siLLy puPPy Galloping gallantly over the vast plains of the metal universe, Australia’s CALIGULA’S HORSE has nurtured the qualities of a fine thoroughbred in the prog world where the murky bardo area of progressive metal and progressive rock merge into brackish waters. These Aussies have been in the top tiers of the prog metal world for well over a decade now releasing a series of critically acclaimed albums with radiant rise to the upper echelons of prog metal royalty with the combo effect of 2015’s “Bloom” in tandem with 2017’s “In Contact.” The band evoked a larger than life prog metal congeries of tricks and trinkets that has allowed the band to stand out amongst the legions of progger metalheads vying for a piece of the action but these crafty chaps from Brisbane have always been a step or two ahead of the competition.

Changes are what the 2020s are all about the CALIGULA’S HORSE has certainly not eschewed its own series of challenges. In the last four years since “Rise Radiant” was released the band has officially seen guitarist Adrian Goleby exit from the team and now officially a quartet with Sam Vallen handling all guitar duties on the band’s sixth studio album CHARCOAL GRACE which still rock all those Steely Dan influenced add2 chords like no other. CHARCOAL GRACE gracefully offers nine tracks at 62 minutes of playing time and although the famous twin guitar attacks have now been completely abandoned for a more streamlined approach, the album continues the plethora of polyrhythms, the clusters of complexity and the same overall atmospheric ambience meets djent-ish chugging sessions all dressed up with Jim Grey’s fragile vocal intricacies.

Taking on a more Riverside meets Leprous demeanor, CALIGULA’S HORSE has traded the dueling axe action for a more keyboard saturated series of drifting cloud covered atmospheres that find heftier contrasting bouts of prog metal reinforcement. While tamped down a few notches from top peak prowess mode, CHARCOAL GRACE delivers a rather predictable procession of prancing prog rockers like a well-trained steeplechaser navigating a predictable course of action. The band plays it safe and sticks to the playbook for the most part with the expected prog by numbers approach that many a modern prog metal band has fallen victim to and an approach that aims to drift subtly into a more “commercial” acceptance by taming the rough around the edges aspects while amping up the melodic contrapuntal resonance of the complimentary layers of instrumentation.

“The World Breathes With Me” offers CALIGULA’S HORSE fans an instant comfort zone game plan with lush atmospheric developments before erupting into the chugga-chug marathon of djent-fueled guitar plucks and corresponding bass and drum obsequiousness. Add an obligatory four part concept suite of the title tracks and you can’t go wrong but the problem is that at this point in the 21st century, this style of prog metal sounds completely out of fashion and in many ways bands such as CALIGULA’S HORSE have become a fossilized self-induced retro scene of their own idiosyncratic making. Is it bad to continue to make music that doesn’t “progress” like the term “progressive” implies? Well, that’s the million dollar question of course and left to the individual to decide for him / herself but for yours truly there comes a time where it sounds like a band is beginning to regress and there, my musical friends, is the pasture CALIGULA’S HORSE seems to have retired to after a fruitful run on the racetrack.

It’s always difficult for me to be too harsh on bands that have found a comfort zone and a fanbase and have a difficult time balancing the progression part with the cash in to make a living in an increasingly more expense planet to reside upon but at this point this type of prog metal just sounds generic to me and therefore no matter how well played and how perfectly executed in every way, what really matters at the end of the day is how do the tracks speak to me and after sitting through CHARCOAL GRACE and imbibing the sonic frequencies that bathe my very soul, i am left feeling indifferent and unmoved by the dramatic series of sounds that are supposed to evoke some sort of reaction. To be honest, the airy fairy sounding bands in the prog metal world never have appealed to me as much as the more adventurous thrill seekers but every once in a while a band like Pain of Salvation or Leprous proves me wrong with instantly contagious emotionally connective composiitons. Unfortunately CALIGULA’S HORSE doesn’t evoke that same visceral reaction and CHARCOAL GRACE does even less than previous offerings. Not a bad album by any means but sounds a bit too middle of the road for my liking.

UMUR "The Tide, The Thief & River’s End" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Australian progressive rock/metal act Caligula's Horse. The album was released by Australian label Welkin Records in October 2013. It´s the successor to "Moments from Ephemeral City" from April 2011 although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the "Colossus" EP from September 2011. The quintet lineup who recorded the debut album and the "Colossus" EP is intact.

