The Pitch: Witness the birth of a new progressive metal mainstay with the djenty tunes of Circles via Season Of Mist. FFO: Periphery, Textures, Tesseract
What I Like: It appears that the death of Textures was like that of the mythical Hydra: cut off its head and 3 more take its place. Circles is the latest group to follow in this same vein of groovy, melodic, technical metalcore. With a vocalist every bit as soulful as Pieter Verpaalen and compositions equally rewarding and transcendent, The Last One gives me hope that no great sound can ever truly be left behind. It is a multi-faceted and powerfully dynamic journey that demands your attention from the catchy, energetic opener "Winter" to the very last notes of "Alone With Ghosts." Deeply thoughtful, it takes the listener on a dreamy, introspectful journey that evokes images of blue skies and wispy, white clouds with some thunder and lightning to keep things interesting.
Critiques: A bit more thunder and lightning would go a long way. I’m fine with getting soft and sappy, but it needs to be offset by just the right balance of heaviness. More “Blueprints for a Great Escape,” less “The Messenger.”
The Verdict: While I would prefer a little more oomph in the overall runtime, The Last One is a very impressive and layered experience that should be a huge crowd pleaser in the prog and metalcore camps. Circles are a band to watch moving forward.
Flight's Fav's: Winter, Tether, Dream Sequence
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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