Customer Reviews

First Chapter

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wish some prog listeners could look past bands' influences. Yes, Circus Maximus is heavily influenced by Dream Theater, but why does everyone make such a big deal of it? I've had this disc for over seven months now and each successive listen proved to be more rewarding. This is a fantastic debut from a young Norwegian band. It encompasses a wide variety of styles but always keeps them within the boundaries of melodic progressive metal. Vocalist Michael Eriksen is the type of singer every prog metal band would want to have. He has excellent range and killer phrasing. Sometimes I have to think of Geoff Tate circa Operation: Mindcrime, sometimes the amazing Tony Harnell from TNT, and even some AOR vocalists, but one thing remains: Eriksen sings everything with a heavy melodic focus and delivers amazing vocal harmonies throughout. Starting with one of the best album opener's of 2005, "Sin", he belts out jawdropping screams, impressive double vocals, and classic hard rock type of harmonies, whilst the band behind him produce some of the best composed riffs and melodies you'll ever find on a first album. The end of the song is highlighted by a frenetic interplay where every member gets his part to impress the listener.

Central to the album are the keyboards played by Espen Stovo who has unfortunately left the band recently. Stovo provides an array of different sounds and tones, ranging from symphonic synth elements on "Alive" (he also duels wildly with guitarist Mats Haugen at the end) to majestic piano interludes and lots of 70's prog rock organs. On "The Prophecy" the band combines lush acoustic guitars with solemn piano and then abruptly breaks into a riff-laden prog number that is eventually underlied by a beautiful symphonic backdrop utilising a brief analog synth solo along the way. Likewise, the 19-minute title track features a delicately arranged keyboard orchestration in its slowly building intro before the Haugen brothers go into a thrash-inspired instrumental pasage with syncopated drum and guitar accents. Joined by thick bass rhythms, the three players dabble with a killer tech metal experimentation before they suddenly cut out lest Espen Stovo can offer a pretty synth lead akin to those on Flower Kings albums. Because this is a long song and the closing solo by Mats Hauglen is slighly neoclassical, "The 1st Chapter" has been labeled as a Symphony X clone by some, and while I can hear similarities, that's where the comparisons end as far as I'm concerned. Inspired by Roman history, "Glory of the Empire" is another lengthy tune conjuring up images of fierce battles, and displaying Michael Eriksen's most versatile performance. On this song, Eriksen first sounds like an 80's AOR singer during the folky synth lines in the intro before he shows us his Tate-like upper register vocals. The band's instrumental prowess is best presented on the complex "Why Am I Here", a song that I assume must be quite hard to pull off live. The chemistry between the guitars and drums, and the very heavy bass walk, all occasionally backed by sprinkles of keyboards, elevate Eriksen's majestic vocals to a higher level. This song is a work of multi-riffage and constant shifts between time signatures. More technical brilliance is executed on the instrumental track "Biosfear", which could compete with the best tech metallers out there. Haugen lays down choppy guitar licks right from the get-go, while his brother and Glen Mollen on bass form a strong rhythmic backbone to the song. However, once again, it is Storo's stunning keyboard work during the unison solo that makes this piece. Storo makes subtle references to 70's prog and plays beautiful Egyptian melodies on this one.

Besides the amazing musicianship, booklet, and mixing job of Tommy Hansen, The 1st Chapter also deserves mention for its lyrical depth. Michael Eriksen is also a great lyricist. He explores dark themes on some of the songs. For instance, "Sin" is a study in crime, from the perspectives of both the criminal and victim, while on the acoustic guitar and synth-driven ballad "Silence From Angels Above", the lyrics portay the desperation of someone who kills his loved one and then seeks forgiveness and piece of mind through religion.

2005 was a great year for prog metal bands. This disc is most essential to listeners who bought and enjoyed the last albums of Pantommind, Zero Hour, Sieges Even, Redemption, NovAct, Pagan's Mind, and Shadow Gallery.

For all the people saying "they sound too much like Dream Theater," I have one thing to say:

So?

I can *definitely* hear the DT influence in this disc. GREAT! The *style* is fairly similar to DT. GREAT! You see, DT is one of my favorite bands, and if someone wants to put out a CD that sounds like it could have been a Dream Theater disc, I'm OK with that, as long as it's done well and there are no blatant "rip-offs" (ie. half the songs sound just like songs by another band).

