Cave In + Narrows + Trap Them

Knitting Factory Brooklyn; Thu 19

Cave In

Photograph: Courtesy of Hydra Head

The time that passed between Cave In’s announcement of an “indefinite hiatus” in 2006 and its re-formation this spring felt like something close to an eternity in blog years. Treading the thin line between riffy metalcore (before that was a dirty word) and iffy emo, Cave In ably matched melody, brains and brawn, effectively executing the sing-scream vocals that dot the hard-rock and emo landscape today. After the beloved Boston band hit the brakes, its members kept busy with a cavalcade of side projects (Clouds, Zozobra and Doomriders, among others). But while nearly all were worth a look, they felt like incomplete pieces of the Cave In puzzle.

And then, with the stroke of a single MySpace entry, longing dissipated and excitement ballooned. A double whammy: Cave In would play a hometown reunion show that would also serve as a release party for a surprise EP, Planets of Old. That single date turned into several one-off appearances, then ultimately became a set of East Coast dates that includes Cave In’s first NYC gig in close to four years.

Given Cave In’s stature among the hardcore community, it’s not surprising to see them team up with a pair of buzzier bands for this Knitting Factory engagement. Get there early to catch Narrows, which features members of Unbroken, These Arms Are Snakes and the much-revered Botch, and the Swedish death-metal-meets-grindcore of Trap Them.—Fred Pessaro

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