BLOOM

If it weren't for progressive/alternative rock/metal band Caligula's Horse, I might've simply passed over some of my current favorite records, including their 2013 hit 'The Tide, The Thief & River's End.' A modern staple in the alt-prog scene, it only took two albums from Caligula's Horse to grab the attention of major music label Inside Out Music, who signed them earlier this year. Now with their first release with the label, Caligula's Horse has released a contender for album of the year in 'Bloom.'

If fronting two different (and successful) bands with conflicting writing styles wasn't hard enough, just ask vocalist Jim Grey about the timetable for their newest album 'Bloom.' In a prior interview, Jim Grey recalled the different direction the band took in writing this album:

'Our approach was to not edit anywhere near as much as standard in modern progressive music' Everything else is minimal editing and very live sounding. A lot of the vocal takes we were attempting to get long, one-take blocks of performance to try and capture something. It wasn't perfect, but it was special. I feel like it's a very natural sounding album in that way.'

Consisting of eight songs at around 45 minutes long, 'Bloom' feels longer than it lets on. With the opening title track and closer 'Undergrowth,' the attention is focused on an acoustic guitar, something I cannot easily recall ever occurring on any previous album of theirs. Spotlighting Grey's incredible vocals, the melody is simple but passionate, effectively pulling the listener to take their seat and catch their breath for the ride that awaits them. It isn't until the halfway point of the song where the rest of Caligula's Horse comes charging in, picking up where 'The Tide'' left off. I remember flinching my first listen because of the sudden sonic rise, my heartbeat quickened and a smile graced my face. Caligula's Horse is back.

The song smoothly transitions to their single 'Marigold,' one of two heavy tracks on the album. Using the same volume changing techniques as 'The Tide'', the listener is treated with another record filled with epic highs and eloquent lows. In fact, I would say the band improved on this skill, since one of my only complaints with their last album was the too-drastic ups-and-downs in tempo. Caligula's Horse finds their groove by balancing these highs and lows in a more effective manner. This is perfectly shown in the lead-in to the song's chorus, with Grey singing 'taking what's mine, with soil below and nothing above me (me me me me).' The echoing of that last word is timed perfectly with the deep booming sound of the drums and guitar, giving me goosebumps every time. It's a headbanger, especially with the quick-paced solo by Sam Vallen and bass-pedal drum beat of Jeff Irish. At this point, we're only two songs in and the listener will want to storm around the house in vigor. A little later in 'Bloom' we're introduced to 'Rust' and its angsty, passionate lyrics. Grey's grumbling vocals is accentuated by the heavy drumming of Irish, purposefully building in intensity as the song progresses. Kudos to Irish for providing enthusiastic yet appropriate percussions not only on this track, but on the entire album.

If you're expecting an album jam-packed with heavy, gloomy, and dark themes as its predecessor, you'll be pleasantly surprised. As Grey mentioned in our interview, 'Bloom' is the response of a band seeking something lighter, brighter, and more luminous. Evidenced in upbeat tracks 'Firelight' and 'Turntail,' most of the album finds the band exploring a more emotional side, utilizing clear guitar arrangements and lighter drum sections. The lead guitar in 'Turntail' alone dances along lines of pop, interspersed between crunchy guitar chords and the ridiculously quick picking of Sam Vallen in the song's bridge. The album's longest song 'Dragonfly' also provides plenty of moments of livelier songwriting, including the Jeff Buckley-inspired, improvisation vocals in the first half of the song. The fluttering vocals carelessly float over the clean guitar sections like, well, a dragonfly. The album continues in this manner up until their closer 'Undergrowth,' containing a lone acoustic guitar and Grey's delicate, falsetto vocals. Being more approachable and less experimental than prior albums, the lighthearted 'Bloom' is the perfect album to introduce to new listeners. The sound of this album will please longtime fans while simultaneously collecting new listeners. And it doesn't hurt to be signed to a major record label, too.

