CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Five years after the successful release of the concept album “Isolate”, this time Circus Maximus are back with a strong and mature cd. “A lot happened in our personal lives during the past few years”, explains drummer Truls Haugen. “Three of us had kids, plus we also had a several bumps in the road with the production. So it has not exactly been a joyride, but it feels great to finally be done, and after all this time we are ready to unleash our new monster!”
Circus Maximus spent anyway their time also working hard to further refining their sound. With “Nine” they are poised to take their place alongside the upper echelon of Progressive Metal bands. The band’s musical formula is not easy to accomplish – take jaw dropping musicianship, add a singer like Michael Eriksen with a voice from heaven and toss it together with hooks, anthemic melodies and enough groove and heavy riffing that really gets into your head.
For this new record the band presents the best of both worlds – offering their most melodic and at the same time heaviest moments of their repertoire, with class and maturity which is really from another world. “The majority of the material on the new record was written by Mats Haugen and he has taken the music to a kind of simpler and more accessible approach, yet kept the progressive elements and the “nerve” that is Circus Maximus” says Truls Haugen. “We’re actually more melodic and heavier on this new record than we’ve ever been”.
The re-defining sound, the songwriting and the clever production, highlights the band as one of the leading, original Progressive-Metal band around. “Nine” is an absolute contender for Top Album of the year, transcending the boundaries and subgenres of Hard Rock music!