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Rating: The prog-metal undergrowth is inexhaustible!
It indeed feels like we're back to the times of “Images and Words” when the metal market appeared to rediscover a certain way of combining technique and feeling in the service of ambitious compositions capable of moving within multiple genres.
The Norwegians Circus Maximus belong to this new prog-wave that, thanks to the recent successes of Symphony X and Pain of Salvation, gives new life to a genre always followed by fans, even here by me. After all, the strength of compositions like the opener “Sin,” powerful, dark, modern in sound, between oriental suggestions and pompous openings, or like the epic “Glory of the Empire,” blessed by almost folk arrangements, between flutes and acoustics, and with a class-pomp vein worthy of certain Arena, stands there testifying to the real value of ours. The shadow of Kamelot seems to hover over the acoustic-ballad “Silence from Angels Above,” while the two final tracks close the album with a bang: the title-track, martial and symphonic, almost cinematic, articulated in its 19 minutes, seems to pay the right tribute to their muses, while “Haunted Dreams” plays hide and seek with the specter of Queensryche!
The guys all seem very young, hence some naivety; but the quality of their offering is beyond question, good for the aficionado and the newcomer alike!
Recommended 5/5
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Sin (05:53)
All my life I have been a drifter
Going down the paths that had no ending
With Satan on my shoulder, I was an angel of the underground
Nothing could ever stop me
You're losing all, Losing all of control
In the end you will fall
Losing all, You're losing all
Your soul... Will it ever be whole?
I am terrified
In the dark there's no light
She's at the end of the line but she wants to live (to live)
He tastes the fear in her eyes
At the end of this night she will be... gone
What you have taken away from me
Can never come back, I cry all night
The memories I've been given, While the futur you have taken
You left me but a picture in a frame (nothing will ever be the same)
Listen son, I'm the one, Can't you see...
I was there all along
The choice you made can't be undone
Now the price you will pay
You'll be electrified
It's the end of your life
Cause tonight the stars will shine, but not for you(feel it)
Feel the power of the light
You're at the end of the road
You're in my world now, my soul to keep
Eternity is a long way to go
In my world now, your soul is mine
you see there's no way out
For eternity
This is where you will be, "Please let me out of here!"
For eternity
I will keep you down here, "Is there no way out?"
"I can't get out, out of here! Is there anybody listening? To me..."
You can't get out, out of here
"I all alone in the dark..."
It's the end of the line, where you'll be ...
07 The Prophecy (06:44)
When there's no love nor hate in this world
When we reach out our hand to someone
...but that someone is not there
I'm all alone in this forsaken world where time stands
...ooh so still
I remember but now it's time for peace
The world ain't no longer
Hello? Can anybody hear me?
It's in the hands of faith
You keep on walking that same dark road
Where there's no end to see
In these ruins you stand all alone
...while you dream about yesterday
There's no turning back once the tides have changed (tides have changed)
The world ain't no longer
It's in the hands of faith
I woke up in the middle of the night
Outside the rain was covered in red
Thunder and lightning covers the sky
I'm all alone in this forsaken place
What have I done to deserve a life like this
Am I the key? Have I unlocked the mystery to life?
Innocence is the secret to reveal the prophecy
A new beginning predicted by the pages in the sand
Innocence is the secret to reveal the prophecy
The soul survivor stands alone to end this misery
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By Giorrrrrgio
The foundations for a great band are all there, I hope (and believe, all in all) that the band will also find a way to distinguish itself a bit more from their predecessors.
An album I feel like recommending to fans of more straightforward Prog metal, without too many frills.
