The Tempest of Thoughts

By the early 2000s the initial Gothenburg melodeath wave had already crested, crashed and washed back into the sea, leaving behind a number of competing scenes across the globe that were experimenting with various twists on this once novel concept. But despite every place from mainland western Europe to Japan (to speak nothing for the metalcore-infused variant making waves in the states) getting in on the craze, the most direct beneficiary to the initial strides made by At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity and In Flames was Sweden's eastern neighbor Finland, and their take was arguably the most conservative. Suffice it to say, in 2002 names such as Kalmah, Norther and Insomnium were among the most prominent of a massive explosion of bands touting a more power metal-tinged take on the melodeath niche, making it very easy for a smaller time act with a less stable situation to slip through the cracks.

Thus is the story of Kaliban, a rather peculiar player in the Finnish scene that unleashed a lone LP during the height of Finland's ascendant melodeath wave, but the story behind The Tempest Of Thoughts is actually a fairly unique one. Despite its 2002 release date, this album was recorded and finalized as far back as 1998, a time where most of the Finnish scene had yet to fully germinate and the only frame of reference that one had was Children Of Bodom's and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow's most primordial offerings. In most respects, this band's rather stylistically advanced debut mirrors the tasteful atmospheric aesthetic of the latter outfit, though there are plenty of lead guitar flourishes that dovetail with the tech-happy character of the former. But the most auspicious aspect of this band's unique blend of styles is the folksy detailing that sounds almost like a more primitive version of Ensiferum's debut album, no small accomplishment considering that said band had only fielded their first demo by this point and other parallel acts such as Suidakra were just beginning to move beyond a more rudimentary black metal approach.

The modus operandi of this album may come off as largely by the numbers and titled towards infectious banger anthems, but for its late 90s context it proves surprisingly forward-looking. Coming off a dreary, sorrowful and fleeting acoustic introduction, "Orchard" lands hard with a driving fury that's somewhat reminiscent of some of the swifter work off The Jester Race, but fancier and with a deeper Gothenburg-inspired growl out of Henri Peltola that's closer to Elenium and later Omnium Gatherum front man Jukka Pelkonen than Anders Friden or Tomas Lindberg. With each subsequent song, the formula gets a tad bit more involved, with somewhat longer crushers like "Carnal Cage" and "Call Of Siren" making greater occasions for soft atmospheric keyboard and folksy breaks, but overall the same high octane dual shock of thrashing riffs and sorrowful guitar melodies rules the roost. Overall the songs play things fairly safe and draw from the same basic formula, with the greatest outlier being "The Crimson Ark", which employs a Didgeridoo, about twice the usual amount of serene quiet passages with a highly prominent female clean vocal foil, yet also proves the most infectiously memorable of the entire lot.

In essence, this is a solid example of 2002 Finnish melodic death metal meets folksy power metal that was conceived a few years too early, and apart from a somewhat tinny and jumbled mix, the only real flaw that this album carries is that it wasn't released the year that it was completed. Often times the difference between an average offering that tends to be upstaged by more visible offerings and an early trailblazer that's unrefined and rough traits give it an added charm is a matter of dates rather than the actual quality of the final product. To this end, The Tempest Of Thoughts is a solid slab of early era Finnish melodeath goodness that will sadly be relegated to a footnote in history, but it's one that should be heard by anyone with even the slightest affinity for the high period of the style when Children Of Bodom was at their most excessive and the legions of imitators weren't far behind. It's a fun listen, it comes with a few interesting twists, the dueling guitar work provides the needed flash to differentiate it from the older sound, and apart from a dated production quality, checks all the boxes for fans of the style both young and old.

Do you people reading these reviews have any respect for the sheer number of terrible fucking Crash releases I've suffered through? Do you know how much it sucks to go through mediocre fucking album after mediocre fucking album in pursuit of gold! Here's the twist in this story: THIS ALBUM IS NOT THE GOLD. IT'S BASICALLY AS BAD AS THE REST OF THEM. I NEVER LEARN.

I am now under the impression that the Finns can only make incredible music or fucking awful music. Admittedly, Kaliban isn't QUITE as bad as some of the goofy fucking Finnish albums I own, but it's really close. Kaliban played some sort of melodic death/power/folk mixture- the kind of thing you could only get away with in Finland- and managed to accumulate zero fans during their time as a band. There's a lot of kind of power metal riffs (Euro school, of course) but the vocals are more of a Gothenburg raspy growl, and then there's the little hints of folk flittering every which way, tucked in the obnoxious riffs and little acoustic guitar sections. Also, there's face-melting solos. What feels like twenty a song. They never seem to stop soloing or harmonizing unless there's an acoustic passage going on.

It's hard to HATE hate this because honestly it's just so fucking perky I feel like a total curmudgeon for not liking it. Basically it's the underground equivalent of Dragonforce: total candy music with zero content but a lot of superficial entertainment value. The problem is it's just so fucking SILLY; who can listen to this album and not laugh their asses off at the absurd shouted clean vocals and ridiculously over-adorned riffs. I don't think there's a note on this album which isn't harmonized fifty different ways. When Kaliban wants to slow things down and make it a little simpler there's only twenty guitars all playing the same lead at different registers. There's some entertainment to music this ridiculous but mostly it gives me a headache. There's even female vocals, for god's sake! Did they just try to combine as many Euro power metal stereotypes as they possibly could on this record?

Dumb as this music may be, I can't really smash it because it does provide a lot of entertainment despite how stupid and garbage it is. I highly recommend this to fans of the subgenre of stupid power metal. If you unironically listen to Kaledon like me, I think you'll like it. That being said I think I've made it through the whole album in one sitting exactly once, so take from that what you will.

Kaliban until recently was, for me at least, one of those bands you've heard about a few years ago, but you never got round to checking them out. Last month I *finally* decided to pick up the CD and give it a few spins. I was pleasantly surprised.

What we have here is a smooth and mellow mix of melodic death metal, progressive metal, power metal and that all comes with a folky sauce, although the MD and power elements are most prominent. Somehow I really like this CD. It's all very atmospheric and the vocals, production and guitar-work all sound nice and 'oldskool'.

The music on this album is not extremely fast or brutal, but it does pack a punch. I gave a friend of mine a spin, who's mainly into power metal but doesn't like harsh vocals, and he actually liked this pretty much. Yes, this band does use harsh male vocals, with some female vocals (by the singer of Battlelore, and we all agree she can sing) thrown in every now and then.

There are keyboards, but those are only used to a limited extend (which is a good thing in my opinion). Drums and guitars are all pretty good without being "great". Same goes for the male vocals. These harsh vocals are quite low-pitched growls, brought in such a way you can really understand what the guy is saying. Somehow, regarding the vocals, I am reminded of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. And that's a band I like, so it can't be a bad sign.

The songwriting is pretty decent, the only complaint I can think of is the songs get repetitive after a while. But then again, maybe I just shouldn't listen to the album 10x in a row....

All in all a pretty nice album. Not one of the best ever written but pretty good. Recommended for all fans of oldskool DM and/or power metallers looking to cross to the "harsh vocals" side of metal music, for this is quite accessible.
Therefore: 75/100

Highlights: Time To Burn, Orchard.