Circle of Silence
The Rise of Resistance

Circle of Silence are back, that is some good news as I really liked their album The Blackened Halo which I reviewed in 2011. Now they are back with a vengeance perhaps, a rise of resistance is what they propose. Resistance to what? is the obvious question. Is it the integrity invading abusers of poor and world destroying companies like google, facebook, apple, wallmart, ikea and whatever they are called? Those who step on the poor and use people to earn a small amount of money, their methods are different but their evil is the same, I hope it is them the resistance is aiming to destroy. They all deserves to burn in hell which fortunately Steve Jobs already do, lets hope Kamprad and whatever the names of the big guys in the other companies soon will do as well. Anyway lets not waste the space by hating those worthy of hatred, what about Circle of Silence?

Their fourth album is fairly similar to their third album. It is power metal of the heavier style, that which is usually called US power metal. A style that can be heard from bands like Mystic Prophecy and so on, excellent production is what they have here and they are heavy, they are quite raw. The sound is brilliantly raw and unpolished but having heard them earlier I think they are rather polished as they sound the same as before. The vocals are great and raw as well and the songs are fairly varied. The album sort of ties it together in a nice way as it starts and ends in a fairly similar fashion. Nothing new though, it is as it was before, so if you were looking for a progression you will not find it.

Fifty minutes of good power metal is what we have here, I like the album even though it is not as good as the prior album. It lacks a distinct hit song, it does not feel as fresh as the prior one either. Even though I like it, I feel it is not up to the task of really following the predecessor. I wonder if the band has already started copying themselves, there is certainly a strong case in this album which gets a rating that stays in the middle of the scale.

The ending track is the sharpest one on the album and a really likeable track, as well as an excellent ending. As endings go there isn’t many that is better than this one, so it really leaves on a high note. Before that though, we see good tracks but none that really catches my attention which is a pity. This album is good but it is not as good as the one the preceded it, which of course was what I had been hoping for. I have to admit that I had expected more from this album, or maybe I was just hoping for more and not just a repeat of the latest and greatest.

I think that with this album Circle of Silence prove that they can consistently deliver top class power metal, this album might be a bit of a downer to a reviewer who always look for new and exciting stuff and despises stagnation. This album is a bit of a stagnation compared to the previous one but still, if you like The Blackened Halo you will like this one as well. It is a good album, the power metal fan will probably enjoy it.

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