CIRCUS MAXIMUS

I had a lot of fun with this release this past week.This is Prog-Metal but we get a taste of Power-Metal at times,although for me this is more about being melodic,epic and technical.It's just a blast to listen to.This Norweigian band thanks fellow Norwegian's PAGAN'S MIND in the liner notes.They make a good pair.This was recorded in various studios in Norway then mixed at "Jailhouse Studios" in Denmark by Tommy Hansen.I have to mention how well done the lyrics are on this album as well. "Sin" has this heavy and oh so impressive intro.Vocals a minute in,keys a minute later.Nice and heavy again 3 1/2 minutes in followed by a fantastic guitar solo. Cool lyrics too. "Alive" sounds really good when it settles and the reserved vocals come in.The guitar/drum melody sounds amazing 3 1/2 minutes in and at 4 minutes. "Glory Of the Empire" is probably my favourite song on here.Again just reading the lyrics is a treat.The intro is laid back and we get some outstanding atmosphere.It starts to get powerful 2 minutes in.Great sound! It settles somewhat as vocals come in.Synths and piano come and go.A brief calm arrives after 6 minutes then check out the guitar solo after 7 1/2 minutes as the heaviness returns. "Biosphere" is the only instrumental on here.Thunderous drums come in quickly followed by a nice guitar led section before a minute.Some good variety in this one. "Silence From Angels Above" opens with thunder and rain as acoustic guitar comes in followed by vocals.This is a ballad-like tune but i like it. "Why Am I Here" is ohhh so heavy but it settles when the vocals arrive but it's still crunchy.Love the chorus. "The prophesy" opens with strummed guitar and reserved vocals.Piano after a minute.It gets heavy before 2 1/2 minutes then settles back 2 minutes later with piano.It's heavy again.Haha. "The 1st Chapter" is the 19 minute closer! This is a ride folks.Orchestral intro is blown away by ripping guitar,synths and drums 2 minutes in.Vocals 4 1/2 minutes in.Very heavy 6 1/2 minutes in as vocals stop.A calm before 9 minutes with piano and reserved vocals.Kicks back in before 10 1/2 minutes.Tasteful guitar after 11 minutes.Great sound before 13 1/2 minutes.Vocals follow.A circus-like melody ends it. I can't give this less than 4 stars.Excellent musicianship and lyrics, besides like i said earlier this is too much fun.

This was quite a shock. Few bands release actual masterpieces that rank up there were the other essentials of the genre. Circus Maximus has somehow managed to do this on their first time up to bat, and 'The 1st Chapter' is certainly a masterpiece.

What more could one want from a progressive metal record? There are strange time signatures, virtuosic performances, fast songs, short songs, and of course; an epic to top it off. Keeping in mind that the members of this band were all in their early-mid twenties at the time of making this album, you have to wonder, 'how the hell did they manage this?'

Mike Eriksen (the vocalist) was a singer who's voice I loved from the second I heard it, and is the heart and soul of the band. He's a vocalist I honestly find sharper and more elegant than even alot of the prog metal greats, such as Russell Allen (Symphony X) or even James LaBrie (Dream Theater.)

Circus Maximus, while obviously not being completely ground breaking in terms of style (they bear striking similarities to Symphony X in terms of musical style and content) but they inject something into the music that seems to have been long forgotten in the progressive metal world; melody. The centre of their songs is always in the melody, and that really helps to enrich their music in a genre that runs the risk of becoming dry.

A young classic. I can only say I am excited to see what they release in the future.

Circus Maximus' 2005 debut 'The 1st Chapter' blew away the progressive metal world and suprised everyone that a band of musicians so young and relatively inexperienced could make such technical, complex music while maintaining a very strong sense of melody and direction. Heavily influenced by the likes of Symphony X, Circus Maximus certainly made a strong impression in the world of progressive music. Obviously, their sophomore release would be anticipated with very high expectations. The band's 2007 release 'Isolate' was what they came up with.

Is it as good as 'The 1st Chapter?'

Probably Not.

Is it good though?

Oh yes. Damn good at that too.

'Isolate' represents a darker, more weathered side of Circus Maximus. There isn't so much of a happy light feeling anymore; instead it is replaced by a more introspective and sad sound that really helps to mature the band's tone and sound. While I can't say that it has the album cohesion that a masterpiece like it's predecessor would, 'Isolate' is a dose of some amazing progressive metal, with some really stellar material.