The eight minute 'Daughter Of The Mountain' competes with 'Marigold' as my favorite track on 'Bloom,' simply because of the thoughtful lyrics and soft-natured orchestration. With all the effect-laced guitars, piano arrangements, and simpler guitar rhythms, the bass guitar is able to stand out from the rest. Although simple, the statement is made, especially as it accompanies the passionate cry of Grey in the lyric ''This is my choice father,' she said.' It's the song with the most drastic shifts between high and low, but is marvelously composed.

As much as Grey attempted to describe the thought process behind this album, it couldn't have been better represented than in the music itself. He said the music is upbeat; the music more than delivered on his words. He said it was raw, using single takes on many vocal tracks; the vocal quality seethes through my earbuds with every word. There currently isn't a better representation of Australian progressive and alternative rock. This is the pinnacle, and it's only Caligula's Horse's third album. Congratulations guys on the impressive release.

Taken from crashandridemusic.com

The hiss crackles in and we are welcomed with the soothing tones of pastoral acoustics and the delightfully gentle timbre of Jim Grey in tender mode. The presentation isn't too different from what we've seen from C Horse on their previous releases with gently building EBow and full band homophony joining playful and emotional mid gain solo phrasing from Maestro Vallen. "Wake Up!" - and you will as the track which seems to start at a pleasing volume has at least a few decibels of juice left in it to give some dynamics beyond the soft verse/loud chorus dichotomy of 21st Century Prog and Metal. The band moves into what I would deem less technical but equally enjoyable full forced Caligula's Horse with orchestrated guitar octave melodies and signature riffage, with all band members presence felt from the round and floor rattling bass support of Dave Couper, the natural and smashing skin assault of Geoff Irish, the twin guitars of Vallen and Greensill and Mr Grey entering vocal hero and angelic vocal modes in perfect balance.

Tastefully segueing into Marigold, the track begins with a cracking snare and some Opeth inspired head nodding riffs. The music is raw yet polished with some transitional ear candy and the signature Caligula's short subdrops. This is a head nodding riff main riff. I particularly like how the kick drums are in simple 16ths to start with then begin to follow the guitar rhythms stepping up the groove factor. I suppose this is this album's 'Dark Hair Down' with it's anthemic choruses and angsty verses and I mean that in a non-pejorative sense. The soundscapes of the verses are lulling and despite the echoing clean tones, we are not faced with a hint of Tesseract clone to me. There are so many times in this track that I feel completely filled with energy and I can just imagine my smile and satisfaction of singing "take heart, it's all fools gold" with the equally enthusiastic crowd which the band has been known to command now. Stellar track working on all levels and from the moment I heard the excerpt on the Inside Out teaser, I was hooked. On that note, even from a couple of tracks into the album, you can easily see what would have grabbed the attention of the world's biggest progressive label.

'Firelight', I had heard before listening to the album as the band had played it live at one of the Sydney shows I managed to catch. An ode to one of Grey's lost friends, and a touching tune which is markedly gentler than its predecessor. I am particularly fond of the moving basslines under the simpler chimey chords of the chorus which helps the tune avoid being rhythmically stagnant. Bandpass filters keep the tune interesting by adding an additional dynamic layer. The fast guitar solos are ridiculous as per usual and I believe the slower paced solo which comes after the first bandpassed section is actually courtesy of Greensill due to the differed phrasing. It is welcome piece of variety to the tune. I must note that this is probably the most commercial sounding tune in Caligula's Horse arsenal by the point in time you first hear this song. I'd say it is topped in ways by another track later on the album. As such this song is rather simple chordally which actually turns out to be unfortunately one of my grievances compared with some of the older material.

