Labels: Ektro
Review by: Unknown
The insert proclaims nothing except NWOFHM in huge block text. That is it, a proclamation of the The New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal is upon us. There is no further information aside from track names, line up and when it was recorded… Hmmm, I am sceptical. Circle have a reputation in my mind of being a bit out there at times and for every exquisite piece I have heard there has been some stuff I have found to be patchy at best, so I coming to this brand new album with an open mind.
Well, not so much open as slightly excited as Russell, who works in monorail and who convinces me into spending too much money every damn time, described it as a jam between King Crimson and Budgie. Which I admit was enough for me to pick it up instead of just downloading it or overlooking it for something more staid.
There is no way I can explain the first two tracks better than the description that Russel gave… Moments of soothing quiet with haunting vocals juxtaposed with some full on metal fantasticness which is just the right side of being considered trite. Totally fist pumping hard rock… Awesome!
The third track is more akin to what I would have expected from Circle, meandering, quirky and kind of going nowhere. It has a couple of flashes of riffdom and a few glitchy electronic effects, some vocals that add to the paranoid feeling it creates but it’s a bit of a comedown after the opening two tracks.
Now with the closing track, the 25 minute epic called Puutiikeri, Circle begin with an intense pounding rock style bit and damn does this sound fucking fantastic when it drifts into being one of their artsy epic jawns!
Great album and definitely as good a start point as any for people new to Circle. The only gripe is not musical, aside from it being another £12 spent on a bloody compact disc, is that the cover has what looks like a sticker proclaiming this to be the new circle album… It overlaps the picture on the cover… But in fact it’s not a sticker, but the actual print! Can I get a WTF!? Whoever ok’d that design needs a punch in the nutz.