Caliban - Coverfield

Caliban
CoverfieldCentury Media Records/E.M.I. Music Australia

In the lead up to a quick tour around Europe and a return to the studio to follow-up their last full-length effort (Namely 2009’s ‘Say Hello To Tragedy’), long running German metalcore outfit Caliban have decided to put together a new E.P. in the form of ‘Coverfield’ to keep fans tided over in the meantime (Not to mention give the band an excuse to hit the road once again).As the title suggests, ‘Coverfield’ is a covers E.P., and one that covers a lot of ground in terms of the bands they have decided to pay tribute to. But while the idea sounds enticing, sadly, the results aren’t anywhere as successful as hoped.The first of the four tracks present here is a cover of Type O Negative’s ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend’, which originally appeared on the band’s cult classic ‘October Rust’ (1996). Most of the gothic rock-like vibe of the original is forsaken here, with the guitars being beefed up in line with the keyboards to give the song a bigger and heavier sound. Vocally, Andreas Doerner puts in a good performance alongside the rest of the band (Guitarist/vocalist Denis Schmidt, guitarist Marc Goertz, bassist Marco Schaller and drummer Patrick Gruen), and their reinterpretation of the song overall is quite good, if a little heavy handed in places.The band’s choice to re-record Rammstein’s ‘Sonne’ (From 2001’s ‘Mutter’) is fairly straight forward, if a little lacking compared to the original, while their cover of At The Gates’ ‘Blinded By Fear’ (From 1995’s ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’) is a carbon copy of the original for the most part, and by far one of the E.P.’s more unsurprising and unremarkable efforts - a real shame.Finishing up the E.P. is The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’ (From their self-titled album from 1968), which can be credited as one of the E.P.’s more daring and adventurous efforts, even if only in parts.In the end, die hard Caliban fans will enjoy this little E.P. from the band. But for those who feel that Caliban has fallen from grace in the years since the release of their ‘The Opposite From Within’ (By far their strongest release to date), don’t expect to be too amazed by anything offered up this time around.

For more information on Caliban, check out - http://www.calibanmetal.com/

© Justin Donnelly