As promised, I am now back with writing release reviews, this one being the first one since May. Wow, that is a very long time indeed. Since then I got numerous physical review submissions, so at the moment I am trying to retrace the order I received them in and to post them in the respected manner. Additionally, I have an inbox full of unanswered mails which I will begin to reply to as of now. My sincere apologies go to all the bands and labels that had to wait for so long, as you can see it wasn't a matter of the blog being dead or me being lazy, but much rather life has been turbulent and I had to do a lot of writing regarding things other than band reviews. Thank you all for the continued interest and patience, hopefully future content will be even more appealing for everyone.
Opening the band season will be a project bearing a rather pretty and simple name, "Calf". This quartet is nested in Athens, Greece, a place where they started making music in 2009. After taking some time with experimenting with sound and visiting various musical approaches, the band managed to release its debut musical outlet in the form of an album called "A Constant Loss Departs from the Sentiment of the Abandoned". Recorded in late 2011, their firstborn arrives bearing a truly vast array of sounds being weaved around a post rock backbone. Composed out of four lengthy tracks, accumulating to a grand forty minutes of music, the album goes through various different audio landscapes and moods, making you crave for another ride as soon as the first one finishes.
The most appealing feature of "Calf" is absolutely the diversity of sounds which they manage to present to the listener. Spending two years in incubation and taking the proper time to write a complex release definitely aided the band and they came out of the cocoon as a success. As you listen to this release, you are greeted with a score of variant tunes which range from being aggressively epic and fast to completely droning, depressive and melancholic. All presented atmospheres flow in an excellent manner, yet along the way they manage to morph into something completely unexpected.
The opening track is a superb example of what the band has to offer. "Dorian Grey Killed the Last Vestiges of his Consciousness", the first and shortest track of the album, begins with something that sounds like a phone call sample, quickly breaking into an epic, heavy post rock melody. As it carves a cold and somewhat desolate feeling in your head, the tune falls off into a trance-like state, slowly building up in intensity towards the end. "Ich Bebe", the second track in row, puts more of an accent on a brooding, slow melody which bears a more, dare I say, happy feeling at times. The band masterfully throws a lot of different elements into their songs and they come together in a perfect fashion. Either shapeshifting moods or changing tempos and types of song construction, "Calf" has numerous things to offer. It would definitely take me an insane amount of space to cover all their aspects through words, so listening to them is the only thing that can give proper homage to what they created.
The band uses audio samples at various points on the record, giving an overall eerie feeling to the entire release, this being a huge merit in my book. I really liked the fact that the record ends with a continuation of the sample which actually opened the album, giving a sort of cycling feeling to the entire project. Also, the overall quality of the sound is superbly clean and professional, which definitely gives you a chance to fully enjoy every piece of the "Calf" machinery.
Going a bit deeper into technical details of the release. The album comes in CD format, packed in a neatly designed stretch-out gatefold cardboard cover, released by "Noteale Records" which you can check out here. It was produced by Aris Christou, a rather known name in the Greek alternative rock scene due to his involvement with numerous projects such as "Bocomolech" and "Closer". Additionally, a short preview of the then yet to come album has been created, coming in the form of a one minute video which you can see here. The album itself can be downloaded here, courtesy of the band and the label.
Overall, this is a might fine release and I'm really happy that I got introduced to this band. A grand amount of potential is displayed on this album and I hope that the band sticks together for more future endeavors. I'd like to thank Chris from the band for his interest in the blog and for sending me their wonderful CD, along with a short letter containing a part of the guitar tabs for one of their songs! Hope you all enjoyed the review and that it inspired you enough to show "Calf" a lot of support, they surely deserve it.
The most appealing feature of "Calf" is absolutely the diversity of sounds which they manage to present to the listener. Spending two years in incubation and taking the proper time to write a complex release definitely aided the band and they came out of the cocoon as a success. As you listen to this release, you are greeted with a score of variant tunes which range from being aggressively epic and fast to completely droning, depressive and melancholic. All presented atmospheres flow in an excellent manner, yet along the way they manage to morph into something completely unexpected.
The opening track is a superb example of what the band has to offer. "Dorian Grey Killed the Last Vestiges of his Consciousness", the first and shortest track of the album, begins with something that sounds like a phone call sample, quickly breaking into an epic, heavy post rock melody. As it carves a cold and somewhat desolate feeling in your head, the tune falls off into a trance-like state, slowly building up in intensity towards the end. "Ich Bebe", the second track in row, puts more of an accent on a brooding, slow melody which bears a more, dare I say, happy feeling at times. The band masterfully throws a lot of different elements into their songs and they come together in a perfect fashion. Either shapeshifting moods or changing tempos and types of song construction, "Calf" has numerous things to offer. It would definitely take me an insane amount of space to cover all their aspects through words, so listening to them is the only thing that can give proper homage to what they created.
The band uses audio samples at various points on the record, giving an overall eerie feeling to the entire release, this being a huge merit in my book. I really liked the fact that the record ends with a continuation of the sample which actually opened the album, giving a sort of cycling feeling to the entire project. Also, the overall quality of the sound is superbly clean and professional, which definitely gives you a chance to fully enjoy every piece of the "Calf" machinery.
Going a bit deeper into technical details of the release. The album comes in CD format, packed in a neatly designed stretch-out gatefold cardboard cover, released by "Noteale Records" which you can check out here. It was produced by Aris Christou, a rather known name in the Greek alternative rock scene due to his involvement with numerous projects such as "Bocomolech" and "Closer". Additionally, a short preview of the then yet to come album has been created, coming in the form of a one minute video which you can see here. The album itself can be downloaded here, courtesy of the band and the label.
Overall, this is a might fine release and I'm really happy that I got introduced to this band. A grand amount of potential is displayed on this album and I hope that the band sticks together for more future endeavors. I'd like to thank Chris from the band for his interest in the blog and for sending me their wonderful CD, along with a short letter containing a part of the guitar tabs for one of their songs! Hope you all enjoyed the review and that it inspired you enough to show "Calf" a lot of support, they surely deserve it.
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