'Isolate' is certainly less consistent then the first album. There are songs that leave me speechless, but there are also songs that while good, don't have the epic quality about them that was found much more consistently in 'The 1st Chapter.' The song 'Abyss' is a fantastic song, and combines frantic progression with strong vocals (the singer for this band is absolutely amazing, by the way) and a powerful sense of melody to make a song that could be considered the 'quintessential' CM track. It shows what the band is really made of, and got me into the band in the first place.

The epic of the album, 'Mouth Of Madness' is probably my favourite Circus Maximus track yet. While the epics of the last album have garnered much more critical acclaim, I find this song to be much more focused, directed, and well, 'epic.' The song begins slow but gets very intense towards the middle, and climaxs with all guitars firing, and a gregorian choir chanting to exacerbate the dramatic effect. It's simply stunning, I love it.

While as an overall product, it wasn't as stunning and consistent as the first, it's definately not dissapointing, and Circus Maximus proves that they have a very bright future if they continue their musical career.

Definitely an improvement, though not quite there yet.

CIRCUS MAXIMUS's first album, "The 1st Chapter", left me with good expectations for the band's future, but also a little bit cold because of its derivative nature and the lack of brilliant melodies. Many people liked the choruses in that album, but I've heard many bands do much better than that. The band sounded like it was trying to sound like DREAM THEATER without really masking it.

This time around, in "Isolate", the band starts to find a voice of their own. The DREAM THEATER influence is still huge, and now we can also detect hints of SYMPHOPNY X and STRATOVARIUS in the mix, plus some PAGAN'S MIND (the vocal style is very similar.) But there's an inner voice, an until-now hidden personality in CIRCUS MAXIMUS that is starting to emerge. The music now doesn't sound too much "like band X" but more like "it was influenced by band X".

Also, the melodies and choruses are much better in "Isolate". A good example is "The Abyss", probably the best all-out-metal track in the album. The band's musicianship was never in question (no poorly-skilled musicians could ever sound like DREAM THEATER after all), but now with this newly gained confidence that I can hear between the notes, they shine even more. The production is superb, with clarity and values typical of more commercial-ready bands.

I think that CIRCUS MAXIMUS' best moments are yet to come. The band has been gaining ground slowly but steadily. From decent semi-clones to very good sound-a-likes, I'm sure the third chapter in this story will be the one where all elements finally fit in the puzzle. As of right now, "Isolate" deserves 3.5 stars , averaging musicianship, originality and the enjoyment I got from listening to it. This time I'll round up, as the effort clearly deserves it, and also to draw a line between this excellent record and some less-inspired progressive-metal albums I have reviewed.

Second album from the norwegian progmetal band Circus Maximus. 1st chapter was a pretty good first album even though it's orginallity can be discussed. The second album is pretty much the same even though I find it slightly better then their first effort.

The sound is obviously influenced by bands as Dream Theater, Symphony X and Rush but also with some influences from the 80's rock music. Mike Eriksen sounds a bit like Rush singer Geddy Lee and I don't really like that kind of voice. But that's just my opinion. The production is also a bit boring with a very stiffy sound. I just can't get the real feeling.

But the album isn't that bad, and 12 minute long Mouth of Madness is a real highlight together with the perfect closer Ultimate Sacrfice.

Rate: 3-

Circus Maximus debut album The 1st Chapter was praised very much in various heavy metal magazines when it was released. Many compared Circus Maximus to Dream Theater and Symphony X. I would like to add Stratovarius to those influences as Circus Maximus also have those extremely memorable choruses that Stratovarius are known for. To me The 1st Chapter was a good progressive metal album even though I found it a bit unoriginal. The mix of progressive metal and more traditional metal/ power metal is something a thousand bands have done before. Circus Maximus is clearly one of the better bands in the genre though. Isolate is Circus Maximus second album and the style they started on The 1st Chapter is continued here without many surprises.

The musicians are one of the main reasons why I want to use my time on Isolate, as it is a joy to listen to such competent gentlemen play. Lead singer Mike Eriksen has a very strong voice even though it is pretty typical for the genre.

There are lots of keyboards in the music and they can at times sound very eighties like which of course is an aquired taste. I´m ambivalent towards just that as it depends on my mood wether I can stand it or not. The compositions are very well composed and there are solos and other little variations to keep the songs exciting. The songs are very memorable due to the sing a long power metal choruses which of course also is an aquired taste. People who think a mix of Dream Theater and Symphony X could satisfy their desires should give Isolate a chance as it is a very worthy purchase in that genre.

The sound quality is excellent and again Circus Maximus prove that they are one of the best in their genre. With this kind of production Frontiers Records really show that they believe in Circus Maximus. It must have cost a lot.

