Review Summary: The German power house knocks down another building
Since their sloth like appearance onto the metal scene with their first album ‘A Small Boy and a Grey Heaven’ in 1999, Caliban have endured some pretty harsh criticism.
Criticism directed at their lack of ‘own styles’ and ‘trending’ and an inability to discover their own destiny, settling only for the most popular sound of the future, past and present. When a band is accused of following their influences album after album, it must get harder and harder to write records or so you would think?
Ghost Empire is an album built around all things modern metal and all things Caliban. Each song is met with a head strong attitude and a ferocious disregard for the critics.
The opening track ‘King’ begins with a familiar sounding riff that you could easily associate with a lot of metal-core bands out there currently destroying teenage mosh pits, but Caliban cease the moment by introducing a chorus that is both catchy and memorable. You could almost duplicate this achievement over the next 3 tracks ‘Chaos-Creation’, ‘Wolves and Rats’ and ‘neBeL’ where the songs begin with a good solid riff and progress into something quite addictive and substantial, the choruses again playing into your mind like a first kiss.
Once you have caught your breath, track 5 ‘I am Ghost’ begins with a fetching intro and breaks into something savagely fierce and meets you with a raw aggressive chorus ‘I..AM….GHOST.. I'm floating in a lifeless haze, my memories are slipping away’. There is something truly magical about Caliban at this moment as they explore their most solid hooks and simplicity and it only carries on into the sublime single ‘Devil’s night’.
By the time ‘yOUR Song’ enters the fray, you’re simply buzzing at the previous excursion and you simply want more. ‘yOUR Song’ is a song written directly for the fans and you can really feel the energy and emotion piled into this 5 minute slug fest. It’s a fist pumper and will definitely be a favourite amongst hard-core fans and new fans alike.
‘Cries and Whispers and ‘Good Man’ are solid efforts with simply unforgettable choruses and riffs built in an assembly line of musically-hardened machinery. ‘I am Rebellion’, ‘Who We Are’ and the final track ‘My Vertigo’ are blazing tracks with remorseless hooks and thunderous drums.
Ghost Empire is an album written, built and executed by 5 very experienced, dexterous musicians. It’s full of flavour and truly addictive choruses that stick to you like chewing gum to a city pavement. Caliban may not be something ‘unique’ but they are certainly a band very well cemented into the metal history books and they are only a whisper away from greatness.
