Cages, Anatomy of Habit
When: Sat., July 16, 7 p.m. Price: $5, free with Pitchfork wristband
It’s kind of mind-blowing that a band whose lineup includes both Greg Ratajczak, guitarist for cyber-grind maniacs Plague Bringer, and Mark Solotroff, vocalist for harsh-noise collective Bloodyminded, would end up as pretty as Anatomy of Habit. Their sprawling progressive-metal jams, which often top ten minutes, are hardly gentle—unsurprisingly these guys don’t shy away from volume—but they’re introspective and icily delicate as often as they’re punishingly huge, and Solotroff sings in an Ian Curtis deadpan as well as a bloodcurdling scream. The loud-soft-loud postrock thing is a little overdone, but Anatomy of Habit stand out from the pack with their stark and honest sound. The band—which also employs former Cheer-Accident bassist Dylan Posa on drums, Blake Edwards of Vertonen on metal percussion, and Kenny Rasmussen from the defunct No Funeral on bass—just put the finishing touches on its debut album with Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, and it’s due before the end of the year. —Luca Cimarusti
