Pigs Never Fly

Some might see Connecticut natives Cable as the forgotten siblings in the Isis-driven brotherhood of progressive metalcore bands, crowding the extreme music scene of the mid-2000s. But as albums like 2004's Pigs Never Fly (their sixth in a ten-year existence) attest, this station, although arguably justified, is not the result of lesser talent as much as voluntary exclusion. Consider the fact that, almost uniquely among this "brotherhood," Cable have increasingly embraced less refined Southern-style sludge elements as a major component of their idiosyncratic sound, and you find a band unwilling to follow trends, intent on evolving on its own terms, and essentially playing by its own rules. Now you're ready to dive into Pigs Never Fly, which immediately defies conventional wisdom by opening with a 17-minute colossus entitled "I Love It When You Crawl." Clearly, Cable and "conventional" have never been properly introduced, but this hardly poses a problem given the lengthy song's hypnotizing riffs and grooves, which hold the listener's attention almost without fail and conjure up thoughts of a metallic "Sister Ray," if that's possible. Ensuing, much shorter, material such as "Empty & Loaded" and "Shovel's Progress" inevitably shrink in its shadow somewhat, but only just, since their insistent power chords also manage to sink in with an efficiency that many of Cable's more critically acclaimed peers seem to ignore on their drive to "art." In the case of Pigs Never Fly, arty distractions are limited to momentary trinkets of sound snuck within the title track's cinematic sweep, and the unexpected piano and female vocal coda contributed by band friend Cherilynne Lewis to the disarmingly named "It's My Right to Be an A*****e." In the end, the sum of these parts won't disappoint fans of uncompromising and risk-taking heavy metal.