Caligula's Horse - Charcoal Grace, out now!

[ariich]

but GOD that spoken word track is so terrible.

We are not a match.

It's maybe a 1.8

You're maybe a 1.8

[NoseofNicko]

I really can't speak to how other people listen to music, because clearly a lot of people experience it very differently from how I do, but there are a ton of albums that I don't even have much of an impression of after one listen.

Same here. For example I didn’t even think much of Images and Words on first listen and now it’s my favorite album.

Anyway I think I’m gonna give this band a try.

[425]

but GOD that spoken word track is so terrible.

We are not a match.

Most spoken-word parts on albums are usually lacking in either writing or delivery, and I tend not to like them. But I think this one is actually pretty good. The writing is solid and the delivery is really excellent (aided by how they produced it to add effects to certain words and phrases without going too over-the-top). I think the album would actually be poorer without it, which is not something I'd say of many spoken-word sections.

I really can't speak to how other people listen to music, because clearly a lot of people experience it very differently from how I do, but there are a ton of albums that I don't even have much of an impression of after one listen.

Same here. For example I didn’t even think much of Images and Words on first listen and now it’s my favorite album.

Anyway I think I’m gonna give this band a try.

Definitely recommend them, especially if you like anything at all of more modern-sounding prog metal. I'm hardly the expert, since I only know two of their albums, but I think there's much to enjoy on either Bloom or In Contact (the latter seems not to be super popular on DTF, but on other sites, like the /r/progmetal subreddit, seems to get rave reviews).

[NoseofNicko]

Got their new album so gonna start with that but gonna give In Contact a listen even if I don’t like the new album.

[Crow]

listen to The Tide, The Thief, and River's End, it's their best album by not a small margin

[The Walrus]

listen to The Tide, The Thief, and River's End, it's their best album by not a small margin

K but u rong doe

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

listen to The Tide, The Thief, and River's End, it's their best album by not a small margin

You misspelled Arcane's Known-Learned

[me7]

listen to The Tide, The Thief, and River's End, it's their best album by not a small margin

I also have a soft spot for that album.
What I enjoy most about Rise is how Salt and Autumn/Ascent have some of that feeling, that has been absent on Bloom and Contact IMO.

Your response to Rise baffles me.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

OK, just started listening through the album. I'm noticing a couple of things. The production is.....weird? Also this is lacking in the beautiful melodies that their previous albums had. There's way too much chuggachuggachugga/djenty guitars.

[TAC]

I gave up on this album about 5 minutes through the third song.


I've dropped the needle on this band before and nothing has ever stood out. I thought I'd give their new album an honest spin, but I can't hang.

[cramx3]

Definitely not up your alley Tim, but at least you gave it a try knowing their previous work wasn't your thing

[LordCost]

I have been listening it for some days. It doesn't beat In Contact, which was hard to top (I think it's their masterpiece in a great collection of albums, as The Mountain for Haken, I am surprised it's not regarded as their best by many people in the comments before), but it's still an excellent album on the level of Bloom and The Tide, The Thief.

I smiled at first listen noticing some parts sound a lot like Leprous and Haken. 4:03-4:22 part in Salt made me think of Haken, and Autumn vocals in chorus could have easily be written and sang by Einar.
The guitar part of The Tempest intro reminds me a bit of The Price too. This one I got it later after having found other feelings of Leprous sounding moments.

I still have no opinion on The Ascent, after 5 listens I can't recall anything from it, and people say it's one of their best. I hope it will grow on me.

Salt and Autumn are my favorites at the moment, while The Tempest, Slow Violence and Valkyrie are really catchy and memorable from first listens. Oceanrise is still a bit behind those three other tracks with a similar style.

[Elite]

listen to The Tide, The Thief, and River's End, it's their best album by not a small margin

Yes.


Probably.






Second listen of Rise Radiant today was so much better. It actually sounded fuller in my car, which was strange. Some really cool stuff throughout.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

After giving it another listen, Salt and The Ascent are definitely the best songs here, the rest is just kind of there being inoffensively listenable...

[The Walrus]

Honestly I think this is my favorite CH album yet. Only The Ascent has yet to click, but everything else is killer imo.

[Crow]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 
I like Autumn but it's not even as good as Thief in terms of "penultimate quiet track" and woops Thief is almost 6 minutes shorter
Salt isn't anything special, the three tracks after it all are Incredibly There I Guess, The Ascent has... some moments but it doesn't justify its length

[ariich]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 

Says the guy who 1. told us it isn't prog metal, and 2. loves East of the Wall.

[NoseofNicko]

Listening to Rise Radiant right now and really enjoying it. Some of it reminds me of Leprous in a good way.

[Elite]

The ending of The Ascent is quite cool

Favourite tracks after about three listens are The Tempest, Oceanrise and Salt. The Tempest in particular I think is a very strong track. At the moment, I think this album ranks 4th in their discography, but it's too early to tell really.

