Circle II Circle - Seasons Will Fall

Published January 23 2013

*=Staff's pick	Diamond Blade Without A Sound* Killing Death Epiphany End Of Emotion Dreams That Never Die* Seasons Will Fall Never Gonna Stop Isolation Sweet Despair Downshot* Only Yesterday

Genre	Heavy / Progressive Metal	Zak Stevens	Vocals
Tracks	12	Christian Wentz	Guitar
Running time	68 Min.	Bill Hudson	Guitar
Label	Ear Music	Mitch Stewart	Bass
Release	28 January 2013	Adam Sagan	Drums
Country	USA	Henning Wanner	Keyboard
Producer	Circle II Circle
Similar artists	Savatage

Former Savatage singer Zak Stevens and his Circle II Circle are back with their sixth full length release and with an almost complete new lineup, leaving only Stevens and long time bassplayer Paul Michael "Mitch" Stewart as the remaining members from their last release, 2010's Consequence Of Power.

Seasons Will Fall takes off where they left. The band's somewhat complex and progressive heavy metal are still there. It's stylish, but I'm missing those moments where it totally rocks. The songs are rather good all through and especially many of the choruses have a cool flow, but still after dozens of spins, this release really can't find its way to my heart and soul. It's like they're stuck in third gear and can't find a way to accelerate into next level to get that momentum. The songs follow the same written path and even if the record is diverse in itself, it really never catches my full attention.

I can't find one song that is bad. On the other hand, I think heavier track, Downshot, is the only great song all through. It's still Circle II Circle in every moment and perhaps that's what bothers me. Stevens' voice is still great and the guitarplay is cool, even if I miss those killer riffs. Just speculating, but someone told me the other day, that this band is just hanging in there until we see a coming Savatage reunion and with that in mind, perhaps the core of the band lost their focus to create another masterpiece. I'm not that satisfied with this outcome and I was expecting way more, and Seasons Will Fall lands on a decent 5 chalices.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	5	7	8	4

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe