Aah, metalcore, the one genre I’ve always been against. Maybe it was because the only bands I can think of when I think metalcore are these stupid popcore bands? Caliban changes all that where image has nothing to do with the music. Yeah, they do dress in black and look slightly scary looking but Caliban are not based on that. Hear me now, if you check this out hoping for a completely new experience of metalcore then you’ll be completely wrong. This is the same old “chugga-chugga” detuned guitar riffs, same old mix of screaming and clean vocals and the same old double bass drums. But you know what? They do a damn good job at it.
When you pop the CD in, you’ll instantly be hit by the pounding ferocity of The Beloved And The Hatred. A truly heart attack of a metalcore song infested by melodic elements. At first you might think that this is your normal stuff but it does grow more and more on you. Soon you’ll be able to notice the changes and progressions of the songs. This is a tight album, 12 tracks of melodic passages with no crappy fillers or anything to spoil the mood. Only one band I can really compare it to is Atreyu but not in a bad way. This is a hundred percent improved Atreyu! The similarities I can think of is mainly the vocals. Both bands include clean and screamed vocals, screamed by the front man and singed cleanly by other members of the band. The screaming is a bit less barfy but the melodic singing is nearly identical to that of Atreyu’s. It certainly less whiny though. Not to say that’s a bad thing but some people could be seriously put off by that.
The vocals can’t be the only thing that flows the band, the rest are brilliant. The guitarists don’t do any fancy solos or anything but their riffs are very melodic and nice to listen to. They are really flowing and compliment the vocals and the fast double bass of the drums. My complaint with the guitars is that the riffs can seem a bit obnoxious and annoying to listen to but that only happens during the breakdowns. The drums are lightning fast but don’t do anything amazing from outside the genre. It’s the usual double bass stuff and fast fills. It’d be funny to have seen some blast beats here. The bass isn’t anything special but I did notice a few times when it was just following the fast double bass in some songs. Maybe if they drove their talents a bit more away from the average metalcore band then that’d be good.
Every song here is something different. The album starts with a blast and ends with a blast with The Beloved And The Hatred and 100 Suns. Both of which are heavy and melodic at the same time. Two great songs but what about the songs in the middle of them? No fear there my friend. Every song is jammed packed full of melodies and the hardest of metal. Take for example, the second song on the album. Goodbye is a more heavier song that rest opening up with this basic “chugga-chugga” thing and double bass. Remember the annoying breakdowns I was talking about earlier? This applies here. This is constantly being put into the song besides the chorus which is a nice change from the verses. I can only count about 3 songs which doesn’t start off with an annoying breakdown but most of the songs come together when you listen through it.
This album can be a hit or miss for a lot of people. If you are sick of these new wave of metalcore bands then I don’t think this would appeal to you but if can’t get enough of them or you crave a mix of melody and heaviness then this could be right for you. Caliban seem better with melody than heaviness though and I hope they work towards making songs on the melodic side. The bass could do some fills and the drummer should walk away from the genre with his playing. But it seems after this, they can only seem to get better anyway. Hopefully, only time will tell.
