 CIRCLE
II CIRCLE
Burden of Truth
Locomotive Records 2006
www.circle2circle.net
Read the Zachary Stevens interview
Read the Paul Michael Stewart interview
5 Questions with Circle II Circle
What’s the 4-1-1?
The metal band led by former Savatage frontman Zak Stevens is back
with their third album. The album is a concept piece based on the novel The
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
Genre
Hard rock / heavy metal / progressive metal
The Good
The band really finds its groove from the first note to the last. Zak Stevens
sounds as good as he ever has, and the band is crushing. “Who Am
I To Be?” has a nice combination of keyboard and guitar riffs. “A
Matter Of Time” is superb, while “Heal You” has a great
chorus and strong driving rhythm.
Each song on the disc, whether taken as a part of the overall story or standing
on its own, is pretty darn good. Some are better than others, but there are no
missteps here at all. The guitar work on the album is the real standout here.
You’ve got the requisite metal crunch, the stinging speed notes, and the
more groove oriented with less flash leads.
Besides “Heal You” and “A Matter Of Time,” I really enjoyed “Your
Reality,” “Messiah,” and the title track.
The Bad
There’s really nothing bad here.
The Verdict
The band’s first album, Watching In Silence, was an excellent beginning.
I was bitterly disappointed in the second album The Middle Of Nowhere. I
thought the songwriting was terrible and the whole album an utter failure.
I’m glad to report that the REAL Circle II Circle is back! Whether you
care about the conceptual storyline or just listen to the songs as single entities,
you will find yourself just kicking back and rocking out. It’s slightly
amusing to me that the band sounds more creatively free inside of the confines
of a concept album than they did in the standard format used for The Middle
Of
Nowhere. This is a superb rock album, period.
Did You Know?
The recording of the album was finished on 6/6/06.Zak Stevens provided backing
vocals on the first two Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas albums, and
the voice of one of “The Muses” on the
group’s Beethoven’s Last Night CD.
Rating:  out
of 5
Related Reviews:
Circle II Circle - Watching in Silence
Circle II Circle - The Middle of Nowhere
Savatage - Edge of Thorns
-- Jay Roberts
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