Kalisia - Cybion review
| Band: | Kalisia |
| Album: | Cybion |
| Style: | Progressive death metal |
| Release date: | January 11, 2009 |
| A review by: | wrathchild |
Disc I
01. Introduction / Domination
[Part I: Revelation]
02. Aspiration Above [Reception / Translation]
03. Arken Bringer [Union / Construction]
04. Alien Choice [Declaration / Revolution]
05. Awkward Decision [Division / Integration]
[Part II: Elevation]
06. Blinded Addict [Fusion / Rebellion]
07. Beyond Betrayal [Violation / Condemnation]
08. Blessed Circle [Education / Deification]
09. Black Despair [Isolation / Liberation]
10. Blurred Exile [Destination / Alteration]
[Part III: Regression]
11. Cast Away [Damnation / Seclusion]
12. Crisis Bleedings [Illusion / Desperation]
13. Confined Contender [Resolution / Protection]
14. Circuits Distortion [Reconstruction / Intrusion]
15. Contact Experience [Confrontation / Communication]
[Part IV: Extinction]
16. Devices Awakening [Activation / Production]
17. Down Below [Confusion / Resurrection]
18. Distant Chronicles [Realisation / Penetration]
19. Digital Disclosure [Disconnection / Comprehension]
20. Deserved Eternity [Salvation / Connection]
Disc II [Origins] [limited deluxe edition bonus]
01. Tower Of Vanities
02. Chimera
03. Lost Soul
04. The Mental Frames (Part I)
05. How Could I [Cynic cover]
06. A Fortune In Lies [Dream Theater cover]
07. I Am The Black Wizards [Emperor cover]
08. This Dazzling Abyss [Loudblast cover]
Disclaimer: this review might be long (and so is the album) but I couldn't do without the context and other explanations. If you don't care about reading this slab of a review, just go and buy the album straight away.
You may not have heard of French band Kalisia before but they've been among the most praised act here since they released the demo Skies about 15 years ago. I, myself, have discovered the demo back in 2003 I think, and was so blown by this progressive and somewhat death metal music that I was eager for more, for a full length. Back then Cybion was already in the works so everyone was expecting a release sometime soon...
But slowly, as years passed, we started to forget about Kalisia. It came back to our minds sporadically as we could hear news about what was doing the main man behind the band (Brett Caldas-Lima), news that included recording To-Mera's excellent albums, voicing a few sentences in French for Megadeth, joining Cynic live on some dates, etc.
I was starting to think that the whole Cybion project had been stopped... Just when I saw a double CD digipack in a store this March 2009. I couldn't believe my eyes, and I didn't need my ears to listen to it before my mind had decided to buy it (plus, it wasn't that expensive given the package, which included the Skies demo and some new covers in a bonus CD).
Once I got back home came the moment to get the CD out of the classy white package. Pressing "play" would put an end to all those years of waiting, just as if I was now ready to be told the meaning of life, the universe and everything...
The introduction track makes you understand that you're in for an epic. A science-fiction epic to be precise. It's nothing special actually, just a heavily keyboarded symphonic introduction drawing the listener to the second track, "Aspirations Above", opening the first part of the 71 minute long song that Cybion actually is. Cause of course, Cybion is a concept album, divided into 4 parts (A: Revelation, B: Elevation, C: Regression, D: Extinction), again divided into different tracks (have a look at the tracklist, you'll see how clever the listing has been made - all the song titles are written with 2 words that set them in the alphabetical order, so you know where you are in the story just by looking at the initials).
So after the intro you will discover the core of Kalisia's music, which is mostly progressive yet very melodic and exploring many metal genres. If the Skies demo was tagged as progressive death metal, you can't really call Cybion death metal, though it clearly has bits of that, it covers much more metal aspects, from power to industrial and atmospheric, with some not-so-metal moments that are really appreciated (the saxophone bit on "Blinded Addict" for instance). Still, it may come as something "Cynic-like", also "Dream Theater-like" (I'm thinking of their Awake album) but with an epic and electronic atmosphere. Any lover of complex music should try it although those who can't stand growls will have a hard time given that, of the many vocal styles on the album, the main vocals are Brett's growls.
