Australian progressive metal outfit Caligula’s Horse are back. The four-piece from Brisbane is ringing in a new chapter with a new single and video release for Golem and album announcement for Charcoal Grace, which is set for release in January 2024 via InsideOutMusic.

“Golem” is the first taste of the new album and gives a glimpse of the thematical depth of Charcoal Grace. 

The band says about the new single:  

“‘Golem’ is about how we all struggled with the weight of expectation through the pandemic. We felt that weight acutely as musicians, being trapped with no notion of when, or even if, we would return to the life we knew, all while feeling the pressure to create our next work rising. While that’s our specific experience, the themes of ‘Golem’ are something we can all relate to. It’s a heavy song with an emphasis on riffs and driving rhythms.”

Charcoal Grace is the 6th studio album of the band, and it combines raw rock power with immense emotional depth. Charcoal Grace is borne of the static hopelessness that the pandemic forced upon the band and, indeed, much of the world, these past few years. It is an album reckoning with the experiences and outcomes of this time geared, ultimately, towards catharsis - moving towards a more hopeful future. 

The title Charcoal Grace is described by the band as “the grim allure and strange beauty in stillness, silence, and loss.” This can be heard through the album's 10-minute opening track “The World Breathes With Me,” a mission statement for the album’s main themes. Musically, it’s a work of contrasts, moving from the lightest ebb to the heaviest flow. Meanwhile, the second track and first single from the album, “Golem,” examines struggling with the weight of expectation through the pandemic. It’s a heavy song with an emphasis on riffs and driving rhythms.

At the center of the album is the 4-part title track suite, a 24-minute opus that pushes deeper into the album’s foundational themes: connection, alienation, and the ways humanity acts under duress. Musically, it covers every facet of the band’s vocabulary, from heavy and dense orchestral-accompanied intensity embodying the song’s darkest lyrical ideas, through to soft acoustic-driven moments and introspection.

Charcoal Grace is available as Ltd. CD Digipak, CD Jewelcase (US only), Gatefold 2LP in various colours & Digital Album. Preorder here.

Tracklisting:

“The World Breathes With Me”
“Golem”
“Charcoal Grace I: Prey”
“Charcoal Grace II: A World Without”
“Charcoal Grace III: Vigil”
“Charcoal Grace IV: Give Me Hell”
“Sails”
“The Stormchaser”
“Mute”

“Golem” video:

The band recently played tours in both Europe and America to fully present their 2020 release Rise Radiant for the first time after the pandemic. Caligula’s Horse are now supporting Devin Townsend for three gigs in Australia before returning to the US next year in support of their new album.

(Photo – Jack Venables)