Circus Maximus - Isolate (2007)

I was waiting for something to force me to actually write in this again, and here it is. Circus Maximus is back with their second album entitled Isolate to follow up their acclaimed first release The 1st Chapter. I'm going to explain just what it is that Circus Maximus is all about.

This band isn't reinventing progressive metal. In fact, they're really not bringing anything new to the table, at all. What they do do, however, is take the best aspects of already established, talented bands and combine them into a tweaked, refined version of their own. If Symphony X and Dream Theater were to combine sounds, you'd get Circus Maximus. And, in that sense, they're breathing life into a genre full of ever-expanding crap.

Technical music is becoming incredibly popular. Because of that, tons of bands are emulating Necrophagist in a never-ending quest for record sales. It seems as though Circus Maximus may have stumbled onto the secret of creating progressive metal without the aid of overzealous, pointless guitar masturbation.

Surprisingly enough, I never wrote a review about this band's first release, The 1st Chapter. Long story short, it's brilliant. It may be the best debut album of any band I've ever heard, save Savage Circus' Dreamland Manor. It has reached critical acclaim amongst the progressive metal community since its release in 2005. With vocals borrowed from bands like Rush, and instrumentals borrowed from bands like Kamelot, Symphony X, and Dream Theater, Circus Maximus continues to impress with Isolate, a feat many thought would be impossible.

Upon initial listening, I was not all that impressed with this album. It wasn't bad, sure, but it didn't have the hooking power of the first release. Then, as I listened to it a bit more, something seemed to have clicked. It was at this point that I recalled my first listening to The 1st Chapter. I had written off the band as another struggling, copycat progressive band. Only after having listened to the album several times did I begin to see it for what it was. Sure enough, Isolate seems to follow the same trend.

During the recording of this new album, the band's keyboardist, Espen Storø, left the band to be replaced shortly after by Lasse Finbråten. One wouldn't be able to tell the difference, had they not known about the change. I applaud Circus Maximus on an excellent choice of a new keyboardist. With that said, I'll divulge some information on a few of the tracks off the album.

The album starts off with A Darkened Mind, which is follows a rather typical progressive formula of a few bridges and choruses that break into a keyboard/guitar interlude which then comes back into another chorus. But, in its predictability, however, A Darkened Mind manages to start the listener off quite well. The chorus is catchy and fun, which offers interesting transition into Abyss.

I'm not going to lie and say Abyss' lyrics aren't totally gay, because they are. Obviously, there are very dark undertones to this song, but I feel as if they may have gone a little overboard with the references to slashed wrists and leaping into some sort of abyss. The thing about this song is that, if you're not listening to the lyrics, you wouldn't be able to tell that it's got darker themes to it. Michael Eriksen's high pitched falsettos make it very hard to envision what they're attempting to communicate, but if you listen, you won't miss it. Anywho, this song is rather awesome, lame vocals aside. The guitar work about 3/4 in is flawless. I very much enjoy it.

Wither seems to be the most popular of the album, which perplexes me. It's the song they released on their Myspace before the album actually came out. As I stated, this is strange, as I feel Wither is probably the weakest song on the album. It's understandable, though, because it's the most radio friendly. I have nothing else to say. Rather weak song, obviously driven by the desire to reach a new audience.

Sane To More is spectacular. Much like Biosfear, off The 1st Chapter, it's completely instrumental and full of epically progressive goodness. I've listened to this song far too many times. It really showcases the new keyboardists obvious talents. Very, very good.

In the interest of keeping this review enjoyable and not tedious, I'll cut it at that. There are 5 more songs on the album, and each of them is very impressive.

My criticism is as follows. Isolate is vocally and instrumentally identical to The 1st Chapter. There is no new ground covered. Whether this is good or not is up to the listener, but I feel as though they could have shifted a bit. Hell, at least Adagio has been experimenting with heavier vocals. It's not really all that bad, because they have a style that rocks and they're good at reproducing it while keeping it fresh. I'm looking forward to their evolving a bit with their next release, though.

All in all, very impressive album. I'll be sure to purchase it when it comes out some time in August.

9.5/10