Speaking of which, I shall tell you that the lyrics are also special. As you read them in the booklet, you realize it's more a text than a series of verses and choruses. In fact, there's hardly any chorus on the album: you're told a story mostly through dialogues between different characters so that the sentences are complete and natural for the most part, not only rhymes you see. And what is the story about, you ask? Well, all I will tell you is that it's set up in a future where humankind has reached quite a significant technological level and then meet the Arkens (aliens speaking the Kal language, invented for the album needs), and not all earthlings will follow them and their teachings so that some will set for another home. It's actually much more complicated than that but I have to admit it's a bit confusing and well, I can't permit myself to spoil everything for you!
A note on the bonus CD, starting with the whole 1995 demo Skies. The song "Tower Of Vanities" explains why they were referred to as a progressive/death metal band, "Lost Soul" is a bit quieter and features female vocals and "The Mental Frames part I" is somehow Kalisia's equivalent of Dream Theater's Metropolis part I, though it's an instrumental ending with a frustrating fade out...
After the demo tracks are a few covers, featuring many guests: "How Could I" (Cynic, with Angela Gossow and Christophe Godin), "A Fortune In Lies" (Dream Theater, with David Scott McBee, Tom MacLean and Charly Sahona), "I am Black Wizards" (Emperor, with Sonnm) and "This Dazzling Abyss" (Loudblast, with Ludovic Lopez and Paul Masvidal). My fav being "A Fortune In Lies" but this may be because I used to be a DT fan.
In the end, is Cybion fulfilling all the expectations that have risen from all those years of making? Certainly, if you're into this kind of ambitious adventure. If you don't like long stuff and can't figure yourself listening to a big song for 1 hour and 11 minutes (funny!), if you can't stand keyboards, or hate sci-fi, then you won't like it. But otherwise, you will probably love the first album of Kalisia and no doubt you will come back to it many times to enjoy it in details, as it is a very rich piece of work. I'm sure the guys have some more of it running through their minds and so I set myself in waiting mode once again... Even if I have to wait for another 10 years, if it's worth it like Cybion is, then it's perfectly alright.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by wrathchild | 08.05.2009
Comments page 2 / 3
Comments: 81
Visited by: 640 users
| MeloDeathViking Posts: 516  |
Written by Dane Train on 15.05.2009 at 19:10 This album just keeps sounding more and more promising. I couldn't take it, so I ordered the digipak online haha, but now I have to wait 1-2 weeks, I don't know if I can take it!
---- "I am not superstitious, but I'm a little 'stitious." - Michael Scott
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481  |
Full lyrics and a rough translation of the French available here: http://lyricwiki.org/Kalisia:Cybion Sectioned lyrics available here: http://lyricwiki.org/Kalisia
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| Darkside Momo Retired Elite Posts: 9089  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 12.05.2009 at 21:17 Just to start the off-topicness again, I discovered DT in 1995 with Awake, and even if I don't like everything they did after this great album, not all of it is a 'watered down derivative' as you say. Metropolis 2, while not especially original music-wise, is just awesome, and Six Degrees is pretty original. After that, of course... (yes they moved forward... by copying Muse)
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920  |
What a bland pretentious uninspired wankfest these guys managed to put out. Most overrated 2009 album? You can send the hate replies through PM too 
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Elio on 18.05.2009 at 17:24 I listened to it and I agree 100% with you.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Hamird Lieutenant Posts: 2564  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 18.05.2009 at 17:27 And I'm with you two. In fact with such reviews I expected something as amazing as what Ayreon had done with Human Equation or something like that.. But really it isn't. It more sounds like an Ayreon-fans-try-to-make-something-similar-lyrically-and-something-like-edge-of-sanity-musically. At least for me. It's an average album. Especially when you have Orphaned Land and Pain of Salvation this year, this album wouldn't be the most amazing..
