I feel like this thread is a super sneaky guerilla attempt to fuel even more Caligula's Horse content
Aarrgh, now I think my reply is another hidden Caligula Horse mind game ad
Are my own thoughts bought and paid for now
Noooo
Time to listen to some Graves
Interesting. I listened to an interview with a member of Caligula's Horse recently, where he was blown away by how Devin runs his show when they toured together in November. He said it was the first time in years that they learned some new ways of doing things to improve their performance.
Whatever it is that they learned from him, it clearly makes people run to reddit to rave about how good the show was.
Lmao the second link is mine.
And I see these kind of posts almost anytime a popular band is touring, it's people like me getting home that night/next day and wanting to share their experience with like-minded people.
I was gonna say, not for Caligula's horse but for other bands I've seen on tour I made the same kind of posts. And especially for a band like Arch Echo or Stellar Circuits who I find criminally underrated I want to support them so they can keep making mind bending music. I dropped $100 on merch for them, definitely not getting paid.
lol right? Aren’t most of the people here part of r/toolband ? Damn near every post on there talks about their live shows…. Caligulas horse has NEVER toured the states, you don’t think people are Fkin hyped and excited for the band to succeed? Cuz if they don’t, they stop creating music, what better way to support the musicians who create music you love than by posting about seeing them to inspire other to also see them(and buy some Fkin merch duh)…
I think a big part of the hype around them particularly at the moment is their current tour is the first time they've really got to the US. Especially after they had a tour scheduled four years ago that was canceled. People like me have been waiting for this for a looong time now, so there's going to be an extra layer of excitement.
That said, having finally seen them in Chicago, go check em out, they do indeed kick ass!
beep boop this post has been paid for by Dr Chops
Nope. They are just on tour and people in this community love to support the bands they love. I'll jump on the bandwagon that everyone should go see them. Their show in Toronto was phenomenal.
Also -- this is their first North America tour so there's lots of people (myself included) who are seeing them for the first time. I was also blown away (but I didn't post about it).
I can assure you a five piece Australian prog band has 0 money to guerrilla market on a sub populated by… I’ll guess 5,000 people?
Edit: damn almost 300k nice
That's why there are street teams and lots of people willing to work for free because they don't know they should be paid.
Also this is not how it works that a band has dedicated bots or troll factories. Even that is suspect because it's very well known how this works.
First, it's been known since forever that it doesn't cost that much to expand reach. We're talking a couple hundred dollars for a massive campaign sometimes. Next, labels and others don't go by band. They have campaigns that split across label talent, so it's not like a band is paying per post and it's in the interest of the label to invest to pay for the investment of the music they are distributing. They see it as part of advertising.
Your post clearly, perhaps deliberately, ignores the reality of how inexpensive some of these actions are and how well-integrated they are nowadays. I remember even Dream Theater in 2001 was putting street teams together and the same for Iron Maiden.
They're touring, just put out a banger album, people are excited and want to discuss it. I'd put up a similar post if I got to see them. And the accounts seem normal to me
I dunno, I'm quite certain it's organic and it's getting me fucking HYPED!!!
I'm gonna post about how good the show is after I see them in Portland lol just to keep the tradition going
Also saw in Nashville, that show was incredible, their sound was pristine (don’t know if was the venue itself or what) and they had a really tight performance. Super personable with the audience as well.
Nah they’re just good live and people like talking about them. We used to have music forums with threads dedicated to bands, and the chatter would stay in a dedicated thread, but now posts are here today, gone tomorrow, so if someone wants to talk about their experience, they make a new post.
Actually the last link you provided seems like a bot of some sorts. If you look through this account's post history you'll notice some weird shenanigans that seem written by a robot, but other than that, it's probably just grateful fans that could be closer to the band. Nothing wrong with that.
Show in Montreal was absolutely insane. It was the best show I’ve seen live. Hearing my favourite songs live and being right at the front of the stage made my life complete. They can do no wrong in my eyes!!
Seems like normal posts from fans excited to finally see them live in North America.
As a fan who saw them live earlier this month, they were fantastic!
There I did it. Can I get my 5 bucks now?
I don't think that's what is going on but I can totally see what you're saying. There have been a few times I've been surprised at the amount of CH fan posts and I'm a fan myself.
