Artist: Cales
Title: Return from the Other Side
Type: Album
Label: Gothoom Productions

“Most excellent”, were the thoughts in my head when this disc dropped onto the plush red carpet here at Davison towers. You see, a couple of years ago, the one-man folk metal blitzkrieg that is Blackosh (ex-Root, ex-Crux and about a dozen other Czech bands) had released “KRF”, one of the best albums of that year. In a genre rapidly becoming swollen with also rans, it was a brilliant slab of folk metal that managed to avoid the worst excesses of the mandolins and hurdy-gurdy brigades, while still retaining enough rustic charm to spirit the soul to far flung reaches of the mind.

Yet with such praise comes the inevitable fear that the succeeding album will, to coin a well worn phrase, “suck ass”. Happily, this is not the case here, and indeed, this sees some improvements over its older, well played brother. Again, this appears to be the solo work of Mr Blackosh, and further showcases his single minded adherence to his art. For the uninitiated, this is nicely rural-sounding heavy metal, with one foot in a kind of semi-dreamlike late era Bathory-esque Viking-like shuffle, with other elements of extreme metal occasionally thrown into the mix. The six minute epic, “Highlander”, for example, while having some of the pomp and acoustic guitar interludes that seem to crop up on every third or fourth album these days also features some rather brilliant tribal drumming, and the kind of windswept riffing that wouldn’t sound out of place on I’s “Between Two Worlds” album. “Down There” features an introductory riff so deliciously dark and infectious that it is in danger of prompting it’s own worldwide panic. The overall tone of the album is a great deal darker than “KRF”, and more easily connectable to heavy metal. Personally, I quite like the more heavy direction, though I am sure that some of the more pastoral of our listeners will wish for more tweeting birds-in-the-trees atmospherics, but the good news is that throughout the album, the sense of the epic – the vast windswept landscapes of the mind – are always kept intact.

The song writing, musicianship and production are all as impeccable as before, perhaps with a slightly more prominent bass sound in the mix. As usual, hearing a Czech bloke sing in nicely rural accented English (think The Archers by the way of Skyclad, and you’re half way there) is more effective than it has any real right to be. Elsewhere, despite the rather gloomier tone, the warmth of the guitars makes this a less depressing listen than it could have been, and indeed the production does make this feel much more of an organic, analogue listen. At just seven songs long, the only complaint is that there might have been room for a song or two more here. I know that by the end I found myself in the mood for more Cales, but the album had finished. It’s hypnotic, by degrees ferocious and introspective, and by far the most mature and accomplished folk metal of the year. This will be on my top ten list. It should be on yours.

http://www.cales.mysteria.cz

http://www.myspace.com/calesclan

Chris Davison

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