'Dragonfly' is perhaps the most adventurous C Horse song to date with a definitive link to the sound of 'The Tide, the Thief & River's End' however there is some stellar restraint in all the right places that allows the melodic themes to develop so effectively to pull on the heartstrings. The recurring riff at 1:35 has enough stank to entice the most hard-to-impress curmudgeon. It definitely receives the nod of approval as well as immense djent cred. Perhaps my favourite movement on the whole album comes in at 2:30 with an absolutely masterfully crafted falsetto line and musical backing extremely reminiscent of 'Grace' by Jeff Buckley in its execution. I have noticed that even in a tune which could have been shredded over by Vallen for at least 5 minutes, there is such a degree of only doing so when it serves the song. When you can play like this guy, it would be hard to resist playing odd grouped quintuplet lines and he doesn't and that's ok because sometimes you just need have your face ripped from the bone. The layering of the record is very much what could be achieved live in terms of guitar, bass, drums, vocals and a couple of keyboard layers at times just to accentuate the harmony of the tracks or to lead a symphonic melodic reprise of a key guitar figure. This is a very successful track that exemplifies all the finest qualities of the band for me.

'Rust' sounds kind of what I think Karnivool would sound like if they were writing for Ihsahn. There are some really nice tremolo picked riffs in there to supplement the delayed cleans and when the chorus comes in, it is pleasing and rocking. Probably not one of my favourite songs and it probably didn't hold my attention the same way as most of Tide did. I started to wonder by about this point about why there wasn't quite as much presence of the very jazz inspired harmony of the groups last two records, I don't really have much of an answer but maybe their overall growth has leaned towards a relatively simpler harmonic approach when compared with themselves. Maybe your everyday fan won't really notice and likely the new fans that being on the mammoth Inside Out label will bring will start to know the band has not having the fusion harmony that I've grown to love but I think some people will miss it. Just as I start to think negatively about this, I am smashed with a djenty groove that makes me forget about it. Tank.

'Turntail' is probably the band's most commercially accessible track to date. The quirky guitar line is similar to what one might hear in a Plini or Polyphia track and it definitely is a piece of ear candy keeping up the interest. The optimism I hear in this track almost reminds me of something like C Horse's take on a modern Linkin Park approach at least in the chorus, verses and break before the last chorus. I'm sure people will be raving about this track and rightly so.

'Daughter of the Mountain' is an extremely progressive track that has all the syncopation and aura of Pain of Salvation from their creative peak. Beautiful song. The band is on fire on this one. So enjoyable, I somehow doubt it will have much circulation live due to its heavily artistic touch and I dare say it would be too soft for my home town of Sydney to fully get into. This shows so much growth for the band to me, it is technical, groovy, delicate, and memorable without any unwarranted flash. It builds to such a peak and in all honesty I would have much preferred it to end the album.

'Undergrowth' is a beautiful acoustic track filled with all the drama and variance that I love in a track with chord movements that give me goosebumps. I just feel like it would have worked musically and dynamically for my tastes better before 'Daughter of the Mountain'; the two could have even been joined as one song for me to create the ultimate C-Horse prog monster. Lyrically it may not have worked at all as I haven't been able to put together the big picture lyrically but I look forward to sewing the tapestry together when I get a lyrics booklet. 'Catch me weightless, by her side she breathes..." melodically and emotionally is so strong, I don't want my critical appraisal of this song to minimise the quality of the writing.

The production of the album is competitive and modern, however very natural. I guess I probably prefer a more polished/hyper produced sounding album just in terms of unrealistically big drums and thicker layering at times but what Caligula's Horse deliver here is a slick, professional, loud album that isn't in the slightest a tedious listen.

I think with such an artisan and masterful band like this, it's inevitable for huge fans to have different favourite albums based on small differences in preferences and I would say that I still prefer 'The Tide, The Thief, & River's End' but only by a whisker and I'd think that would come down to my preference for the jazzier harmony and a few more of the really strong hooks like in 'All Is Quiet by the Wall' and 'Dark Hair Down'. In spite of this, this record definitely feels like a band that has grown and is on an upward climb and I wish them the best. In a year of "out of the park" quality releases across all genres of music, this is one of my favourites and is surely to please fans old and new. I highly recommend anyone to get in early and watch these boys play with Tesseract in October 2015 or any time they are playing in your town. Remember that crazy band name because these guys are about to explode.

