilling Holes Through Space
06 - The Forever War


Stephen Sheppert - Guitar, Synthesizer
Adam Harris - Guitar
Brett Judice - Drums


Integers is an intelligent, mind-bending trip that traverses
beauty and brutality, lush soundscapes and imponderably
technical musicianship. With their second full-length, the
Louisiana-based trio deliver a stunning second act: sixty
minutes of extreme instrumentation that will challenge, amaze,
and ultimately satisfy. Much like the stellar gravitational
collapse from which they take their name, Collapsar grasps the
awesome power and brings order to swirling chaos as if some
divine power guides them.

Lafayette, Lousiana's Collapsar formed in 2002 from the dust
trail left by defunct scream-core outfit Icepick Revival.
Ex-members Brett Judice (drums) and Stephen Sheppert (guitar)
began writing heavy, progressive instrumentals and enlisted the
help of guitarist Dave Graeff to help them realize their new
ideas. By blending a wide range of influences including
progressive rock, metal, hardcore and math-rock, Collapsar forms
melodic compositions which combine hard-hitting riffs and
subtle, sometimes pensive textural soundscapes. This
intermingled architecture of sounds results in unpredictable
trajectories, while never sacrificing musicianship and memorable
songwriting.

After a stellar demo, the band was brought into the Escape
Artist Records fold for the release of their self-titled debut
in 2005. The album received rave reviews from a wide range of
music publications including Modern Drummer, Decibel, Pitchfork,
Terrorizer, Revolver, and countless others. The band toured
heavily throughout the Southern and Eastern USA, including a
showcase performance at the Midwest Music Summit in the Summer
of '05. Shortly thereafter, Graeff was replaced by guitarist
Adam Harris and the band began writing for their second
full-length, Integers, which was released worldwide in November
of 2007 by Escape Artist.
 -- Escape Artist Records

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Here is the second record from Louisiana's advanced weapons
platform, Collapsar, that features former members of the sorely
underrated Icepick Revival. Their first record was a staggering
collection of manic riffs, time changes and jackhammer beats
with enough varying styles injected into the performance to make
your head spin after only jamming the first track. The best part
of it was that it wasn't an aimless instrumental clatter, as
this trio found a way to pack tasteful hooks and melodies all
throughout the album's 8 songs. Here the band trim the track
list down to 6 tunes that are sharper and even more focused than
on the last outing.

This is simply one of the most captivating instrumental records
to come out in a long time. These guys have outdone themselves
with every aspect of Integers. The twin guitar attack hammers
out riff after riff of explosive math-metal that never dwells on
any part too long to get stale, but refuses to phase out hooks
after one run in order to make sure things stick with you. They
season this attack with the occasional mind-melting solo or
clean break to add on an extra layer of chaos. The fantastic
drumming of Brett Judice glues everything together as he creates
a fearsome torrent of manic beats all over this album. His
patterns are anything but textbook and he rides out the variety
of guitar shredding with a performance that covers everything
from pummeling double bass jaunts to tricky fills, thundering
rolls and even sections that follow a more traditional rock n'
roll beat every once in awhile. All of these elements combine
together into a sound that feels as if it could derail at any
moment.

The raging opener, "Axiomatic Fragment", tears through 9+
minutes of increasingly twitchy insanity that emphasizes the
metal aspect of progressive metal while still managing to lay
down riffs that rock out righteously. The riffs are insane and
leave no part of the guitar neck unexplored while somehow
managing to maintain a certain sense of structure, too. In other
words, you can grab onto these riffs instead of them fluttering
out of your memory in seconds. Brett's abrasive percussion
battery rarely stops in beating the living shit out of your
eardrums until the song takes a shimmering, melodic turn about
midway through that is rife with clean guitar work. The quiet
guitar strum slowly builds into a wall of melodic math-rock
distortion that will get even freakier shortly after as some
insane noise comes seeping into the mix. The track ends with a
solo that will set the hairs on the back of your neck on fire,
let alone them just standing straight-up.

The thoroughly aggressive "The Great Caldera" follows suit,
unleashing a flurry of precision riffs that bruise and batter
above a crashing downpour of stop/start drumming. This song is
jittery and all over the place until the band anchor things down
in the final stretch with a rock-solid groove that lands them in
firm sludge territory. This song provides a great contrast to
the humorously titled, "Spooky Action At A Distance", which is
probably the best track on the disc as it traverses a vast
amount of territory in its 11 minute onslaught. This song
reminds of Collapsar's signature sound all mashed up with a
little bit of the trance-y, mellow shifts apparent on Don
Caballero's American Don, with riffs that plow head-first into
the rock n' roll realm of The Fucking Champs while maintaining
an unwavering unpredictability akin to King Crimson. This song
may have the influence of other bands, but Collapsar put their
own touch all over this one. The metal elements and sheer number
of tempo alterations take you half of the way, and their mastery
of working with ambient atmospheric moments complete your
journey into outer space.

"He's Got An Axe!" continues the band's love of dynamic mood
changes as white-knuckle technical metal dances between jazzy
clean segments, sludge-y downshifts and all out math-rock fury.
The riffs constantly change and it is almost impossible to keep
track of all of the madness, as a discordant sense of melody is
present at times that keeps things nicely balanced between
crushing and captivating. The quick gut-punch of "Drilling Holes
Through Space" marks the shortest song on the disc and another
immediate standout. The waif-like intro shows that melody will
be ever present on this song with a brief acoustic opening. The
music incorporates elements that even remind of Fugazi in a few
parts, as the sound of some of the riffing is a strangely
soothing cascade of harmonic post-punk meets mathematical
dissonance.

