Callisto - Noir (2006)

Más rock finlandés para todos los gustos, y para demostrar que no todo lo que sale de ese frío país es tan alegre y relajado. Ya presentamos a Callisto: Sludge/doom, Post metal y progresivo para meter en una licuadora musical a "King Crimson y Mogwai y meterles un toque de Amorphis". Excelentes ambientes, en una inmensa comunión entre buenas y dulces melodías entremezcladas con corrosivas sonoridades, atmosferas calmadas y experimentaciones varias pero que tienen a la elegante armonía como protagonista. Seguimos con el capítulo Finlandia en la escuelita de rock y nunca está demás traer trabajos tan interesantes y buenos como los realizados por Callisto. Discazo!

Artista: Callisto

Álbum: Noir
Año: 2006
Género: Post Metal Experimental
Duración: 53:47
Nacionalidad: Finlandia

Lista de Temas:
1. Wormwood
2. Latterday Saints
3. The Fugitive
4. Backwoods
5. A Close Encounter
6. Pathos
7. Folkslave
8. Woven Hands

Alineación:
- Ariel Björklund / drums
- Johannes Nygård / guitar
- Juho Niemelä / bass, backing vocals
- Markus Myllykangas / vocals, guitar
- Arto Karvonen / synthesizer & sampler

Esta banda se caracteriza por mezclar en su música diferentes estilos que van desde el sludge hasta la música experimental, lo cual le ha dado como resultado el reconocimiento internacional y el hecho de quitarse de encima la carga de ser una banda etiquetada como mutación de Isis / Neurosis / Cult of Luna. A pesar de estar alejado del machaque descerebrado del metal cuadrado del doble bombo, logra ser bastante pesado, tiene excelentes riff y growls que rosan el Death Metal y pasajes que se adentran en el Doom Metal, pero a pesar de eso, sus discos trascienden las fronteras de los estilos ya que le añaden en perfecta armonía, increíbles atm{osferas y climas muy calmados, experimentación, sonidos ambientales, saxos, violines, cellos, flautas, instrumentos poco convencionales y otra cantidad de sonidos musicales que hacen que este disco pase de la turbulencia a un sonido mas calmado de una manera magistral.

Esta banda finlandesa combina Metal, post rock y progresivo, si, es como meter a King Crimson y Mogwai en una licuadora musical, y meterles un toque de Amorphis.
Resultado? excelente banda.
Su primer album, True Nature Unfolds, es claramente influenciado por el Sludge/doom, mientras que su siguiente disco, Noir, tiene tintes mas progresivos, en este destaca el uso de instrumentos inesperados, como el cello, saxo, flauta y la guaripola.
Como dato anecdotico, los temas son cristianos, pero en este rincón dominado por satanas eso no nos importa y nos fijamos mas que nada en la musica.

Rock De Mente

Siguiendo su típica linea sludge, y post metal que los viera nacer, pero introduciendo pequeñas lineas de jazz, muchísima atmósfera e interesantísimas incursiones con la flauta y el saxo, les presentamos este, el segundo disco de la banda. Y si habíamos dicho que "Secret Youth" era posiblemente el álbum más compacto y consolidado estilísticamente del grupo, donde la atmósfera y la coherencia de los ingredientes es el gran punto a favor del disco, pero sin embargo este trabajo (que es inmediatamente anterior a "Secret Youth") me gusta más, quizás por las melodías o por la ambientación, no lo sé, pero definitivamente tanto "Noir" como "Secret Youth" posicionaron a la banda como uno de los puntales de la innovación y que luego seguirían tantas otras bandas.

Cruzada por la educación musical de los menos afortunados.
Me llegaron devuelta las respuestas a las preguntas que envié a Callisto el otro día, las acabo de leer, están buenas, me gustaron aunque debo reconocer que esperaba un poco más, pero están muy buenas igual, era mucha la expectativa pero será para la próxima entrevista, porque estoy seguro que habrá una segunda entrevista a Callisto. Conmemorativamente a la llegada de las respuestas he decidido poner el disco anterior a “Providence”, del año 2006 “Noir”. Yo insisto, la banda cambio entre este disco y su siguiente álbum, pero es solamente mi mirada. Trae varios temas bastantes destacados, es de fácil acceso para individuos ya adentrados en el Sludge y en algunos de sus derivados, así que aquellos reconocedores de Neurosis, adelante!!
Debo reconocer que este disco de Callisto me gusto mucho, aun me impacta su sonido, sus letras, y su ritmo; algunos podrían decir que está influenciado o que es Doom, nada semejante a eso. Ellos saben lo que tocan, y lo comparten a su entrevistador, así que fue bueno el leer sus comentarios sobre este tipo de preguntas, muy valioso.
Reconozco que este disco me gusta, lo recomiendo a amigos que quieren conocer bandas como Neurosis, así llegue a ellos. Emularon un sonido y consiguieron crear el suyo propios. Lleno de emotividad, de ambientes, de sensaciones y visiones. Es un disco que alegra, refresca las sensaciones personales de conocimiento, no es para nada un mal disco o una pérdida de tiempo, es correctamente un muy buen acompañante de momentos.
Lo comparto con alegría, por esos dos motivos: las respuestas y que es un muy buen disco. Solo para entendidos y aventurados en el Metal, en la vanguardia naciente y que se reconstruye a sí mismo constantemente, que vendrá a Chile en un momento determinado, eso lo sé desde ya, póstumamente y vanguardistamente.

