REVIEW: CIRCLE OF NERO - MASSIVE OBLISS

 

CIRCLE OF NERO - MASSIVE OBLISS (Independent, 1999)

Produced by Circle of Nero

Recorded at Walton Recording Studio

Artwork by Chad Michael Ward

Tracks: 1- Church of the Pagan God, 2- Mother Doom, 3- Massive Obliss, 4- Dark Side of Eternity, 5- Walls of Pain, 6- Million Miles Away, 7- Thorizine Dreams, 8- Moon Quake, 9- Hear My Cries, 10- The End

A beautiful intro with some chants and clean guitars open this CD, getting into the first track that is pure heavy metal, in fact it is really progressive heavy metal, with many changes and a vocalist that uses a medium range with some gothic reminiscences which I like more than many of the high pitched guys out there (I don´t know why I feel some Candlemass in some parts....great!!). There is a great guitar work here in the vein of guys like John Petrucci or Savatage with interesting solos (even using a whammy pedal on "Mother Doom"). The sound is really good (it can be a little better on the drums, and maybe it would be a good idea to add some bottom end to the guitar too). This guys have many ideas and they combine a lot of them on each track giving an atmosphere of complexity to the songs. If you like elaborated metal this is definitely for you.

Favorite tracks: "Dark Side of Eternity", "Moon Quake" and "Church of the Pagan God".

Contact: www.circleofnero.com