Sam Vallen (Caligula’s Horse) Interview – Charcoal Grace

Sam Vallen of Caligula’s Horse on the band’s new album Charcoal Grace, upcoming tour & more.

Australian progressive metal outfit Caligula’s Horse recently announced the new album Charcoal Grace, which is set for release in January 2024 via InsideOutMusic. 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. On this new podcast, Sam Vallen of Caligula’s Horse joins Roie and Dan to talk about the band’s new album Charcoal Grace, the upcoming North American headlining tour & more.

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The band have shared the 10-minute opening track and second single “The World Breathes With Me” which you can listen to here:

Pre-Order Charcoal Grace here:
https://caligulashorse.lnk.to/CharcoalGrace-Bio

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.

Tracklist:

Side A
The World Breathes With Me (10:00)
Golem (05:20)

Side B
Charcoal Grace I: Prey (07:48)
Charcoal Grace II: A World Without (06:48)
Charcoal Grace III: Vigil (03:22)
Charcoal Grace IV: Give Me Hell (06:13)

Side C
Sails (04:31)
The Stormchaser (05:57)
Mute (12:00)

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

US tour with opening act Earthside
31/01/2024: DC, Washington, Union Stage
01/02/2024: Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts
02/02/2024: Boston, MA, Brighton Music Hall
03/02/2024: New York, NY, The Gramercy Theatre
04/02/2024: Montreal, Le Studio TD
06/02/2024: Toronto, The Axis Club
07/02/2024: Pittsburgh, PA, Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall
08/02/2024: Chicago, IL, Lincoln Hall
12/02/2024: Charlotte, NC, The Underground
13/02/2024: Atlanta, GA, The Masquerade (Hell)
15/02/2024: Dallas, TX, Granada Theatre
16/02/2024: Austin, TX, Come & Take it Live
18/02/2024: Phoenix, AZ, Nile Half House
19/02/2024: San Diego, CA, Brick By Brick
20/02/2024: LA, CA, The Echoplex
21/02/2024: Berkley, CA, Cornerstone
23/02/2024: Seattle, WA, El Corazon
24/02/2024: Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theatre
25/02/2024: Vancouver, Rickshaw

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