Coalesce 002/A Safe Place CD

 In the beginning....
...this lovely platter had just the first three songs, 73-C, Grain of Salt and Simulcast. This was how Coalesce was presented to us back in the mid 90's (remember them good ole days). The patented Steineger riffage, the how-can-they-be-so-tight-in-7/4 rhythm section, and the throat wounds of Sean Ingram: not quite embryonic, but definitely at the beginning. Coalesce's 002 EP is so incredibly heavy that bundling it with 2 additional songs from a subsequent 7", A Safe Place and Blend As Well, may require you to pre-dial 9 and 1 before commencing to listen. Pardon what may be considered an inappropriate term for music of this genre, but Blend As Well is just a beautifully heavy song, bursting at its own seams, breaking itself with savage odd-time and wrapped in some of the most snarling riffs conjureable. At just 2:12, the only shame is the arthritis your thumb will get from hitting Play over and over again to dwell in that superbly and rosily recorded Coalesce sound. My fave track of the lot. A Safe Place is...what's another word for heavy-as-four-planets? Well that, plus James DeWees does some simple, tasty things to a China-type cymbal to add to the crush and groove. The original tracks, like 73-C all bear the marks of the Coalesce verse/bridge/chorus stamp as each section carries its own crazed rhythm & time signature, fluidly switching to the next complex section, all drenched and led by the metric-tonnage that Jes Steinerger creates with such seeming ease (he has in his head and hands some of the most original and powerful riffage around, bar none). The remaining two tracks are good, but the three I've raved about above are, for me, the standouts (could you tell?) Buy or feel a sense of having missed something that is actually musically relevant.
Submitted by Marc (Bklyn, NY)
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