Review Summary: All in all, "The 1st Chapter" is an awesome album that would appeal to all Dream Theater fans alike
Circus Maximus is a Progressive Metal Band from Oslo, Norway. Their music is much in the line of bands like Dream Theater. The vocals are all clean, and many songs contain technical wankery, though not terrible in any way. The band is made of five members. Michael Eriksen sings on vocals, Lasse Finbraten plays keyboards, Mats Haugens is in control of the guitars, Truls Haugen beats the drums, and finally, Glen Cato Mollen plays bass. Between 2000-2005, Espen Store played the keyboards and did so for this album as well. The band shows excellent talent in their instruments, and I'm surprised they are almost unknown here.
The "The 1st Chapter" is the first of two albums by the band, the second having been released this year. The band seems to have a "circus theme" that can sometimes be heard throughout the songs. The album is a concept album of sorts about a journey to salvation that is evident in some of the lyrics, such as in the title track,
"The journey begins beyond the mountains far away, where the sun doesn't shine, and the rainfall begins."
The album opens with "Alive" and "Sin". "Alive" is full of energy and serves as a proper opener giving the listener a taste of the their talent as muscians, as well as how the songs are structured themselves. "Alive" begins slower than the previous but soon picks up the pace and leads into "Glory of the Empire."
The album's lyrics also allude largley to the Roman Empire, as shown in songs such as "Glory of the Empire" and "Imperial Destruction". The previous brings the 2000 "Gladiator" film to mind. Beginning with a soothing acoustics to a large ten-minute song, complete with piano and plenty of distortion. The songs speaks on being betrayed and brothers uniting.
A highlight from the album for me is "Silence from Angels Above". Clocking at about four minutes, it is the shortest song on the album and is also a ballad. Mostly acoustic with strings that are neatly positioned for great effect. Later, a woman's vocals join Micael and the song truly becomes emotionional. The chorus is very strong as he feels betrayed,
"Silence from angels above, Leading us behind in a time when we are in need, Of someone to hold close to your heart, I am just another leaf falling down...On the ground."
A ballad like this is very important for this type of band. It establishes that they can write songs to match their technical prowess and can come back to earth for ballads such as this. I would even go as far to say, that it challenges "The Spirit Carries On" by Dream Theater, as one of the best ballads by a metal band that I have ever heard. The band seems to be able to write other great chorus's such as in "Why Am I here?"
Approaching the end of the album, you are met with the grand title track. Clocking at nearly twenty minutes, it is indeed massive. The song is executed very well, as it doesn't seem to drag. Horns, strings, distortion, and drums are all present and make this one an astounding journey. A grand album-closer.
All in all, the "The 1st Chapter" is an awesome album that would appeal to Dream Theater fans, and possiblely fans of Orphaned Land's "Mabool", though minus the harsh vocals. I'm very glad I stumbled onto this and I would like to look into their new album. I hope they get more attention in time.
