Album review: Calyces – Fleshy Waves Of Probability

The fact that Calyces named their 2020 debut album Impulse To Soar reveals rather a lot. If that title was chosen as a reflection of their instinct to create metal that takes flight and touches the sky, it comes as little surprise.

That instinct hasn’t dulled, but their focus this time is sharper, plus they’ve trimmed the fat on their instrumentals to bring Fleshy Waves Of Probability to a comparatively slimline 40-minute run time. Calyces may be leaner, but they’ve not ground down their teeth.

There’s a palpable sense in the Greek metallers’ bright-sounding, major-key prog of the real love they have for roaring into the abyss and flexing their fingers intricately across their fretboards. There’s also no concealing how indebted they are to the bands that influenced them. On vicious yet sprightly opener Swirling Towards The Light, for example, they’re evoking the same choppy ocean of riffs that Mastodon were sailing on, and their love of Baroness is evident not just in their music but in the amount of John Baizley-esque flora on their album artwork. Luckily, it falls just on the right side of admiration as opposed to imitation, neither does it obscure their obvious talent, as the agile fretwork and triumphant feel of Boneshatter proves.

Equally, Calyces haven’t neglected the business of sculpting their own sound, even if they let themselves down with a slight lack of variety from song to song. When they push themselves a little, however, it works. The mountainous Lost In Phrase dares to be slower and quieter, and even a touch groovier, to start with, but there’s later a glorious payoff in the form of a gorgeous crescendo when the dynamics are flipped on their head. By closer Lethargy, they’re anything but worn out, its hushed beginning melting into a wall of riffs that’s almost jolly before their smile turns to a scowl for its rousing finale.

There’s an endearing, uplifting energy to what Calyces do that certainly gives them character, and it makes them easy to warm to. Indeed, this record might just be read as a love letter to prog, perhaps, and you cannot shirk them for that.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Gojira, Baroness, Mastodon

Fleshy Waves Of Probability is released on March 21