The good thing about music is that it keeps evolving. Specifically in the sounds of progressive metal there has been great evolving. With bands like Meshuggah and Periphery holding the flag there have been lots of new bands that constitute the so-called Djent scene. Djent is not a genre; it is a specific guitar sound which was named by Meshuggah. The specifications of these bands (except from the Djent sound) are the extreme technicality and sound experimentations.
With that being said, Circles is one of those bands that use the Djent sound. “The Compass” is a mini album with 6 songs. The songs have a nice balance between technicality and melodic moments, making the album enjoyable to a wide range of listeners.
The album opener starts with an electronic influenced sound which I think is overused in some of the tracks. There are some scratches that really bugged me while I was listening to the album because they were overlapping some great guitar riffs from Matty Clarke and Ted Furuhashi.
Also, the vocals of mister Perry Kakiridas (He might be Greek, the band is from Aussie after all) are twofold. There are some points that I really hated his voice. His growls are too squeaky for my tastes and some of the clean vocals are too childish but in most of the choruses he really amazed me. The reason why the band blended technicality with melodic parts is Perry Kakiridas’s voice. The melodic choruses in the songs are really breathtaking and travelling.
“Clouds are Gathering” and “The Design” are the best songs in this E.P. Great riffs and really progressive moments with exceptional bridges and choruses.
A great start for this band which has yet to release their debut full length album. But certainly the band from Australia will get the attention of the fans.
