Interview by Kris Peters
It's hard to believe any international band could have been around long enough to earn legendary status yet not have toured this country before.
Not that Australians feel entitled or big-headed and therefore expect such bands to tour here - quite the opposite. It's more because Australians generally need some form of tangible connection with a band or musician before being able to usher those words of adulation. So basically we need to have some form of sonic ownership, which, I guess, is a little entitled but let's not split hairs shall we?
Because the point of this conversation is that legendary US metal/hardcore pioneers Cave In have finally locked in some dates Down Under, coming out with post metal outfit The Ocean and Danish label mates LLRR for a string of shows starting in June.
A band considered by many to have been ahead of their time, Cave In were instrumental in introducing metalcore to the masses before exploring a plethora of musical avenues including psychedelic rock infused metal. With the band enjoying renewed success following the addition of Converge bassist Nate Newton to cover the tragic loss of Caleb Schofield in 2018, Cave In released Heavy Pendulum in 2022 which brought together the many and varied musical influences explored over their six previous albums and introduced the band to a fresh legion of fans that continues to grow to this day.
HEAVY recently spoke with singer/guitarist Stephen Brodsky about their first ever trip to Australia, starting with why the band has neglected us for so long.
"That is a great question," he laughed. "It will be my second time over there. Another band that I play in called Old Man Gloom toured there with Converge about 10 years ago, but I do remember in my travels there definitely is some Cave In fans saying when are you gonna bring Cave In over, we've been waiting, and that was ten years ago (laughs). Sometimes it's just… especially with international tours for bands at our level to work out something where we're not just breaking even or eating it is hard. Those offers don't come our way very often, so we were able to work something out for this one, and we're all very stoked on all the logistics and the inner workings of the offer itself. It made sense, so we're finally doing it. The idea just had to marinate a little bit."
In the full interview, Stephen talks more about their first tour and what they are expecting, what we can expect from them, coming with The Ocean and LLRR and why the three bands will work well together, the early days of Cave In and where they fit in, how they were ahead of their time, their debut album Until Your Heart Stops and if he is still happy with it, their musical tastes and how each influences the band's music, reforming after the death of Caleb and the difficulties associated with coming back, Heavy Pendulum and the way it covers the back catalogue of Cave In and more.
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