CYBION

'Sci-fi metal' might be the best way to describe this labour of love from French band Kalisia. Over six long years, 'Cybion' was very slowly recorded, although when it was released in 2009, it became clear that the effort had paid off. For a band that has been around since the mid-nineties, Kalisia certainly have not been anywhere near consistently productive as a group, but this one gem of metal makes me wish they were. This is a suite of epic progressive metal that pulls out all of the tricks and assaults the listener with one of the proggiest dishes metal has served in recent years.

Although the elements of 'Cybion' that Kalisia pulls out are covered in the cliche of prog metal, it is all fueled up in such a way that it feels like the prog metal album, the one that virtually defines where the genre is at nowadays, and hopefully where it's going. 'Cybion' opens in the most 'grand' of ways, that being a symphonic overture. Immediately, a listener is pulled into the mindset that everything that Kalisia throws at them will be larger-than-life, and for the most part, this happens to be true. The entire hour-plus runs as one sprawling epic of sorts, and once it leaves the launch pad and bursts into galloping metal, it rarely comes back up for air.

There is a very modern progressive death metal sound to Kalisia, with synths and guitars being used in almost equal capacity. The growled vocals of Brett Caldas-Lima are contrasted by multiple singers in the tradition of a metal opera. Speaking of metal operas, Ayreon is a very notable influence in the music of this band, and- wouldn't you know it- Arjen Lucassen has a cameo here, along with Angela Gossow (of Archenemy) and Paul Masvidal (of Cynic), to name just a few. The point being, whoever is pulling the strings behind Kalisia has done everything conceivable in order to provide an over-the-top experience.

A slight issue I may have with 'Cybion' is precisely the fact that it stays bombastic and 'epic', and never really comes down to give the listener a break. That may seem like a silly criticism to some, but taking into account the fact that this album is an hour and fifteen minutes long, 'Cybion' can be alot to take in all at once. There is everything here from symphonic orchestrations to death metal and jazz, but it all knells under a banner of sci-fi oriented prog metal, much in the tradition of Ayreon. Kalisia have churned out a masterpiece here, and I believe the long work and meticulous efforts they put into it show in the end result. Incredible stuff.

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