ALBUM REVIEW: Elements – Caliban
CALIBAN have been a consistent name in the metalcore scene for over twenty years. After ten solidly unswervingly brutal albums, the latest instalment to their back catalogue is Elements. Having the promise of diversity and expansion on their ideas, is this album able to live up to the standards the band have set for themselves?
First up, we have This Is War. If a band ever had an opener that proved they are still in the business of making the most intrusive, full throttle music, this is it. The threat and energy of this track is completely overwhelming. Verse after verse punches you in the face, like a hurricane through your ears. Yet the chorus has just enough chant-along melody that listeners will have more than enough fun screaming along. Intoxicated brings in more intricacies to the riff, creating more interesting dynamic. Lyrically, it’s a good song, incorporating some very relatable ideas. The overall vocal delivery is solid here, with only Andreas Dörner contributing on this album. The slower moments are very beautiful and go a long way to contribute to the overall feel and emotion of this song.
Next up, Ich blute fur Dich is another uppercut to the face. The blast beats are relentless here, it’s so forceful. The chorus feels a little lack lustre, but with some killer riffs running through this one, it’s another fun piece to sink into. Before Later Becomes Never starts on a well-trodden path. However, the powerful lyrical delivery and the poetry behind the words makes for a much more positive experience. The approach throughout the track even takes a little more of a tech metal angle in places, adding some real difference to the standard metalcore. There is a totally gnarly breakdown towards the end that’s worth waiting for to encounter. CALIBAN seem to really want to work within the boundaries of the genre, without becoming stale and obsolete. Not all the ideas are completely polished, but the delivery and the ideas are interesting and feel genuine. Nothing’s been put out here that hasn’t had proper thought.
Changing things up, Set Me Free is more poetic, featuring heartfelt choruses over soaring guitars, all before the dive down into the hard drumming and solid guitar work. The balance between soft and hard here is very well done, they compliment each other exactly. One without the other, simply wouldn’t work. Intriguingly, My Madness is much more sombre than its namesake would have you believe. The lyrics feel true, and this particular track will have some connection to those with their own personal demons. It’s a physical expression of the feeling of being trapped inside your own head, and with your own problems. The isolation and the hollowness are present through the track, and in places it might feel a little LINKIN PARK, that is by no means a negative shunt.
Moving on to I am Fear, this track takes the very essence of anger that CALIBAN can conjure and runs with it. Again, a little predictable in places, and it’s not the most varied and evocative song on the record, but nonetheless well worth a listen. Delusion is another track that will strike a chord for its good balance between the stomach churning drops and solid guitar work and chantable chorus whilst Carry On insets in more rap-style vocals, which are something of a misstep. It feels a little confused here, like a track from another record. There’s too much stepping out from the genre for it to feel like a part of this collective. Overall, it’s an okay tribute to another band, but doesn’t feel like trademark CALIBAN. Masquerade has a much more sadistic, nasty edge to it. An intentionally unsettling intro leads into more brutal, almost SLIPKNOT-esque vibe. The band are really playing with styles and influences here, and whether it’s intentional or not, there are some pretty unusual combinations of musical concepts.
More than half way through the album now, we have Incomplete. Things are turned up a little way of effects and soundscapes that keep the instrumental side of things pleasant enough, but something at this point in Elements has lost momentum. Perhaps the desire to play around with more personal ideas, and not to listen to any other music while writing this album has been something of a determent in places. While the band might consider their ideas original, there is undoubtedly some outside influences that has seeped through subconsciously.
The Great Unknown thankfully slides back into the very much metalcore for the most part. Dark and brooding, there’s a stab of fear in the heard of all this stomping, crashing madness. It’s a chaos that fans will love, and the name is very evocative of the way this one is going to make you feel. When CALIBAN get it right, they really can be obliterating emotive and powerfully terrifying. This track has it all.
Sleepers Awake is one more unsettling, relentless track. Pushing the very limits of what is totally metalcore, and the more melodic, tuneful moments, the symbology and harmony between two very juxtaposed sounds is just perfection. A quieter dimness takes over for Dark Shadows, with a much more sludge driven riff and pacing, this lower drive, this padding feels like being stalked by a great beast. And for sure, when the song kicks in, you’ll be swallowed up. Finally, Forsaken Horizon is total blazing metalcore. Aggression, venom spitting versus and unusual riff breakdowns compliment the bending tormented nature of this final screaming breathe of Elements.
Some shortfalls and missteps with what are obviously very well considered ideas, overall CALIBAN have proven that they have earned their place as one of the greats of the metalcore scene. The ideas that do land are exceptional, emotive and raw. The true incorporation of all the elements of this album, as intended, are a great demonstration of the way CALIBAN can be both what is expected, and much more.
Rating: 8/10
Elements is out now via Century Media Records.
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