Album Review: Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant

If you have read any of my writing before, there's a good chance you've heard me say that I am a melody-focused listener, and that rhythms don't excite or engage me very often. That's why a lot of modern metal, especially that which falls under the category of djent, doesn't get much attention from me. I'd rather have a riff I can sing than one I can tap out on my leg, I would rather have a melody stuck in my head than try to figure out a changing time signature. But even in those areas I'm not altogether fond of, there are bands doing good things, and I try to give them a shot, to see if they can shake something loose in me. For this style, Caligula's Horse is one of the bands that manages to wrap their rhythms in a more melodic sheen, so there's something there for everyone.

"The Tempest" gets things off to a flying start, with dramatic sounds and a riff that I'm sure has some nifty math in making it fit with the drums. Not that I care about that bit. It's heavy, you can bob your head to it, and the falsetto-style vocals making up the chorus are smooth and melodic. A lot of djent-adjacent music can sound weak when it isn't being aggressive, but Caligula's Horse doesn't. They are as much a melodic band as they are a heavy one, which came through best on "The Tide, The Thief, & River's End", which I still think is their best record. When they streamlined their sound into a more metallic beast, they did lose a bit of what made them special.

There are still moments in these songs where the band finds a spark, but it's a different one. The melody in the chorus of "Slow Violence" is a lovely, lilting one that plays well against the stabbing guitar chords. Two different sounds come together, complimenting each other in ways you might not expect. That's the sort of thing that is progressive, and interesting, in a way that telling me a riff is three bars of 7 followed by a bar of 6 will never be.

There are some hints of the band's older sound in "Salt", a seven minute epic that isn't the blend of djent and folk that once was, but brings in a sensibility from outside a purely metal mindset. It is still a heavy track, but there is something unique about it that stands out from the more compact and traditional numbers. It's a nice bridge between the past and the future, and maybe signals more expansive songwriting ahead. That sounds rather appealing, if this is an indication.

But even the more compact songs on this album, like "Oceanrise", feature strong melodies to go along with the rhythmic riffing onslaught. If anything, this reminds me of what Leprous had been trying to do on a few of their recent albums, but done far more effectively. Caligula's Horse isn't as bleak, and that makes a big difference. There's no shying away from the band if a song comes across uplifting, no need to make it dark for the sake of their 'sound'.

So when you add up the strong short songs with the couple of more expanded numbers, what we get is possibly the best of the fully metallic albums Caligula's Horse has made. They are able to take a sound that is difficult to get into, and make music that works on multiple levels. There's a charm to their music absent from many of their peers, and that makes Caligula's Horse worth hearing.