Search - Caliban :: Opposite From Within

Germany's best kept metalcore secret, may leave you wonderin

LeftManOut | TheCityThatNeverSleeps, FL | 09/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Caliban's "The Opposite From Within" is just one of those records that comes along so unexepectedly. Easily matching some of the top metalcore releases of 2004 (most notably Unearth's "The Oncoming Storm" and Killswitch Engage's "The End Of Heartache"), Caliban brings much to the table and completely annihilates a lot of the competition. Caliban doesn't do anything drastically different from the melodic metalcore style we've all grown accustomed to by now, they easily show their musicianship over younger newer bands just cropping up in the scene. Having more than 7 years of being a band under their belt, Caliban offers a record that any fan of the genre will fall in love with. But What surprises me the most is that these guys are relatively unknown, even at a time when Metalcore is at it's Zenith. I could easily see these guys getting the kind of attention Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying does. All I can think is that they most be alot bigger in Europe than they are here.



Ok first off, a lot of people are gonna tell you "yea they sound like a german Killswitch Engage", which is kinda true and kinda not. It's true that the two bands share a lot of similarities, most notably their nact for writing beautifully aggressive music, but I wouldn't see much more of a comparison than that. Actually to me, Caliban is much heavier than Killswitch Engage, and much more melodic at times. That may sound almost blastphamous to some (keep in mind I am also a huge KSE fan), but it's entirely true. Caliban shows throughout the entire cd, they can play some of the most blisteringly melodic metalcore around. "The Beloved And The Hatred", the opening track, shows this illustration perfectly. Seemlessly switching between tortured screams, and beautiful melodies, Caliban basically introduces you to what they are about. The clean vocals are actually done by one of the guitar players, not the main vocalist/screamer Andreas (which if anyone has seen the video for "The Beloved And The Hatred" or the band's live show, you would know). Tracks like "Goodbye" and "Senseless Fight" are a couple of my personal favorites, but honestly it's so hard to choose favorite songs on this cd, as I can't really find a bad one on here. Caliban's breakdowns are even pretty interesting, and easily fit in with the beautifully crushing music, and are sure to ensight dance floors everywhere they are played. I constantly find myself listening to this cd entirely, it's just that good. After 4 albums of perfecting their style, Caliban have reached their pinacle with this masterpiece, and I can only see the band going up from here.



If you're a fan of heavy metal or hardcore, then I highly recommend this cd to you. It was easily one of the best records of 2004, and more than a year after it's release I find myself still listening to it just as much as I did right when it came out. If you like any kind of melodic metalcore, especially Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, I guarantee you'll love these guys. With Metal and Hardcore being so big right now, I wouldn't be surprised if these guys see at least some kind of success. They don't necessarily re-invent the wheel, but with "The Opposite From Within", Caliban definitely perfects it."

Ok..

D. Draper | 08/10/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"don't get me wrong here.. im not one of these people saying caliban are a killswitch engage ripoff but.. ever since they sold themselves to roadrunner these german metallers have been doing something thats not really them (or wasn't really them).. theres a fine line between melody and brutality and making the two have just the right balance (killswitch's first two albums did it perfectly).. its not that any of the songs are particuarly bad its just they sound so FAKE.. its like they wrote 2 minutes of heavy stuff and some roadrunner exec. came along and said: 'we need to insert melodic bits with boyband vocals here, here and here'.. and hey presto! we have a caliban album.. and its not just caliban that are guilty because so many metalcore bands are doing it now and none of it sounds very natural (demon hunter's new album is another obvious example).. despite all of that its alright to listen to for a couple of days but im not expecting it to join the likes of tool, gojira, isis, (early) metallica, etc. on my permanant playlist.. theres just nothing particuarly deep about it for a repeated listening experience.."