Caliban – Back From Hell
Release Date: 25th April 2024
Label: Century Media Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metalcore
FFO: The Browning, Vended, Abbie Falls, Bury Tomorrow, Bleed from Within, Spiritbox.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Germany’s metalcore veterans Caliban return with Back from Hell, their 14th studio offering, and it’s clear they’ve made a conscious decision to embrace the future of metalcore—whether or not every fan is ready for it. The album is a sonic buffet of modern metal trends: soaring clean choruses, layers of electronics, deathcore-tinged breakdowns, and even splashes of nu-metal nostalgia.
At its core, Back from Hell is a modern metalcore record through and through. There’s an undeniable polish and accessibility to much of the album, with big melodies and electronic flourishes that wouldn’t be out of place on a metal radio. Tracks like Insomnia push the envelope, flirting with the mainstream in a way that might alienate longtime fans of Caliban’s more traditional, bruising sound. But while some moments might leave you wishing for more grit, the band never completely abandons their roots.
When Caliban leans into their heavier instincts, they still hit like a freight train. Resurgence is a highlight, masterfully balancing punishing heaviness with a hook-laden chorus that doesn’t sacrifice intensity. It’s a reminder that Caliban are at their best when they ride the line between melody and brutality without tipping too far in either direction.
I Was a Happy Kid Once adds a surprising stirring layer to the mix, incorporating emo-influenced clean vocals that feel raw and less polished than the rest of the cleans on the album. Meanwhile, Alte Seele delivers a crushing breakdown with an In Flames-style melodic thread running through it, making it one of the strongest and most well-rounded tracks on the album.
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising moments come from songs like Overdrive and Infection, which fully embrace nu-metal aesthetics. Overdrive even channels David Draiman with a cheeky “ooh-wah-ah” that kicks off the first verse of the song. Infection opens with an almost hip-hop beat before segueing into an industrial style groove.
Glass Cage brings things back to metalcore fundamentals, and Til Death Do Us Part combines haunting whispers with deathcore choruses in a way that’s unsettling and satisfying.
If Back from Hell feels like a band in search of their identity, perhaps that’s because eclecticism is Caliban’s identity in 2025. This isn’t the band that helped define early metalcore—this is a band that’s adapting, experimenting, and trying to find where they fit in a scene that’s seeing a revival with the up-and-coming new blood out there.
Back from Hell might not please every old-school fan, but it’s an ambitious and varied record that shows Caliban still has fire in their veins—and maybe a few new tricks up their sleeve.
(3 / 5)
