CALIBAN – The Awakening

Caliban is a fictional character in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a deformed monster who is the slave of Prospero. Caliban is also a five-piece Metalcore band from Germany. For those not familiar with Caliban, they could be described as a heavier version of Hatesphere or Killswitch Engage. The Awakening is Caliban’s sixth studio album.

“I Will Never Let You Down” gives listeners a fast and aggressive opening for the record. Though the song has some potential, it never really amazes. It sounds good at times, but it’s like any other Metalcore record out there. It’s quite a shame, because Caliban is considered to be the “youngest veterans of Metalcore” with their 10 years in the industry.

“Let Go” must be the best song on the record. It varies a lot in tempo and the vocals are harder on this one than the others. They’ve also skipped the clean vocals for this one, and that’s not a bad move. Some of the riffs are in very off-sounding chords, but it sounds kind of cool. The next song, “Another Cold Day,” has a more melodic pace, but never really impresses anyone. “My Time Has Come” is a typical Metalcore song and should never have been put on this record in the first place.

The clean vocals sound unfortunately boring at times. If you listen to songs like “Life Is To Short,” “I Believe …,” or the last song on the record; “I’ll Show No Fear,” you’ll understand the point. The most surprising thing about the record is actually the crowd screaming “HEY!” on “Give Me A Reason.” That’s very seldom used in Metalcore.

The material on this release isn’t the most original you’ll hear, and it’ll disappear in the Metalcore forest sooner than you can say “Screamo.” Yes, well, the riffs have some potential and it’s so heavy at times that you just have to bang your head. But, there’s nothing really original about this release and they come off sounding like any other Metalcore band out there. You won’t be getting any surprises with this release and you’ll get a great example of this when the album aptly closes with the words “Don’t tell me who I am, I live my life how I want to …”

Don’t buy this record. Save your money for something that’s more interesting!

Lineup

• Andreas Dörner – Vocals
• Denis Schmidt – Guitar
• Marc Goertz – Guitar
• Marco Schaller – Bass
• Patrick Grün – Drums