Album Review: Calligram – Position | Momentum (Prosthetic Records)

London, UK based multinational black metal band Calligram will release their brand-new album, ‘Position | Momentum’, on July 14th, 2023, via Prosthetic Records.

What do you want to hear? That, once again, Calligram have knocked it out of the park with their latest release? That they are reaching even darker depths and becoming more chaotic than ever? If you know this band, you know what they are capable of. Position | Momentum is every bit the blackened atrocity that a listener would hope it be. A familiar tornado of noise that leaves you battered and broken, wondering how the hell it came to this.

Yet, for all of that, there is no denying that Calligram have grown and found new and fresh ways to dish out the punishment. Position | Momentum is a step-up from everything this band has done before and it might be the most ‘complete’ sounding release they have ever sent out into the world.

Setting a seemingly ‘impossible to top’ high bar with the opening track, Sul Dolore. Calligram begin in blistering fashion. An explosive assault of guitars, drums, and vocals, that cleverly transitions into a slower tempo, sounding grander, but just as devastating. It’s an opener that makes you froth at the mouth.

That amazing ability to change the tone, without it being jarring, is one of the most impressive things about this album. Notable in Frantumi In Itinere too. A track that finds Calligram in a bristling and brutalising mood. Where a cacophony of blackened heaviness crashes down on the head with all the force of a mountain. The unmitigated furious speed should turn any nuances into mush, but Calligram are so talented, every detail can be picked out. Then, it shifts and suddenly it’s a different beast altogether.

With Eschilo, Calligram show that they can do melody too. Although, it’s far from what most will remember from this track. No, what most will remember is just how scathing a track this is and it’s not just the vocals providing the skin-crawling horror either. It’s also one of the more progressive efforts, and goodness, do Calligram take us on a wild journey here.

A more ‘straight-forward’ discharge of chaos and post-infused heaviness comes next in the form of Tebe, Calligram as delightfully feral as always. Before Per Jamie calms things down momentarily with some haunting ambience and melody.

Take that moment of calm as what follows, Ostranenie, might be one of the harshest blackened metal tracks on the entire record. Calligram continue to defy any and all expectations. Punishing the mind to such an extent that the melodic lulls in this track are worrisome. You just can’t relax. Especially as what follows is carnage. Carnage called Ex-Sistere. A blast of uncouth blackened noise with a brash structure that grips and squeezes as the track goes on.

Most, if not all, will be well and truly lost to the bedlam that Calligram create. So much so, that the arrival of the final track, Seminario Dieci, is a sad moment. Who would want this stunning record to ever end?

But end it must, and it’s as brash, bright, and brilliant as everything that came before it. Misery might be at the forefront of what Calligram do, but fans of their brand of extreme will be feeling mightily joyful once they experience this album.

Calligram – Position | Momentum Track Listing:

1. Sul Dolore
2. Frantumi In Itinere
3. Eschilo
4. Tebe
5. Per Jamie
6. Ostranenie
7. Ex-Sistere
8. Seminario Dieci

Links

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