The record closes with the massive, "The Forever War", which
splices together bits of nerve damaged math-rock, metal, jazz,
sludge and drone into an incredibly complex cocktail that will
blow the roof off of your house. This song has a focus on
particularly chunky riffs that often times hint at the classic
sludge tendencies of their home state, but they never rest on
their laurels for too long, as rickety jazz arrangements keep
you on your toes, allowing the wild math-rock and progressive
metal tendencies to deliver the critical blow to your cranium.
The song ends on an ambient drone that clears the skies,
bringing calm to the omnipresent storm that is Integers.

You won't hear a better instrumental record this year. Collapsar
have managed to jump in the top tier of progressive,
instrumental metal acts in a mere two records. This is an
essential follow-up to a powerful debut album and one that all
fans of progressive metal meets math-rock can enjoy. Integers is
a must-buy record for fans that dig King Crimson, Breadwinner,
Don Caballero, The Fucking Champs, Dazzling Killmen, etc.
Although make sure you add a huge dose of metal to the above
list of bands because Collapsar deliver the heaviness in spades.
This is a phenomenal recording topped off with an equally "out
there" digipak design to put the final touch on this total
package. What the hell is that supposed to be anyway? Parts of
a dragon, a seahorse, a heart and strange machinery? Even the
layout is as insane as the music!
 -- Jay Snyder (Hellride Music, Nov. 13, 2007)

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It's hard to say what's worse when it comes to instrumental
metal: modeling your second album after a math term - from a
title that deserves its own pocket protector to criss-crossing
chords that are more complicated than 100 quadratic equations -
or subscribing to the Mogwai school of sine wave dynamics,
where everything follows a peak/valley path in hopes of yanking
your heartstrings like a Broadway curtain. In the case of
Collapsar, the answer is neither. Not because they reached a
compromise between the two most common instru-metal approaches,
or because they stumbled upon something remotely new.

The simple fact is it's nearly impossible to process Integers
no matter how many times you listen. As a result, it can either
be a record of increasing returns or a reason to hit stop
immediately and take solace in the much more evocative
compositions of Pelican or, say, Explosions In The Sky. It all
depends on your patience and appreciation of relentless riffs,
really. And they are relentless, as if Collapsar's two
guitarists (and ridiculously tight drummer) were told to keep
every track's tempo above a certain level... or else, like
Speed without Sandra Bullock or a smart bomb bus. Is it
impressive musically? Certainly. Some of it might even remind
you of prog-rock. Will you be humming it on the way home from
work with your earbuds on blast? Probably not. You will be
inspired to punch things or play Guitar Hero, however. That has
to count for something.
 -- Andrew Parks (Decibel Magazine)

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If you're one of those people who run head first into an album,
Collapsar's Integers may take you by complete surprise. Please
do consider yourselves warned, fasten your seat belts, and get
ready to lose ground.

The album starts off with two edgy tracks that manage to cross
the borders of the genre and land straight into heavily
distorted and schizophrenic sludge metal. There is a subtle
transition from "Axiomatic Fragment" to "The Great Caldera", and
a somewhat difficult cohesion that unfortunately the band
chooses not to maintain throughout the album. If you begin to
get the impression that a certain sharpness is missing from the
music, dare to listen closely, as it definitely shapes up
beneath the cranky guitar layer.

Collapsar focuses on presenting an alternative to the bands who
are incapable of escaping from their inconspicuous and
undoubtedly pretentious melodies. "Spooky Action At A Distance"
plays its part well, driving one's mind into more focused areas,
where not only the mélange of instruments can actually be
followed and conceived, but there is also time to catch your
breath as well. All the same, this phenomenon is stretched out
to the next track, "He's Got An Axe!", an 8 minute, uncannily
violent song. Don't be fooled though - this is not Dysrhythmia -
Collapsar's music is incredibly well thought out, so much so
that it becomes predictable to the point of frustration; it's
not that this does not sound right, but it most definitely does
not feel particularly engaging.

"The Forever War", however, offers something you just can't
refuse - 18 minutes of pure terror, pacing back and forth, and
adding various shades to their chaotic canvas of sound. There is
no denial that the three Louisiana instrumentalists certainly
know how to riff, and if the first five tracks couldn't convince
you, make sure to give this one another listen.

All in all, Integers might be fun and quirky, but its missing
cohesion makes it another commonplace parade of tempo shifts,
ending pretty much the same as it started. After an entire hour,
you still cannot tell what hit you, but the effort to recover is
insignificant.
 -- Diana Sitaru (The Silent Ballet, Jan. 3, 2008)

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Collapsar is an instrumental prog metal band from Louisiana who
were formed by Brett Judice (drums) and Stephen Sheppert
(guitar) in 2002 after the break-up of their band Icepick
Revival. They began writing heavy, progressive instrumentals and
soon recruited Dave Graeff (guitar).

Collapsar recorded a demo, then signed to Escape Artists Records
and released their full-length self-titled debut in 2005.
Guitarist Dave Graeff then amicably split with the band to join
The Object At The End Of The Universe and was replaced with
guitarist Adam Harris. Collapsar released their sophomore album,
Integers, late in 2007.

By blending a wide range of influences including progressive
rock, metal, hardcore and math-rock, Collapsar forms melodic
compositions which combine hard-hitting riffs and subtle,
sometimes pensive textural soundscapes. The hyperactive, King
Crimson-like intricacy of their densely sculpted creations
manages to, at different times, evoke both the sophisticated
adventurousness of math metal and the primal aggression of
Southern sludge. Similar to bands like Behold...The Arctopus,
Canvas Solaris, Dysrhythmia and Sleep Terror, Collapsar are
highly recommended.
 -- Prog Archives