Score: 4.5 stars.

Following in the wake of (the exceptional, and should most certainly be included in the collection of any prog-metal fan) "The Tide, The Thief & River's End" (Which remains as one of my all-time top 10 favorites), Caligula's Horse comes back with another wonderfully enjoyable epic: Bloom.

Truth be told; when I first gave the album a run-through, I was only going to give it 3.5 to 4 stars, as I guess I was expecting "The Tide" part II, and how does a band follow up on one of your top top albums ever?!?! - It should be noted that I have been a great admirer of this band since the "Colossus" EP & "Moments From Ephemeral City" Albums, but "The Tide" just knocked me right out of my shoes, so to speak...

This was an absolutely unfair way for me to approach this album, which is (upon subsequent listenings) showing Caligula's Horse doing exactly as they should be: maturing, growing, and expanding their vocabulary. This album is truly BRILLIANT!!!

Everything on this album has its place and it is placed correctly, indeed. The songwriting and production are top-notch, and the playing by all members is absolutley flawless, add to that the vocals of Jim Grey soaring majestically above it all, and you have another Caligula's Horse masterpiece!

This is going to have to go on my 5 star most highly recommended albums to all of you out there in progarchives land that are fans of progressive metal as I certainly consider "Bloom" to be Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music.

As always, your actual mileage may vary... Grace and peace, Cylli Kat

This album came with a sticker on the front stating something along the lines of.. 'For fans of Opeth, Haken, Porcupine Tree, Karnivool, and Riverside' which is pretty fitting albeit broad. The biggest similarities can be drawn between Karnivool or Haken (they are kind of a mix of these 2). The Porcupine Tree comparison is a bit of a stretch.

Bloom: This is an excellent album opener, providing a good look at what is to come. The song starts off slow and quiet then builds and 'wakes up' quite literally with a burst of energy. The track rocks for a few more minutes and abruptly ends in a wonderful transition into the next track. Much like Fly On A Windshield leading into Broadway Melody of 1974 by Genesis, for this song to be heard how it was meant, it must be followed by the next track. Not a good track for shuffle but as an opener it is fantastic. 5/5

Marigold: Absolute beast of a track. The super catchy guitar riffs and vocals, particularly during the chorus, are bound to get stuck in your head for days, for which the only cure is to listen to it more! Favorite track on the album and only made better if listened to immediately following the opener, Bloom. 5/5

Firelight: This song slows it down a bit and treads into poppy territory. Not a bad song, catchy, but pretty mediocre. 3/5

Dragonfly: I'm having a really hard time finding any redeeming parts of this song. The guitar solo is alright, as well as some of the parts following, but overall this song feels as if it is an exercise in this type of music rather than any new. 2/5

Rust: Oh hell yeah! This song makes me want to hop into a mosh pit even after nearly a ten year hiatus! Only complaint is that the chorus feels a bit weak. 4/5

Turntail: Like Firelight, this song treads into poppy territory but unlike Firelight, this song is wonderful, blending the poppy catchy sections with their heavy riffs wonderfully. Did I say Marigold was my favorite track? Maybe it's this. This is the track that might have got Porcupine Tree's name on that sticker. 5/5

Daughter of the Mountian: A slower melodic jam that has some interesting moments but is largely forgettable and passable. The outro is pretty good. 3/5

Undergrowth: This song left a bad taste in my mouth. It immediately reminded me of the outro to Changes by Karnivool on Sound Awake. To me it seriously sounded as if the drum solo at the end of Changes should kick in right at the end of this track. The lyrics wrap up the album well enough. 2/5

Overall this is a solid release and I'm very excited to see what is to come with this band. 3.5/5 really.

