Love it or hate it, metalcore has actually lasted more than we all thought and one of the originators of the scene, Germany’s Caliban, keep up the momentum with this; their seventh full length in ten years. Not bad going really. I’ve seen this band a couple of times and depending on who you talk to they’re either brilliant or total crap. There seems to be no in between ground at all. I fit the former category when I’ve seen them as they play a no holds barred show that comes across as purely thrash if it weren’t for the baggy trouser kung fu trainees.
The album gets under way in typical thuggish riff manner with “24 Years” as the band seems to hide their slamming tendencies quite well initially. However it isn’t long before they’re out of hiding and giving you a good windmilling. The band ventures into deathcore territory on “Love Song” with a groovy beat and the usual clichéd dual vocal slanging match. The obvious heaviness and double bass kick gives this considerable impact but the over production values that plague this genre make it very clinical.
After the first two tracks pass by competently I was wondering if all past hints of clean vocals had been eradicated but unfortunately “Caliban’s Revenge” and “End This Sickness” smash that notion to smithereens and indeed my eyebrows furrowed considerably on “Walk Like The Dead” as it starts far too closely to what I deem as popcore. Whilst I do not hate the clean vocal style it annoys me when it is seemingly inserted into songs for no apparent reason other than atoning to the teenage Vidal Sassoon brigade.
“No One Is Safe” begins with a super heavy riff as my attention is awoken momentarily. The breakdown swagger returns quickly however returning the track to safer well trodden metalcore structures. The band uses Swedish metal riffs copiously in many songs as “Liar” demonstrates, though every song is tempered by metalcore harmonies making the album very predictable at times. Always looking for something different and a positive aspect I found it on “All I Gave” which begins quietly and eerily. The heavy guitar sound is injected with deathcore twangs and slightly different vocals. The piano insertion also gives the song more variety and an experimental edge that bands like Cult Of Luna are masters of.
Whilst Caliban are never going to convince the more immediate metal masses, this is a solid enough release that will certainly quench the metalcore desire for heavy guitar and clean vocals.
http://www.calibanmetal.com
http://www.myspace.com/caliban
