Circle- Katapult
(No Quarter NOO015LP)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
Ok..yet another Circle release from 2007. I believe this is the 6th one. I have managed to get them all except the sold out Vaahto 7” and the sold out Tyrant live. Tough band to collect these days.. Anyway…what is this record all about?? Short (for Circle) strange NWOFHM songs mixed with like some prog music or something…The sound mix is really unique and sends your head off in a spin sometimes. The LP starts off with Saturnus Reality, which has a very intense rhythm, deep vocals by Jussi and some really different synths from Mika. Torpdeo Star Throne is more of the same but with no vocals. Black Black Never Never Land is a melodic piece with a very repetitive vocal line to start and then it goes totally crazy with warped voices, metal guitar soloing (by Krypt), etc…and then back into the more melodic stuff. Understanding New Age has a quite heavy riff and Jussi’s dark voice followed by Mika’s.. Dark bizarre metal. The A side ends with instrumental Tree on the Higher Mountain. Four Points of the Compass starts side B with a repetitive synth line as the deep bass and percussion glide the track into the unknown. Fish Reflection again features Jussi (a bit like Bathory at times!) and this has a metal guitar riff for sure but the guitar is mixed in the back in a strange way and the keyboards float in and out… highly effective.. Skeletor Highway is one of the only relaxed tracks on the LP. The LP ends with the Snow Olympics track, which is the longest at 6½ minutes.
I think this is a much cooler metal record than the Panic one as a lot more strange stuff is mixed in and it has this totally warped sound at times.
Check out the Circle web site at: http://www.circlefinland.com
Visit the record label web site at: http://www.noquarter.net
Reviewed by Scott Heller