Originally written by Ben Graves.
The Undying Darkness, the latest showing from German metalcore stalwarts Caliban, has quite a few redeeming qualities. The musicianship is tight, the riffage alternating between visceral and soothing, the vocals – both screamed and sung – are performed with skill and confidence. The drums pound and throb with all the force required on a heavy album, and it features a crystal-clear production supplied by both In Flames frontman Anders Friden and mixing wizard Andy Sneap. On top of all that, The Undying Darkness also boasts guest performances from Kreator’s Mille Petrozza and the aforementioned Anders Friden.
Despite these positives, however, The Undying Darkness is still boring as hell.
This newest offering suffers from the exact same problems that plagued its predecessor, The Opposite From Within, and to a lesser extent 2003’s Shadow Hearts. It’s generic, uninventive, predictable, and almost unbelievably played out. Heavy verse is followed by “pretty” sung chorus, which is followed by second heavy verse, followed by “crushing” breakdown, followed by “emotionally charged” last chorus. Now, I’ll admit that the song “I Rape Myself” has a fairly memorable hook, and “Moment Of Clarity” (with Mille Petrozza) is an all-out thrasher that breaks the general mold, but the rest of the tunes are cut from an identical template that fails to impress.
The Undying Darkness rings completely hollow with me, and I’d hesitate in recommending this to even the most easily impressed of metalcore fans. The fact is that there are a great number of bands out there (Unearth, All That Remains, Heaven Shall Burn, Fear My Thoughts…etc.) that actually do this particular genre justice, rather than releasing records that can be used as ammunition for all the flak it receives.
