Cerberus Shoal
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| Year | Title | Rating |
| 1995 | Cerberus Shoal | 6.5/10 |
| 1997 | ...And Farewell to Hightide | 6/10 |
| 1998 | Elements of Structure/Permanence | 6.5/10 |
| 1999 | Homb | 7/10 |
| 2000 | >>Crash My Moon Yacht | .../... |
| 2002 | Mr. Boy Dog | 7.5/10 |
| 2003 | Chaiming the Knoblessone | 7/10 |
| 2004 | Bastion of Itchy Preeves | 6.5/10 |
| 2005 | The Land We All Believe In | 9/10 |
| 2007 | Big Blood - Sew Your Wild Days Tour | 6/10 |
| 2007 | Big Blood - Space Gallery | .../... |
| 2008 | Big Blood - The Grove | .../... |
| 2008 | Fire on Fire - The Orchard | 7/10 |
| 2008 | Big Blood - Big Blood & the Bleedin' Hearts | 8/10 |
| 2009 | Big Blood - Already Gone | 6.5/10 |
| 2010 | An Ongoing Ding | 8/10 |
| 2010 | Big Blood - Dead Songs | .../... |
| 2010 | Big Blood - Dark Country Magic | 7.5/10 |
| 2010 | Big Blood - Operators and Things | 6/10 |
| 2011 | Big Blood - Big Blood & The Wicked Hex | .../... |
| 2012 | Big Blood - Old Time Primitives | .../... |
| 2013 | Big Blood - Radio Valkyrie + 1905 + 1917 + | .../... |
| 2014 | Big Blood - Unlikely Mothers | 7.5/10 |
| 2014 | Big Blood - Fight for Your Dinner | 5.5/10 |
| 2015 | Big Blood - Double Days | 7/10 |
| 2016 | Big Blood & Elliott Schwartz - Ant Farm | .../... |
Review last updated: November 30, -0001
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I am in love with this band. The fact that so few rock listeners have even heard of the genius of Cerberus Shoal, and even fewer took the time to appreciate or review their incredible music, only proves how moronic and clueless the entirety of the pop-listening masses is. This is a band of true innovators, pioneers that the world has been ignoring (somehow) for 20 years. They are eccentric, wild, uninhibited and passionate, but at the same time, careful, composed, and disciplined. Their discography shows a transformation from an emo/post-hardcore group, to a lush orchestra of post-rock and avant-folk ensembles. It infuriates me, but also comforts me how obscured and niche this band is.
Their 2005 masterpiece, The Land We All Believe In, is my fourth-favorite album of all time. This album achieves what so many artists only desperately try to: pure control of aesthetics, total confidence in its artistic messages, and a rigorously-disciplined and intricately-composed orchestra. The two most prominent stylistic achievements of Land are its percussive insistence (xylophones, vibes, bells, bongos, endless percussion), and its heavenly vocal arrangements. Every segment of this album's six tracks is a story, a fable with a message, a moral, and a conclusion. And this story is narrated with characters, highly-trained vocalists that summon angels from heaven, to entice and nurture the perceptions of the listener.
You can just lose yourself in the sublimity and perfection of this group. There seems to be endless overlapping voices, an unexpectedly eclectic palette of instruments (that blends banjo, xylophone, synthesizer, saxophone, affected guitars, atmospheric drones), and a team of operatic vocalists. It seems impossible to determine where this album comes from; musically, socially, and geographically. Even though it sticks to rock formulas and cues, it also paints long, atmospheric passages, with roaring waves of sound and static. The Land We All Believe In makes the entirety of recorded music look like garbage. The flawlessly-written spoken-word passages sound like the voice of God booming down from the clouds.