Band: Circus Maximus Album: Isolate Label: Sensory Records Rating: 6/10 Website: http://www.myspace.com/officialcm BUY NOW!

Amidst a country know for churning out music of a barbaric, pugnacious nature comes the flashy style and stellar sound of Circus Maximus. The said group's sound is more apt to be found in Germany, The United States or even Sweden than Norway. There is no mistaking Circus Maximus for anything other than a prog power group. Singer Michael Erikson could serve as Geoff Tate's vocal double during mid range moments. The music shares characteristics of Symphony X due to the excessive keyboard usage. "Isolate" communicates a professional quality in both the packaging and the sound quality. The production is crisp and clear. Each song's lyrics display a shaded image representing the lyrical concept. The lyrics on "Isolate" seem to convey an idea of the various sides to the human psyche. It examines just how fragile our psyches are and the impact of the strong emotions found in love and the hell found when it the psyche is severely damaged. For instance, "Arrival of Love" is a happy tune, sounding like it came straight from a Sunset Strip, glam rock band. "Mouth of Madness" is broken into several parts that detail one's descent into insanity. CM does well in relating this song's psychotic vibe with weird guitar solos and keyboards, depressive acoustic guitars, hard-driven guitar backgrounds and an intense keyboard passage. CM is the third metal band to translate Edgar Allen Poe's poem "Alone" (Green Carnation and Arcturus previously) performed this track. CM changed the beginning pronouns and took the beginning verse, "from childhoods hour," to make this into a song of their own. This track features a chorus of voices and some great melodies. It is by far the best vocal performance on the album. One could point out many great keyboard sections. The opening keys on "Sane No More" stand out for having an unusual sound and leading a tight rhythm. The scaling guitar work on this track is something of note, too. The musical acrobatics performed on this instrumental track recall the expert precision of Dream Theater. CM relies on their keyboardist as the band's back bone. This over reliance on the keyboards brings atmosphere and emotion to each composition, but also subtracts from the guitars. Quite often the guitars seem to be merely moving the music along, simply building the sound rather than creating memorable riffs. Other times the guitars get too caught up in intricate guitar licks, again becoming forgettable. Also, while the group touches on the album's deeply emotional themes, their music never becomes too impassioned. Apparently these issues are not of much concern because the group has maintained a large following, one large enough to bring them all the way over to the U.S. for the Progpower festival Darren Cowan Back to Reviews