Prosthetic Records has signed London-based multi-national quintet CALLIGRAM, who have today announced details of their upcoming album and UK tour dates to coincide with the release. The first track to be released from the album is titled Anedonia and is available to listen to alongside an accompanying video via Metal Sucks. The album, The Eye Is The First Circle, will be released on April 10 and is available to pre-order now.
The music video is part one of two, shot in location in London. The band comment:
“I thought we’d try and create something a little different to the usual aspects of classic metal videos; fast camera movements, fast edits and stories intertwined with the band playing. So the band on this short film is an element of the central story. The style is inspired by the films of Paweł Pawlikowski and the French new wave as I’m a massive film nerd” – Ardo Cotones (Drums).
Having previously played live with the likes of Cult Leader, Jesus Piece and Conjurer, CALLIGRAM caught the eye of Prosthetic Records in 2019. The label’s E.J Johantgen comments:
“Calligram are one of the most thought-provoking bands to come around in some time. I can’t wait for the world to see what they have been creating.”
The band also add:
“We had the opportunity to sign to the label that released Trap Them, Wolf King, Funeral Chic, Kylesea & Lamb of fucking God – no fucking brainer!”
The Eye Is The First Circle is an eight track pummelling of raucous guitars, d-beat rhythms and lyrics sung entirely in Italian. The album title derives from a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay titled Circles which starts: “The eye is the first circle: the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end.” Although the essay is about the transience of life and the ever-evolving aspect of nature, the band chose to give the first sentence a new meaning by interpreting the image of the circle that surrounds every person as a sphere within which one has duty of care towards the people around them. This message of love acts as a counterpoint to the negative and pessimistic lyrics, and gives a sense of purpose to an otherwise seemingly meaningless existence.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Lewis Johns at The Ranch Production House during October 2019, The Eye Is The First Circle is an abrasive, relentless ball of energy, designed to short circuit nerves upon first listen. Ultimately, CALLIGRAM have made the album they want to listen to – the album that’s missing from their record collection; an album that says what nobody else was saying to them. The Eye Is The First Circle is a complex and multilayered experience, crammed into a little over half an hour of playing time.