Review Summary: Circus metal.
Hailing from London and dressed in elaborate costumes and facepaint, CalatrilloZ are as over-the-top as they come, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your personal tastes. They certainly take the theatricality to extremes, going so far as to create an elaborate back-story for their “circus troupe of wanderers” involving a quest for redemption, demon lords and marionettes. The music appropriately soundtracks this strange tale, with opener “Origins” kicking the door down with meaty riffs before vocalist Zahyin’s operatic vocals enter the fray. He immediately establishes himself as the key component of this group, with his voice dominating proceedings throughout the song and throughout the album. “Origins” is an undoubted highlight of the record, with its catchy chorus and effective instrumentation making for one of
Psalms of Zahyin’s best numbers.
The follow-up, “Lords of Misery” ups the ante by opting for a less-structured formula, taking on progressive rock elements at the start of the song, before launching into a Bon Jovi-style hard rock number replete with an annoyingly memorable chorus. It’s certainly not the most innovative music – at least nothing that could hope to match up to their unique image – but you can’t deny that it’s fun. “I Am Alive” follows in the same vein but slows down the tempo ever so slightly, while “The Long Winding Road” (I realise they have the right to call the song anything they want to but, really, they couldn’t come up with something that doesn’t bring to mind Paul McCartney?) crawls along at a snail’s pace for most of the song before picking near the end.
“A Glimpse at a Fool’s Destiny” is the one track where Zahyin takes a bit of a backseat and allows the instrumentation to take centre stage. There are some great solos and it also contains the best moment on the album when a violin enters an instrumental section midway through the song. It’s by far the most emotional moment on
Psalms of Zahyin but it’s all too brief: the section lasts a whopping 25 seconds before fading back into the song proper. Still, “A Glimpse at a Fool’s Destiny” is perhaps the album’s best and most epic number and would have been an effective closer. “The Psychopath” is not bad by any means but should have appeared earlier on, feeling like it would have been a solid continuation of the madness that is “Origins”. The riffs and solos fly by thick and fast but it feels incomplete as an end to the album.
Despite the interesting image and story, this is not something I’ll personally find myself returning to very often, but it has its audience. CallatrilloZ’s
Psalms of Zahyin will not appeal to everyone but if you can enjoy rocking out to some 80’s hair metal and enjoy some cheesiness and theatrics with your daily dose of riffs then give this a shot.
