Review: Calyces – Fleshy Waves of Probability

Style: progressive metal, post-metal, stoner metal, sludge metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Intronaut, Black Peaks
Country: Greece
Release date: 21 March 2025

In Hollywood there’s a phenomenon known as twin films: two films with very similar premises that release in the same year. White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen (2013); The Prestige and The Illusionist (2006); Deep Impact and Armageddon (1998); Oppenheimer and Barbie (2023) there are countless examples and one is usually better than the other¹. These cinematic twins often come out of what are known as Black List scripts; unproduced screenplays of potential floating around which one studio buys and the other unscrupulously plagiarises. But what of twin bands? Take Tardive Dyskinesia and Intronaut. Formed in Greece in 2003, and LA in 2004 respectively, both bands are clearly heavily influenced by acts like Mastodon, Gojira and Meshuggah, engaging in a heavily polyrhythmic take on progressive metal with psychedelic and sludge influences². But the main similarity is in the clean vocals: Manthos Stergiou and Sacha Dunable could be brothers judging by their voices and delivery. And if you’re wondering when this intro is going to get to the point then I have good news: Stergiou from Tardive Dyskinesia now fronts Calyces. This younger sibling band debuted with Impulse to Soar in 2020 and barely shifted style from the Tardive Dyskinesia days. Can their sophomore see Stergiou detwin himself from his former musical counterpart?

Short answer: yes, with a but. Fleshy Waves of Probability takes that Mastodon-esque style in a slightly more post-hardcore direction, culling the proggier excesses and leaning into the trappings of the adoptive genre. At two-thirds the length of their debut, this is a short but sweet follow-up; a tightening of the compositional nuts and bolts. It’s not as though this is a new gambit, as a few bands in the scene have blended the punch of post-hardcore with Mastodon sludginess—notably Cobra the Impaler and Black Peaks. But Stergiou’s gruff, Intronaut-y vocals, syncopated riffage, and adherence to the tenets of polyrhythmicism help them stand out a little against such compatriots. 

Calyces want to do two things on Fleshy Waves of Probability: riff out and be anthemic—their stance vis-à-vis bubblegum is unrecorded—and they do both with aplomb, be it the whoaaa-oooaaa-oooo’s in “Swirling Towards the Light”, or the rather uplifting chant of ‘break down their spines’ on the chorus of “Boneshatter”. “Voices in the Gray” may be the record’s punkiest outing, shifting into an Every Time I Die gear with its hardcore-inspired shouts, pacy riffing, and classic heavy metal style guitar solo. A couple of riffs skirt a little too close to Mastodon: “Swirling Toward the Light” is so Blood Mountain you’ll think someone’s trying to kill you, while the main riff of “Wastelands” has a touch of “Roots Remain” (Emperor of Sand) to it, but it’s homage over rip-off, and the composition manages a solid balance between the sludge and the post-hardcore.

Of course, this is a prog release and we don’t want to skimp on those more ambitious leanings. Most come in the form of instrumental bridges, such as “Wastelands” which takes its central riff on an evolving instrumental journey. “Lost in Phrase” has a doomier pace with another grandiose mid-section as Stergiou screams over the chuntering bassline. The closer “Lethargy” is the most progressively structured track, evolving through an intro section, a guest violin solo (an unexpected texture on a sludgy album), and a more ostentatious outro section which features a Gojira-esque tapping motif. It’s a cinematic way to end, but the prog showcase here does highlight the relative absence of compositional risk-taking elsewhere. The rest of the album can feel somewhat meat and potatoes, a bit bog standard; it’s good metal, well performed, and you’ll find yourself headbanging along or going “sick” when a tasty solo hits, but you’ll likely not be awestruck during your listening. 

A tightening of focus sees Calyces stepping out of the shadow of their older sibling Tardive Dyskinesia but the interjection of post-hardcore influences plays it safe with catchy hooks, sweet licks and punchy runtimes, all par for the course in this subgenre niche. You’ll probably enjoy the fleshy waves of sound emanating out of this sophomore, but it may not give you an impulse to soar.

Recommended tracks: Lost in Phrase, Boneshatter, Flowing Through Storm
You may also like: Cobra the Impaler, Boss Keloid, Pryne
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Calyces is:
– Manthos Stergiou (vocals, guitars, synths)
– Stavros Rigos (drums)
– Loukas Giannakitsas (bass, contrabass)
– Giannis Golfis (guitars)

With:
– Alexandra Stergiou (violin)

1. The Prestige and Deep Impact are the better films; White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen are equally dumb fun; Oppenheimer and Barbie was a joke that three of my colleagues insisted I include but which I don’t think is very good, so I’m using this footnote to call them out. ↩︎
2. There are differences, too: Tardive Dyskinesia lacked the overt jazziness and psychedelia of Intronaut but I’m not letting facts ruin my tortured intro conceit. ↩︎