[Crow]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 

Says the guy who 1. told us it isn't prog metal, and 2. loves East of the Wall.

1. yeah but y'all seem to think it is 2. yeah i do quite enjoy the best album i've ever heard

[cramx3]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 

Says the guy who 1. told us it isn't prog metal, and 2. loves East of the Wall.

1. yeah but y'all seem to think it is 2. yeah i do quite enjoy the best album i've ever heard

While it's not 100% prog metal, it still pretty easily would fall under that category as their main genre IMO.

Also, The Ascent is pretty awesome.  Being the longest track, it takes the most listens to appreciate but I'm really enjoying it.  And yes....listen to that intro and tell me CH aren't progmetal 

[NoseofNicko]

I’d give the album a 4/5 on first listen. Very good. Sounds like a mix of Haken and Leprous but more complex. I love the unpredictability of the chord progressions and melodies.

[The Walrus]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 

Says the guy who 1. told us it isn't prog metal, and 2. loves East of the Wall.

1. yeah but y'all seem to think it is 2. yeah i do quite enjoy the best album i've ever heard

Because it is prog metal, you're just salty cause you don't like it much Mr. Garbage Disposal Music

[The Walrus]

Y'all have really low standards for prog metal 
I like Autumn but it's not even as good as Thief in terms of "penultimate quiet track" and woops Thief is almost 6 minutes shorter
Salt isn't anything special, the three tracks after it all are Incredibly There I Guess, The Ascent has... some moments but it doesn't justify its length

I mean you could just enjoy both songs my dude, bands don't always have to top themselves every release

[Crow]

i mean yeah you're allowed to be impressed by bands swallowing their own tail, go ahead 

[The Walrus]

Says the guy whose favorite album sounds exactly like that! 

[Crow]

if you say so 
it's just really frustrating to me to see a band who used to be great creatively backpedal three albums in a row now
anyways i'm hard to please and i know that so y'all can feel free to continue enjoying the album and ignore me, i don't really care i just like voicing my frustrations sometimes, it's not even that it's a bad album as much as it isn't a good one

[The Walrus]

Saying they're creatively backpedaling is way overly harsh imo. This is a good record. I think it's fine to dislike it but that just doesn't sit well with me

[Crow]

even on bloom and in contact there was still a satisfying level of variety both within the songs and on the album as a whole. this one just feels like there's no sense of variety or progression, it's playing it safe without any surprises or emotional highs. it's just lifeless compared to their past stuff. i've given it two spins and gotten basically nothing from it, and i'll be giving it at least one more chance but it's very likely the first CH album i'm going to end up skipping

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

even on bloom and in contact there was still a satisfying level of variety both within the songs and on the album as a whole. this one just feels like there's no sense of variety or progression, it's playing it safe without any surprises or emotional highs. it's just lifeless compared to their past stuff. i've given it two spins and gotten basically nothing from it, and i'll be giving it at least one more chance but it's very likely the first CH album i'm going to end up skipping

Outside of the 2 songs I mentioned earlier, this is pretty much where I'm at with this album. I want to like it more, but I'm just not feeling it. I will be giving it another spin though.

[The Walrus]

I'll check it up to the ol' favorite: tastes! A friend of mine just penned the most perfect description of mine, which will forever remain part of my signature now. 

[Nachtmerrie]

After three listens I feel safe to say this album is really disappointing.
The songs are quite ok but nothing memorable. The Tempest & The Ascent may me my favorites but none of them beat my favorite In Contact Songs.

The biggest disappointment is the production and overall sound of the album. Some of the heavier parts and mainly the choruses sound like an indefinable wall of sound to me which is almost unlistenable. It feels like guitars, bass and voice fighting for their spot in the same range while the drums are way too much on the background. Choruses of Salt and Valkyrie are some examples.
I'm curious if it's my Spotify in the car or anyone else recognizes this

[Elite]

Absolutely recognised that on my first playthrough on my record player and stereo system. Second time (CD in the car) was a lot better, but still there doesn't seem to be too much dynamic range, which is a shame really.

I want to like it more, but I'm just not feeling it. I will be giving it another spin though.

This is me so far, yeah. TTTTARE is such a cool run, Bloom has several highlights, In Contact has the fantastic closer and some great stuff happening, while this one, to me, in the limited listens I've had yet, feels a lot more bland.

[cramx3]

The biggest disappointment is the production and overall sound of the album. Some of the heavier parts and mainly the choruses sound like an indefinable wall of sound to me which is almost unlistenable. It feels like guitars, bass and voice fighting for their spot in the same range while the drums are way too much on the background. Choruses of Salt and Valkyrie are some examples.
I'm curious if it's my Spotify in the car or anyone else recognizes this

I can agree with this, I don't like this production and the guitars kind of just blend together into a wall of sound which doesn't let the vocals really shine.

[The Walrus]

I really hate to look like a contrarian but I don't get the production complaints either...  oh well