BLOOM

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.