Bands: Caligula’s Horse, Keyan
Venue: Max Watts, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 25th April 2024
Photos by: Mark Hoffmann
Review by: Ben Eldström
KEYAN
All three musicians including lead guitarist KEYAN stepped out onto the stage in resplendent white shirts to a round of cheers from the growing crowd at Max Watts. If you thought the white was a symbol of peace, you’d be sorely mistaken as they kicked off their set with an onslaught of riffing, heavy chugging, culminating in a headbang-inducing breakdown for good measure. This is an oversimplification of Keyan‘s sound, however, as he strives to incorporate melody and atmosphere amongst his songwriting; diverging from the typical tropes of guitar-centric spectacle.
KEYAN sounds primarily influenced by the great Joe Satriani, which was prominently heard whilst playing a new unreleased track that explored brief melodies that were ever changing and interspersed amongst heavier sections. Lighter comparisons can also be made with lead guitarist of the headlining act, Sam Vallen, whilst KEYAN was considerably heavier, djentier, and favoured the pentatonic scales to a lesser degree. Underpinning all this was very rich and decadent bass throughout the night and impressively precise yet jubilant drumming.
KEYAN made his start with short form videos on the internet, and boy is his music good at grabbing your attention quickly. Nothing sits still in the compositions, and neither did the crowd last night at Max Watts.
Wheel
Unfortunately Wheel weren’t able to play last night as their frontman had all but lost his voice, which is poor luck for the Melbourne crowd. Having seen them twice before, including at Damnation Festival 2019, I was personally very eager to see how their stage presence has evolved and how an Australian crowd would respond to them. Prior to pulling out of the Melbourne show they posted to social media from the Hong Kong airport, so they’re at least close to our shores if not in them. Here’s hoping James heals up quickly and can play any of the other shoes on this first run of the Charcoal Grace tour in Sydney or Brisbane, because it will be a fantastic chance to expand their fanbase here in Australia and a good excuse in the future for a summer holiday reprieve from Finland’s winter.
Caligula’s Horse
The World Breathes With Me is a colossal start to their latest album Charcoal Grace, and made for a similarly thick and voluminous start to the Caligula’s Horse set last night as three of the four members took to the stage. With Sam Vallen wailing away on his sparkly red Aristides, Dale Prinsse providing a rumbling foundation on bass, and Josh Griffin holding everything together on percussion, one member was noticeably absent. If it weren’t for the brief offstage soundcheck, we’d have all feared another vocalist had fallen, before Jim Grey bounced onto the stage some minutes later into their set.
Having just completed their headline tour of North America by the same name, in addition to a European summer festival tour last year, Caligula’s Horse showed Aussie fans last night that they’ve truly ascended to a global standing and one of our finest exports. Having brought additional non-standard lighting to Max Watts as well as stage platforms, this marked a whole new era of a band trying to recover from the horrors imposed on them (and many other bands) by a global pandemic. Jim has always been a charismatic frontman with an armoury of jokes, banter, and actively encouraging hecklers knowing they’ll all be in good humour. Yet last night showed that he’s moved up a step and engaged with the crowd in new ways during songs to stir up energy.
Enough about the stage presence, we’re all here for the bangers. And last night was chocka-block full of them. Opening with The World Breathes With Me and Golem, you might have been tricked into hoping thinking they were just going to cycle through their latest album. However, they then took the Melbourne crowd on a journey through time as they jumped back and moved forward through their catalogue. There were regularly-played tracks such as Bloom into Marigold, which garnered heaps of moshing from the crowd, as well as Dream the Dead that no one knows how to headbang to (this reviewer included), despite it being 7 years old . Without spoiling too much, one song was played from their back catalogue that is so wholesome that a few groups in the crowd decided to hug it out whilst belting the lyrics.
The growth of Caligula’s Horse since their humble start in South-East Queensland some 13 or so years ago has been meteoric, but not without effort and adversity. They’re in fantastic form at the moment, their best to date, and the packed room at Max Watts is a sign they’re on the cusp of headlining even bigger venues. If you’re new to the band, or one from the old guard, make sure you get to their Sydney and Brisbane shows this weekend or their Canberra, Adelaide, and Perth shows later in the year – you’re gonna see a whole new band that’s going from strength to strength.
Gig gallery
