NINE

Third album from the Norwegian five piece, Nine continues in the same vein as Circus Maximus's second (haven't heard the first) album Isolate, i.e. melodic progressive metal.

Circus Maximus are undoubtedly a talented band, standing out in many respects from most of the prog metal community because of their strong leanings towards melodic metal and AOR. They owe as much, if not more so to fellow Scandinavian's Europe as they do to the likes of Dream Theater. Whilst previous release Isolate was also packed with melodies the balance between melodic metal and prog was more equal. Here the balance shifts more in the favour of melodic metal and AOR for the most part. Vocalist Mike Eriksen certainly has the voice for the job, his clean and melodic tones soar over the ten easily accessible compositions. The band all play well, highlights being Burn After Reading for some great instrumental work and Used for a killer riff, but whilst Nine is never less than good, the lack of a few more exceptional pieces means I'll settle for 3 stars.

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Posted Saturday, July 21, 2012 | Review this album | Report (Review #791780)

Very good album of these norwegian progressive metal, a little lighter in their compositional structures than the average of those associated with metal roots, but just as effective and very well assembled. The influence of Dream Theater is clear on this album, where at moments of the instrumental developments its presence is perceived. The songs maintain a fairly good level, very dynamic, where we can highlight Architect Of Fortune, and especially its introduction of more than 2 minutes, a demonstration of virtuosity in the midst of its development of dramatic atmospheres, a very well-made composition, and The Last Goodbye, the best song on the album, and the one that closes it in a very good way.

In my opinion Nine is the best production of Circus Maximus.

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Posted Thursday, June 4, 2020 | Review this album | Report (Review #2409704)

In my opinion, this third album from Circus Maximum shows a firmer musical style. It maintains a lot of good progressive elements, more guitar dominating, and yet more accessible in the overall composition. 'Forging' is a short instrumental opening , with dark keyboard sound. Perhaps for conditi ... (read more)

Report this review (#2449379) | Posted by Mark-P | Sunday, September 20, 2020 | Review Permanlink

Circus Maximus is a talented melodic prog power band from Norway. The first thing I noticed on Nine, having listened to their other albums, is the overproduced sound. One could only wonder how many filters instruments went through to achieve this glossy, teenage-friendly wall of sound. Album is ... (read more)

Report this review (#1160130) | Posted by Progrussia | Friday, April 11, 2014 | Review Permanlink

(I'm guessing the album is called 9 cause there is 9 tracks on it) Norway's prog scene has seen some interesting acts emerge. From Black Metallers Enslaved & Borknagar taking extreme metal to the prog side and bands like Leprous now taking the firm interest This album is very different to ... (read more)

Report this review (#1024635) | Posted by arcane-beautiful | Tuesday, August 27, 2013 | Review Permanlink

The Personal Classic There are those albums. You know, those ones. The ones that you listen to to take you back somewhere, or to make you feel something that nothing else can make you feel. The ones that bring unfiltered amounts of nostalgia, because we all know that music is second to none (ok, ... (read more)

Report this review (#867590) | Posted by Gallifrey | Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | Review Permanlink

First off, I'd like to thank Frontiers for giving me the honor of being the first reviewer of this fine album by allowing me to listen to this album before the release date. Five years. That's how long I have anticipated this album. I'll get this out of the way and give the readers the discla ... (read more)

Report this review (#757358) | Posted by dtguitarfan | Thursday, May 24, 2012 | Review Permanlink

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