Caliban
Ghost Empire

The last time I crossed roads with the Calibans they were Nemesis I and got hung up on Linkin Park while reviewing them. Now the band has returned to follow up 'I Am nemesis' and this 12 tacks large collection of 48 minutes with death metal is the most given buy so far in 2014 from this genre.

Probably the only thing I had somewhat of an issue with on 'I Am Nemesis' was the vocals but apart from that I really liked their eight album. With number nine it seems to me like they can trash everything else they've ever done because this album is so much better! My issues with the vocal side has clearly been addressed and even the music has improved and grown in to something richer and more varied without leaving their musical platform. Tempo changes appears to come in more or less every song, making the songs come to life and taking a step away from that pointless grinding that so many bands in the genre get stuck in and kills their music with. So also Caliban once. And the vocals, they've been fixed by mixing shouts, screams and clear vocals in a better way than before.

Some parts of 'I Am Nemesis' had resemblance to In Flames, which I commented by saying they sometimes could be mixed up with a heavier In Flames-clone, but on this album they've gone so far from In Flames that it's hard to understand they actually play in the same genre. But it's not only because the ghostly Germans are so much heavier than the flaming Swedes, their music is more straight to the point and down to earth - almost punk-rock trapped within a death metal body. Caliban are clearly drawn towards hardcore and screamo but still stands firm on their ground without going schizophrenic despite having more tempo changes and other ideas on this album.

Sure, it's a bit funny when they make a song with German lyrics in the middle of it all or when they make songs like Devil's night and yOUR Song that are so distinctive different from what they normally have done these last 16 years but you shouldn't be too concerned about that. 'Ghost Empire' is a really high standard album all the way from start to finish. Things they've done for the first time on this album are things they really should continue doing, like having Mr Schmidt help Andreas Dörner so much on the vocal side because here he joins in on more or less every song doing backup vocals and harmonic choirs so it almost sounds like arena rock. That might sound like a hard blow to you who expected the heaviest fucking German crush that's ever been done, which usually is the case with Caliban, but don't be frightened by this - Caliban still have some crushing to do on this album. Cries And Whispers is one song that plays tricks with us, starting out like some sort of Mediterranean ballad only to explode in to the hardest fucking grindcore ever once they've fooled you to let your guard down and that's not the only song doing this. It seems like this album is all bout fooling people in to believing they've come to a nice sunday dinner when they're actually luring in the kitchen to making it a blood splattering massacre. Those bass lines and guitars they mix with their melodic material are far from the baby elves and unicorns you normally get on public radio.

I think this album is really good! I actually think it's the best buy of 2014 so far when it comes to this genre and it's an album I'll definitely play more in the future. However, I'm not so sure people outside the death metal fanbase will find this as appealing as the ones inside but you never know those things. To me, though, it's absurd to think that anyone - regardless of whom they are - wouldn't like a song like Wolves And Rats.

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