Caligula's Horse have cohesive songwriting, They write slick tracks, binding heaviness and borderline tech 'Marigold' with expansive melancholy 'Dragonfly'. They can knock out tracks that I wouldn't be surprised to hear on the radio 'Rust' or extremely epic and catchy choruses 'Turntail', and songs like 'Daughter of the Mountain' and 'Firelight' show off their progressive credentials. Even closing anthem 'Undergrowth' pretty much convinced me that I'd purchase an acoustic record written by these gentlemen. The variety of styles and the ease with which the band moves between them demonstrates a love for, and mastery of, varied influences and styles. Such twists and turns call to mind bands like The Dear Hunter, Katatonia, or even Swedish gladprog Kaipa. If there's one downside here, I think it's that Bloom is less varied in its writing than its predecessor. Certain quotes or melodies, phrasing and tone can make Bloom seem repetitive. And while Grey is a dynamic singer, one can get the sense he thinks a song isn't a good song unless he's used every last octave in his range. But since this record is littered with excellent moments, stellar performances from all the musicians'once again putting on display the immense talent that seems to be cropping up in the Australian scene'and only a single misstep in 'Burn,' this nagging sense of repetition is merely background noise.

Over the past few years, Caligula's Horse have cemented themselves as quite possibly the leading act in a flourishing Australian prog metal scene. This is, in no small part, thanks to the tight and dynamic BLOOM, their third album and quite possibly the most representative of the band's excellent brand of prog metal.

Described by the band as a "dynamic" album - in comparison to their much darker sounding sophomore effort - BLOOM definitely does an incredible job of capturing each corner of the band's sound in a cohesive way. That it achieves this is under 45 minutes is commendable, and deserves extra mention in a prog climate where bands have a tendency of dragging albums out to 60-70 minutes. BLOOM, on the other hand, calls back to the LP era of tight 40-45 minute records with zero filler.

The album begins with one of the tightest one-two punches I can recall in recent years, with the beautiful title-track segueing perfectly into the fun and hard-rocking "Marigold". "Firelight" is a radio-friendly track that does nothing to lose its credentials as a worthy prog ballad, which is followed by the adventurous 9 min "Dragonfly". This track alone is a testament to the band's uncanny ability to combine technical, progressive music with accessible melodies. Keep an ear out for Jim Grey's Jeff Buckley-esque vocals on certain verses, which contrast wonderfully against some of the track's more bombastic moments.

"Rust" is a hard-hitting song that clearly takes a healthy amount of influence from the current djent moment, but in a tasteful manner that in no way compromises the band's sound. "Turntail" is another high energy track that combines hard riffs with catchy vocal melodies. After this comes "Daughter of the Mountain", possibly the proggiest track on the record, which manages to deliver a cohesive musical and lyrical narrative in under 8 minutes. This is all capped off by the wonderfully simple "Undergrowth", a subtle album closer that marries Grey's vocals with a sparse acoustic arrangement.

It's not often I call an album flawless, but there truthfully is nothing less-than-great of note here. The album delivers in every regard that it attempts to, and manages to provide a tight, fun, and musically engaging experience with zero filler. It earns every one of the 5 stars I'm giving it here.

Released on Inside Out, one of the world leading contemporary prog rock and metal labels, Bloom is the third album of Australian prog-metallers Caligula's Horse and is the record that made the Aussies known to the prog world ? gaining them interviews in the UK Prog magazine and wide coverage on various prog and metal webzines. It is an album that shows all the potential of the band and I remember liking it quite a bit when I bought it back in 2015. But listening to it now, 5 years and 2 albums after its initial release, I cannot help but feel that Bloom is the sound of a band still trying to find its footing and its own identity.

Bloom is by no means a bad or unsatisfactory record. It simply does not reach the compositional heights that Caligula's Horse will touch on their subsequent, monstrous album, In Contact, nor does it have the brazen immediacy and catchiness of the band's most recent release, Rise Radiant. In a way, Bloom can be described as an early precursor of both these records. One can detect traces of the compositional adventurousness that will find full expression on In Contact. But one can also sense the band's ambition to reach wider audiences by flirting with poppier and more accessible melodies, a route Caligula's Horse will fully embrace with Rise Radiant. The result is an album that is caught halfway between the adventurous and the glossy, alternating moments of creative greatness with episodes that are more mundane and do not completely convince.