Felipe Reyes

As{i que aquí vamos con otro excelente trabajo, no por lo instrumental, no por lo complejo, no por la innovaci{on en el estilo, sino más que nada por la imaginación que impulsa a determinados músicos a hacer obras fuera de serie. Y aunque esta no sea en realidad una obra de arte sublime, sí es una obra fuera de serie. Y otro ejemplo de las joyitas salidas de Finlandia. Aquí les dejo algunos comentarios en inglés...

Sludgy post-metal seems to be all the rage nowadays in the metal community. Bands like Isis, Cult of Luna, and Pelican each bring their own special flavor to the ever expanding genre. All three bands have backgrounds in hardcore within their respective communities and that shines through in their music. Dissonant chords and screamed vocals (in the cases of Isis and Cult of Luna) are musical techniques ripped straight out of a hardcore handbook while Pelican brings unrelenting sludge and melody to the table. Callisto is an amalgamation of the three aforementioned bands and also brings in their own influences from free jazz as well.
Callisto's sophomore effort easily bridges the gap between their first atmospheric sludge effort and their later strictly post metal works. The guitars play a combination of jazzy and melodic licks, dissonant chords, and crushing power chords that all meld together into a cohesive melody that can attract listeners of all genres of music. The bass, which is actually audible, rarely sticks to playing root notes and fifths. The bass lines provide not only rhythm and support, but it crafts its own counterpoint that compliments whatever the guitarist is doing. The drummer has a very jazzy and syncopated style that at first doesn't seem all that flashy, but slowly reveals itself to be more technical that what first impressions may point it out to be. The vocalist repertoire consists of a hardcore shout and assortments of tortured yelps and barks. Quite clearly he is the least proficient member of the band, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Each song on the album is an individual sprawling epic that becomes more and more advanced as the music progresses. The band loves to play off the loud/quiet dynamic that bands have been pulling since the Pixies, but Callisto manages to put the loud/quiet dynamic on it's head. There are buildups that lead back down to quiet bits that then buildup to another letdown. "The Fugitive" is a great example of that type of musicianship. Each song has it's own distinct quality and thus it would be an arduous task to try and individually critique each one. So, I'll solely concentrate on my favorite track on the album, "Woven Hands".
"Woven Hands" begins with a sample or spoken word piece, I don't know exactly what it is, and a soft keyboard pad that gives off a 50s B-movie vibe. Soon thereafter, the guitars and bass come in playing a soft melody. The mood changes slightly, becoming more frantic as the guitars move from playing just legato guitar licks to chords. This continues for some time until the distortion kicks in, hitting you in the face like a bulldozer going the speed of a sports car. The pace slows down to funeral dirge speeds, but it continues to get heavier. The guitars build up to an apex that couldn't get more intense and suddenly relieve the tension by getting quieter and introducing some horns. Just as suddenly as the heaviness turned into relaxation, the song ends abruptly, fading into nothingness.
Callisto manages to take the best elements of the biggest post-metal bands and combine them into a musical unit that operates with such intensity and emotion that it's almost unbearable. This album falls just short of being perfect due to some length issues, but nonetheless it is an excellent piece of work.