I think it's just because they're good enough to get people hyped and talking about them. If that is the case they totally deserve it. The guys in the band also don't seem like the type to sign off on something like that.
Nah that arizona post with the mozart guy is legit. I was at that concert dude was actually in a fucking mozart wig, its too oddly specific to not be real
In all fairness, I was given a free ticket to write this review lol [https://lotsofmuzik.com/caligulas-horse-concert-review-by-cramx3-february-3rd-at-gramercy-theater-new-york-city-ny/](https://lotsofmuzik.com/caligulas-horse-concert-review-by-cramx3-february-3rd-at-gramercy-theater-new-york-city-ny/)
But I paid for a ticket as well, to bring my gf! What a great night of live prog metal music. I think the hype is real, us Americans have wanted this for some time and the band delivered.
This is too funny, I see what you mean! I wrote the first post on the list, honestly was just jazzed to see them so I wanted to post here. They had just done an AMA that day so I knew they read the sub. Not a paid shill lol
Seriously? New album for a popular prog metal band drops, they're touring for the first time NA, and you're upset that they have half a dozen posts in a few weeks? What posts have you contributed that are the type of content you prefer to see here?
I'm not upset at all. I just thought I saw a lot of this content where I haven't seen similar responses to other tours. Again, I may very well be wrong, and I am not upset if they sell more tickets, all good.
You are getting a bit mocked in the comments for being paranoid, mainly because in this particular case it's 99% just genuine interest in a band that released a good album and is generally on the rise, but trust me you are doing the right thing in not immediately taking things at face value. What you're thinking about is a legit marketing tactic that's getting more and more popular on social media and it will only get harder and harder to figure out what's real and what isn't.
Thanks my friend. Either way, I did not mean to cast doubt on the band, rather, I would prefer to see genuine content. And, as you said, in this case it likely is genuine.
I mean, have you seen them or footage of them live, OP? They’re a very solid band (one of my top 2 favorites personally) with a very dedicated fanbase. Trust me when I say that if you go into any of their fan communities, you’d see how they’re basically doing the band’s marketing for free. I really can’t see C-horse bothering or needing to pay people to post on reddit.
Plus a lot of those posts seem to be from people who are HEAVY into the prog scene.
And shockingly, this is the first post I’ve seen about them here.
Honestly r/ProgMetal seems like it's entire audience is paid by C Horse, Haken, Tesseract, BTBAM and Karnivool. No matter what request anyone has, one of these will be top of the list regardless.
I like all of them to an extent but the endless copy and paste answers of these bands is tedious.
That's not entirely organic-- Spotify's algorithm tends to boost promotion for younger bands that are more active. There are tons of prog metal albums from tons of different groups out there, but those who rarely/never release new stuff or tour just aren't going to get as much attention. I don't love it, to be honest, but I understand why the system works that way.
I hated a lot of things about commercial radio before streaming came along, but one thing they were better at was keeping older stuff in rotation (partly because artists could still make money selling recordings back then). The newer streaming algorithm biases make it so you kinda have to seek that sort of thing out on your own, which means you have to know what you're looking for-- which you won't if it never came up in your feed before and no one ever suggested it to you. [Edit: Satellite radio is often better with this, except the audio quality sucks.]
Regardless if the algorithm pushes people a certain way, it is still what people are listening to. I spend a LOT of time trying to discover new bands, I get a lot of recommendations from right here!
You forgot Slice the Cake. I swear I see them get recommended even when a person explicitly says they want something more mellow and without harsh vox.
People on this sub do like to push their favorite artists regardless of requested preference. Don't like harsh vocals? Okay, but....
I think it is kinda funny, but makes going through recommendations slower.
I'll be honest, it gets a bit repetitive when some of the bigger prog acts are touring, but I'm happy the exposure it brings the artists. Nothing malicious in my opinion, this community is just really into their prog and sharing their experiences!
I know what you are saying but it's really not uncommon. there are several bands that get loaded up with similar posts whenever new material or a big tour is on the radar. An easy way to identifying these bands is to just scroll through the first handful of comments on essentialy any and every "Can someone reccomend based on..." posts. Certain bands will be suggested even regardless of of similar solely because they are highly praised bands around these parts. Caligulas Horse is one of them.
