Perfect Pitch Black

Perfect Pitch Black is the fourth studio album by American rock band Cave In. The album was released on September 13, 2005 through Hydra Head Records, and was the band’s final release before going on hiatus in 2006. Cave In later reformed in 2009 and released the EP, Planets of Old. For the band’s third studio album, Antenna, the band left Hydra Head Records and signed with major label RCA Records. Cave In was disappointed with Antenna (despite generally positive reviews) citing too much time and money spent on making the album, and too much control over the music from RCA. The band started writing heavier songs that incorporated more of Cave In’s earlier sound, but RCA refused to release the album and wanted little to do with the demos the band had been recording. RCA Records granted Cave In ownership rights of the demos they had already recorded and dropped the band from the label in 2004. Originally unsure of how to release the album, Cave In later signed back to Hydra Head Records to release Perfect Pitch Black.

Lyrically, several songs on Perfect Pitch Black vent about the band’s frustrations with their major label stint. According to guitarist and vocalist Stephen Brodsky, the act of trepanning is to drill a hole in the skull to alleviate stored up pressure in the brain, and the song “Trepanning” lyrically “fully expresses our sentiment at the time of this song-writing period.”