Generic Rant

I'm actually quite surprised that Callisto haven't received more than two reviews. Considering their popularity and the fact that they have two full-lengths, it really is shocking. I would have thought what with having an artist connection with Cult Of Luna, Isis and Neurosis that this band would have received far more attention than they have on such a site as Metal Archives. Truly astonishing. Well, even so, I have decided to take it upon myself and review the follow up to the debut full-length by Callisto, 'Noir'. The artist connection with Isis and Cult Of Luna are the most recognisable influences in Callisto.
Although a fair amount of the influence from both bands is plugged into this record, there are a few things done differently. Perhaps enough so to keep the audience happy and drive away a lot of the 'clone' tags this band will probably receive. Something about Callisto seems rather strange to me and I don't seem to be the only one who has picked up on it. As the previous reviewer said, Callisto don't much sound like a sludge band. Sludge is very distinctive because of it's muddy sound. Callisto don't have any such sound, this is quite unfortunate. They appear to be going for an early Isis sound mixed with a bit of Cult Of Luna. That's the only way I can describe it.
The vocals are particularly familiar, what with being a fan of Isis for a few years now. Markus Myllykangas gives a similar performance to Aaron Turner of Isis on their older records. Most notably 'Oceanic'. Though they aren't quite as visceral as Aaron Turner's style on 'Oceanic' they are decent enough to keep die hard fans of the sludge and post-hardcore genres happy. To the rest of us, well, they can tend to become fairly monotonous. This takes away a bit of the edge Callisto are attempting to gain with their solid and driven riffs.
They are fairly typical of the genre, it has to be said. Nothing new or different in terms of the vocals. A reference can undoubtedly be made to Cult Of Luna's vocalist, Klas Rydberg. They are screamed vocals, much like anything within the hardcore division of music. They aren't overly impressive, but that's only because i'm not a huge fan of the style anymore. It seems washed out and over used these days. This element makes them particularly annoying, but not so much that I cringe and turn away from Callisto.
The difference between Callisto and Isis or Cult Of Luna lies in the use of synths and sweet-sounding guitar riffs. The synths add texture and a fresh sound to Callisto. It's always appealing to me when bands use synths. I find the atmosphere they tend to create is almost euphoric when used correctly. Alongside the mellifluous guitar passages, the atmospheric nature behind Callisto is heightened. It peaks whenever Callisto opt for slower sections, which act as a welcome break from the more advancing tones and textures the guitars take up whenever the pace quickens. The guitars are used splendidly, as one might expect. They usually are the highlight of any album and this is no different.
The production isn't typical of sludge, as I said. It's clearer and adds a more polished sound to the instruments. Perhaps we could put this down to solid songwriting and well thought out structures. Everything is neatly placed and done with precision. There is a clear destination for Callisto and they aren't afraid to use innovation to get there, this is another appealing quality of 'Noir'. The dynamic sound of the guitars and percussion is wonderful. They act as a shield to the vocals, protecting it from criticism. This is another good element because if the vocals didn't have the back up that they do, they wouldn't be as effective. Atmospheric is exactly what Callisto are, but the sludge tag isn't as recognisable. As far as highlights go, that's got to be 'The Fugitive'.

Perplexed Sjel

Like the title says, is this cd actual sludge? It is heavy, I'll admit to that. However the slow and rough parts of the songs on this cd tend to lean more to the normal doom side. In principle its hard to described sludge because of its diversity.
The cd is a great listen because the slow and soft parts are good to relax to. Somehow they kind of sound like blues or jazz at some points. For example, in the first song "Wormwood" is a part where someone plays the saxophone.
The hard and slow riffs are one. With somehow a perfect way of making the soft sound fall into the hard sound and visa versa.
Anyone who likes music to chill to for a bit and headbang to as well, this band is perfect for that kind of thing. Hence why I give this cd so much points. Its a perfect mix between relaxation and frustration (or getting it out).

ZeroNeo

Callisto is a a Finnish five piece playing a mix of post, and AvantGarde metal, and I gotta say that they are pretty good at what they do. Noir, from the first couple of notes, gives an eerie dark atmosphere, not like Cult of Luna's, which is more aggressive, more post rocky, but kind of like a less straight forward Maudlin of the Well, Incorporating delayed guitars, horns, and not-so-metal drumming to make a great eclectic post metal album. Not only that, but their lyrics are laced with Christian themes giving them a lyrical edge over pretty much all post metal (considering half of the genre is lyrical, and the other half attempting Yes lyrics).
The music is basically dominated by guitars, with keyboards in the background most of the time. As the songs progress, Arpeggios build into crushing power chords, simple beats turn into thundering fills , and some incredible growling comes in. The singers voice is under mixed a lot of the time, which is sad considering his grunts are intense, and really help the climaxes get that edge. After the climax, the songs will usually die down to some weird state of keyboard samples, and background guitars, and finally build up to another epic climax.
My favorite track on Noir is the Fugitive, the most emotional and powerful, placed conveniently after the more chilled out track Latter day saints. I recommend anyone into Avant Garde metal or post metal this album, it's so close to being a five star album, it's almost unfair. 4 / 5.

Ian Bishop

I just realized this has become my favourite album from Finland, my home country. Not bad, eh? Well, it is hard to find anything negative to say about Noir. Everything that feels out of place or incomplete on the other two Callisto albums comes together here to make absolute sense. They use dynamics wonderfully, never keeping a section going for too long or overusing their heavier sides. A brilliant Opeth-like riff can suddenly turn into a sax solo (on the first track, Wormwood) or even a mellow jazz groove-bass oriented section (Folkslave). And when they finally release their "full power", so to speak, like in the end section of Fugitive, the result is some of the greatest metal I've ever heard. Man, talk about building and releasing tensions. I am usually envious of all the countless great Swedish prog bands, but this cd is something that makes me proud being a Finn. Simply ear candy from start to finish.

Morsenator

Espero que lo disfruten mucho, tanto como yo.