“Pockets full of puddled blood.”
City of Caterpillar took the bulk of the past two decades off. During that period, its members landed in some bands, some were part of the break up of others (like pageninetynine). Then, in 2017, they reappeared with the newly recorded live staple “Driving Spain Up A Wall”. Immediately, one could remember the days when they seamlessly blended post-rock and screamo into their excellent self-titled debut in 2002. However, silent again, it seemed to be a false start – City of Caterpillar fell silent again.
Now awake once again, the band returns with Mystic Sisters, an 8-track affair approximately mirroring the length of their debut. One of a few screamo acts to reunite in recent years, making this somewhat of a trend when you include Saetia and Jeromes Dream (the latter having dropped the underrated LP just a few years ago). Mystic Sisters must then live up to both the high bar the band itself and its peers have set.
It’s not a crisis apparition,
Calling on me.
We’re in the fibers,
Just listen, just listen.
First single “Paranormaladies” emphasizes the most post-hardcore and punk side of the band. Dedicated to late Planes Mistaken for Stars members Gared O’Donnell and Matt Bellinger, the sound lives up to its themes. The vocals are somewhat similar to Planes or even recent Trophy Scars, which may take a couple tracks to get used to. With that being said, they compliment the track’s intensity well. At once intense and dissonant, the greater immediacy here probably is not City of Caterpillar‘s greatest strength today, but it still effectively provides a foil to the more ambient, drawn-out sections of the album – already exemplified by the massive and lumbering “Thought Drunk” to start things off. Contrarily, this track does come off as a bit too much of a single vs. an album track, though the meltdown at its end and subsequent lead into the next track undoubtedly serves its purpose.
Did I pass out?
Did I pass on?
What’s happening to the laughter from the soul?
“Decider”, the next track on the album, runs on the shorter side as well. However, this one paces itself much better, and becomes an earworm after just a couple listens. Perhaps because greater emphasis gets placed on the stellar guitar work, or the effectiveness of the multipart instrumental bridge at the song’s center, but it works so well to demonstrate the many faces the band can wear. The transitions between them seem effortless, which shortly becomes a motif for the album.
I felt alive in the sunshine,
In the blood signs,
The death at the turn.
The valleys all burnt,
I felt my life in the bark of a sycamore tree.
“Mystic Sisters”, the third in this trio of singles grouped together, leans on the post-rock offerings that the band manages so well. In my biased opinion, that makes this the strongest of the singles, though “Decider” probably will prove the most recognizable. Even so, this track leads down a dark path into a deep well of its own. It really ignites at the 5-minute mark, after which the riffs become more angular with the vocals more a bark. Again, the pacing makes the song, because the point becomes the build itself, rather than what the build actually leads to.
In terms of non-singles, “Thought Drunk” of course deserves similar praise for setting a strong tone for the album overall across its 8.5 minutes. “Manchester” proves to be full of surprises as well and deserves a mention, as does “Voiceless Prophets” with its sneering delivery and ghostly undertones. Closer “Ascension Theft… (Gnawing of the Bottom-Feeders)” impresses with a long-building, entirely instrumental intro before giving away to the full band just shy of half-way. This track features some of the album’s strongest riffs, bursting across the channels in cascade fashion. Along with opener “Thought Drunk”, these songs play to the best in City of Caterpillar to bookend Mystic Sister in the best possible way. Similarly, any given moment on this record proves worthy of highlighting, even the relatively weak (but singularly strong) “Paranormaladies”.
Regardless of how seminal City of Caterpillar‘s debut is, Mystic Sisters confidently establishes its own sound. Though less likely to appeal to a core screamo crowd with its greater focus on crescendos and atmosphere, it should make any City of Caterpillar fan feel right at home.
8.5/10
Mystic Sisters comes out this Friday, September 30 on Relapse Records and can be pre-ordered here.