Album Review
Caliban – “Gravity” [Album Review]
Is Gravity, the new album from long-standing German metalcore boys Caliban, an album that will get the metalcore scene sitting up and taking note or just another solid addition to their back catalogue?
Having reviewed a number of Caliban’s weighty back catalogue over the years, I’ve always found one fundamental problem with each and every one of their releases; no matter how solid each album is, they do very little to elevate the German modern metal mob to the next level. One can only assume that, considering their catalogue is now into double figures with the release of Gravity, that they’ve found their level and are quite content there.
On that note then, you could probably describe Gravity as a job well done. It’s a vicious, symphonic slab of modern metal right from the open blast of “Paralyzed”. Imagine if In Flames had gone down the route of violent circle pits instead of mainstream radio metal and that sums up Gravity in a nutshell.
The thing that frustrates most about listening to any Caliban release though, is that there are moments bubbling away under the surface where the German’s really show that they could be a real force to be reckoned with. Instead, for every neck-snapping moment of “Mein Schwarzes Herz,” where the weight of the mosh threatens to snap your neck, there are tracks like the haunting “brOKen” where the band head down a more atmospheric route and, in doing so, take the sting out of this album.
At this stage in their career, you’d kind of hope that, at some point, Caliban would have put an album out that really made the modern metal scene sit up and take note. To date, they haven’t and, sadly, Gravity isn’t that album. However, if you’re into crunchy Euro-metal and violent circle-pits, there is plenty of material on this and every other Caliban release to keep you happy.
Track Listing:
01. Paralyzed
02. Mein schwarzes Herz
03. Who I Am
04. Left For Dead
05. Crystal Skies
06. Walk Alone
07. The Ocean’s Heart
08. brOKen
09. For We Are Forever
10. Inferno
11. No Dream Without A Sacrifice
12. Hurricane
Run Time: 45:45
Release Date: March 25, 2016
Check out the video for “Mein Schwarzes Herz” here.
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