Rock Sound - 8/10
CALLOUS [8]
‘DESCENSION’
(CASKET)
Debut album from a bunch of devilish bastards from Kent sets riff-detector nipples on high alert as a blend of melodic metal and hardcore thrash riffs sees ‘Descension’ tear off all the right faces. If you take all of the good parts of Papa Roach (the guitars and hooks) and the power of Killswitch Engage, you get an idea of how these boys end up sounding with tracks ‘Suffer The Sea’ and ‘Nothing Left To Say’ commanding a whole load of respect. If they keep their egos intact and concentrate on their brutal music, these angry kids will end up destroying us all!
Prouncing Metal Reviews
http://www.myspace.com/metal_camp
Mini Album review - CALLOUS - DESCENSION
"Long winded, boring, I hear this every day in todays so called "metal" scence, and I wish I never took the time of day to pay this shoddy piece of audio any attention. These are the sorts of things you won't be saying after listening to the powerful debut from Callous! I will admit, I was was slightly sceptical when first purchasing the album, as it's not normally my cup of tea, but they really did put in my usual milk and two sugars on this bad boy! Firstly, I would like to point out lyrical content. I have never read lyrics so deep yet profound in quite a while, they are almost like poetry, finally a band that you actually have to listen to to appreciate, not just hear! And the vocals are stunning! Frontman/guitarist Jon Gray shows some great vocal styles and variations, similar to clean vocal sound of Triviums Matt Heafy (only more powerful) and the rough shouts of Robb Flynn (almost identical infact)! Musically these lads have got their sound nailed, it's almost (dare I say) epic! they have the thrash elements of old school megadeth but with a melodic twist of Killswitch engaged thrown toghether with quite a progressive edge, now thats a fruity cocktail. YOu maybe wondering 'does it have any solos i can air guitar to?' I respond with "Corr, not 'alf, mate!" look out for my personal favorite tracks 'See No Evil', 'Nothing Left To Say', 'Suffer The Sea' and Into 'The End'. Only negative thing I must say about this album is the intro. It sounds fucking cushty, but it doesnt run into the next track smoothly. A production issue, not a musical one. BUt other than that, this is a beautiful CD, what I love about it the most is that it's the complete opposite to what I listen to." - 8.5/10 (Aaron Waters)
HighWire Daze Magazine (USA)
Callous (Descension)
Casket Music
Based out of the town of Kent in the UK, Callous is a modern metal band possessing a good deal of talent and charisma that should take them well beyond their home country. Even though they appear to be influenced by everyone from Metallica to Trivium, Callous has a distinct sound that will appeal to a wide variety of heavy music fans. Descension is their brand new seven song CD that shows great promise, and may even get these guys signed.
After a brief introduction, the metal rages on as Suffer The Sea kicks off the proceedings with a mighty vengeance. Nothing Left To Say is a supreme thrasher that should really have the crowds singing along to the highly infectious chorus. Through These Final Hours is another highlight, demonstrating just how creative and resourceful the Callous musicians are.
Lead vocalist / guitarist Jon Gray exudes a star quality with his powerful vocal presentation. He and fellow guitarist Ed Harrison deliver some wild riffing that is extremely imagination. Massive kudos to the tighter than hell rhythm section, consisting of Luke Charles on bass and Mike Orvis on drums. Descension by Callous is a fine effort that surely signifies many greater glories to come. Highly recommended! (Ken Morton - HighWire Daze)
| Callous - Descension (6/10) - The Metal Observer |
When Metalcore oversaturated the market and started to evolve, I was shocked that more bands didn’t move towards the Modern sounding Thrash style. TRIVIUM made it work and became an international phenomenon, so I was shocked that more didn’t follow suit. Which was perhaps the biggest surprise I had when I listened to CALLOUS’ debut effort “Descension”. It was a band that followed that path towards a Thrash inspired evolution of Metalcore. Not many are doing it anymore that’s for sure.
Besides the obvious comparisons that could be made to TRIVIUM (there are a lot and considering that on their MySpace CALLOUS calls the previous band one of their main influences then it makes absolute sense), CALLOUS play a style not heard very often any more. Thusly, making them stand out in the crowd where more often then not the influence is pulled from Death and not Thrash anymore.
