Review / 200 Words Or Less
Caestles
We Have Built a New God

Independent (2008) Michael

Caestles – We Have Built a New God cover artwork
Caestles – We Have Built a New God — Independent, 2008

Caestles is a six-person conglomeration of two bands that have fused together to form one entity. And when you listen to the band's self-released EP, We Have Built a New God, this makes perfect sense.

The four songs that comprise this EP takes equal parts atmospheric and electronic-based indie/rock and devastating crushing metalcore. Points of this EP remind me of groups like Isis and Rosetta while others lean more towards traditional hardcore. Caestles is actually at their best when they walk the fine line between their opposing influences.

The longer that Caestles is a project and the more work they put into constructing songs that blend together their influences, the better the music is going to be. One other thing they need to work on is the artwork, it looks like it was made on a Commodore 64.

6.0 / 10Michael • February 1, 2009

Caestles – We Have Built a New God cover artwork
Caestles – We Have Built a New God — Independent, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Nicole Alexis

Mirrors & Smoke
Independent (2026)

There’s a fine line between stripped down music and so stripped back that is sounds empty. On Mirrors and Smoke, Nicole Alexis lands comfortably on the right side of that line, delivering a debut EP that leans into simplicity without losing its emotional weight. Built around acoustic arrangements and minimal production, the EP feels intentionally close. It feels like these … Read more

The Remote Controls

Too Tough
Fail Harmonic Records, Mom’s Basement Records (2025)

There’s a certain kind of punk band that doesn’t overthink things. No reinvention, no genre-bending manifesto, just fast songs, big hooks, and enough attitude to carry it all. Indianapolis’ The Remote Controls lean hard into that tradition on Too Tough, a record that feels less like a statement and more like a well-earned victory lap. Built on a steady diet … Read more

Sahan Jayasuriya

Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen
Feral House (2026)

For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more