With a new voice and renewed venom, Caliban’s Back From Hell channels the chaos of their early days while carving out bold, uncharted territory in modern metalcore

Words by Felix Bartlett | April 24, 2025

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There’s something deeply personal about hearing a band that soundtracked your teenage rebellion return with a fire that feels both familiar and thrillingly new. For me, Caliban was the gateway drug to metal’s heavier realms— their single ‘We Are The Many’ blasted from my bedroom speakers (much to my mother’s dismay), and the ‘Ghost Empire’ flag hung proudly on my wall like a battle standard. Now, with Back From Hell, their 14th studio album, the German metalcore veterans prove they’re not just revisiting their roots but reinventing them, even with new vocalist Iain Duncan stepping into the fold.

From the orchestral swell of opener ‘Resurgence’ into the gut-punch of ‘Guilt Trip’ (featuring Mental Cruelty’s Lukas Nicolai), Caliban wastes no time declaring their resurgence. The album is a masterclass in balance: the chugging, early-2000s riffage of ‘I Was a Happy Kid Once’ scratches that nostalgic itch, while tracks like ‘Dear Suffering’ (with Fit For An Autopsy’s Joe Badolato) veer into deathcore-adjacent brutality. Andreas Dörner’s signature growls remain as venomous as ever, but it’s Duncan’s cleans—gritty yet melodic—that add a fresh layer of emotional depth, particularly on the haunting ‘Alte Seele’, a German-language standout that hits like a ‘Shadow Hearts’-era callback with modern heft.

What’s most striking is how Back From Hell refuses to be pigeonholed. ‘Overdrive’ leans into nu-metal swagger with a cheeky “ooh-wah-ah” hook, while ‘Infection’ marries industrial beats with razor-wire guitars—a risk that pays off. Yet, for all its experimentation, the album’s core is undeniably Caliban: the breakdowns in ‘Glass Cage’’s seismic finale, the melancholic melodies in ‘Solace in Suffer’, and the unrelenting pace in ‘Till Death Do Us Part’’s metallic hardcore fury all feel like a band both honoring and transcending their legacy.

If Back From Hell has a mission statement, it’s in the title track’s duel between Dörner and The Browning’s Jonny McBee—a clash of past and future that somehow coalesces into something greater. Three decades in, Caliban could’ve rested on their laurels. Instead, they’ve delivered an album that’s as much a love letter to fans like me as it is a challenge to the genre’s new guard. Pre-orders are in, the vinyl’s on its way, and my inner teen is screaming into a pillow with joy. Welcome back from hell, indeed.

Verdict: 💀💀💀💀

For Fans Of: Heaven Shall Burn, Bury Tomorrow, As I Lay Dying

Back From Hell is released on April 25 via Century Media Records