The opener ("Sin") gets my vote for song of the year. It grabs you from the opening note, and never lets go. The vocal melodies and harmonies are great, musicianship perfect, and it's almost CATCHY (well, for a prog-metal song). The lyrics tell a story of a murderer and his crime, from 5 different perspectives (murderer, victim, victim's loved ones, God, and Satan), and actually give me chills. Well-written, and delivered with great emotion and range.

Further, "The 1st Chapter" is my vote for prog-metal CD of the year. I've bought about 40 CDs this year (own over 1100), including Kamelot's "The Black halo," DT's "Octavarium," Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing" and Redemption's "Fullness of Time".

All those are also excellent CDs, and if originality is your main requirement, you're welcome to pick another CD for your "CD of the year." But if you love great prog-metal, played by top-notch musicians, with one of the BEST vocalists I've ever heard (equally great live, as are all the musicians), then you OWE it to yourself to check out this CD.

And yeah, *especially* if you like Dream Theater. :-)

WOW! Thats all I can say. I had never heard anything from Circus Maximus before, nothing. Decided to pick up this album after hearing there names come up a lot on the PAGAN'S MIND forums. I popped this disc in, and immediatly the galloping, deep, death metalish sound of Sin kicked me in the chest. I was thinking... "This isn't prog this is Death Metal!" then, the keyboards and odd time signatures kicked in. I knew the music was awesome, but I was just waiting for the vocals. Prog vocals ethier make or break a band, and then a new age Geddy Lee style sound came thrashing in. I knew from this moment this band was AWESOME! A great mix of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Pagan's Mind, and Queensryche this band is amazing.

I don't write reviews for albums on Amazon.com normally, mostly because once I start writing, I can't stop. I wanted to say that it is my opinion that this album is beyond spectacular. I work in a music store in Connecticut, MA, and every time I play this album over the speakers, it sells, or at least arouses the interest of customers.

The main reason I wanted to write this review, however, is to say this: Yea, there are similarities between this band and Dream Theater. But people really should just stop pointing that out. Every modern progressive metal band will sound like, or at least have elements of, Dream Theater. Why is this? It's due to the fact that Dream Theater took all the styles of the 70's prog greats (Kansas, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, etc.) and combined them together to make their music. It is therefore IMPOSSIBLE for a modern progressive metal act not to sound like Dream Theater. Don't get me wrong, I love Dream Theater. They revived the progressive genre by perhaps the only means possible, and they sounded excellent doing it. I don't care who sounds like who; If it's good, then it's good, and that's that. These newer progressive bands aren't necessarily trying to emulate Dream Theater; they just have the same influences. And so what if they sound similar to Dream Theater!? If you like Dream Theater, then you like Circus Maximus, Ice Age, Threshold, Shadow Gallery, Pagan's Mind, Ivory Tower, Dreamscape, and on and on. Every one of those bands also has their own sounds that they bring to the table. they are by not "Dream Theater clones." Circus Maximus is heavier with a lot of Emerson, Lake & Palmer elements, Pagan's Mind is much heavier and honestly has better guitar work (amazing!), Threshold has a much more British feel and is more hard-rock than metal, and Shadow Gallery is softer and a bit more emotional with a lot of piano work and create soothing soundscapes. Stop crying about it, buy the albums, and enjoy them. You can find all sorts of sites, especially the groups' homepages, where you can sample the music. Look at them as something to be appreciated at face value, and don't worry about who they sound like. That's what makes a genre. Groups of bands that all sound similar. And for my money, Circus Maximus' debut is better than anything Dream Theater has released in years. Perhaps even better than Images & Words, and if not, then just as good. If you are looking for bands in the progressive metal genre that are of a bit of a differnt style from Dream Theater and their "clones," as you may like to call them, check out Artension, Andromeda, Ark, Evergrey, etc.

This review was not meant to piss anybody off. If it did, and you are someone who wrote a review that this review was targeting, then just think of how much your reviews piss the people off that love these bands that you call "Dream Theater wannabes."

Dear Reader

If you enjoy listening to Dream Theater, Symphony X, Pagans Mind, Shadow Gallery and such band you should definately check out this killer album.

The album was released here in Norway the 14th of may 2005 and my copy has been in my CD player ever since, I just can't stop listening to this excellent piece of work, only a few albums have been visiting before the 1st chapter hi-jacks the CD player again.

