CIRCUS MAXIMUS HAVOC 2016 (Frontiers Italy)
Contemporary Progressive Metal Band Circus Maximus has three strong albums in their career putted out since 2005. In which the group's work gains credibility due to their constant search crossing and using; Symphonic, Power and Progressive Metal. As soon as this album is out, we see people already criticizing the orientation of the music in it and how certain song sounds reminiscent to a Marylin Manson tune. Well I can't care less if it sounds or not like a Marilyn Manson song, cause I never cared about Marilyn Manson, and if a Circus Maximus song gets to sound like a Marylin Manson song, so what? nobody has invented anything here then? I don't normally write long reviews on records and if I do, I also won't analyze song by song, unless it's a Musical technical analysis of it, which I also stopped doing a while ago, because people usually are not familiarized with the terms and because its time consuming.
Nevertheless Havoc (released in Italy 3/18/16 on frontiers) which I found about just a few weeks away from it's release, caught my attention because I really enjoyed their previous album "Nine" from 2012.
Well Havoc's Cover was kind of intriguing, by just being a 3d mathematical graphic in the shape of a Prism and a Pyramid, so the package itself it's nicely putted as well and has a second CD with the Japan Live Gig in it.
Havoc goes back to Nine, yet evolves differently away from it too and it sounds good, I enjoyed the long songs and mixture between noise and more structured sonic passages, the keyboard is used as an electronic induced sound device more than a polyphonic Instrument, and when using string and horn arrangements, the sound evokes Neo-progressive pioneers; Marillion and Asia. The Album is more than Nine and not more of the same and as I said before, long.
A couple of nights ago I was reading and Listening to Dream Theater's Octavarium, released around 2004. It's believed that they wrote about a concept based on the Octave note and it concentrated on developing from the major chords and stuff, well coincidentally or at purpose, but for good, Havoc has several songs, as it was Nine written on Standard tuned guitars and Major chords, or first position neck Chords, C, Am, Em, making the album's quieter moments very accessible and memorable.
I'm still far from having the songs echoing in my head, so In the end, a follow up to their previous? I say maybe part II which is not bad, the band's instrumentalists shine solo or together and you have the sense that they are doing what they also enjoy best, consistent metrically and a bit innovative on its more commercial song aspects, yet still sounding heavy, just get the record enjoy the Digi Pack, put earplugs on, lights out! and go away with your mind for a moment.
Don't forget that the final stop is the "Loud park Live in Japan" 2012 extra CD. Rodrigo Trupp(03/27/16)
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