CALLOUS incorporates the Thrash nicely into their music, mixing it with a lot of Modern Metal elements and just a hint of Metalcore to their writing to give it variation. At first, I thought I was going to be listening to a straight Metalcore album as the opening song “Suffer The Sea” is very reminiscent of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in its slow plodding mid tempo ballad-esque structuring, but quickly after that song the band incorporates their Thrash background into the mix with modern Thrash riffing and some Thrash styled drum work. There is a significant Metalcore influence in the writing though and breakdowns are a big part of their writing like on the songs “See No Evil” or “Through These Final Hours”, but its combined with the Neo Thrash sound in a pretty balanced way.
I have odd feelings on the vocals for this record though and it’s perhaps the album’s biggest misstep. There are some great group chants (as a Thrash fan I appreciate that) and the combination of shouted growls and singing does strike a good combination that could really sell these guys in the future. But the delivery needs a bit of work. The growls could even be a bit more ferocious and the singing is layered to the point that it sounds like choirs instead of this solid chorus. None of the vocal work is bad, but it feels as though it’s held back. The modern production doesn’t help a whole lot with this, but I really wanted the vocalist to come out and let it rip but instead we get some vocals that tend to sound pulled out. There is potential in its use, but it could have been done even better.
All in all, CALLOUS makes a splash. It helps too to have a rather short album to test the waters a bit and not throw too much filler in which is one of the saving features of “Descension”. It’s a solid Modern Thrash album with lots of Metalcore features like TRIVIUM made popular, but some vocal work and lots of production issues make this one just an occasional listen for the average Metalhead.
Songs to check out: “See No Evil”, “Nothing Left To Say”.
DESCENSION REVIEW / BY ROCK REVOLUTION/ ROCK3 MUSIC
You know when you actually start realising that you're getting old? You watch football and there are people who are 18 or 19 doing what you only dreamed you could do. Well that was pretty much the case for me and Callous, they're between the ages of 18 and 21 and they are doing, right now, what I wish I could have done. At 21 I would've loved to have a mini-album (or extended EP) like Descension under my belt.
Unfortunately, for me, there were intervening factors like a lack of musical talent and general laziness. I get the impression, however, from listening to tracks like "Into The End" that these guys do not have this problem. The raw energy that emanates from Descension is intoxicating, broken up occasionally by the vocals of Jon Gray, which are reminiscent of Corey Taylors one man "Beauty and the Beast" style. Instead of the "beauty" aspect, however, there is an "At The Drive In", almost "Jimmy Eat World" twinge that makes the contrast easier to maintain, but I'd question whether it has the same impact. Nevertheless, it is a style that works well with the heavy riffs and the drum beat, that, would it have been the heart beat of an animal, would have been a humming bird...and that humming bird would have had to take constant medication to stop it dying from seizures.
I'm not too sure what they were thinking when they decided to add a metal "question and answer" section in "Through These Final Hours". I feel that it breaks flow unnecessarily in what was, up to that point, a very tight track.
I wouldn't really want that to detract from this recording though. Nobody is perfect, look at Kate Moss, she's got a gimpy eye. Look at Angelina Jolie, in the film poster for "Wanted" her right hand is the wrong way round. Tell me that wouldn't be distracting in bed!
What I'm saying is that there are little imperfections that give character; like at the end of "Descension" there's a 2 second gap, which I'm sure is the recording and not the original intent; I can see where they were going with that because it WOULD have linked very nicely.
So, as I brush the Oreo crumbs off the info sheet they sent me with the CD, I find myself thinking "Who cares?" I know I don't. Too many bands gloat about playing with so and so, or being on 6 music or something, well big whoop de-fucking doo for them, what do they want? A fucking cookie?! I know who Callous have played with and I'll tell you one thing, you don't NEED to know because this isn't a fucking job interview! Music will speak for itself all day, every day. Callous' music, however, doesn't speak for itself. It's angry, it's schizophrenic, it's hyper-active, it spits when it talks, it holds no punches and it doesn't care about you. Just like metal should be. When "Descension" is finally released, I suggest you buy it, steal it, whatever, I don't care. Just get it and listen to it.
It's great to see that Kent can actually produce a metal band when it tries hard enough.'
Callous
(Descension)
Hard-hearted, high-powered melodic metal!..Every song displays systematic chaos,fantastic vocal fusions,killer riffs,licks and solos,all played at a vicious velocity!! They will lead other bands down the path of 'descension' as they rise to the top!!
Their 2009 Debut Mini Album, "Descension" is out June 22nd!