It's funny how a vocalist can make or break a band. Narcissus' "Crave and Collapse" has a number of intriguing things happening instrumentally, coming off like a prog-leaning amalgam of Tool and Deftones, but when singer John Pope strays from his constipated hardcore howl and unleashes a perpetually off-key and strained wail (particularly painful: "Indifference of Living," "Division of the Figureheads," "Talented Prey, Weak Hunter"), one bad ingredient spoils an otherwise moderately flavorful broth. The other problem with this Ohio-based band's third full-length effort is the infiltration of a similar mid-tempo slog throughout, resulting in a blur of many compelling individual instrumental chunks.