If I was more into this genre this would have been a 4 star album, but as I find it a bit cheesy and really not in my personal taste I´ll give it 3 stars for the brilliant musicianship and the fantastic production.

The 1st Chapter, the first album by prog metal band Circus Maximus, would be a great album if the listener had never heard any progressive metal before. I, unfortunately for this band, have heard a lot of Prog Metal, and when I look for new stuff, I want music that is original. In my opinion, Circus Maximus has everything necessary to be considered Progressive Metal, except the Progression part.

First off I'll start with the good things, which there are quite a few of, especially for a bands first release. The sound quality is quite good, the guitars and drums especially sound very good. The band has a full and powerful sound, one that matches that of the Prog Metal giants they are commonly compared to. Also I must add there are some cool and creative riffs, but again this brings my to my original complaint: their music is too similar to stuff I've heard before.

When listening to The 1st Chapter, I hear many bits and pieces of other big bands, such as DREAM THEATER and SYMPHONY X (just to name a few). By copying the sound of these other bands, they have lost the progress part of Progressive Metal. That is not to say these guys do not know anything about music, because they do a great job of making complex and fairly interesting music.

Some highlight tracks include Sin, Alive, Why am I Here, and the title track. As I said earlier, the sound quality is pretty good, although some keyboards sound too cheesy when going for the full orchestra sound. I'd highly recommend this album to people just getting into Progressive music, because it gives a good glimpse of that Prog Metal sound, but for experienced Prog listeners, I'd avoid this one.

Circus Maximus - Isolate 2.0 stars

This was a pretty bad album and is even worse when compared to Circus Maximus' very strong debut album. It seemed to me that their heavily influence music is what made them strong and they weren't mature enough to let it go. The exceptional chorus work that brought the best out of the band was gone. Lasse Finbråten is the new keyboard player replacing Espen Storø; I have no confirmed sources as to why he left so I can't really go beyond here.

There is not a single track that is above par on this album. Even the traces of brilliance are too few to even name. Although nothing is above par, the songs do have structure to them; it's still composed carefully. The keyboard and guitar are also a lot more tame in this, which I think takes a little bit out of them as well. The guitarist and keyboardist are very talented but they didn't really go wild except for some moments in the first album and the fact that they do even less on this one was really disappointing.

I'm sorry for the short review but there is not much to talk about, this release was extremely bland and distasteful. I you are a big fan of Circus Maximus, you might like it. I wouldn't consider myself a fan and I found it to be quite poor. To me this is nothing but a collection of pretty poor tracks with few traces of exceptional moments.

Circus Maximus - The 1st Chapter 3.8 stars

This is one of the few bands that actually deserve the title of 'DT-Clones', but don't forget to put a huge portion of Symphony X in there too. The line-up consists of Michael Eriksen on vocals, Mats Haugen on guitar, Truls Haugen on drums, Espen Storø on keys and finally Glen Cato Møllen on bass. This album is a perfect mix of Scenes and The Odyssey, done exceptionally well. The guitar and keyboard sound will blow you away; the solos are very crafty once again reminiscent of Symphony X and Dream Theater. The thing I liked most about this band was obviously a perfect blend of the aforementioned bands, but also they unique melodies and excellent chorus work done. The singer in particular is one of the reasons why the choruses sound so exuberant. He has a pretty decent voice even though he sings in a sort of power metal vein, but not the bad kind. Even on my least favorite tracks on the album, I still find the chorus work done to be stellar. There are two tracks in particular that too similar to Dream Theater and Symphony X tracks. 'Biosphere' as exactly like 'The Dance of Eternity' and the title track is so very similar to 'The Odyssey'. Still 'Biosphere' was an excellent instrumental while the title track was very lacking.

Most of the songs on here are very well done and composed. There are still a few tracks that don't hold too much steam, but there is nothing too terrible about this album, except possibly the title track. Otherwise every song on the album is pretty good and then there are some that are really kick-ass. I would recommend this to any fans of Dream Theater and Symphony X.you'll find something nice on this one. Prog-metal fans in general shouldn't be too afraid to get this either. If you are a DT hater stay far away, you'll hate this one too and if not a prog-metal fan in general, then look the other way.

I'm looking very forward to the second chapter. This was a great album.

wuakala!

these guys did an excellent job with "The 1rst Chapter", but they missed theyre way, in some point, they lost the good ideas, this album sounds like a dead album: no passion, no ideas, no feeling, no nothing.

i don't know how to describe this album, too monotone, too boring; the sound is so poor, the whole album sounds like 1 boring long song, sounds like a 90's album, a 90's commercial album, but not a prog album, even less a prog metal album, i'm waiting for a second chapter.