It’s a subtle thing, really, but it’s those subtle things that separate the pretenders from the contenders. What I’m talking about here, oh waverider, is texture. Having the confidence in the music and the playing to mix things up a bit. Bring in contrast. Nuance.
You can pummel me all you want with screamo growls, chugging guitars, piledriver drums and anger. It won’t impress me. The louder you scream the wider my mouth will gape in a bored yawn. But drop out the guitar, ride a bass riff, allow the noise to settle into an ambient dream, bring back the scream, counter it with a real melody, I mean a real, honest-to-goodness, sing-along melody, and suddenly you have my ear.
And to that regard, this 4 song EP captured my ear, tied it up, and is still holding it for ransom.
Following in a post-Linkin Park world of nu-metal riffs, synth textures, clean and angry vocals, CircleDown look primed to capture that throne that Linkin Park vacated long ago. And they do it their own way. While the Linkin Park reference is the best place to start with these guys, it’s in no way where they end. Heavier than LP ever was, CircleDown toss some serious metal into the fray, along with their tight-as-nails songwriting.
“Halfstep,” brings the contrasting edges of CircleDown to the front right off the bat. Gentle acoustic guitars, ambient textures lead us, guiding us gently, or rather misguiding us to the huge frenetic burst of crashing guitars and assailing beats. Vocals interplay clean and harsh, the occasional rap, with a solid gold melody keeping the whole thing hanging together. And when I say these guys rock harder than LP, I mean HARDER. Mid song breakdown is pure metallic frenzy, which works deliciously with the contrast of the return to the sweet melody. Contrast baby. Texture. It works.
As good as that first track is, “Ashes Falling,” is even better. This baby launches off with a metallic riff just stolen from the glory days of the NWOBHM. A real neckbreaking headbanger, revved up and amped up. The dirty vocals wails off in some personal hellish torment while the clean vocals keep that always present melody anchoring the song. “Crash,” begins with an almost Floyd-ish electro-passage, keys percolating in the foreground while the metal rises underneath. Nice touch, as is the dropout of the riff and the rise of the bass line carrying the verse. The drummer adopts an extra arm or two during this song, finding those extra limbs necessary to fill out some of those beats. “ReConstitute,” launches off all industrial-fury, grinding into a riff that could weld steel together. By this time, the band’s surrises aren’t surprising. I’m expecting a melody about as infectious as metal will allow, some serious chops, a big, soaring chorus, and a nifty instrumental breakdown. The boys never fail to deliver.
What I’ve discussed are just the barebones of this impressive EP. I’ve said nothing of the frankly beautiful, freak-jazz breakdown in “Ashes Falling,” or the muted, ambient stutter stop in “HalfStep.” But then sometimes it’s best to leave something for you waveriders to discover on your own.
If you’ve been wondering what is pop metal will be like in the post LP years. Here it is. Violent and aggressive with the heart of a metal beast and the brain of a tunesmith. Jump in without fear.
--Racer
http://www.circledown.com/
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