A sharp intake of breath like a gathering of strength, a shriek, and Calligram plunge into the black tunnel that is Position | Momentum. The hallmarks of their sound – D-beat punk and blistering riffs – are all here, but this 2023 offering finds the multi-national quintet with a more mature sound. Every song adds to the sonic palette of frigid black metal until, by the final track, Position | Momentum has something to offer every fan of heavy music.
Calligram understand that album art is an important aspect of the listening experience. For this LP, artist Deborah Sheedy created a beautiful cover that pulls the viewer in and unsettles them at the same time. A person with a tranquil, pensive face rests between their hands that demonstrate either thought or torment, and superimposed is just a face in pure anguish, as if the horror is now only a recent memory to the thinker. A chilly lavender hue frosts the whole picture. It’s a perfect capture of the music inside the album’s cover.
“This 2023 offering finds the multi-national quintet with a more mature sound”
Opening the cover cools the room by about thirty degrees. Matteo Rizzardo welcomes the listener in his native Italian, but the pain and loneliness he expresses are universal. This was not his therapy, however; he sought a reclamation of the darkest parts of himself through acceptance. Position | Momentum is an acknowledgement of darkness, of hurt, with clarity and even joy. Rizzardo has created poetry in his tranquil recollection of dark, powerful feelings.
Ardo Cotones’ drums once again bring unusual textures to black metal. The D-beat punk punctuating the album drives the music in faster sections, and Cotones’ restrained drums during slower parts of ‘Eschilo’ and ‘Tebe’ show his mastery of the art. The guitars, courtesy of Bruno Cambiaghi and Tim Desbos, and bass, by Smittens, are perfect: riffs a-plenty, intertwining and overlapping with each other. The guitarists’ overlapping and melodic playing keeps the instrumental passages from becoming boring. A multi-national group means you should get multi-national talent, and Calligram certainly has no shortage of it.
From the straightforward howls of ‘Sul Dolore’ to the meditative ‘Seminario Dieci’, Position | Momentum has everything a black metal album needs to interest everyone from the hardcore traditionalist metalheads to the hardcore hardcore punks. ‘Eschilo’ is the first track to slow the tempo down, but it’s also one of the punkier songs; as a result, it is one of this year’s extreme metal’s most enjoyable six minutes. ‘Tebe’ likewise has some slower sections, but in a style reminiscent of Agalloch. ‘Per Jamie’, midway upon the journey of the album, is a pure instrumental song. The guitar and synth speak in haunting, lonely, and strangely beautiful tones.
“This is black metal done like a masterpiece painting”
‘Ostranenie’ kicks the album back into distorted overdrive, and echoes of ‘Per Jamie’ can be heard in the background. This LP is more than a collection of songs; Calligram know how to craft a rewarding album experience. There is always something new to hear: for instance, the subtle, warm brass tones that are less Rivers of Nihil and more White Ward. ‘Ex-Sistere’ and ‘Seminario Dieci’, the final tracks, howl to the end of the tunnel like a shrieking locomotive. As the tunnel exit recedes, ‘Seminario Dieci’ breathes a sigh, then purges the last shred of darkness and reclaims those ancient corners of the soul.
Calligram’s excellent technical skills and conscientious track listing, Rizzardo’s writing and howls, Russ Russell’s production, and Sheedy’s artwork combined have crafted one of the best black metal albums of 2023. This is black metal done like a masterpiece painting. It is both a beautiful background to the daily ritual, and it is art that begs to be examined repeatedly to grasp all the intricacies.