Gore bloody hell...excuse my French, but you would use that kind of terminology too, if you heard what the set of musicians which hired the Circle brand name for this album, bring on Incarnation!
Anyone with a fleeting knowledge of the Finnish institution known as Circle (whose only constant throughout its lengthy history has been bassist Jussi Lehtisalo) might be aware of the fact that the band went through several different Rock and even mild Heavy Metal stages from album to album, usually flavouring things up with a Psychedelic touch, and occasionally coming forth in quite heavy strength. But I'm certain no one ever expected the Circle brand name to be used by a bunch of musicians from Finland's Underground Extreme Metal scene. Still, that's exactly where the five dudes whom licensed the Circle name for this album come from. To them, of course, it's possibly/ probably (I use certain caution, because at this stage we don't know yet whether the fivesome has future plans for the project) just a one-time project, but o one can deny that the use of the Circle name will garner the Death/ Black outfit more attention that they would have gotten with another bandname. The funny thing is, it will almost certainly give 'em some attention from music lovers whom normally might not listen to such extreme music...and I'm sure some of those people will even look upon this Circle incarnation with a kindly eye!
So, whom are those people who licensed the Circle brand name? For starters, there's singer Jussi Rajala, also the singer/ guitarist of Stench Of Decay (whom, so far, delivered the 2009 demo Where Death And Decay Reign and the 2011 EP Visions Beyond Death). Next up, there's guitarist Rami Simelius, not only the lead guitarist of Stench Of Decay, but also active in that capacity with the band Polluted (which have had no releases thus far). Assisting him on the guitar, but also adding synthesizer sounds, is Ville Valavuo, formerly of Pyrotoxic (delivered 2007 demo Flames Of Armageddon, contributed to the 2008 split release Thrash Clash Volume 4, and put out the one official 2009 EP Midnight), and currently also active as guitarist in the bands Death With A Dagger, Perikato (no releases with the latter yet), and Speedtrap (have released 2008 demo Heavy Metal Raid, 2009 EP Raw Deal, a 2010 split with Death With A Dagger, and the 2013 full-length Cursed Midnight), and as bassist with Death Toll 80K (so far released the 2011 full-length Harsh Realities and a 2012 split with Positive Bastards). On the drums comes another experienced musician of the Finnish Death scene in the person of Markus Hietamies, whose current bands are Stench Of Decay (which he joined in time to contribute to the 2011 EP), Forced Kill (no releases with those yet), and Speedtrap (where he actually twiddles the bass; releases contributed to as in the case of Valavuo.
Together, the guys bring forth an quite unusual type of Death Metal. Exception on the album is the song “Bloodstreams”, which is only 103 seconds in length and quite straight-forward Death with some Crust elements. The other 4 songs are considerably lengthier (from just over 6 minutes to just over 11!), and see the musicians revert to a rather atmospheric Blackened type of Death Metal, of which the title track (which you can listen to at the label's site (www.) ektrorecords.com) is a rather good example. Mind you, the opening minute of the album is constituted of somewhat Ambient background sound (wind?), but once you get to second 68 into that track, you get the full blast of the down-tuned and somewhat repetitive yet always changing music that this fivesome displays. To the inexperienced ear, the music may be somewhat boring, but the more experienced listener will certainly appreciate the underlaying psychedelic (hey...a connection with the Circle of old, after all) twists in both guitar play and used vocals, the latter ranging from grunted lyrics to very disturbed/ disturbing nutty utterings of a higher octave quality!
Count up all the elements, and I would say that those fans of the Circle of old, who dó occasionally to somewhat more Extreme music, will certainly find something of their liking in this Incarnation. Likewise, I'd say that lovers of the more extreme kinds of music whom are not averse to some cleverly incorporated psychedelic elements, will have a lot of fun with the album. Personally, I'm quite eclectic in the music I listen to and like, and I can honestly say that I like this incarnation/ Incarnation of Circle quite a lot. In fact, while writing the review I was listening to the album again, and now that I'm at the end of it, I am seriously considering upping my original rating of the album, in order to allow it a nomination for inclusion into my year-lists! Hum...hard choices one is occasionally confronted with...!