300 Percent Density
Few sights in a metal dance pit are funnier than watching a few hundred sweaty fanatics stumbling over the nonrepetitive meter of a Candiria groove. The Brooklyn band's streetwise slam possesses crushing physical power, but doesn't dole out those beats in standard measurements. Their hardcore-metal crossover is spliced seamlessly to jazz fusion. Candiria have had their ideas set since day one, and the band's steadily growing success has simply brought greater resources to refine the approach.300 Percent Densitycarefully places a few thousand more crunchingSepultura-style staccato guitar notes in the service of this swimming storm of heavy, shrieking math, and "The Obvious Destination" bravely employsMartin Denny-style vibraphone for the sake of momentary bliss. It's all about not knowing what comes next: an out-of-body experience or an elbow to the head.--Ian Christe