Circus Maximus ( http://www.circusmaximussite.com ) is a norwegian band containing 5 excellent musicians. The band is influenced by a wide variety of music and you can easy hear the influences from time to time, but still they do not clone their inspirations. They have a unique blend/mixture of the influences and thus gives a fresh breath into the progressive metal scene.

I'm giving this album 5 stars of 5 possible and sure do hope that you enjoy the album, at least almost as much as I do.

Highly recommended. :-D

Best regards
Simon - Norway

Wow! Simply Amazing! How are these guys staying under the radar?! So far this cd has been the surprise purchase of the year. It hasn't left my cd player in three months. I bought this cd because I love prog metal (Angra, Symphony X, Fates Warning, etc.) and I had heard this band sounds like Dream Theater. Already liking Dream Theater, I figure what have I got to lose. Well, let me tell you this was money worth spending.
Every one of these guys just shred on here. The singer is just phenomenal! Amazing range, incredible tone, and very melodic! There's not a bad song on here. Everything works on this cd. Imagine Dream Theater's Images and Words or Queensryche's Empire. There wasn't a bad note on those cds, everything just fits perfect and Circus Maximus has done just that. This cd is full of intelligent songs with awesome phrasing, killer melodies, and plenty of odd timed sigs. The production on this cd is crystal clear. Nothing gets lost in the mix. I was surprised, especially since this cd is their first. I hope they keep the same production team for round two.
Like the other reviewer said, if they sound like Dream Theater.
SO?
If they're good enough to pull off Dream Theater, shoot, let 'em. Maybe this will prompt Dream Theater to start sounding more like Dream Theater! I'm not trying to piss anyone off. I'm just hoping for another Images and Words. Anyway, if you love prog metal that's insanely structured, technical with odd time sigs but has a melody you can remember. Than look no further than Circus Maximus. GREAT job guys!
Also, some other killer prog bands worth checking out are: Seventh Wonder from Sweden and Solid Vision from Italy.
P.S. If you love this singer, he also sings for Carnivora, a band out of Norway. Ronni Le Tekro (TNT) also contributes on the cd. Unfortunately, the cd is an import and hard to find....

I couldn't disagree more with the one-star reviewer. Sure, there may be some similarities with DT and SyX, but a lot of prog metal bands have elements that sound like each other. The real test is whether the songs are good. The songs on this album are amazing. "Sin" is one of the coolest songs I've heard.
"Alive" is also very enjoyable. "Biosfear" is a great instrumental with smoking guitar. I enjoy every song on this album. There are a lot of different moods and textures, from smooth and soothing to ferocious. The singer is great. He has an awesome high range, and honestly sounds nothing like Labrie or Russell Allen. If you like great prog metal, no matter what bands they may sound familiar to, then Circus Maximus will surely please.

Just to tell some of you just how good this CD is, here is the scoop. I heard a song by them on an internet radio station from Munich Germany 2 weeks ago, got on-line and found a place to download the whole CD for $1.00, listened to it over & over, then realized just how much I loved it, then I went back on-line and acutally purchased the CD because I felt the band deserves my money, not $1.00. That is how good this CD is.

Yes It does have elements of Symphony X and Dream Theater, but it has what Symphony X and Dream Theater to a lesser extent lacks are the powerful and emotional choruses. The guitarist is great (he's no Romeo or Petrucci, but nobody is) and i think the singer is absolutely excelent. This album has the emotion and the talent which I think gives it its own sound.

When I got this CD and gave it a spin, I didn't find the band too entralling. However, now, two weeks later, I can't stop listening to them and do think they have lots of potential. This may also be because I think the music is a bit more difficult: lots of changes of tempo, rhythmically jazzy. But it should be true of any good prog; so it's a truism.

The band DOES sound very much like Dream Theater, as other reviewers have already noted. Is it bad? I personally do not think so. I think it's quite a compliment to be compared to DT; if anything, it shows their musical virtuosity. The vocals are quite similar as well (at times, also sound like ... Europe - remember them? :) Even when they DO sound like DT, it should be no complaint. How many bands master that level of performance?

In any case, I do think that this band is worth the attention. It's funny, but you get their CD, listen to it, find it so DT-like and then you wonder what's their next album will be like; will they find their own sound/form? Even if not, they're GOOD, the music is well-written and performed.

Anyway, I am waiting for their next album, and hope it will be at least as good. 4 stars only for not being perfect...