In 1992, a time when independent guitar rock was bathing in previously unseen notoriety, Come released their debut album, Eleven: Eleven, to wide acclaim. Its raw, majestic guitar sound caused everyone from Kurt Cobain to MTV to hail the Boston band's fierce and dark approach to their craft. It was finally a time when the terms "unprecedented" and "raw power" could appear in a sentence with accuracy away from clichés and press releases.

Come's songwriters were already well established at that point-- guitarist and vocalist Zadek had, over the past decade, worked in New York with outfits such as Uzi and Live Skull, and cohort Chris Brokaw drummed with the slowcore trio, Codeine. Joined by the forceful rhythm combination of Sean O'Brien and Arthur Williams, their debut mapped a future in which much would be expected of them.

Zadek's karmic penchant for joining volatile groups seemed to continue when, in 1995, the rhythm section packed up and left. In the years to follow, another EP was released (employing the rhythmic talents of the now defunct Louisville band Rodan) but the quality of the release hinted that the temporal nature of the line-up was not ideal for music of this caliber. Perhaps sensing this, Zadek and Brokaw embarked on a "cabaret" tour minus drums with just their guitars and a pianist.

Gently Down the Stream is a return to the echelon that Brokaw and Zadek built as one of the most genuinely moving and seamless guitar pairings around. With a new rhythm section re-establishing their trademark platform, Come set out in a unique direction-- bruised blues jams, melodic jangling guitar lines that refuse to separate rhythm from lead, and, of course, Zadek's breathy, serrated rasps. Brokaw also strengthens his vocal contribution, most notably on the mellifluous, rollicking "Recidivist."

The record's opening track, "One Piece," enters the cerebrum as a Mid-Eastern- tinged jam, and exits with violent arpeggios played like well-worn orchestral instruments. It's questionable whether Zadek has written a song as vulnerable and realized as "Saints Around My Neck"; a winding epic that effortlessly combines earnest confession and a spare, tense soundscape given life by the synthesis of simple, resonant guitar lines.

"A Blues Jam" is just that-- five minutes of Brokaw's riffs sweeping out and under Zadek's intense cyclic chord structures, underscored by the pounding martial rhythm section. The upright, screaming "Stomp," and Brokaw's wide- eyed observation in "Silk City" showcase his vocal input and prevent one from becoming desensitized to Zadek's blare.

But Gently Down the Stream is a strong release not because it sets out to re-define preconceived notions of their music, but because when they get down to it, Come have the capacity to attack this existence in a time when people prefer modern muzak as a background to light conversation. That they haven't greatly expanded on their primary essence is just an arbitrary clutch when dealing with the transcendent power of this music.

-Pete Nicholson