THE 1ST CHAPTER

A good debut album by Circus Maximus with great musicianship. But I have to agree with some reviews before me that the music is all to familiar and can be an underwhelming experience if you have already heard things like Symphony X and Dream Theater before it as it takes almost all of it's influence from. This being said there are good songs that are outside of the mould the rest of the album follows. Biosfear is the highlight of the album for me, an experimental instrumental with Frank Zappa like unisons and interesting keyboard sounds. Silence from the Angels Above is also a great track, an acoustic song with some great ideas in it. To criticise this album is a bit unfair but it could have done with a lot more originality that some tracks on the album showed they do have in them. The song 'Alive' really is an unnecessary inclusion for me, the keyboard sounds and repetitive riffing would have felt more at home on an Avenged Sevenfold album than this attempt at a Progressive Metal or Symphonic Metal (neither the listener nor the musicians can decide which) album.

Negatives out of the way this album is very well executed, the a-for mentioned musicianship really is fantastic offering some great things to make any prog fan lick their lips. If you are a Symphony X and Dream Theater fan definitely get this one because you will love it.