Caleb Toliver, known professionally as Don Toliver, has been a big name over the last decade. Debuting with his album “Heaven Or Hell” in 2020, Toliver has released three more projects since then, most recently the biker-gang inspired “HARDSTONE PSYCHO” in 2024. His newest entry, “OCTANE,” continues his trend of highly-stylized album aesthetics, including Frankenstein-esque labs, black-and-white music videos, and a recording studio in a Mount Wilson Observatory, famously used by Albert Einstein.
The visuals definitely do a fantastic job conveying the sound of the album: experimental, futuristic, and dark. Toliver has never been afraid to take risks with his sound, and some of his most interesting leaps are taken on this project. Songs like “OPPOSITE,” “Call Back,” and “Gemstone” have a very high energy, rage sound, which Toliver first started experimenting with on songs like “TORE UP” on “HARDSTONE PSYCHO.” On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, there are multiple softer, more touching moments on the album. Cuts like “Rosary” featuring Travis Scott, “Long Way to Calabasas,” and “Tiramisu” would feel right at home on his past projects like “Life Of A Don” (2021) or “Love Sick” (2023). Toliver also tries his hand at a variety of different genres and sounds throughout the tracklist. “Pleasure’s Mine” uses unconventional sample chops and drums akin to the current hyper-pop scene, “Secondhand” featuring Rema mixes drill and afrobeats, and “Body” uses an iconic Justin Timberlake sample in a new and refreshing way, mixed with heavy bass and EDM elements.
Whether or not these artistic leaps stick the landing is the conversation to be had. Toliver has a lot of highs on the project, but with 18 songs, there are bound to be some less-than-interesting cuts. “All The Signs” with Teezo Touchdown feels like it drags out for far too long, with not enough elements in the production to keep attention hooked, and the aforementioned collaboration with Rema lacks the gripping moments to keep listeners engaged. With that being said, there are some of Toliver’s highest highs on this album. The album opener “E85” features some of Toliver’s most euphoric production to date, the RnB-adjacent cut “Tuition” showcases Toliver’s captivating and unique vocals at their peak, and the trap song “Excavator” displays cutthroat flows, a catchy chorus, and an insane beat switch, my personal favorite moment of the album.
Overall, I think the album, while pretty good, lacks the consistent greatness of some of Toliver’s best work, like “Life Of A Don” or “Heaven Or Hell”. He’s more than willing to take the creative leaps and bounds that an artist in this genre needs in order to succeed and have longevity, but he’ll need more fine-tuning on certain ideas. Maybe the year and a half in between “OCTANE” and “HARDSTONE PSYCHO” was too little time in order to properly refine these genres he’s experimenting with, but there are still multiple fantastic songs on the album that will absolutely go down as some of his all time best. I’d give Toliver’s “OCTANE” a seven and a half out of ten.
