Korn‘s Jonathan Davis was so excited by ORGY that he created his own record label …
CALIGULA’S HORSE with Opus Of A Machine & James Norbert Ivanyi
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Friday 3rd August, 2018
I had two pressing questions coming out of tonight’s Sydney leg of Brissy prog powerhouse Caligula’s Horse’s Love Conquers All national tour. Firstly, why do more bands not commit to playing their latest release in full after the record has had some time to sit, and secondly, where on earth do 450 Sydney prog-heads come from, and can you please make yourself known more regularly?
MORE: TROPHY EYES: The Dreamers And The Doers // ALPHA WOLF: … And Out Come The Breakdowns // OUTRIGHT: Don’t Holler Atcha Girl
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Before being confronted with these two philosophical fascinations, I firstly had the pleasure of enjoying two blistering sets from some of Australia’s finest musical exports. Opus Of a Machine opened proceedings, treating early-comers to cuts from their brand new LP Stray Fire, which was released that very day. With members plucked from throughout the thriving Brisbane alternative metal world, including former Caligula’s Horse guitarist Zac Greensill, the group tore through their thirty minutes with aggression and class, putting a sizeable dent in the never-ending Sydney audience shyness early on.
Opus Of A Machine // By Ashley Mar
Where OOAM brought the aggression, James Norbert Ivanyi (backed by “The Liams”, from Adelaide proggies Dyssidia) brought clinical wizardom with his heavily metallic flavoured instrumental guitar intensity. Whilst instrumental shred can become monotonous, Ivanyi mixed note crunching with catchy riffing, with cuts Pray Darkly & The Corruption Venom offering both mind-boggling musicianship, but also their fare share of headbanging (depending on the time signature) moments for all to enjoy. An entertaining set from one of the scenes rising stars.
James Norbert Ivanyi // By Ashley Mar
After a refreshingly quick turnover, the curtains opened and Caligula’s Horse calmly walked onstage, dropping the first three notes of In Contact opener Dream The Dead like a punch in the gut, before dropping into the opening solo with a controlled energy, given the long night ahead of them.
Having opted to play the band’s newest record In Contact from front-to-back before playing fan-selected back catalogue highlights, I was certainly curious to see how fans would respond to the shafting of classics Marigold, Gift To An Afterthought and Dark Hair Down from the set. The truth of the matter is, band’s can learn a thing or two from commitment to playing new material. When bands focus on their newest work, they are playing songs from where they are musically at in that time, resulting in a far ‘fresher’ and, for the band, more enjoyable selection of songs to play, overall lifting the performance. From Sam Vallen and Adrian Goleby’s mind-boggling solo work, to the Jeff Buckley crooning and howling of frontman Jim Grey, all anchored down by the stunningly tight rhythm section combo of Dave Couper & Josh Griffin, this band live are in their top form, and playing their most recent content was the best way to show this off.
Caligula’s Horse // By Ashley Mar
Giving the record some time to sit with fan’s was also a wonderful idea, allowing some of the deeper cuts of the record to have their moment in the sun before the arrival of any new content, and thank the good Lord, because In Contact is truly a live record. First time performances of The Hands Are The Hardest and Fill My Heart where both bold moves, yet translated wonderfully in a live setting (particularly the latter), and softer cuts Capulet & Love Conquers all brought welcome variety to the heaviness of the evening.
Caligula’s Horse // By Ashley Mar
However, it was the final ‘chapters’ of this sprawling conceptual achievement that brought things truly to their climax. Performing a wonderful rendition of spoken word piece Inertia & The Weapon Of The Wall, Grey allowed the crowd to cry the final defiant lines “The writing on the wall you love, was hand-penned by the censor, so spit in the cannon’s mouth, and tell him that ink sent ya!” before the punishing riff of Canons Mouth hit the crowd like a shockwave.
Caligula’s Horse // By Ashley Mar
There was only one way the band could up this moment, and that was with the both cathartic yet uplifting 15 minute epic Graves. Touching of Grey’s fears before becoming a father, the emotional epic was first played out on the band’s Hand’s Shape Stone tour in 2016, but it makes a hell of a lot more sense now on the back end of such a sprawling record. As the final Hands Shape Stone rang out, the band looked genuinely relieved to have pulled off such a feat, and were given a rousing reception by the audience.
Caligula’s Horse // By Ashley Mar
After informing the audience that the venue was enforcing a strict curfew, forcing the band to cut their fan-selected cuts from three to two (“Our fans are all prog nerds, so they voted for the long song’s”, chipped Grey), the band closed out the epic evening with a dynamic performance of Water’s Edge, before bringing things to a close with the hooky and anthemic Turntail.
Caligula’s Horse // By Ashley Mar
It was a performance of epic proportions. Clocking just over 90 minutes, it was fantastic to see an Australian band present their audience with a conceptually deep, musically intense set that demanded full attention to truly appreciate. To see a bill of three Australian progressive bands fill out a venue like the Oxford Art Factory will never tire of being heart-warming, and will no doubt inspire more people to start their own projects. Because, as was clear tonight, Australian band’s have both the audience and the faith of said audience to try things that challenge the consumer. The concept behind the Love Conquers All tour was a wonderful triumph, showing what can be achieved with a little bravery and thought in the live music realm.
Catch Caligula’s Horse at the remaining dates:
Sat 11 Aug // Wooly Mammoth // Brisbane
Thu 16 Aug // Howler // Melbourne
