Calva Louise – Edge of the Abyss Review
By Angry Metal Guy
Genre is a funny thing. Calva Louise will almost certainly be called “Crossover.” Their sound is a combination of elements that, if I read each one individually, would make me cringe or shrug my shoulders. Seen grouped on the page, I might ask, “How would that even work?” What I wouldn’t expect is an album that excites me. The kind of excitement that drives one to spin the record again immediately. The kind of excitement that leads to sharing the record with anyone who will listen and lengthy discussions of the details of whether someone else noticed the Fleshgod Apocalypse piano arpeggios in track four.1 But Edge of the Abyss is a rare record that manages to feel wild, unpredictable, and yet addictive—evocative—all at once. And while it’s apparently a concept album, the real story that I’m following is the one told in the songs that add up to something greater than the sum of their parts.
The strength of Edge of the Abyss lies in its fusions, and I mean that in every sense. Calva Louise doesn’t blend styles; they smash them together. “Tunnel Vision” rips open the record with a sugar-rush hook, bouncing within three minutes from pop-chorus to dubstep drop to metallic groove. “W.T.F.” is exactly that: frenetic, agitated, and punky. “Aimless,” the album’s first single, is a real highlight, threading unpredictable melodies, classical piano runs, and crunchy metal riffage into something that feels like “Justice for Saint Marie” (Diablo Swing Orchestra) but with a dembow beat.2 Each song can be emphasized for such moments: “Hate in Me” swaps between Katatonia and Kate Bush without skipping a beat; “Under the Skin” gives Lacuna Coil while “Barely a Response” blends 3/Coheed and Cambria and Muse to create something that just vibes right—blending proggy post-punk with The Fall of Hearts.
The balancing act is accomplished by Edge of the Abyss being extremely well-composed. These songs, while poppy—slick, catchy, memorable—aren’t glued together Frankenpop. Instead, they’re meticulously assembled homunculi, each with its own little soul.3 There’s a sense throughout the first half of this record that you’re listening to something much more thoughtful than its surface chaos might suggest. I might be imagining things, but this is where frontwoman and primary composer Jess Allanic’s background in composition seems to play a major role. The fact that Calva Louise can evoke so many different bands, sounds, and seamlessly traverse genre boundaries in seconds—from harmonized vocals over Latin folk beats to crunchy groove to house in moments (“El Umbral”)—without seeming scattered speaks to a deep understanding of music.4
You can feel that deep understanding of music in Edge of the Abyss’s most daring material: its multilingual, rhythmically tangled, and emotionally exposed core. “Lo Que Vale,” which may be my favorite song, strips things back enough to let Allanic’s small-but-commanding voice—reminiscent of Catalina García (Monsieur Periné)—to shine. “Impeccable” evokes The Kovenant’s “New World Order” before erupting into harmonized guitar leads and New Wave vibes. These are songs with giant choruses, and while Allanic has a remarkable presence and extremely deft melodic sense, she never dominates the mix. Whether screaming, speaking, or singing, her voice is expertly integrated, capable of balancing Kate Bush and Jonas Renkse depending on where she is in a song (“Hate in Me”), with harmonic sensibilities that bring me back to 3‘s The End Is Begun. Her presence does for Calva Louise what Serj Tankian did for System of a Down or Trim for King Goat. But unlike the aforementioned vocalists, she’s playing guitar, piano, and writing songs.
Edge of the Abyss is not perfect, however. First, the record’s energy flags a bit in the back half, where “The Abyss” pulls its punches and “Under the Skin” leans too hard on its mid-tempo groove. Nothing here fails, but the band’s frenetic, genre-defying dynamism seems more concentrated in the first six tracks. Still, even at its weakest, Edge of the Abyss brims with detail—piano breaks, synth arpeggios, key changes—that keep it from feeling inert. And repeated listens have only deepened my appreciation for these later tracks. If the front half is where Calva Louise erupts, the back half is where the ash is beginning to fall. Second, while there is supposedly a concept here, I have no idea what it is. In the tradition of Coheed & Cambria, who famously have a massive story but lyrics that read like “girl doesn’t like boy and boy gets mad about it,” a lot of this just reads as angst.
Some records sound big, and some records feel big. Edge of the Abyss does both.5 It feels big because it has ideas, and it succeeds because it commits to those ideas with zero regard for genre gatekeeping, scene politics, or what guys like me think is cool. It’s weird, catchy, and gleefully sophisticated, with every song bringing something unique to the table. Every arrangement counts. It’s a banger parade, and it’s hard not to feel like it’s also smart as hell. Is it perfect? No. But it’s addictive, it’s fun, and it’s going to be the most controversial Record o’ the Month since Gazpacho.
Rating: Great!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Mascot Records
Websites: calvalouise.com | calvalouise.bandcamp.com
Release Date: July 11th, 2025
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Angry Metal Guy
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