Back in the late 90s, there was a strange zeitgeist percolating in the worldwide underground metal / hardcore scene: first a trickle, then a flood of bands that were integrating a key core of previous influences into vibrant, violent new forms. An Hydra Head was all over it. In almost every instance, this phenomenon could be traced back to a specific set of sounds that fueled this burst of creativity: the heaviest corners of the Amphetamine Reptile / Touch & Go-led noise rock underground was unmistakable, but that influence crossed with a youthful admiration of the more outre "math rock" bands of the late 80s / early 90s, specifically the likes of Dazzling Killmen, Craw, U.S. Maple, Bitch Magnet, and to a certain degree, Slint. On top of this snarling, angular stew these newer bands (who primarily came out of the hardcore punk underground) injected a massive thrash metal influence, specifically that of Slayer. This mélange of noise rock, aggressive math rock, and Slayer-worship materialized into a fair number of bands, many of which were, again, releasing music on the Hydra Head label, which was really getting rolling around this time as one of the premier outlets for left-of-center extreme music. And on top of this rising pile of evil-sounding, discordant skronk-destroyers sat Cave In.

First appearing in 1995, Cave In quickly made a name for themselves in the New England hardcore/metal scene with a ferocious live presence and unique sound. On their earliest recordings, which included a self-recorded '95 demo tape, as well as split 7"s with local luminaries like Piebald and Gambit, and Florida's Early Grace, Cave In were already on track. The 1996 song "Programmed Behind” from the Piebald split, for example, showed all of the pieces in order, the band still honing and focusing this blend of metallic hardcore, math rock, and emo-style singing that glowed with earnest emotion. Even on the original demo recorded soon after their formation, the band was mutating their hardcore musical roots into off-kilter guitar work, effects pedals dialed in, the songs shifting between quiet, pensive instrumental passages and chunkier, more metallic riffs. It was ugly music, achingly beautiful music, pitted with blasts of chaotic violence but also possessing all of the poignant melody and catchiness of the indie rock / emo sound of the time. But these guys went into overdrive between their formation and the recording of their debut full-length Until Your Heart Stops. I remember when this album came out, it just floored me and all of my pals. Here was a slickly produced, explosive statement of intent from the group, blasting it all open with the iconic Slayer-ized riffing that opens "Moral Eclipse"; I saw them live on tour for Heart, down in DC at the microscopic Club Soda; if I remember correctly, Bongzilla was on the bill as well. Cave In's set was terrifying, the band operated like a machine in spite of what seemed like impossibly complex and noisy music. Made me a fan on the spot.

It's weird to think that album release and that tour all happened almost twenty-five years ago. It's jarring. But in this passage of time, that debut album from Cave In has been cemented as a seminal "metalcore" album, despite my distaste for that term. This album was an event. After these guys really began making the rounds and more listeners were tuned in to their vicious, passionate heaviness, I started seeing all manner of bands popping up all over trying to either capture or mimic what Cave In did on Heart. Nobody even came close. And now that Hydra head has slowly dissipated into the dust of time, this incredible album has been revived by long-time fans Relapse. And man, that label went all-in on presenting a definitive document of the album. And it's probably the best reissue of project of 2023, at least that I've seen.

The album proper is one hell of an experience. That intro on "Moral Eclipse" sets off some of the sickest Hanneman-influenced harmonized riffing I've ever heard, and then the whole thing goes kablooey as the band sinks into a crazed mid-paced thrash riff that is pure malevolent power. That crushing chug bounces around on a changing mass of super-heavy breakdowns, manic mathy shredding, and a background dissonance that gives the album that feeling of wrongness that I always look for. The first few songs are relentless: "Terminal Deity" whips out more Slayer-esque shred over a straight hardcore punk ripper, with unpredictable start /stop tempo changes and confusional arrangements before it suddenly turns into this weirdly Maiden-esque melody with those fervent singing voices. One monstrous syncopated riff comes after the next. The drummer unleashes wicked double-bass beneath the intricate percussive gestures. A dreamy beauty materializes out of the beginning of "Juggernaut" before Cave In perform another amazing sleight-of-hand , moving between gorgeous spacey psychedelia and a barbaric thrash mertal-style breakdown (I've seen at least a hundred kids get clobbered over the years, seeing this song played live). And there's so much weird shit going on around everything: odd descending scales, quirky guitar noises and ear-scraping atonal textures, trippy mournful howls shooting skyward, bits of Fripp-ery fretwork (just try to grok what the hell is happening at 1:48 on "Bottom Feeder" - holy shit), squalls of horrendous noise, abrupt Helmet-esque time signature battery, interstitial passages of kosmische electronic grandeur, these righteous eruptions of Sabbathian stoner-metal groove that lay everything flat (it's almost Soundgarden-level groove on "The End Of Our Rope Is A Noose"). And then to turn around and seamlessly slide into the spacey rock of "Segue 1" that unabashedly shows the band' love of alt-rockers Failure. You get riffs the size of the Eiffel Tower with "Halo Of Flies" before it spins out into the stars. It's really incredible. And the collective musicianship on Until Your Heart Stops is so far beyond their previous releases, i think it took everybody by surprise. These ten songs are tracked, timed, and ordered perfectly. I've never sussed out if there was an underlying narrative lyrically, but just listening to this album for the umpteenth time, it has always felt as if there is an emotional core, a conceptual thread that runs from one song to the next.

