What does it take for a band nowadays to make a real impact with their music? This is the question everyone trying to make at playing music for a living has to answer. A band that left an impression on me a few years ago was Boston’s Caricature. 2013’s The Sound of One Man’s World Collapsing hit me like a ton of bricks, right as the current wave of progressive metal was starting to crest. After a two-year absence the band has returned with Shadows: The Maxi Single to inspire listeners and to reaffirm their place among the leaders of the prog genre.

‘Shadows’ itself is a beast of a track that has everything and the kitchen sink thrown in for fans of this music. Crushing guitar riffs, percolating beats, great melodies all make it sizzle and pop. The chorus is a guaranteed earworm that I’ve already been singing for days. Caricature’s master and commander Joseph Spiller (System Divide, Too Late The Hero, The Binary Cody) is well-known for his deft touch when it comes to writing intricate prog and tech death, but there are some amazing subtle parts to be discovered with each listen in just this track alone. With drums provided by powerhouse Evan Sammons (Last Chance to Reason), the combination of the two is a potent one. The sweetness of the chorus of ‘Shadows’ carries over to the breezy ‘Leave It’. The uptempo djent-fest is flat-out uplifting.

‘Current State of Affairs’ comes in with jarring sound, not unlike a Bernard Herman vamp from The Twilight Zone. After that it’s straight to the serial murder brutality of guitars and whipping drums, capped with ungodly screams from Spiller. A lot of bands like to claim Meshuggah as an influence, half-mock their signature style, and then call it a day. With Caricature, the band can actually play parts like Meshuggah, but write catchy original songs that aren’t derivative. ‘Saviors II (Oscar Nilsson Version)’ serves as a neat final track, summing things up.

Shadows: The Maxi Single is a nice re-introduction to the band and will mint new fans from those who rep bands as different as TesseracT and Gojira. Their next full-length The Fiction We’ve Become, is due later this year and we’re already looking forward to it.

8.5/10

KEITH CHACHKES