Customer Reviews

Say Hello to Tragedy

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Anybody familiar with Caliban's music would probably expect the same thing with every release that comes from this band. Fortunately, this is not the case with say Hello To Tragedy, the band's newest album. I've only listened to this album twice so far, and have not figured out what it is about it that makes it so damn good. There's something about the music. As a whole, it's a lot catchier and more well-written than The Awakening. Plus, for those that like their albums to have plenty of music, it's 50 minutes which makes it the second longest Caliban record since Vent, which was nearly 55 minutes long. Favorite tracks so far are easily "24 Years" and "Caliban's Revenge." So if you're looking for metal that's heavy as hell and catchy at the same time, get this.

Also if you want more German metal, out right now from Century Media is Heaven Shall Burn's live dvd Bildersturm - Iconoclast II (The Visual Resistance).

Caliban. When I was first told of them, I was leery. After being let down so many times in the past of just running out and buying a c.d. of a band someone tells me about. Not this time. After doing some research and seeing Caliban has been around for about ten years, I figured they must be doing something right. And that they were on Century Records caught my attention as well. Heaven Shall Burn is another favorite of mine. After listening to the Vent and then Shadow Hearts album, I was hooked, but with Say Hello To Tragedy, I've gotten hooked all over again.

As you play the first track, you are assaulted by Andreas Dorner's piercing scream of "TELL ME HOW!" The next fifty minutes are an amazing blend of guitar riffs, blisteringly intense screams and growls, and a battery of brutal drumming. Then you come to 'Walk Like The Dead', the intro is mind blowingly soft and the rest of the track has a harmonic balance of heavy metal and a very moving chorus. Yes, it is metal music, but it's not too overwhelming to the casual metal/metalcore listener. With it's heavy metalcore sound and some incredible chorus vocals and the entire album feels like buying your first metal c.d. all over again.

This installment is, to me, Caliban raising the bar of what metal music has evolved into. Also, I've even gotten a 43 year old co worker of mine hooked on them as well, that really says something about how Caliban has something that everyone can enjoy. They just have a certain X factor that you can't explain and it's possibly the best album in my opinion and I certainly hope it's not the last.