Stylistically the material on "The Tide, The Thief & River’s End" is a continuation of but also a developed and more mature version of the progressive/alternative rock/metal of the two preceding releases. Caligula's Horse are a technically skilled unit fully capable of delivering relatively sharp and hard edged metal riffs and rhythms, challenging instrumental sections, and progressive song structures, but also more subtle, emotional, and organic sounding progressive/alternative rock. Sometimes I think I´m listening to a combination of A Perfect Circle and Dream Theater, but fortunately Caligula's Horse are much more than just a copy of those artists. They create some very emotional and intricate music, which is highly memorable and melodic (listen to the big hook closing "Into the White"), while still not being easily accessible vers/chorus pop/rock.

The basis of the music is guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, but the vocal part of the music is quite intricate with both harmonies and choirs being an important feature of the music. In addition to that some parts of the album features guest performances on flute, violin, clarinet, and piano. "The Tide, The Thief & River’s End" is as a result a very dynamic release. The dominant mood is melancholy, but Caligula's Horse still manage to incorporate uplifting moments, so this is not a particularly dark release. It´s cleverly composed and even though it´s pretty accessible, it´s complex enough to challenge the listener, both with the performances, but also with the dynamic shifts and the composition style.

"The Tide, The Thief & River’s End" is produced by guitarist (and main composer) Sam Vallen, and Vallen has crafted a sharp, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. Upon conclusion "The Tide, The Thief & River’s End" is a strong sophomore full-length studio album by Caligula's Horse. They´ve moved forward while still holding on to what made them great on the previous releases. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Colossus" is an EP release by Australian progressive rock/metal act Caligula's Horse. The EP was independently released in September 2011. Caligula's Horse was formed in early 2011 by guitarist Sam Vallen and lead vocalist Jim Grey and the band released their debut full-length studio album "Moments from Ephemeral City" in April 2011. At that point the band contemplated disbanding, but as fan reactions were so positive they decided to carry on and solidify the lineup who recorded the debut and tour with that lineup. It´s the same quintet lineup who recorded the two tracks featured on "Colossus".

Both the EP title track and "Vanishing Rites (Tread Softly Little One)" are around 5 minutes long making "Colossus" a 10 minutes long listen. The first thing I notice when listening to the title track is that it´s one of the more heavy and aggressive songs from the early catalogue of Caligula's Horse. At the same time it also features beautiful melodic song lines, a soaring chorus, and quite exquisite vocal harmonies and choirs. "Vanishing Rites (Tread Softly Little One)" is not quite as heavy (although it certainly also features some very heavy parts) and features a more playful mood and interesting dynamic changes. Both tracks are high quality compositions and production wise a step up from the sound on "Moments from Ephemeral City".

The original EP is probably a hard to find release these days, but the two tracks are featured on the InsideOut Music reissue of "Moments from Ephemeral City" as bonus material, and function well there as part of that album. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Moments from Ephemeral City" is the debut full-length studio album by Australian progressive rock/metal act Caligula's Horse. The album was independently released in April 2011. Caligula's Horse was formed in early 2011 by guitarist Sam Vallen and lead vocalist Jim Grey and the rather interesting band name was chosen by Grey and refers to Roman Emperor Caligula´s favorite horse Incitatus, of which many myths and stories exist. "Moments from Ephemeral City" is a self-produced effort, and Vallen is credited for producing, engineering, mixing, and mastering the album (in addition to writing most of the material and playing guitars).

The original version of the album features 7 tracks and a total playing time of 42:37 minutes, while the InsideOut Music reissue features the two tracks from the September 2011 "Colossus" EP as bonus material.

Stylistically the material on the album is alternative/progressive rock/metal. Grey has a strong voice and a passionate emotive delivery, which isn´t far removed from the voice and vocal style of Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle). It doesn´t take more than a few seconds to realise how skilled and pleasant sounding a singer he is and how much he brings to the music. His harmonies and choirs are exquisite too. He often sings mellow and subdued, but the album does feature a couple of slightly more loud and aggressive vocal parts. Nothing extreme though, and the vocal part of the music is generally very melodic and catchy. It´s not overtly complex music, and it´s great to be able to sing along to many of the soaring choruses, but on the other hand it´s not simple vers/chorus structured music either. There is generally a bit more to it, and most tracks feature some pretty interesting and creative instrumental sections in addition to the melodic and hook laden verses and choruses.

