Caina

Caina

Hands That Pluck

Profound Lore

In recent years, a number of bands in the black metal underground have experimented with post-rock / shoegaze elements—most notably Alcest and Amesoeurs. However, the UK’s Caina has been melding the two genres since the group’s mid-’00s inception as a primitive, raw, one-man black metal project, well before the style was recognized as a burgeoning movement. Caina is the work of Andrew Curtis-Brignell, who conceived of the band in his late teens; his unique vision has been described as a mix of Burzum, Mogwai and The Red House Painters, or as if 4AD, Mute, or Matador had released a black metal album. A prolific musician, Curtis-Brignell already boasts a number of releases under the Caina moniker, including the critically acclaimed albums Mourner (2007) and Temporary Antennae (2008), both on Profound Lore. Hands That Pluck is Caina’s most ambitious work to date. Epic, progressive and visceral, it is a culmination of years spent developing an idiosyncratic sound. Assisting Curtis-Brignell on the album are three guest vocalists: Lord Imperial from cult black metal band Krieg, Rennie Resmini of hardcore group Starkweather and Chris Ross of Blood Revolt / Revenge / Axis of Advance fame. Though Hands That Pluck is priced as a single CD, it includes a bonus disc titled Old Songs, New Chords featuring reinterpretations of four classic Caina tracks, remastered versions of the originals, and a Nico cover.

Caina

Temporary Antennae

Profound Lore

Not often in today's underground does a young talent forge a distinct and expansive musical entity. Twenty-two-year-old Andrew Curtis Brignell, one of the UK's most promising young musicians, did just that when he created the raw and primitive black metal enigma known as Caina. Despite remaining a one-man act, Brignell fulfills the promise of sonic expansion hinted at since the beginning, and his development as a multi-instrumentalist is something to behold.   In 2006, after several demo tapes, Caina released their debut, Some People Fall, which found Brignell trying to progress beyond the black metal paradigm while still maintaining its essence. A year later, Caina delivered Mourner, its first collaboration with Profound Lore, and Brignell truly took the Caina sound to a new plateau. With elements ranging from black metal, drone/experimental, and post rock, to song-oriented acoustic folk and shoegaze, Mourner was hailed as a modern-day black metal masterwork, landing at the #20 spot on Decibel Magazine's top album list of 2007.   Temporary Antennae, Brignell's most consistent full-length, is not only his most oppressive, intense, and uneasy sounding work yet, but also his most accessible.   Beginning where these two polar opposite musical forces confront each other, Temporary Antennae journeys through a surreal landscape where Caina's black metal origins meet post-rock, experimental, and even '80s new wave and pop influences. With so many layers to the madness adding depth and substance to the album, Temporary Antennae is Caina's most accomplished release to date.