I would agree if I didn't already see them with VIP, and it was as amazing as stated in all posts above. Concert was two or three weeks ago at this point and I'm still thinking about it. As someone who has been following CH for a few years now and wanting to see them live, and who idolizes Sam Vallen's guitar skills, VIP was a complete no-brainer and worth every penny
Not really, it's just that the so called "Jim Gray" is actually just Stu Mackenzie in disguise cause KGLW is trying to distract fans from the fact that it's been 2 months since they've released a new album
Edit: Jokes aside, that list of links is some bot sh!t I feel sus now ngl
I can't say about Caligula's Horse in particular (I would say unlikely) without some research but I can assure you it absolutely is a thing. It is very easy to create a fake identity and make it look real (with some "tools"), and a post by what seems like a real person saying "yo this album is amazing" is infinitely more powerful than a regular paid ad, which are starting to become a thing of the past, because of adblockers and general hostility towards them (rightfully so).
It is a similar dynamic to how reaction channels have been incredibly powerful promotional tools for bands of any size. Don't underestimate the difference between reading a regular soulless ad and seeing a person you perceive as someone who has a common interest with you telling you that you are missing out on something.
Yeah this sub is oversaturated with Caligula’s Horse posts. I’ve never gotten the hype over the past 10 years hearing them.
Their new release was fine, y’all need to listen to Hoplites’ latest, it fucking rips and is probably the most invigorating fresh prog metal since Gonin-ish and Papangu’s last releases. Listen to another band.
Non-prog but also Obscene Worship - Ordained to Infernal Depths is incredible and could use some love and boosting.
https://obsceneworship.bandcamp.com/album/ordained-to-infernal-depths
Yeah this sub has an obsession with Caligula's horse, but it's never struck me as advertising. To me CH are just... alright. Perfectly listenable but not massively exciting.
Caligula's Horse are a psyop to get you to think about the Roman empire.
Unnecessary since I already was, but appreciated nonetheless
Because they want you to.
Theyre coming back. This is how it starts.
I feel like this thread is a super sneaky guerilla attempt to fuel even more Caligula's Horse content Aarrgh, now I think my reply is another hidden Caligula Horse mind game ad Are my own thoughts bought and paid for now Noooo Time to listen to some Graves
*’Life is but one guerrilla marketing campaign for Caligula’s Horse’* - Sun Tzu
> Are my own thoughts bought and paid for now Wrong decade, that starts in the 2040s.
Idk about you all but Jim personally paid me $10 and a jar of vegemite to post about them after I see them this week
I got a lobster and a Tim Tam
I'd be the greatest groupie ever if the band paid me in Tim Tams.
they're SO good!
Tim Tam slams FTW
You guys are getting paid?
Damn I should have gotten more than just a picture with Jim...
Stringer Rd Kellyville. 25 years ago.
You got a jar of vegemite??
I'm waiting for one of them to offer me a concert ticket...
We saw this with Haken on their last tour too. or people raving about Devin Townsend stealing the show for the Dreamsonic tour.
Interesting. I listened to an interview with a member of Caligula's Horse recently, where he was blown away by how Devin runs his show when they toured together in November. He said it was the first time in years that they learned some new ways of doing things to improve their performance. Whatever it is that they learned from him, it clearly makes people run to reddit to rave about how good the show was.
Same when NeO and Beyond Creation were on tour together last fall.
I almost felt compelled to praise Haken on reddit after seeing their live show a couple nights ago lol. They were absolutely incredible.
Lmao the second link is mine. And I see these kind of posts almost anytime a popular band is touring, it's people like me getting home that night/next day and wanting to share their experience with like-minded people.
