Review by Jack on February 25, 2003.

Canaan as some of you may know have been hovering in and out of the metal/alternative music scene for quite a number of years, putting out a few records here and there and achieving quite a substantial name for themselves with their ultra-melancholic and brooding dark music.

"A Calling to Weakness" is simply a great album. While not being ultra heavy with guitar riffs or drum blasts, Canaan have created an album that is monstrously heavy with atmosphere. This is an album that is made or broken with the subtle musical textures that Canaan employ. "A Calling to Weakness" is certainly not the most dense of musical pieces, but nor does it have to be. I think the beauty of Canaan lies in their ability to simply hint at where they are going with a particular song or part of a song. Canaan will always lead you to the door, but they will never let you in. "A Calling to Weakness" requires you to be absorbed by the music and then you are the person that will complete the sonic experience for yourself. Whether you like to concentrate on your music or leave them as simply background noise is, of course up to you to decide.

The real beauty of Canaan is that through "A Calling to Weakness" they are able to move through a large variety of pleasing sounds. 'Grey' for example is probably the most intense and dense track on a sheer musical level providing what could be termed as the climax of the album. Heartfelt vocal chords over the top of some decently heavy riffing makes for a good track and 'Grey' is no exception. But then Canaan slip back into a different form of song which can be seen through the track 'Essere Nulla' which is in essence warmly spoken words over the top of atmospheric and soothing music. I guess whichever way you want to turn with "A Calling to Weakness" you will be certain to find something very pleasing.

Bottom Line: You can do a lot worse than pick up this album. If darkwave, gothic, atmospheric, experimental music is your sort of thing, then you have this album. The rest of you folks look up Canaan and give "A Calling to Weakness" a spin.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Adam M on October 4, 2025.

This was a fun album that really brought the stoner genre to the forefront with its use of a solid groove section to make things enjoyable.  It is really a standout album for the doom genre as it blends stoner and traditional doom elements nicely.  There is a great atmosphere created and things fly by at a nice pace.

In terms of musicianship, there is a great deal of emphasis placed on the psychedelic guitars.  These turn out to be very exciting and bring the album to an exciting climax in terms of the use of guitar work.  The vocals are addictive and really make the songs memorable.  The album features a decent production job which bolsters it nicely.

The flaw with the album lies in how it is perhaps bettered in the stoner stakes by the likes of albums by the band Kyuss.  It is still a more interesting doom metal album than those and essential listening for a fan of the band.  The album does become a little less exciting with time, but it has a great impact.

All in all, this was a superb album with great performances and a penchant for catchiness on songs like “Midnight Mountain”.  It is one of the best traditional type doom albums along with the likes of Trouble and Candlemass.  There is very to dislike here as this is a fun and enjoyable album through and through.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10