Charcoal Grace [Apricot Vinyl]

Brisbane-based Caligula’s Horse has grown into one of the premiere progressive metal bands in the world since their inception in 2011. Combining raw rock power with immense emotional depth, the group returns with their 6th studio album, Charcoal Grace. Charcoal Grace is borne of the static hopelessness that the pandemic forced upon the band and, indeed, much of the world, these past few years. It is an album reckoning with the experiences and outcomes of this time geared, ultimately, towards catharsis - moving towards a more hopeful future. The title Charcoal Grace is described by the band as “the grim allure and strange beauty in stillness, silence, and loss”. This can be heard through the album's 10-minute opening track “The World Breathes With Me,” a mission statement for the album’s main themes. Musically, it’s a work of contrasts, moving from the lightest ebb to the heaviest flow. Meanwhile, the second track and first single from the album, “Golem,” examines struggling with the weight of expectation through the pandemic. It’s a heavy song with an emphasis on riffs and driving rhythms. At the center of the album is the 4-part title track suite, a 24-minute opus that pushes deeper into the album’s foundational themes: connection, alienation, and the ways humanity acts under duress. Musically, it covers every facet of the band’s vocabulary, from heavy and dense orchestral-accompanied intensity embodying the song’s darkest lyrical ideas, through to soft acoustic-driven moments and introspection. Having spent the last few years unable to fully represent their last album Rise Radiant to the world, Caligula’s Horse is now ready to take Charcoal Grace to the masses in relentless fashion. With this album, Caligula’s Horse has made a statement, and they’re ready for the world to listen.