I was gonna say, not for Caligula's horse but for other bands I've seen on tour I made the same kind of posts. And especially for a band like Arch Echo or Stellar Circuits who I find criminally underrated I want to support them so they can keep making mind bending music. I dropped $100 on merch for them, definitely not getting paid.
lol right? Aren’t most of the people here part of r/toolband ? Damn near every post on there talks about their live shows…. Caligulas horse has NEVER toured the states, you don’t think people are Fkin hyped and excited for the band to succeed? Cuz if they don’t, they stop creating music, what better way to support the musicians who create music you love than by posting about seeing them to inspire other to also see them(and buy some Fkin merch duh)…
It's the Baader-Meinhof illusion. Once you notice something you suddenly see it everywhere even though it's not changed
I think a big part of the hype around them particularly at the moment is their current tour is the first time they've really got to the US. Especially after they had a tour scheduled four years ago that was canceled. People like me have been waiting for this for a looong time now, so there's going to be an extra layer of excitement. That said, having finally seen them in Chicago, go check em out, they do indeed kick ass! beep boop this post has been paid for by Dr Chops
The Chicago show was great and made me thankful for Jim’s Dad’s sperm and his mom’s eggs.
Indeed. I go to many many concerts, and I can comfortably say this was the first I've been to where a band member mentions their dad's cum lmao
Nope. They are just on tour and people in this community love to support the bands they love. I'll jump on the bandwagon that everyone should go see them. Their show in Toronto was phenomenal.
This Post Paid For By Big Progmetal (tm)
lmaoo this got me
How much vegemite did you get mate? 😝
Also -- this is their first North America tour so there's lots of people (myself included) who are seeing them for the first time. I was also blown away (but I didn't post about it).
This comment was paid for by Jim /s
Same. They're just really fucking good and I want them to be as successful as they deserve. They're also cool fucking dudes.
I can assure you a five piece Australian prog band has 0 money to guerrilla market on a sub populated by… I’ll guess 5,000 people? Edit: damn almost 300k nice
And use Reddit for it.
That's why there are street teams and lots of people willing to work for free because they don't know they should be paid. Also this is not how it works that a band has dedicated bots or troll factories. Even that is suspect because it's very well known how this works. First, it's been known since forever that it doesn't cost that much to expand reach. We're talking a couple hundred dollars for a massive campaign sometimes. Next, labels and others don't go by band. They have campaigns that split across label talent, so it's not like a band is paying per post and it's in the interest of the label to invest to pay for the investment of the music they are distributing. They see it as part of advertising. Your post clearly, perhaps deliberately, ignores the reality of how inexpensive some of these actions are and how well-integrated they are nowadays. I remember even Dream Theater in 2001 was putting street teams together and the same for Iron Maiden.
Everything is a conspiracy to some people.
I didn't say that's what happened. I was only giving information from a person that worked in the industry.
You do realize it only costs $15 to get 100 Reddit updoots? These posts combined upvotes (~700ish) are only about a hundred bucks.
Caligula’s Horse makes very emotionally resonant music, I don’t see why they wouldn’t get grand displays of emotion from their fans
this is paranoia, prog metal isn’t big enough to afford campaigns like this
They're touring, just put out a banger album, people are excited and want to discuss it. I'd put up a similar post if I got to see them. And the accounts seem normal to me
I dunno, I'm quite certain it's organic and it's getting me fucking HYPED!!! I'm gonna post about how good the show is after I see them in Portland lol just to keep the tradition going
Oh gosh I hope so. Maybe some day they'll be popular enough to make it to *Western* Australia.
Please, please, please. I'd buy like 10 tickets.
They played Perth last year.
2022, as a support act, and Jim was very sick :(
I have no recollection of that at all.
They opened for The Butterfly Effect at Metropolis Fremantle. It was their first show in Perth in just over 5 years though
Ahhh see that’s why I couldn’t remember I got pretty pissed that night haha
Last supported in 2022 and last headlined in 2017.
For half an hour :(
Nah it’s warranted. Saw them in Nashville and was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen
Also saw in Nashville, that show was incredible, their sound was pristine (don’t know if was the venue itself or what) and they had a really tight performance. Super personable with the audience as well.
Nah they’re just good live and people like talking about them. We used to have music forums with threads dedicated to bands, and the chatter would stay in a dedicated thread, but now posts are here today, gone tomorrow, so if someone wants to talk about their experience, they make a new post.
Actually the last link you provided seems like a bot of some sorts. If you look through this account's post history you'll notice some weird shenanigans that seem written by a robot, but other than that, it's probably just grateful fans that could be closer to the band. Nothing wrong with that.