The tracks are obviously composed by a guitarist, because "Moments from Ephemeral City" features loads and loads of beautiful acoustic parts, blistering guitar leads, heavy syncopated guitar riffs, and many creative guitar playing ideas, which make the album and adventurous and engaging listen throughout. The rhythm section are well playing too, and Caligula's Horse are arguably an incredibly talented bunch. Drummer Geoff Irish was also involved in progressive metal act Quandary with Vallen.

Considering that "Moments from Ephemeral City" is an independently produced release, it´s quite impressive in almost every possible way. The musicianship are on a high level on all posts, the songwriting is inspired, creative, and filled with emotion, and the sound production suits the material well. But if I have to make one small complaint it would actually be regarding the sound production, because the distorted guitar parts do stand a little weak in the soundscape, and a more meaty and heavy sound on those sections could have provided those parts with a bit more punch and bite and made the transitions from the mellow and melodic parts have more impact. I´ll tell you right away though, that it´s a minor issue and "Moments from Ephemeral City" is still overall a well sounding release featuring a professional sound production.

It´s safe to say that this is a quality release and a very impressive debut album by Caligula's Horse. I cannot believe that these guys contemplated disbanding after the release of "Moments from Ephemeral City", but apparently that was the case. Thankfully they decided to continue and solidified the recording lineup to tour in support of the album and also released the "Colossus" EP later in 2011. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is fully deserved.

adg211288 Australian band Caligula's Horse are a group I've often heard good things said about, but more from the progressive rock crowd than the metal crowd, despite the group's equal association as a progressive metal act. Indeed, when I recently spotted their latest album (their fourth) In Contact (2017) in a music store, it was filed in the Rock & Pop section. This led me to believe that, much like groups such as Enchant, that they were the kind of band who applied a metal edge to an otherwise progressive rock sound. So upon deciding that I'm in the mood to see what progressive rock can offer me in 2017 and choosing Caligula's Horse's In Contact as the first album to check out, I have to say that I've completely misjudged them. Though the band also offer up plenty of softer sections of music/tracks to provide contrasting sounds more often than not they're as heavy and metallic as non-extreme progressive metal gets. What is the point this introduction is making you ask? Well, it just seems to me that there's been less association between the band and metal, when In Contact is an album that fans of progressive metal shouldn't be overlooking.

The vocals by Jim Grey may be exceptionally melodic (I've very much reminded of Haken's Ross Jennings), but the riffs from Sam Vallen and new member Adrian Goleby are heavy and punchy. Sometimes it's in a classic way à la the Dream Theater school, in others it's in a noticeably modern way, even pushing djent at one point. At another there's even a speedy power metal section. The band's instrumentalists certainly don't skimp on the progressive technicalities and intricacies the way some so called modern progressive metal bands do either. Unlike many which get saddled with this overused label, In Contact actually deserves the description. The album is like the perfect fusion of both the progressive rock and heavy metal worlds, offering up the kind of merger that will hold appeal to fans of both crowds without either feeling that it's made a little more for the other.

For the last few years I've found a lot of progressive metal, especially of the more traditional kind like this, to be completely stale, so it shouldn't be understated how quickly this album manages to impress. I'm hooked long before the opening track Dream the Dead is concluded. There's only one track on In Contact that I really don't care for, which is Inertia and the Weapon of the Wall. This one is a spoken word theatrical piece that serves as little more than an interlude. Though convincingly performed, with it running for almost three minutes I'd ready for Caligula's Horse to start up the music that they're so good at before even a third of it is through. It's a disruption to what is otherwise an album that flows together excellently, with the songs quickly asserting their own identities through use of great riffs and equally strong melodic parts. The opening trio of Dream the Dead, Will's Song (Let the Colours Run) and The Hands are the Hardest are especially good, as is the 15:31 long epic closer Graves.

I'm certainly going to have to backtrack and check out Caligula's Horse's earlier albums now, because if they are half as good as In Contact I've been missing out on one of modern progressive metal's best bands. A highlight for their genre in 2017 without a doubt.