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254  |
Well, I decided to give the album a listen to see what all the fuss was about. I'm really surprised that so many people have rated this so high, ok, if you are obsessive over progressive music then it'll probably tickle your tastebuds, but otherwise I tend to agree with what has just been written here. An overly long album that goes completely over the top of your head. Excusing the language, "wankfest" seems to describe this album pretty well.
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
Written by Elio on 18.05.2009 at 17:24 I don't really find this album uninspiring. I find it really intense and sorta-magical, mostly due to how the keyboardist creatively layers the songs in an over-the-top yet intelligent manner. Maybe my wild imagination helps me like this better than a lot of people will, but I get lost in the aesthetics that this album creates just as much as I do with the Ayreon albums. And maybe I have the wrong idea of what the term "wankfest" means, but I look at the word as a kind of, "Hey, look what I can do!" kinda thing. I think that a lot of the time this album is way, WAY too layered for me to notice anything besides the overall sound the musicians are producing. But hey... That's just what I think...
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 21.05.2009 at 22:40 I like prog-rock and some prog metal myself so I like some wanking but this goes just way over the top without being incisive. Considering that there are also other things that I find wrong here (vocals, for example), you can understand (I hope) why I don't like this. And as you said, these are my two cents too.. 
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by Elio on 21.05.2009 at 23:01 Yeah, I'm not a big fan of wanking... Well, in music at least  ... To me, I consider something wankery in music if the music lacks any kind of personality, charm, or soul. You know... Like if someone came up to you and was like, "Guess what?! My dick is bigger than yours." And you're like, "Wow. What an empty, soulless douche bag." This is why I dismiss most bands that consider themselves Technical Metal or Math Metal. It intentionally lacks any sort of substance. But that's just my perspective on things, and I don't find any of this on the album.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573  |
Now that I have given this album a proper listen, I think I will have to side with those who don't really like it. There are some enjoyable moments on it, but overall it's nothing special. However, I don't see any wankery or even complexity here; Cybion is just a combination of many genres, but there is nothing overtechnical.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| wrathchild Staff Posts: 14090  |
I agree with those last two comments and I can understand those who don't like it. As I wrote in the review, some people are bound not to like it although I might have failed to target all the kinds of people concerned. Anyway, as Fat & Sassy! and K?ulu said, this is not a wankfest at all. There would be a need to define wankery as opposed to shredding, but then again I don't think Cybion is any of both. It's not pretentious either, I'd rather say it's an ambitious work and somehow I can't help thinking that, had it been released a few years ago (I mean, when it was actually finished, as explained in the interview), there would have been even less criticism or unnecessary comparisons. But overall I must say I'm glad of the overall feedback over this album 
---- La belleza no reside en lo que puedas crear, sino en lo que eres capaz de transmitir Beauty resides not in what you're able to create, but in what you're able to communicate Txus, Mägo De Oz
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481 |
Written by wrathchild on 23.05.2009 at 14:14 I enjoyed your review. People are just getting cut because this cross-genre prog release is better than most of the other discs so far this year, with the exception of a couple. This year i've noticed quite a few different releases have included the 'typical' progressive metal sounding riffs. Maybe this is coming into vogue? 
