review by: Roberto Martinelli

I know this is totally unfair, but I've always uncontrollably thought of Caliban as the lesser Heaven Shall Burn. Can you blame me? I was introduced to both these bands at the same time, which also coincided with my hearing the split CD that these two exemplary German metalcore acts are on. However, with the release of Shadow Hearts, Caliban has clearly solidified its personality with its more melodic riffs on this, their best album to date.

From beginning to end, the listener is treated to song after song of crisp pummeling fronted by inhuman vocals. Caliban throws some new tricks (for them) into the mix with a good amount of clean singing that works more or less well. The drums may be a smidge to big in the mix, but practically this aspect just lends to a better end. Great stuff. (7.5/10)