Normally when I hear a band name, I consider where I heard it from, imagine what they might sound like, and then play with the name. The first time I cared for band names was when I first heard A Skylit Drive in 2007. I always thought their name was silly, and would yell their name out loud if I was out driving around listening to them and laugh to myself. Years later I’m still infatuated with bands with interesting names like Korn, Thursday, The Sounds of Animals Fighting, and Local H. Sometimes their mission plays a role in the naming process and with that said, Earth Caller is not that doobie smoking, tree hugging, hippy band I thought the name represented. I was led astray. Earth Caller is a very aggressive band. There is lots of yelling with hardcore punk angst, strum with some metal inspired riffs, not to mention Joel Diver’s drumming does not bore. There is versatility in the band’s sound and looking into the band’s lyrical content, they’re out to prove that you can successfully reach people with aggressiveness. Once you invest your ears you realize the name makes sense. I stopped liking hardcore punk bands many years ago because just like metal-core, most of it sounds like one long album. A lot of that has to do with the vocals not having enough range to make it tolerable for twelve songs or so. Fortunately for Earth Caller, Josh Collard has vocals that any fan of the genre would appreciate. They push upwards in tone without losing grip and for a deep voice, it’s good. It throws some emotion in the pot which is easily achieved and keeps the album from sinking. “Mirror” and “A Ghost” are perfect examples of how Josh’s vocals can carry the song without compromise. These songs wouldn’t function well if it were just flat. Earth Caller also does a great job blending some post-hardcore sound influence with some punk/kinda nu-metal inspired twist. “Exposed” and “No Forgiveness” are great examples of that fast, heavy metal sound and easily are two of the best songs on the album. This record also has some hardcore rap echoing through Josh’s singing which naturally incorporates itself. I believe anyone that doesn’t like rap might have adjustment issues, but it doesn’t take away from the experience. Closing out the album is what I consider the albums more uplifting and overall far from the tree, so to speak, song of the album and it’s really one of the better ways to end this ride. “Hold On” reminds me a little of Bring Me The Horizon and it shows that this band can push itself without losing credibility. Crystal Death is an album quite possibly ahead of its time. Earth Caller should be proud of themselves for not producing a cookie cutter album that will hold up
