Savage Circus
Dreamland Manor

THE REVIEW

A piece of advice for those who think that power metal is a genre exclusively reserved for overly festive bands akin to some sort of Cugini di Campagna on a trip to Germany, or to baroque, orchestral, pompous, and tiresome groups: listen to this record. Year 2005: Thomen/Thomas Stauch, the powerful drummer of Blind Guardian, who probably got tired of accompanying the hyper-symphonic music of the latest releases by his bard colleagues and, due to disturbances such as gagging, flatulence, and irresistible diarrheal urges, left the band in 2005 to return to playing direct, fast, raw, pounding power-speed, also melodic but not excessively, which thrilled him so much when he played during the golden era of the Guardian. So, our hero calls upon Piet Sielck and Yenz Leonhardt, respectively guitarist and bassist of Iron Savior (a hardcore power-metal band in which the legendary Kai Hansen once played, and which I naturally recommend everyone to listen to), and 2 young Swedes from Persuader: Jens Carlsson, singer, and Emil Norberg, another guitarist. The guys work hard and in no time produce this exceptional album: Dreamland Manor. The sound is compared by many of the few who know of this band's existence to that of Blind Guardian in the '90s, and some of these critics accuse the members of the Wild Circus of being just a copy of the Teutonic band. Indeed, it’s difficult to distinguish Jens Carlsson’s singing from that of the much more famous Hansi Kürsch, and certain riffs and choruses surely bring to mind albums like Imaginations From The Other Side, but that doesn’t mean the album should be poorly judged. If the Bards of Krefeld had released this record instead of A Twist in the Myth, many would have hailed it as a masterpiece and wouldn’t have accused them of being a band in decline. In Dreamland Manor, indeed, all the songs, some more than others, are enjoyable and there is no flaw or drop in tone that would prevent giving the fateful five stars to the album. Among the 9 songs, I highlight these as the best: Evil Eyes, the opening track, fast, aggressive and never banal, supported by a fantastic drumming work, Between The Devil And The Seas and Tomorrowland, which besides the usual power-speed pace contain truly exceptional choruses for melody and vocal power expressed, and finally I also recommend Beyond Reality, the ballad of the album, melodic and engaging.

In conclusion, I hope I have recommended you a good record and, God willing, see you in the next review.