IN CONTACT

With their fourth album, 2017's In Contact, Caligula's Horse managed to write one of the best and most notable progressive metal albums of recent decades. The creative and compositional leap that the band took between their previous release, 2015's Bloom, and In Contact is astounding. While Bloom let foresee that Caligula's Horse is a hugely talented band, that album did not quite succeed in channelling this talent into a fully-accomplished musical statement. Given that Bloom was already their third album, one might have been excused for wondering whether Caligula's Horse would ever manage to break big or whether they would instead remain one of the eternally unfulfilled promises of prog metal. In Contact simply blows all doubt out of the water, showcasing a band at the apex of their creative powers.

The formula the band uses on the album is remarkable in its simplicity: they start with a catchy, melodic alt-rock sound and push it to its utmost limits by using it in the context of structurally, harmonically and rhythmically complex songs. The result is an album that somehow manages to strike the perfect balance between compositional brilliance and emotional accessibility, and that has the capacity to stun the listener on first listen with its melodic immediacy, but also keeps drawing him in for more with its depth and complexity.

There are three key qualities that make of In Contact a prog metal masterpiece. First, the album bursts with absolutely stunning melodies, monstrous earworms that will inexorably get stuck in your head without ever being corny or cheesy. And I am not just talking about the vocal melodies, beautifully delivered by a Jim Grey in a state of grace. The album also contains plenty of tasty melodic instrumental leads that often complement and compete with the vocal lines. These leads are mostly performed by Sam Vallen's guitar, but there is also an awesome sax lead on the last song "Graves" performed by Shining's frontman Jørgen Munkeby.

Second, these melodies are used outside of a conventional verse/chorus structure that subordinates the melodies of the verse to the chorus and uses repetition to anchor the song. In most songs of In Contact there are no verses and no choruses. There is simply a succession of separate melodic figures perfectly flowing into one another without break of continuity. The melodies are so infectious that often it is almost like listening to songs that only contain choruses. In a few songs ("Will's Song", "Song for No One", "Graves"), the quality of the melodies is so high that the effect is simply awe-inspiring.

Third, each song, and the album as a whole, transmit a sense of moving forward, of being on a musical journey that is bigger than the sum of its parts. This is partly achieved by avoiding the circularity and repetition of traditional song structures, but also through the rich and varied sonic palette that Caligula's Horse use across the 10 tracks of In Contact. Spirited djenty guitar riffs and complex polyrhythms are alternated with soft acoustic moments ("Capulet") that sometimes even veer toward delicate synth-pop ("Love Conquers"). Elsewhere, we have emphatic shouted choruses that add a touch of post-hardcore aggression to the music ("Will's Song", "The Cannon's Mouth", "Graves"). The band even manages to throw in a piece of spoken poetry ("Inertia and the Weapon of the Wall") without making it feel out of place, somehow. There is also lots of color on the album: electric and acoustic guitars, Hammonds, sax, and synths are all aptly used to inject variety in the songs.

The best example of what this albums sounds like can be found on its closing track, the 15-minute long prog-epic "Graves". This is the musical peak of the album and is packed to the brim with awesome vocal melodies and great instrumental breaks. The opening section contains some of the most emotional signing of the album (when Grey sings "Faint heart?"). After a jazzy instrumental break, the song transitions to a splendid choral counterpoint with multiple voices at the unison creating a somber, almost sacred atmosphere that eventually finds relief in a beautifully serene vocal melody ("He sees me?"). The song picks up in intensity again soon afterwards and, after a few more twists and turns, it culminates in an epic chorus with shouted vocals over a foreboding King Crimson-esque sax solo. Pure brilliance. There are so many good ideas in this song that other bands would have made a whole album out of them.

In summary, In Contact is, to date, the creative peak of Caligula's Horse. It is an exhilarating album, one of those rare records where everything just falls into place. Stuffed with brilliant melodies, complex compositions and daring experimentation, this is simply any prog-lover's dreamworld. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in prog, but also to anyone who is looking for music that is complex and thought-provoking while at the same time remaining authentic and emotionally accessible.

(Originally written for The Metal Archives)