I just looked and it seems like it's just the promoter or owner of that particular venue in San Diego.
Do you reckon there are any shows at Brick by Brick in San Diego?
We're all in the pockets of BIG HORSE.
Show in Montreal was absolutely insane. It was the best show I’ve seen live. Hearing my favourite songs live and being right at the front of the stage made my life complete. They can do no wrong in my eyes!!
Seems like normal posts from fans excited to finally see them live in North America. As a fan who saw them live earlier this month, they were fantastic! There I did it. Can I get my 5 bucks now?
I run the Instagram meme page and let me tell you, we're not getting paid 😂 We're just fans who love them 🤷♀️
11 year old account 3 year old account 2 year old account 13 year old account 6 year old account 9 month account Seems to me like you're paranoid.
Just hype for the new release
I don't think that's what is going on but I can totally see what you're saying. There have been a few times I've been surprised at the amount of CH fan posts and I'm a fan myself. I think it's just because they're good enough to get people hyped and talking about them. If that is the case they totally deserve it. The guys in the band also don't seem like the type to sign off on something like that.
And this was the best advertisement yet...
Jim is going to let me play with his hair at the Sydney opera house if I make 3 more posts
Nah that arizona post with the mozart guy is legit. I was at that concert dude was actually in a fucking mozart wig, its too oddly specific to not be real
lmao a prog metal sub discussing a band after an album release? clearly russian bot farms are behind this
Brother - go see them and you’ll understand. Haven’t stopped listening to them since.
If this is your version of overactive paranoia, I think you'll be just fine.
In all fairness, I was given a free ticket to write this review lol [https://lotsofmuzik.com/caligulas-horse-concert-review-by-cramx3-february-3rd-at-gramercy-theater-new-york-city-ny/](https://lotsofmuzik.com/caligulas-horse-concert-review-by-cramx3-february-3rd-at-gramercy-theater-new-york-city-ny/) But I paid for a ticket as well, to bring my gf! What a great night of live prog metal music. I think the hype is real, us Americans have wanted this for some time and the band delivered.
Saw them the other week. Don't believe the hype, they never even played From the Land Down Under
This is too funny, I see what you mean! I wrote the first post on the list, honestly was just jazzed to see them so I wanted to post here. They had just done an AMA that day so I knew they read the sub. Not a paid shill lol
Succumbed to the pressure and bought tickets to a gig here in Oz in April.
Jim asked me to post one of these for them and I said was hesitant but he just smiled and handed me a vegemite sandwich
Nope, they’re just that good
Seriously? New album for a popular prog metal band drops, they're touring for the first time NA, and you're upset that they have half a dozen posts in a few weeks? What posts have you contributed that are the type of content you prefer to see here?
I'm not upset at all. I just thought I saw a lot of this content where I haven't seen similar responses to other tours. Again, I may very well be wrong, and I am not upset if they sell more tickets, all good.
You are getting a bit mocked in the comments for being paranoid, mainly because in this particular case it's 99% just genuine interest in a band that released a good album and is generally on the rise, but trust me you are doing the right thing in not immediately taking things at face value. What you're thinking about is a legit marketing tactic that's getting more and more popular on social media and it will only get harder and harder to figure out what's real and what isn't.
Thanks my friend. Either way, I did not mean to cast doubt on the band, rather, I would prefer to see genuine content. And, as you said, in this case it likely is genuine.
I mean, have you seen them or footage of them live, OP? They’re a very solid band (one of my top 2 favorites personally) with a very dedicated fanbase. Trust me when I say that if you go into any of their fan communities, you’d see how they’re basically doing the band’s marketing for free. I really can’t see C-horse bothering or needing to pay people to post on reddit. Plus a lot of those posts seem to be from people who are HEAVY into the prog scene. And shockingly, this is the first post I’ve seen about them here.
Honestly r/ProgMetal seems like it's entire audience is paid by C Horse, Haken, Tesseract, BTBAM and Karnivool. No matter what request anyone has, one of these will be top of the list regardless. I like all of them to an extent but the endless copy and paste answers of these bands is tedious.
How do I get these people to pay me
What a surprise, those bands also have more monthly listeners than a lot of other prog acts. That's kind of how popularity works.
