RISE RADIANT

I had a lot of anticipation and very high expectations coming in to Caligula's Horse's latest album, RISE RADIANT. Over four albums - and particularly the previous three - the band had established themselves as arguably Australia's leading voice in progressive rock/metal.

Understandably, coming up against such high expectations is no easy feat for any album, and while my first few listened through RISE RADIANT were very positive, I did have a small sense that it was a little below the quality of the three albums that preceded it. I have since come to realise how wrong I was.

RISE RADIANT is Caligula's Horse's most musically dense, most creatively diverse and most well-produced album, and as a result it probably takes a few more listens to fully appreciate than an album such as Bloom.

The album opens with the symphonic and powerful "The Tempest". Released as the first single, my original impressions of this track were that it was solid but nothing overtly special. However, hearing this now in the context of an album-opener, I honestly believe this is the perfect statement to open up this excellent album. The riffs are excellent, the song is more layered and dense than most of their material up to this point, and the track does everything it needs to with a touch of perfection.

"Slow Violence" is a much more stripped-back track than anything else the band has done before. It's full of spares yet chunky riffs and fantastic vocal melodies, giving it a much more modern, djenty sound than some of the band's other material. I'd say this is one of the less impressive tracks on the record, but it fills its role quite nicely.

"Salt" is a thoroughly unique track in the band's discography and manages to really display their technical chops while still being one of their more emotionally impactful tracks. You can hear the band really taking on influences from their peers here, with some Leprous vibes at points alongside a Haken-esque midsection, but the end result definitely feels original. This is one of the most impressive tracks on the album, and has already proven to be a fan favourite.

"Resonate" is a nice, atmospheric interlude track, similar to "Love Conquers All" or "Capulet" off In Contact. However, whether it be due to the quality of the track itself or its placement within the album, I feel this track works for me a lot better than either of them did. It provides a nice segue into the more bombastic tracks to follow ...

"Oceanrise" was a bit of a grower for me. It felt like one of the weaker tracks on the album at first, but now I can see it's value as a track that it is both heavy and very catchy. The rolling rhythm guitars interspersed by high-gain guitar 'stabs' reminds me of some moments from The Tide, The Thief & River's End. My only standing critique of the album is that the final riff ends abruptly, when it could have held us for a little longer like the outro to The Tempest does.

"Valkyrie" kicks in straight away and is probably one of the heaviest and most technical tracks the band has ever done. This feels like an all-out assault and yet still reminds melodic the whole time. The chorus sounds massive, and this will 100% be a live favourite once tours start back up again.

"Autumn" is a power ballad that really places Jim Grey's serene vocals front and centre. The entire track is a masterclass in tension - building up energy slowly and teasing an explosion of power (something similar to what a track such as "Water's Edge" does), however this explosion doesn't come. Instead, what we get is a controlled release as the final chorus soars into the ending. This is a truly beautiful work. Also: shout out the Dale Prinsse's excellent base solo preceding what is one of Sam Vallen's best solos on the album.

The previous track transitions directly into "The Ascent" to create the effect of an 18 min suite closing out the album. The opening onslaught features some of the chunkiest riff-writing the band have ever done, building up into all the symphonic energy of a classic Dream Theater epic. What follows is a back-and-forth between beautifully intimate passages and some of the most epic-sounding music the band has ever written, culminating in a chugging riff beneath a layered chorus of vocals. This final section is truly special, managing to deliver uplifting lyrics in a haunting style that somehow only adds to their power. There will be a temptation to compare this track to "Graves" (the 15 min epic from the band's previous album), as being the only two 10+ min tracks the band has done since their debut. And in doing this, some may feel as though "The Ascent" disappoints by comparison. I believe the comparison isn't accurate or fair, however. At under 11 minutes, "The Ascent" is actually much closer in length and structure to something like "All Is Quiet By The Wall" (the 8 min closing epic from the band's second album). Seen through this lens, the true power of "The Ascent" shines through. This is a track that manages to take the listener on an epic and powerful journey while feeling tight and precise the entire time. I believe that once the comparisons to "Graves" have worn off, fans will begin to see this as a top 5 all-time Caligula's Horse track.

Rise Radiant is a phenomenal album that sees Australia's leading voice in prog push themselves to new creative heights. I don't believe that its flow or pacing is quite as flawless as that of Bloom - which I'm still holding as the band's crowning achievement thus far - but this album pushes boundaries and can comfortably be considered among their best works.

I'd also like to point out the production, which juggles the many layers present throughout the album with a level of mastery not seen often enough in the genre. The album sounds dense but not congested, massive but not noisy. It really is a fantastically produced work, and gets a full 5 stars from me.