Cave in.

AS WITH ANY ART FORM, the experience of playing in a band can be quite the journey. When the "tide" is high, being a musician might just be one of the most satisfying forms of expression that our culture has to offer. When the "tide" recedes into the great depths, the results can bring some harrowing frustration.

Just ask Cave In's vocalist/guitarist, Stephen Brodsky.

While this talented songwriter has had the good fortune of being able to pay rent by way of his multitude of musical projects over the past few years, his most acclaimed creation has been the enigmatic post-hardcore rock outfit, Cave In.

Regarded by many as one of the most progressive groups of the past decade, the Massachusetts-based Cave In originated in the mid 1990s as a brutal, dynamic, metal-tinged hardcore band akin to influential shredders like Converge, Coalesce, and Botch. Not ones to rest on their laurels, however, Brodsky and his cohorts--drummer JR Conners, guitarist Adam McGrath and bassist Caleb Scofield--had no intentions of being pigeon-holed into a genre, so the group expanded its heavy sound with an infusion of instrumental intricacies and space-rock horizons. In turn, Cave In created one of the most acclaimed independent rock releases of the past several years, Jupiter (2000). From there, the band jumped from the indies to the majors and inked a deal with RCA while spending a year in the studio creating the next step in its evolution--the hook-laden Antenna (2003).

And this is just about the point where things started to go sour. According to Brodsky, major label expectations began to drown Cave In to the mire of a perplexing puzzle.

"We toured in support of Antenna for two years solid, and because of this, our first chance to write new tunes didn't come until winter of 2003 and 2004," Brodsky reminisces. "We spent almost a year in limbo 

with RCA--sending them demos of new songs which were not very well-received, and this took the wind out of our sails a bit."

As dedicated to exploration and experimentation as Cave In has always been, it seemed no matter which direction the band moved, the end results were never as exhilarating. While the group appreciated the opportunity to reach a larger audience through RCA's distribution, things seemed to be going south due much in part to the extensive touring required for promotion of the album.

"To be honest, we got bored pretty quickly L by playing much of the Antenna material," Brodsky admits. "We labored over the songs on that album for a year before we recorded it--eating them up and then shitting them out again and again. By the time the album was released, we had spoiled much of the life in a lot of those tunes for ourselves."

In an effort to recapture some of the prototypical Cave In "magic," the band began playing some of the more brutal material from its early years during live sets. This, of course, sparked rumors that the group was abandoning its boundary-pushing and going back to its root sound. Instead, Brodsky and Co whipped out some of these jams to help spark a rejuvenated sense of what inspired them to create in the first place.

"There is no other band I've ever played in that is as powerful with its volume as Cave In," Brodsky enthuses. "I mean, for years and years we would drill it into JR's head that he needed to hit harder, and harder, and harder ... and in turn we'd crank our amps up higher and higher."

Now as 2005 shifts into high-gear, RCA has finally allowed Cave In to release some of its recordings from the past couple of years, which will be supported by the group's longtime friends at Hydrahead Records. Titled Perfect Pitch Black, the new material is, again, an extension of the band's creative power. Described by Brodsky as an "ugly" record, due to its many odd time signatures and consistently alternating tempos, Perfect Pitch Black is, nonetheless, one of the most anticipated records of 2005.

"We passed along to Hydrahead copies of demos we had been making for what was to be RCA album number two," Brodsky recalls. "When we told them that RCA was not happy with them, Hydrahead half-jokingly offered to release the stuff. And then we realized that they were in fact completely serious, so we flipped! They've always supported the decisions we have made, both musical and non-musical, and to have an active working relationship once again is merely a small example of their huge sincerity towards supporting the free-spirited musician."

And though it seems that Cave In might have finally weathered through the storm that stifled its creativity for roughly two years, there is much to be learned from these experiences, as well.

"We just want to learn how to be more independent," Brodsky insists. "There's a massive amount of respect from our camp towards the ways that bands like Isis, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge have conducted business, treated their fans along the way, and continue to do things on their own terms.

There is a well-known anecdote that insists: "Growth is optional; change is mandatory." Cave In is in-the-flesh proof that though the maturation process can be difficult, the results are often immensely gratifying.