Pittsburgh's Caliga is the latest entry into an oversaturated metalcore
scene. Their debut, Circle of Darkness was released through an
independent label called Gomek Records. It is too bad for the label because
bands like Caliga are hazardous to the reputation.
At first glance, Caliga's album packaging looks like something that was
done at the last minute. That was the first sign that the album was
not going to be any good; that was until I actually listened to the
album. It was after the vocals kicked in that it was going to be worse than
I feared. The music itself is nothing special, just metalcore style
riffs that play it safe. That is the only good thing about the album.
The major problem with lsitening to the album is the vocals. It would
not have been so bad had there not been the emo-style clean vocals on
"Questions Arise." Aside from that, the low growls on the album are
clearly forced, as there seems to be virtually no energy or effort from the
vocalist. I guess that is what happens when the lyric content consists
of the same rehased topics found on most metalcore releases. Even so,
it does not excuse Caliga for giving little effort into their music.
The album cover obviously looks like everything was thrown together,
with the band name attached above the artwork.
Even though Caliga was signed to Gomek Records, the album suggests that
they were better off investing money on other things, like music
lessons and album packaging. None of the songs are really memorable and the
instances that provide some semblance of music are noticed for the
wrong reasons. Caliga is a band that needs to practice the art of giving
effort on every song.