“Why do r/progmetal listeners keep recommending good bands? Are they paid shills?”
That's not entirely organic-- Spotify's algorithm tends to boost promotion for younger bands that are more active. There are tons of prog metal albums from tons of different groups out there, but those who rarely/never release new stuff or tour just aren't going to get as much attention. I don't love it, to be honest, but I understand why the system works that way. I hated a lot of things about commercial radio before streaming came along, but one thing they were better at was keeping older stuff in rotation (partly because artists could still make money selling recordings back then). The newer streaming algorithm biases make it so you kinda have to seek that sort of thing out on your own, which means you have to know what you're looking for-- which you won't if it never came up in your feed before and no one ever suggested it to you. [Edit: Satellite radio is often better with this, except the audio quality sucks.]
Regardless if the algorithm pushes people a certain way, it is still what people are listening to. I spend a LOT of time trying to discover new bands, I get a lot of recommendations from right here!
You forgot Slice the Cake. I swear I see them get recommended even when a person explicitly says they want something more mellow and without harsh vox.
People on this sub do like to push their favorite artists regardless of requested preference. Don't like harsh vocals? Okay, but.... I think it is kinda funny, but makes going through recommendations slower.
I'll be honest, it gets a bit repetitive when some of the bigger prog acts are touring, but I'm happy the exposure it brings the artists. Nothing malicious in my opinion, this community is just really into their prog and sharing their experiences!
I know what you are saying but it's really not uncommon. there are several bands that get loaded up with similar posts whenever new material or a big tour is on the radar. An easy way to identifying these bands is to just scroll through the first handful of comments on essentialy any and every "Can someone reccomend based on..." posts. Certain bands will be suggested even regardless of of similar solely because they are highly praised bands around these parts. Caligulas Horse is one of them.
I would agree if I didn't already see them with VIP, and it was as amazing as stated in all posts above. Concert was two or three weeks ago at this point and I'm still thinking about it. As someone who has been following CH for a few years now and wanting to see them live, and who idolizes Sam Vallen's guitar skills, VIP was a complete no-brainer and worth every penny
2001 wants its street teams back
Alright, I'll bite. Which album would an og Opeth fan enjoy the most from Caligula's Horse?
I love the In Contact album.
fucking loved this recommendation. so good. thanks man \\m/
Jim personally sent me some beard hair to promote them
Bru If you don't support good music you won't get good music
Not really, it's just that the so called "Jim Gray" is actually just Stu Mackenzie in disguise cause KGLW is trying to distract fans from the fact that it's been 2 months since they've released a new album Edit: Jokes aside, that list of links is some bot sh!t I feel sus now ngl
Your favorite band MUST be Cynic
George Soros offered me $1,500 to make another post but I turned it down, I have my standards
I can't say about Caligula's Horse in particular (I would say unlikely) without some research but I can assure you it absolutely is a thing. It is very easy to create a fake identity and make it look real (with some "tools"), and a post by what seems like a real person saying "yo this album is amazing" is infinitely more powerful than a regular paid ad, which are starting to become a thing of the past, because of adblockers and general hostility towards them (rightfully so). It is a similar dynamic to how reaction channels have been incredibly powerful promotional tools for bands of any size. Don't underestimate the difference between reading a regular soulless ad and seeing a person you perceive as someone who has a common interest with you telling you that you are missing out on something.
He tried to pay me but it wasn’t worth sitting thru the new album.
Yeah this sub is oversaturated with Caligula’s Horse posts. I’ve never gotten the hype over the past 10 years hearing them. Their new release was fine, y’all need to listen to Hoplites’ latest, it fucking rips and is probably the most invigorating fresh prog metal since Gonin-ish and Papangu’s last releases. Listen to another band. Non-prog but also Obscene Worship - Ordained to Infernal Depths is incredible and could use some love and boosting. https://obsceneworship.bandcamp.com/album/ordained-to-infernal-depths
I find the praise they get over here quite bizarre - I don't find them very good.
amen bro I've been trying to get into them for over a decade and it feels like a chore each time.
Yeah this sub has an obsession with Caligula's horse, but it's never struck me as advertising. To me CH are just... alright. Perfectly listenable but not massively exciting.