The Angry Scotsman
Upon first listen, this album may sound like a fairly unspectacular post-metal album.
While Callisto may not add much to the formula with their debut album, there are some subtle touches on this album which separate it from the crowd, such as use of female vocals and some interesting instrumentation.
However, musically this a pretty run of the mill post metal album. An electro-ambient into leads into a song with twin guitar chord attacks, (one taking low register the other taking high) and plaid at a somewhat chuggy pace. Subtle changes, varied sections, harsh vocals (sometimes layered), off kilter drumming and melodicism are on display here. There also some ambient outro's and continuous song transitions.
This can be said for much of the album. This album makes slightly less pronounced use of heavy/light dynamics per song, instead mixing up for every song. This makes each song a bit more uniform and gives the album a balanced feel overall. Far less up and down than many post metal albums. Nice touch.
Throw in some female vocals, some different instruments, (I do mean some) a decent bit of variation and some nice songwriting and you have yourself one fine album. A bit mundane in its overall construction some songs are a bit weak (Limb: Diasporas, Like Abel's Blood Cried for Revenge) and overall it's not too atypical for the genre. Blackhole and Cold Stare are 2 tracks that standout in particular.
Overall, this album is not a very radical departure from the post metal norm. It really doesn't stray from it at all, but there are some small touches added and hey, they do it fine. Very good album.
Three and a Half Stars