HOMELAND

Homeland reminds me of Threshold, more than anything else--both the style of music and the sound of the vocals. Progressive metal, with more emphasis on metal than prog. Red Circuit's from Germany, and the vocals have a bit of the same accent you find in other German metal bands. The songs are all consistently 4 or 5 minutes long. Total album length is under 50 minutes. Production value is high.

There's not much variation between songs, which is disappointing because they're at their very best when they mix soft with heavy, like they do on You Can Sleep While You're Dead and on Sun of Utopia. Those are both 4-star songs. The soft sections are disappointingly fleeting; it would have been a much stronger album had they changed things up more.

Still, it's an enjoyable album, and strongly recommended for fans of Threshold and similar bands. 3 stars.