Savatage fans will recognise Circle II Circle as one the bands formed out of `the great Savatage schism’, when various members (including vocalist Zak Stevens) left Savatage to do their own thing.
Several years later, this prolific outfit have cranked out several EPs and full length albums, this being their fifth since 2003 – Zak Stevens certainly seems to have proved himself and his ability to survive outside the well-known Savatage. Not being overly familiar with the work of Savatage or Circle II Circle, I’ve taken this album at face value without any expectations...
So what we appear to have is some fairly heavy, and satisfyingly crunchy melodic heavy metal, with some subtle symphonic overtones. The production is a very nicely balanced mix of clarity and power – nothing is too dominant or over powering. The guitars have a very satisfying level of warmth and crunch, unlike a lot of European melodic metal I’ve heard recently, and this album seems to genuinely have some guts about it.
Centre stage is Zak Steven’s soaring voice, warm and powerful in its own right without being screechy or too wavering. Never a man to sing outside of his range or ability, his vocal performance is very solid, and entertaining if occasionally a tad uninspiring. There are some beautifully layered choruses throughout the album, but nothing seems to lodge deeply into my brain. Hats off to the band though, for writing another loose concept album, this time about a character who gets drawn into a `cycle of madness, power and a lot of crazy things’ – it’s always encouraging to see a band taking an adventurous and creative route with their subject matter.
Musically this album isn’t as progressive as the band may make out – a lot of the songs are standard verse/chorus/verse type structures, and pretty straight forward. Not to say that Circle II Circle’s music is overly simplistic or monotonous – there are lot of beautifully crafted guitar solos, great chunky, meaty riffs (that would put a steak pie to shame!), and some great soaring choruses, with a very slightly symphonic edge, but essentially standard rock/metal songs.
There are a substantial amount of good rocking times to be had on this album, however it is rather inconsistent in quality from one end to the other in my opinion. The first half is full of some seriously enjoyable heavy tunes, with crunchy, catchy riffs, a fair-sized dose of Iron Maiden appreciation, and some classy song-writing. My favourite track from the whole album is the title track `Consequence Of Power’ which has a great chorus, and some seriously infectious riffing. Sadly, the back end of the album isn’t nearly as rewarding and I found the last handful of tracks rather plodding and forgettable – even with the addition of some poignant piano.
I don’t think this album will set the world on fire, but it does have some great metal moments on it – fans of Savatage, and all the other bands that came from it may do worse than check this album out – these guys are definitely a cut above most of the melodic metal out there today.
http://www.myspace.com/circleiicircle
http://www.circle2circle.net
