THE 1ST CHAPTER

Circus Maximus is a progressive metal band formed by the Haugen brothers, who appear on guitar (Mats) and Drums (Trus), Mats' old school buddy Glen Moller on bass, Michael and the mastermind Espen Storo on keyboards. They're from Norway, who has given us great progressive bands like Ark and Pagan's Mind, for example.

Circus Maximus is a superb band with a large variety of influences such as 70's progressive rock, heavy metal and even death metal, all of which are melted to form a unique sound. This creates a mixture of great heavy riffs, consistent melodies with many modulations, and odd time signatures, a very characteristic detail of progressive music.

Michael's voice is outstanding, it reminds me of Nils K. Rue (Pagan's Mind), which is good and also of Frank Mendez (Zero Hour), especially in the first track. Its sound, as I mentioned above, is unique, even with DT influences. The musicianship is amazing, a superb mixture of hard-rock and classic rock with prog elements inspired by 70's prog greats.

This is Circus Maximus's first full length album, and what a good way to start! This album is very technical and very progressive. You can notice the great education of these musicians and the evolution of Norwegian prog metal. The album starts with the strong opener "Sin" which prepares us for a great album. "Alive" is an amazing song (my favorite of this album) and its intro reminds me of DT's "Caught in a Web." "Glory of the Empire" is this album's first epic and its intro is soft and beautiful. "Biosfear" is the instrumental song; here we can hear strong Dream Theater influences. The ballad of this album is the beautiful "Silence from Angel Above." "Why Am I Here" and "The Prophecy" are two good but not outstanding songs which are followed by de magnum-epic "The 1st Chapter" followed by the closer, another good song, "Haunted Dreams" (I have the European version).

This album is definitely recommended to all metal fans, not only for progressive fans but also to everyone else, I can ensure you will love this album. I haven't given a perfect rating to any album, just to Dream Theater's Images & Words.

Killing Songs: "Alive" (The best song of this album), "Glory of the Empire," "Biosfear" and "The 1st chapter."