Mutations are extremely common in Metal music. And they are the true factors of the diversity that our so loved musical style survived many years, and still is fascinating. And many and many times, we can understand from where the musical influences came from.

And to be honest, to track down the influences from the Australian band CALIGULA'S HORSE is not so hard. Their new album, "Bloom" is a clear collection of them.

To start this explanation, you must have in mind that in the 70s, giants as YES, JETHRO TULL and PINK FLOYD were in the peak of creative power. Here, you'll find some really tender moments, done with great creativeness, but with a good amount of weight and a deep experimental feeling is presented. Of course their technique in each musical instrument is very good, as well as the vocals are fine and great. This is what I really call Progressive Metal.

The source of such good sound quality that "Bloom" presents is the team behind the scenes. Sam Vallen (producer, engineer, and mixer of the album), Brendan "Killer" Anthony (another one who worked on mixing) and Jens Bogren (on mastering) really worked hard to give the album a clear sound quality, having the right amount of weight that they need, but keeping the Progressive Rock aspect clear. And the art of Chris Stevenson-Mangos is really good, showing some features that can remind the artworks used by Progressive Rock bands from the 70s. And Holly Terrens is a guest, who played parts of flute and piano on the album.

The whole album is truly good, but we can take as their finest moments, as the introspective and technical "Bloom" (with a perfect mix between a heavy rhythmic session with very fine progressive moments), the experimental atmosphere carried by "Firelight" (there are introspective and even accessible moments on this song, filled with excellent guitars), the long and really "Heavyssive" giant called "Dragonfly" (there are some heavy moments, but the technique is on a high level, thanks to a great work on guitars again, as well as in the vocals), the aggressive and modern "Rust" (with some excellent and technical moments from bass guitar and drums), and the tender and deep "Undergrowth". And the acoustic "City Has No Empathy" completes a very good album.

They can do better than we hear on "Bloom", but they're in the right way.<