Truly one of the great debuts of that decade, and still my all-time favorite record from Cave In. There is still nothing that sounds quite like it. Heart delivers the ultimate fusion of South of Heavenera Slayer-worship, wonky Midwestern math rock influences, psychedelia, King Crimson-esque prog rock, and the heart-rending intensity and chiming arpeggios and keening voices one might hear from bands like Chamberlain and Cap'n Jazz. I'm not sure if anyone was asking for it at the time, but by god did we get it, and it destroyed us.

The vinyl reissue and cassette features the new remastered version of the album with the original track sequence. The CD and boxset versions pack in all of the extra bonus materials. The 4xLP boxset, which includes all f the extensive bonus material that is also featured on the triple-CD set, is limited to 1500 copies.

The second disc in this new edition of Until Your Heart Stops features the eight tracks off the 4-track demo. Almost all of the album songs are here, minus the ambient intermissions and studio-built loop-scapes. Even in this raw state, the music cuts through you like a buzzsaw. The sound is slightly blowhn-out, every instrument limned in filthy distortion. The songs for the most part follow the same structures as the album versions, but fans of Heart will definitely hear the differences, the roving metallic grooves, the droning guitar notes, the stripped-down shred. This demo sounds fuckin' mean, I'll tell you that. It has endless urgency. Everyone playing at full tilt, banging oput the riffs and harmonies and bizzare melodic framework. That distorted tone to the already-crushing guitars shaping these songs into something dirtier and scuzzier. It's all instrumental, which also makes this a distinct different experience from listening to the final album. I love listening to creative process, and you get a ton of it with this bonus demo disc.

On the third disc, you get nearly an hour of Until Your Heart Stops (God City Demos / Bonus Tracks). This one is for the hardcore Cave In fans, as it is loaded with both alternate studio versions and a handful of songs / recordings that I have never seen nor heard anywhere else. There is a lot to chew on here. The versions recorded at God City include "Terminal Deity", "Juggernaut", "Until Your Heart Stops", and "Ebola". These are better-produced demo tracks, richer and fuller in sound and depth, and closer to their final form on the Until Your Heart Stops album. It's a continued gaze into the complex creative processes behind this album, and for longtime fans that have heard the album a thousand times over, it's fascinating to hear the slight differences in these versions. Or in some cases, really noticeable differences. The rest of that massive extras disc has all kinds of weird shit. Rare tracks that have only appeared as bonus cuts on previous reissues. There's two different versions of their rather zany cover of Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.", one with Dave on lead vocals, the other with Steve. They are radically different from one another; Brodsky belts out some ferocious, James Hetfield-style bellowing. It's wild. The "banter" during the song is hilarious. The tracks "Millipede" and "Casio Killtoy" are both some kind of quasi-industrial experiment, the band locked into a clattery, motorik machine-like groove surrounded by weird atonal electronic melodies. "Informing The Octopuis" is a two-part experimental noise collage, blending cardiac beats, rattling chains, mysterious environmental sounds, whooshing synths, and bizarre vocal fragments; sounds like somebody in the band was on a big harsh noise kick, as this stuff has a somewhat similar surrealist vibe as Psywarfare or Violent Onsen Geisha. That's followed by "Juggernaut (Stereo Test)", which is exactly that, a thirty-four second fragment of guitar mix. And finally the disc wraps with a weird track called "Mr. Co-Dexterity (4-Track Demo) ", a song that appeared on Cave In's self-titled 1999 7" EP. All instrumental, tt's more spaced-out and psychedelic, but with some serious galloping riffing going on, scattered into the quirky composition. The second half of "Co-Dexterity" shifts into the searing math-metal of that era, though, and is an interesting curio to close on.

The physical presentation of Relapse's reissue of Until Your Heart Stops is impressive to say the least. There are five different versions that I've got here on the shelf: a "standard" double CD edition that has the demos on the second disc; a "deluxe" limited-edition three-disc CD edition that has the album, demos, and "bonus tracks" each on a separate disc, in a large lovely digipak; a standard cassette version with just the album proper; a double LP vinyl edition on colored wax, which again just features the album proper; and finally, a colossal and absolutely stunning deluxe vinyl box set which contains four LPs with almost all of the material presented on the deluxe 3xCD, colored vinyl, limited to just 1503 copies. If you are a fan of Cave In and of this trailblazing album, a buffet awaits you.

The vinyl reissue and cassette features the new remastered version of the album with the original track sequence. The CD and boxset versions pack in all of the extra bonus materials. The 4xLP boxset, which includes all f the extensive bonus material that is also featured on the triple-CD set, is limited to 1500 copies.