Compositionally, the album has a neat structure. It is bookended by two gentle, partly-acoustic pieces that remind me of Opeth at their calmest (especially on the title-track "Bloom"). Albeit somewhat forgettable, these songs work well as opening and closing tracks of the album. The remaining 6 songs come in three varieties. We have two poppier pieces, "Firelight" and "Turntail" (both chosen as singles), that try and captivate the audience with catchy choruses and memorable melodies. These are among the weakest tracks of the album in my opinion, and not because of their poppy undertones: I am usually a big fan of bands that bring pop influences into their prog, such as Leprous or Ulver. However, Caligula's Horse sound like they are trying too hard to write songs that are instantly likeable, relying too much on big, overly emotional choruses that outshine the instrumental performances and come across as overstated. I cannot help but feel that these two songs are the musical equivalent of "empty calories food": tasty on first bite, but hardly nourishing or filling.

Caligula's Horse fare far better on tracks like "Marigold" and "Rust", that are rockier, more aggressive and, in a word, more substantial. The band's djenty metallic riffs come to the fore on these two tracks, reminding me of Leprous. Structurally, the songs could have been cut down a bit to avoid repetition (especially "Marigold"). They nevertheless shine as the most accessible, headbangable pieces of the album. These songs would probably make an even stronger impression if they were supported by a better production. I feel that the guitar sound (here as on the rest of the album) is too dry and thin, lacking depth and bass tones. The drum sound is also quite horrible. This somewhat reduces the impact that these songs could have on the listener.

With the remaining songs, "Dragonfly" and "Daughter", Caligula's Horse attempt to write two so-called "prog epics" ? tracks that are compositionally more expansive and that twist and turn between different moods and themes to take the listener on a bold musical journey. However, the trick is to make sure one does not lose the listener along the way, but instead gently leads him by hand through the many peaks and valleys of the journey. Caligula's Horse will master the art of writing such prog epics on their next album In Contact, but here they only partially succeed. On "Dragonfly" there are too many twists and too few reference points, making it a rather exhausting and disorienting journey. Things get better on the other epic, "Daughter", thanks to the use of more memorable melodies and better transitions between the multiple parts of the song. On both tracks, I can sense the influence of Opeth and Porcupine Tree, especially in the mellower passages, as well as more alt-rock influences that remind me at times of a band like The Dear Hunter.

Overall, Bloom is an interesting but underdeveloped album, that today I appreciate more as an early omen of Caligula's Horse's future greatness than for its 8 songs. Although I did like it when it was first released, I do not see this as an album that I will go back to many times in the future. With hindsight, it is clear that Caligula's Horse were just getting started with Bloom, and they will release much stronger music in their subsequent albums. If you are new to the band, I suggest to skip this and start directly with In Contact, instead.

(Originally written for The Metal Archives)

Ranking every song:

1. Bloom - Really good, but a bit short. Bad thing is this song is a part of the next one... 4.5 / 5

2. Marigold - I dont get the hype about this song. People say it is the best on the album however i think this song is boring and I listen to only because of Bloom because one transits into other so basically it is a one song. 2 / 5

3. Firelight - Nothing special but i kinda like this song. 3,5 / 5

4. Dragonfly - I only like middle part of the song - guitar solo and piano. Middle part is really good but it is like 2-3 mins out of almost 10 minute song. 2,5 / 5

5. Rust - Ewww probably the worst on the album. However I can't say it is that horrible 1,5 / 5

6. Turntail - Boring song, guitar solo is cool but is too short 2 / 5

7. Daughter of the mountain - i kinda like this song but not really. Its not bad at all 3 / 5

8. Undergrowth - Boring acoustic ballad. Not catchy, not intresting musically 2 / 5

Not my favorite album by them at all