Charcoal Grace has been one of my most highly-anticipated albums for the last several months. I was on the hype train so quickly that, the moment I heard that Earthside was tapped to support Caligula’s Horse’s American tour dates, I added their album to my review pile for the end of 2023.
For those who missed it, Let the Truth Speak was an incredible album which rocketed to a third-place finish in my overall 2023 rankings.
Why, though?
Put simply, Caligula’s Horse are defending AOTY title holders from 2020 – you know, the year the world went to hell. Rise Radiant was a solid album with a closing two-song suite which did unspeakable things to me, emotionally, through its usage of an elaborate and beautiful metaphor. Since then, I’ve spent plenty of time with the band’s back catalogue, and they, very much, one of my favorite acts now.
Before we get into the actual review, I want to note a few things about the band, as this is the first time I’ve gotten to review them on this platform.
Caligula’s Horse is an Australian band – Brisbane, specifically. They are firmly in the Progressive Metal space, with their nearest contemporaries being bands like Haken and Leprous. The strange band name is a very pointed statement, I think. The band is named for Incitatus, the very pampered horse of Roman Emperor Caligula. According to stories from the time, Incitatus had a stable made of marble and dedicated servants and was given titles…you know, rich people shit.
Caligula’s Horse’s material frequently revolves around classism and wealth disparity, so the incitation of these tales sort of sets the tone for what the band stands for and what you can expect their music to be about.
Charcoal Grace definitely fits the mold, but through the lens of the Covid-19 Pandemic and how it affected the world. And if the way people acted during Covid (not masking, hoarding toilet paper, suggesting we sacrifice the elderly to keep things running) enraged you beyond reason, let me assure you that all of that rage is included in Charcoal Grace. The album is dark in tone and theme. An overarching concept is faith in humanity, and how that faith waivers and wanes as people do absurd shit.
In terms of sound, the best way to describe this album at a macro level is to liken it to Rembrandt; it’s a work of contrasts, of light and dark and the way that these elements interplay. And that’s prevalent at every level of the album – lyrically, thematically, and musically. The album starts fairly heavy, but frequently drifts into these ambient lulls which utilize a lot of synth and piano. It moves from high to low and back again with remarkable fluidity, and while there aren’t any moments which truly compare (in my opinion) to the “Autumn”/”The Ascent” suite on Rise Radiant, there’s never a single note out of place on Charcoal Grace.1
There are nine tracks on Charcoal Grace, with a total runtime of 61 minutes. Opener “The World Breathes With Me” and closer “Mute” take up 22 minutes of that, combined, at 10 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively.2 The middle of the album is dominated by the title track, which is broken up into a four-part suite totalling 24:09. Already, that’s a full album’s worth of music on those six tracks, and there’s still three more!
Lyrically, the album is a masterclass, with each song working on its own level as well as in tandem with the rest of the album. Opener “The World Breathes With Me”, for instance, creates several motifs which recur throughout the album; most notably, the very concept of breathing becomes an anchor here, symbolic of life and well-being — both physical and mental. The lyricism does an excellent job of delving into various states of mind which we all experienced in the pandemic:
On the road to ruin And we're still walkin' with stones to weigh us down But hey, I'm still breathing On the road to ruin As long as you're with me, I'll be singing I breathe and the world breathes with me -"The World Breathes With Me"
Oh, when you fell out of the world, you Saw that it still turned Only mercy for the dead, sling Hope around your neck You're not done yet -"Golem"
Son, you can't fight the waves as they break Your prayers for mercy, the water will take A promise thе world has been whispering to man "Never again" So nеver forget the ways we failed On we sail -"Sail"
Listen to me, into the churn There will be no pretty words to swallow This is a test, it's not a war Watch as we weather the storm together We are the calm, here for the few We could be shelter and shore Heads above water So come for the king, stay for the view Proud of the nothing you grew When we stood against the storm -"The Stormchaser"
Bear in mind that these are just snippets of four songs. The bit from “The Stormchaser”, in particular, is definitely not a full picture of the rage and judgment that the song levies against those of us who behaved the worst during the height of the lockdown. This first chorus attempts to capture the hope of the more reasonable people — those who were willing to try and just weather the storm. The next verse moves more fully into an accusatory second person.
And all of the above is neglecting the album’s titular suite, which adds an additional, more personal, layer to the album. The suite seems to be telling a familial story set during the pandemic, but the inter-generational strife takes precedence in these songs, rather than the pandemic, itself. I have yet to fully crack these songs, but it’s the suite which gives us the album’s title:
I will burn this hateful world to silence In her charcoal grace To silence In her charcoal, her charcoal grace -"Charcoal Grace III: Vigil"
By the end of the third track in the suite, the speaker has lost all hope; they seem to think that the only way to restore any semblance of peace, beauty, or grace to the world is to burn it all down. In the narrative, this seems to apply both to the speaker’s personal, familial world as well as the world at-large.
Clearly, as long as this review has gotten, there’s a lot to discuss here. I feel as though I’ve barely scratched the surface. This album is an incredible feat of artistry, and it will certainly be a contender for AOTY 2024.
With albums from Run the Jewels, Taylor Swift, Nightwish, and Oceans of Slumber likely dropping this year, Charcoal Grace will have some stiff competition. But expect this one to rank highly.
More importantly, check it out for yourself if you haven’t done so yet!
Rating: Purple
Though vocalist Jim Grey could maybe cut out a touch of falsetto here and there, if I’m gonna nitpick anything.
And, weirdly enough, those track lengths are even – right on the minute mark!