Caliban "The Opposite From Within" CD
[Abacus]
Hot damn, it's been awhile since I heard anything from this German metalcore act. In fact, I don't even think I heard their last record... so I was pretty pleased when I popped this in. There's a lot of pretty typical contemporary European styled metalcore involved as far as chunky chord progressions, staccato rhythms, hard-hitting breakdowns, Slayer-esque riffing, a little discordance and whatnot, etc. And that's all fine and dandy, but the melodic elements here are really melodic... unloading powerful note choices, memorable choruses, and even some excellent singing vocals to contrast the normally acerbic screams. I'm definitely way into their songwriting and dynamic shifts. Maybe imagine something between All Out War and Killswitch Engage or something. There are definitely some tremolo picked runs that have a major melodic Swedish death metal vibe (see "I've Sold Myself"), but they're better than average with all of that stuff, so the end result is a strong offering. It's not necessarily diverse from song to song, there are definitely similar threads throughout, but they've got the whole balance down pat. "Certainty... Corpses Bleed Cold" opens more slowly and laidback than the other songs, but it's really only the chorus that follows that format, as the rest of the track bulks up and gets much more aggressive. "One of These Days" layers in some really strange clean guitars all too briefly against distorted rhythms, and "Diary of an Addict" has a quick little melodic lead break over lush clean chords, but there aren't too many subtleties like that. Openers "The Beloved and the Hatred" and "Goodbye" are among the more memorable tracks, but I wouldn't say the disc drops off or anything after that point at all. It's pretty consistent. The production was handled by In Flames' Anders Friden, with the mixing/mastering at the hands of Andy Sneap, so of course things sound pretty damn good. The drums are definitely leaning towards the rigid side, but they've got enough punch to hold it down just fine. Other than that, the bass does sort of get lost in the shuffle, but the mix is clear as hell and I really like the guitar tone and all of the vocals. The vocal harmonies are damn nice, and the screaming never gets irritating in the least... there's a lot of force there actually. The layout looks good for the most part, I actually really like the cover art, and I like most of the lyrical arrangements with some of the blurred lettering and dirty textures, though honestly I think the back cover looks rather bland. No big deal, though. Lyrically I'm pretty disinterested however, as the content is all pretty personal and somewhat open, and nothing really jumps out at me as interesting or creative, they're just kind of boring. But musically this is a damn good record overall. Maybe one or two fewer songs would've helped keep it moving a little better, but I'm not complaining. I'm curious how this compares to their last record, but either way, I like where they're sitting right now, so... hopefully this won't get overlooked in its flooded genre, because this is definitely better than the bulk of what's out there. (7/10)
Running time - 47:41, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: The Beloved and the Hatred, Goodbye, My Little Secret]
Abacus Recordings - http://www.abacusrecordings.com

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