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| corrupt With a lowercase c Admin Posts: 3537  |
A first it really wasn't for me. I mainly downloaded it because it's on top of the MS charts and this review made me curious. After listening to it for two times (actually three, but one was interrupted and later resumed) it didn't give me much. But then I gave it yet another go, this time following the lyrics and trying to comprehend the story. Well, my copy was in the mail today Everything I didn't like at first like the sheer randomness of musical elements and styles and the overabuse of keyboards and other instruments (saxophones? c'mon!) suddenly sank perfectly into the story and started to deliver the exact right feeling to all the scenes and dialogs. Now the saxophone is the organic link between Keiji and Stephanie when they first discuss their differences and the keyboard-techno is the sound of the circle of immortals who are kept alive by anorganic components. It just fits. Musically I do agree with what's already been said, it's nothing overly special in terms of progressive metal. But if that's the only criteria by which you look at this work you miss a great deal of what's beyond the actual music. I'm certainly glad I gave it a third chance and now that I finally have the CD, I'm also very impressed by the work they did with the packaging. Just feels special. Me likes 
---- 
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| In Bone Factory Posts: 381  |
I have a album with this title from this band.but its tracklist is different and is: 1. Introduction / Domination 2. Reception / Translation 3. Union / Construction 4. Declaration / Revolution 5. Division / Integration 6. Fusion / Rebellion 7. Violation / Condemnation 8. Education / Deification 9. Isolation / Liberation 10. Destination / Alteration 11. Damnation / Seclusion 12. Illusion / Desperation 13. Resolution / Protection 14. Reconstruction / Intrusion 15. Confrontation / Communication 16. Activation / Production 17. Confusion / Resurrection 18. Realisation / Penetration 19. Disconnection / Comprehension 20. Salvation / Connection gimmi some hand.are these two the same or not?
---- The End Is Nigh ...
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| wrathchild Staff Posts: 14090 |
Written by In Bone Factory on 01.06.2009 at 17:00 Yes, every song is "subtitled" with 2 words (or keywords) ending in "ion". I've edited our tracklist so now it should be totally complete. I don't know how the titles come up in the official download.
---- La belleza no reside en lo que puedas crear, sino en lo que eres capaz de transmitir Beauty resides not in what you're able to create, but in what you're able to communicate Txus, Mägo De Oz
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 |
Yeah, I had those track names too, I was just like wtf 
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| In Bone Factory Posts: 381 |
Written by wrathchild on 01.06.2009 at 17:23 thanks
---- The End Is Nigh ...
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| clatrum Posts: 8 |
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| Dologan Posts: 18  |
If this album doesn't win at least the best debut album this year I will personally set something important on fire. Like Estonia or something. Something really stupidly godly would have to come out of the blue to actually topple this from that category. Not sure about the Prog category, since Orphaned Land and hopefully Pain of Salvation are getting new albums out, but definitely a good contender as well.
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| Abattoir Staff Posts: 3695  |
This product realy suprised my not that good taste for progressive metal. It's very original and diversitiy staff, which I haven't heard quite a long time. Very good release, rating somewhere in the top of this year released albums.
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| Thordelan Posts: 38  |
Written by Dologan on 18.06.2009 at 22:18 And I will be joining you for sure if it happens.
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| Harlequin Posts: 95  |
This thing is totally overrated. But a lot of people already did a lot of discussing about that, so I won't go into detail here. I'd give it a 6/10 at best.
---- 00:40 - Doomface Mikael Akerfeldt doesn't age like humans do.
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
Ok.... I still haven't heard this, but ever since the review was published, the album title makes me think of the vibrating dildo/horse machine used in some porn. I think it's spelled sibion or something.... I'm just saying lol
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| Redwolf Posts: 10 |
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
I really don't think the album is that good, it gets boring actually. But, having said that, it has shining moments, more towards the end. I gave it an 8 but if I were to consider how I don't like the Children of Bodom type of vocals that would be a 7. I do like the whispering and the female vocals a lot more.
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| whitepawel Posts: 68 |
Ok, it's listenable, but it actually has no sense and it's way to long. Album of the year? Oh, come on 
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| Maxx666 Meshuggahian Posts: 376  |
Written by whitepawel on 12.07.2009 at 21:34 Yeah it's listenable, but surely not #1 of 2009.It gets too boring sometimes 
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| bloodwrage Pagan Angel Posts: 445 |
Written by Maxx666 on 12.07.2009 at 21:59 I've listened to some of the other stuff on the top album list of 2009, and this beats them all, no question.
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
Written by whitepawel on 12.07.2009 at 21:34 it has no sense?! oh my... it's way too long?! oh my again...
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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