Coma Recovery - Goddverb (Deep Elm)

Comparisons to Explosions in the Sky are naturally going to abound for Albuquerque-based Coma Recovery, and it’s best to get ‘em out of the way now: they’re from the Southwest, they’re four friends from way-back-when, whose band started a decade ago, and who have this thing for big, grand, heavy instrumental rock. For Goddverb, their third album—and first this reviewer has heard—sounds like the work of seasoned veterans, guys who know not only their own musical capabilities, but the capabilities of their band members. That’s a long way to say that these songs are tight. whether they’re playing mind-crushingly loud metal rifts a la Jesu on “Opener,” or the loud/quiet/loud moments of “Liberator” or the title track. It’s always a nice sign, too, when a band opens with and closes with their strongest material; “Red Lightning Child/Great Emptiness” starts off Goddverb on a fast-paced yet melodic note, whereas epic “Illuminator,” starts off in the same manner, yet finishes in a satisfying, “this is some of the gentlest loud music I’ve ever heard” kind of way. They aren’t remaking the wheel with Goddverb, and I’m sure they’d admit that themselves, but what they do excel at—well, it’s very good, indeed.