Released By : Self Released
Genre : Hard Rock, Metal
Links : http://www.vividcircus.com
Tracklist:
01. Misled
02. Erase Your Name
03. Brand New
04. Enter The Circus
05. The Rage
VIVID CIRCUS are a young up and coming band from the Netherlands, and if this little five track demo is anything to go by they may just well have a bright future ahead. While the band call themselves a hard rock outfit, which to so extent I agree with, they also have a strong leaning toward Dream Theater style progressive metal and even a bit of a NWOBHM influence here and there. This makes for a very interesting concoction, and one that is quite hard to place into a genre.
While being different, and having something unique to offer can be a blessing, there is also the risk of alienating too many people. For example on this demo, the hard rock element may be just a little too heavy for rock fans to really to get into and the slight progressive elements are probably to plain to really excite the metal crowd, so it’s interesting to think what their actual target audience could be. However, that doesn’t mean I think they should do anything different that what they’ve done, because their sound is a bit of a breath of fresh air for these tired ears of mine that hear so much samey stuff these days.
MISLEAD, the opening track begins with a great bit of riffing that is like a cross between WHITESNAKE and IRON MAIDEN then blends its way into a DREAM THEATER style chorus. ERASE YOUR NAME follows this trend and even adds some guitar squeals that give it a real modern feel to it. BRAND NEW is a bit drab compared to the first two tracks and would be my least favorite of the demo. ENTER THE CIRCUS is a purely instrumental track that shows the bands true progressive leanings and is actually quite good. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have an instrumental track on a five song disc, but it does do a good job of showing the technical songwriting chops of the band. Closing track THE RAGE reminds me of AVANTASIA with JORN LANDE singing but obviously not quite up to the same level of greatness, but still a very good tune.
This five track demo definitely does a good job of showing what VIVID CIRCUS are capable of, and to be honest really has be excited to find out what they can do with the luxury of a full album, and that’s exactly what demos are supposed to be for, so congratulations guys mission accomplished… Now hurry up and get a full length album done for us all to hear. One small criticitsm I do have to give is that the included bio information sheet that came with the disc was all in their native tongue, now if you’re planning on breaking out into a world market you at least need to ensure that your post-out information has an English component too.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 7/10
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