Zachary Stevens (performed vocals on fantastic Edge Of Thorns album by Savatage amongst others) and his crew CIRCLE II CIRCLE did change their course a little bit! They play impelling Power Metal as usual, but this time it turns out to be heftier than in the past.
Due to its title the introducing Fatal Warning surprises with rhythms pushing forward enormously in combination with firing guitars and drum explosions. Unfortunately the refrain is no reason for enthusiastic reactions, but reminds of heavier Savatage opening tracks resembling to Taunting Cobras in its intensity. Next track Dead Of Dawn does not fall in that intensely, but kicks off powerful. Playful harmonies and Zak’s expressive voice enrich this piece. An elegiac solo is in slight contrast to the direct build-up offering a short acoustic guitar element in the end.
I wonder about the missing piano sounds… they can be heard only marginally during the composition Forever, presenting an interesting guitar solo in addition. I also liked the ballads in the past, but this facet shows up in fourth song Echoes primary; for the first time I feel goose pimps caused by nice sounding voice’s timbre. This tactic may please all listeners caring about the calm musical aspect during the ballad Every Last Thing again. In this case powerful ingredients are also present and finally CIRCLE II CIRCLE let the song die away with a multi vocal canon chant.
In general, Delusions Of Grandeur disperses more power than melancholy, more haunting aggression than caressing romanticism, more straightforwardness than coltish arrangements. Consequently I miss magic and intense moments that made CIRCLE II CIRCLE emotional in high grade. So the new effort turns out to be more cumbersome and quite difficult accessible, but it offers profound depth replacing apparent catchiness after a few turns – that’s the reason for a work with long term effect.