CAVITY AD
CAVITY AD | by Jaime Salazar
After more than twenty-five years spent mercilessly assaulting South Florida’s music scene, Cavity bassist and founding member Daniel Gorostiaga insists he escaped his band’s most punishing era unscathed. “I would say I’m a 3,” he says, assessing his hearing loss on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being completely deaf. “I can still hear surprisingly well.” Not everyone who has experienced Cavity at full tilt can say the same. Thunderously loud, visceral, and unpredictable, Cavity is revered in underground circles as a pioneering force of 90s sludge metal, a band capable of sending their genre forefathers running for cover. At their peak, Cavity was on the radar of labels like Hydra Head Industries and bands like Bongzilla and The Refused. Their past lineup alone reads like a Florida punk rock roll call: members went on to play in Load, Floor, The Crumbs, Black Cobra, and Torche, among others. When they broke up in the early 2000s, however, no one expected a reunion; knowing Gorostiaga and vocalist Rene Barge’s fiery resolve is key to understanding the finality of that gesture. It should be said, then, that Cavity’s resurrection at Churchill’s Pub in 2015 was even more shocking than their demise: absolutely no one saw it coming.
Now Cavity is back, newly rechristened as Cavity A.D. Their new album, After Death, is a clear indication that Cavity A.D. isn’t keen on giving fans exactly what they want, specifically what secured them a place in Florida’s music history. Brutal yet unhurried, After Death finds the band experimenting with sounds that defy easy categorization, eschewing sweat and swagger for songwriting that unfolds at an uncharacteristically deliberate and thoughtful pace. Songs like “Collision” and “Fangs on Beyond” highlight the band’s expanded palette, weaving strands of sunburnt Americana and Swans-style industrial electronic grind into their sludgy mix.
When Cavity A.D. hits the stage at Respectable Street later this month with international touring German barnburners Ten Volt Shock and Swiss noise punks YC-CY and local favs Kill Your, it will mark their first time in West Palm Beach in nearly two decades. “Driving to West Palm will be our first time on the road since reforming… literally,” Gorostiaga jokes. “Fans should expect a lot of our newer, slower songs, as well as some surprises.”
PureHoney and Quiet Mind Recordings present Cavity A.D. with Ten Volt Shock (Germany), YC-CY (Switzerland), and Kill Your. Saturday, July 29, 8pm at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St, West Palm Beach; RSVP on Facebook. $10 cover. 18+. GET TICKETS NOW and WATCH videos below!
~ Handsome Howie
