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Ninth Circle - The Power Of One

Published February 20 2010


*
=Staff's pick

Frontman*
The Power Of One*
The Journey
Where No One Lives
Our Last Days*
How Many Times*
Fire Falling
Hour 21
Obsession
If It Bleeds
The Trooper
Prisoner Of The World


Genre Traditional/US Power Metal
Dennis Brown
Vocals
Tracks 12
Dennis Brown
Guitar
Runningtime 51 Min.
-
Guitar
Label Ninthcircleworld Records
Frank Forray
Bass
Release 12 September 2008
Robert Gallegos
Drums
Country USA
Dennis Brown
Keyboard
Similar artists Eidolon, Armored Saint, Iron Maiden, Total Eclipse

When it comes to a band's influences, the artists which inspired the musicians of a new generation, it is important to balance recognition of those influences with one's own individual vision of creativity. If one shows too little of their influences, then it could be said that they are not true to their musical background. Some bands have succeeded brilliantly in creating an original sound this way-indeed, heavy metal is a very derivative sort of style, one generation of bands drawing inspiration from the successes and failures of those who came before them. The early pioneers of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal fall into this category, and we should all be grateful for it.

However, there is another extreme: That of trying to sound too much like one's influences; in this situation the artist sounds exactly like a band or a group of bands, creating a "heard-it-all-before" sound. This was the rule in the early 90s when legions of nearly identical black metal bands reared their horned heads over Norway, and in the early part of this decade as uncountable numbers of simply awful metalcore bands slamdanced into the limelight in the United States.

Ninth Circle, unfortunately, fall into the latter category. Whether intentionally or not they have created an album which sounds a dead ringer for many other bands. Nearly everything on this album reminded me-a bit much at times-of something I'd heard before. This is a disappointing fact, as American Power metal needs all the quality acts it can accrue.

That is not to say that this album is not without its merits. Indeed, from a production standpoint it is nearly flawless. The cover art and liner notes were obviously well-thought out and paid for handsomely: the CD is dead beautiful. Aesthetically, this package is simple, professional, and fairly nondescript. Whether this would entice a potential listener depends entirely upon the listener.

The guitars, courtesy of Dennis Brown, and Frank Forray's pounding bass are perfectly mixed: everything can be heard very nicely-although in some instances, the lead guitars seem buried in the mix-but only just. Dennis Brown is obviously quite the accomplished guitarist, and he plays like a pro: his solos are tastefully done, but occasionally devolve into a bit of predictable noodling. His tone is nearly identical to Eidolon stringsman Glen Drover's Coma Nation crunch.

The Drums, professionally pounded by Robert Gallegos (listed as an "additional musician" in the liner notes) are nice and crisp, with plenty of thump and crash in all the right places, but do sound a bit digital at times. No worries there, because Gallegos does nothing which requires a great deal of articulate quality throughout the album. His fills are few and far between; he simply drives the songs forward, and never misses a beat or breaks tempo at any point in this album. This is a feat that should be envied by other drummers!

The vocals, once again courtesy of bespectacled belter Dennis Brown, sit nicely on top of the mix. Brown has a fairly strong voice. He handles the highs nicely, rarely faltering, and his diction is superb. Sometimes he slips a bit off pitch when moving from one note to the next, but this is easy to do when singing in such a demanding style as this-I speak from experience in this matter. The backing vocals are layered at times, and this is done cleanly, but in a quite predictable manner. Brown's lyrical phrasing is one of the original points on the album, as he places words on and off of the beats and never seems to follow a traditional pattern like so many metal singers do.

The album carries the 80s power metal sound to the very end, starting off strong with the Armored Saint soundalike Frontman, which sports a neat acapella vocal intro and a very catchy chorus. Then we discover the Power Of One, a hallowed apparition of duelling lead guitars and melancholic chord progressions. Following an interesting Keyboard intro, we take a very Aska-like Journey. Where No One Lives and Our Last Days are once again nods to Eidolon, particularly the latter.

A breath of fresh air comes in the form of How Many Times, a nice slow 6/8 shuffle with quite the catchy chorus. This song is perhaps the shining moment on the album.

The album takes a turn for Britain next. Fire Falling is a tune straight out of the Raven/Grim Reaper playbook, with notable nods to the NWOBHM. Hour 21 is pure Maiden, particularly the intro. Obsession delves into the NWOBHM again, with love story lyrics, riffs, and solos straight from the period.

From here, the album falls flat. If It Bleeds is a slower number with a nice bit of intricate guitar work, but is poorly placed. Perhaps it would have done better earlier in the album, as a counterpoint of variety against the more uptempo material. Prisoner Of The World is wholly unnecessary, as most metal ballads unfortunately end up being. I had hope for this one, but alas, I was disappointed.

And between these two is a throwaway cover of Iron Maiden's classic "The Trooper." This, again, was unnecessary, as the style of the band's work is derivative enough of these masters to make yet another Tennysonian tale a trifle trite.

To sum this one up: The Power Of One is an overwhelmingly well produced album of underwhelmingly heard-it-before 80s power metal. It is one which grew on me with a few listens, but not enough to warrant regular rotation. I would really like to see this band step out of their comfort zone and produce more original-sounding music. I can tell from listening to this album that they are quite talented enough to become one of the frontrunners in the American power metal scene should they do so.

Performance
Originality
Production
Vocals
Songwriting

7,5

2,5

9,5

7,5

6

 
Summary



5,5 chalices of 10 - Nate


Related links:

www.ninthcircle.us
www.myspace.com/ninthcircleworld