Album Review: Caliban – Back From Hell (Century Media Records)

Delving into themes of interpersonal conflict and emotional turmoil, Caliban’s new album ‘Back From Hell’ seeks to articulate the journey of healing, coping, and rising from personal struggles. The defining force in metalcore will release the new album on April 25th, 2025, via Century Media Records.

A lot of work has gone into this release, a lot of time, energy, and effort, all to deliver the best Caliban record possible and show listeners who they are in 2025 and what that means. This is an evolved version of the band, but it’s also one who has been willing to look to the past to find creativity. One listen to this album and it’s abundantly clear that Caliban have taken the best parts of their earlier styles, combined it with an even more unrelenting level of heaviness, and found new ways to be anthemic.

It’s one of the most unified sounding Caliban records to date, and that extends past the core band and to several impressive guests that feature here. Guests like Mental Cruelty’s Lukas Nicolai, who helps make the track Guilt Trip a spiting and snarling beast. A track that also follows a delightfully bombastic and cinematic intro called Resurgence.

Then there is Back from Hell, which features Jonny McBee of The Browning, and sees the band leaning into an old-school Caliban sound, enhanced by an equally intense guest, albeit from a different angle. Before Fit for an Autopsy’s Joe “Bad” Badolato helps cause some serious carnage with the chunky head banger that is Dear Suffering. Each guest spot stands out, each guest spot has power, and each guest spot sounds completely necessary. Although you’ll struggle to find any track on this album that doesn’t sound completely and utterly necessary. It’s just the kind of form Caliban are on here.

Form that brings us explosive hits like I Was A Happy Kid Once, which is one of the album’s sharpest listens from both an instrumental and vocal point of view. New vocalist and bassist Iain Duncan is fitting in nicely with his clean singing and balances out Andreas Dörner’s harsh voice well. Form that brings us the likes of Insomnia, a track with a darker and more emotional edge. A strong reminder of Caliban’s melodic ways, even if it’s still inherently powerful, and form that sees Alte Seele have experimental touches crossed with a lovable amount of ‘core’ brutality. It’s the halfway point of the record, and the neck will be feeling the punishment already.

There’s no time relax though, Overdrive comes along steaming with aggression, and even though it has got a fairly anthemic chorus, it’s the thump and smash of the drum/riff combo that stands out here. This, alongside the following Infection is one of the best segments of the album. Caliban pushing some limits, proving to have more imagination, while still being whole-heartedly focused on the heavy goal. Be under no false illusions, this album is savage. It just so happens to have lots of layers to this savagery.

It is what makes it so compelling and certainly what makes it feel just as important at the end as it did at the start. Stompy head banging gold with Glass Cage, potent melody with the dramatic Solace in Suffer, and so much intensity in the energised Till Death Do Us Part. The latter part of the album is so good, and to cap it all off, it wraps up with an absolute blast of sweaty mania called Echoes.

Consistently strong, Caliban always impress in one way or another, but when they’re this locked in, it’s particularly special. Which is the summation of this album. A modern slice of brilliant metalcore from a band that defines the genre.

Caliban – Back from Hell Track Listing:

1. Resurgence
2. Guilt Trip (feat. Mental Cruelty)
3. I Was A Happy Kid Once
4. Back From Hell (feat. The Browning)
5. Insomnia
6. Dear Suffering (feat. Fit For An Autopsy)
7. Alte Seele
8. Overdrive
9. Infection
10. Glass Cage
11. Solace In Suffer
12. Till Death Do Us Part
13. Echoes

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