The conveyance of majesty in metal is ubiquitous. While historically reveling in density and muck, the more extreme faces of black and death create stately and impressive displays of grandiosity with symphonic flourishes or doom pace, aesthetics of medieval royalty prevalent. Chord progressions that recall ominous fanfares and morbid processions grant kings of the dead their due, while ghosts kneel to the onslaught. There is freedom in violence, the dead taking revenge in accordance with a law greater than the one that took their lives. The royalty of metal’s darkest ascends the march, the fanfare of man’s folly – a crown of a different authority.
When we discuss this majesty in metal, common threads lead to Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh and their ominous orchestras, the strength of battle in the rhythms of Bathory and Amon Amarth, while colossal vastness grants Ahab its weight or Ataraxie its bleakness. Germany’s The Circle utilizes all of the above in its dense and expansive blend of melodic death, doom, and black metal, capped off by symphonic soundscapes and a Gothic vocal style of both warbling baritone and vicious growls. While predecessor Metamorphosis was a solid platter to serve a king, Of Awakening offers the head of the Baptist. While undeniably decadent and excessive, lacking restraint, it utilizes its influences well, a freely flowing and organically written blend of majestic tones and vicious atmospheric intensity.
Across five tracks, The Circle offers no reprieve to its majestic pummel, as Of Awakening is a far more streamlined and focused affair than Metamorphosis. Opener “Ruins, My Dying World” lets out a battle cry with vicious blastbeats and dense riffs, made further formidable by newcomer Asim Searah’s1 commanding roars. While a melodic death/doom template of Swallow the Sun or October Tide and passages of blasting black metal a la Dark Funeral or Gorgoroth are utilized, the influence of My Dying Bride is prevalent throughout in melancholic strings that soar above the fray. While dancing madly between different influences, The Circle keeps its songwriting tight and focused, relying on majestic chord progressions or mighty baritone refrains as sturdy motifs that ground the sound considerably. The Novembers Doom-esque lament “Afflux” deals in a steady crescendo, building upon Searah’s humble and yearning baritone to crushing axework to a satisfyingly heavy conclusion, while the unhinged blastbeats of the blackened “Reign of the Black Sun” are reminded of their place as the somber conclusion rings. Closer “Ashes and the Falling Tide” combines its influences for a nine-minute odyssey of epic proportions in the best synths of the album. Individual performances are noteworthy: Searah’s charismatic vocals are an easy highlight, guitarist Stanley Robertson’s riffs are dense and powerful, drummer Phillipp Wende easily exchanges blastbeats for doom dirges and complex rhythms (see “Reign of the Black Sun”), and even session bassist Jaako Nikko offers a technical performance that guides each song with fluidity and energy.
The biggest setback to The Circle is also its greatest asset: its lack of restraint. Only “Afflux” offers reprieve in the form of plucking, but even then it quickly reminds us of the intensity. Each track features a relentless bombast of morbidity that recalls a Fleshgod Apocalypse tinged with influences of doom and black metal. While The Circle does an incredible job of fluidly blending what could be wayward styles, Of Awakening is a whirlwind of melodrama. As such, there are simply tracks or passages that lack memorability. Namely, “Ruins, My Dying World” and the title track are relatively straightforward affairs that feel tame by comparison to the back half of the album, and some passages lack the gravitas to stick. In spite of its more-than-digestible runtime of thirty-four minutes, closer “Ashes and the Falling Tides” could stand to lob off a couple minutes, as it features a decent closing passage by the seven-minute mark only to attack with another conclusion.
Of Awakening is slightly uneven, its back half featuring a tasteful unhinged quality, while the dramatic bombast offers little reprieve in its symphonic explosion of death, doom, and black metal, but The Circle accomplishes it with tasteful conciseness and bulletproof songwriting. It’s as majestic as it promises, if not more, with just enough violence to frighten, a charismatic vocalist and solid performances echoing across each movement. Streamlined and chiseled to a regal silhouette from the splatter of its predecessor, Of Awakening is a chronicle of an act a mere stone’s throw from greatness.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: AOP Records
Websites: thecirclemetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/thecircle.metal
Releases Worldwide: August 18th, 2023
