300 Percent Density

Album Review

On 300 Percent Density, Candiria continues to deliver their pioneering brand of metal, a potent fusion of hardcore, jazz, funk, grind, and hip-hop. The fusion is executed seamlessly and seemingly without effort; "Constant Velocity Is As Natural As Being at Rest," for example, begins with jazz drums and trumpet before dissolving into sludgy hardcore that breaks easily back into jazz between verses. On "Without Water," Carley Coma begins with silky rap that slides easily into ferocious screams and hardcore growls. Candiria doesn't simply appropriate various styles on 300 Percent Density; they successfully incorporate them into a unified and distinct new sound. That success owes as much to Carley Coma's diverse repertoire of voices as to the band's musicianship, which betrays nothing short of virtuosity on the majority of this album. When Coma sings of "conceptual decay" on "Constant Velocity," he may as well be describing 300 Percent Density. The lyrics on this album are no less thoughtful than the music: They return consistently to the debilitating forces, such as consumerism, that bar the individual from genuine living, and insist obsessively on their excision. While the lyrics are frequently indecipherable without the liner notes close by, 300 Percent Density is nevertheless a fascinating and deeply rewarding album.