The year is 1999 and a band from Germany called Caliban come out and release a full length album called "A Small Boy and a Grey Heaven". The album proved them to be alright but not great.
5 years and 2 albums later, they return with "The Opposite From Within", an album that will change the German Metalcore scene forever...
It begins with The Beloved And The Hatred, a song that probably summarizes Caliban in just under 4 minutes. Beginning with chugging guitar riffs and Andy's high pitched screaming and then progressing into a melodic chorus, this song proves to be a great Metalcore hit.
Then comes Goodbye which starts with a breakdown. It turns into a great riff leading into a chorus with clean vocals again. These formulas for this track appear in almost every song.
I've Sold Myself steps away from their usual and doesn't include clean vocals. Some great pinch harmonics and a breakdown make this song a risk that paid off.
Stand Up and Senseless fight return to the cleanly sung choruses and are both pretty solid tracks. Stigmata doesn't have clean vocals either but isn't as interesting as I've Sold Myself.
Certainly... Corpses Bleed Cold is probably Caliban's best and most unique song to date. It starts with a clean sung chorus and the verses include diminished chords and groundbreaking breakdowns.
My Little Secret is an average metalcore song and One Of These Days also includes no clean vocals. Both are good but not great tracks.
Salvation is the next track which starts with chunks of guitar and for the first time, you can hear the bass real good. It plays the verse just a bit too long but it’s worth the wait for the chorus which has clean vocals and nice guitar.
Next is Diary of and Addict which is the longest Caliban song ever. It is a bit harder to listen to then the others but it will grow on you if you give it time, I promise. It has some nice guitar work and pretty much all screams.
100 Suns is a lot like I’ve Sold Myself but isn’t as good. Strong guitar and nice vocals make this song a superb finish to this album.
Recommended Tracks
Goodbye
Senseless Fight
Certainly… Corpses Bleed Cold
Salvation
In Conclusion, I think this album is a must have for metalcore lovers. But some might need to give them more time to like them because Andy’s singing is an acquired taste.
