Callisto – “True Nature Unfolds”
This was a wonderful surprise. After having heard this album a ridiculous number of times, I find that it’s cool that I understand–or at least, that I enjoy–something this different (for me, anyway). Also, I think I prefer to listen to this on headphones. The fullness of the sound, the brooding feeling, the grey-skies-ness of the music really does sound better up to your ear. At any rate, this album goes to show you that if you listen to music and let the music take you places, you can find new things that are fun, even though they are different. I was so convinced this album was not good. It sounded like another boring, slow band with growled/screamed vocals. However, I think I get it now. This band is really good. First of all, the vocals are growled/screamed, but they fit very well with the doomish, sluggish, dissonant guitar work. The vocals are “mature” (I know that sounds silly) and it’s not about trying to sound angry and all-macho/gorilla or whatever. The desperate (again, this word is not right) feel of the voice sounds pretty cool. The music is not fast or superslow, but it’s on the doomy (it’s not doom metal, though), melancholic, heavy, melodic (but not sweet) and memorable tip. Some people say this is art rock, prog rock, blah, blah, blah.. This is metal and it’s not metal. It’s not Slayer metal, but it certainly has a moody, dark guitar sound that, to me, does have a 70s Black Sabbath influence to it. One band that I have heard recently that has a vibe that is sort of similar is Buried Inside. These guys probably consider themselves a hardcore band, but it’s not the Hatebreed/Agnostic Frost type of hardcore. This is actually more the Sabbath/Candlemass type of hardcore (say what?). This is a stupid review. Let me try it this way: here’s a band that concentrates on feeling more than anything (not speed, not heaviness, not the rules), a somber, doomy, melancholic, spacy, ethereal, cloudy, trippy feeling. A basic, simple guitars-bass-drums-vocals approach (not big effects or outside tricks) with some interesting bits here and there (in some places I hear something like a saxophone, but it sounds sublime). This is definitely for the open-minded and for those that want to hear music that might open new places, new sounds. Finally, this is on Earache Records and it’s definitely different than their death metal stuff. I, for one, find this interesting and I do realize that there is a scene with a lot of “posthardcore” bands and stuff, but I don’t find most of those bands exciting or that creative. This is an exception, and a good one. This is about an hour long, with only a few minutes of intro/outtro.