Focusing closely to the music of those newcomers from Northern Greece I realized very quickly that Classic Heavy Metal is still a very big source of inspiration for nowadays musicians. On their debut Circle's Line are delivering a massive musical strike of Classic Heavy Metal that should not be missed. Tasos Karapapazoglou (Vocals),
Panos Kaides (Rhythm - Solo Guitars),
Taxiarhes Apostolakopoulos (Bass Guitar) and
Nick Tsilicoudis (Drums) joined forces and the result is their 2013 same titled debut.
Actually the story of this band is a little bit longer, no this is not a quick debut recorded during some nights, there is a little background behind this band: during November of 2011 Tasos Karapapazoglou listened to some music composed by Panos Kaides who is the main composer and spiritual father of this project. Back on the day there was not an actual vocalist for the project and Karapapazoglou proposed to fill the slot. Circle's Line soon became a full band as more musicians were found to complete the rest of the slots. A Promo was released during 2012 and finally this debut is showing the daylight just a month before the end of 2013. Now if you are familiar with Greek Metal scene and you are able to remember names, you probably have already realized that two of the members from the legendary Power / Prog Metallaers Nemesis from Kavala, Greece are participating on Circle's Line. Tasos Karapapazoglou on vocals and Nick Tsilicoudis on drums, furthermore this album marks the return of Karapapazoglou into the lead vocals slot, yes it is a fact that he is one of the best and most characteristic Metal singers on the Greek Territory and every new recording featuring him should be at least checked out with no second thought.
Musically it is more than obvious that the band servers the Classic Heavy Metal genre and they are doing it really well. They are delivering an outstanding mix of -mostly- European Classic Heavy Metal focusing on those lead guitar parts and those riffs that would bring into the listener's mind giant names like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon (all from the UK. Is it random?). I can also clearly listened some Dio -first tow albums- inspired parts and themes on their songs and there are even moments where the band is crossing the US Power Metal line for a little while -for example in the first part of "Book Of Lies". There are lots of melodic moments on the record sometimes carrying an Epic , and dark mood, a good example is the "Dark River" tune. Yes indeed, I should mention the song's brilliant acoustic interlude, IMO this is one of the best compositions included in here thanks to the great riffing and lead parts but also due to the nice acoustic guitar parts that are spread around the composition.
"James' Story" would also stick into your mind thanks to the riffing and "Queen Of Dreams" is actually the most Dio worshiping song in the album but meanwhile it carries a very light US Power / Prog touch. The song becomes really explosive when the melodic guitar parts are taking the main role and Karapapazoglou is hitting those high notes. Mentioning the vocals I can simply say that they are brilliant, I must also point that there are a lot low and mid range vocal parts which are re presenting a very expressive side of Karapapazoglou's voice. I enjoyed to listen him singing this way although I remain a big fan of his high range vocals, fortunately there are lots of those on the record!
One of the album's big surprises of the album is the last song: "Die With Honor" a skull crushing Heavy Metal tune ideal for head banging I enjoyed very much!
If you take sometime to focus a little deeper into the music you would realize that each and every member of the band is delivering a great performance, so yes here we got a passionate record and fortunately the production is doing justice to the final result, so do not expect anything weak in here. Just pure steel as heavy as it can be thanks to the music and to the way its produced.
I would spin the record again and again in maximum volume. I guess that is the only way to listen this kind of music. You would better grab your copy soon and do the same. You can have your six pack with you if you like, I don't like beer that much but I am still enjoying the album! All hail Circle's Line!
Chris Papadakis
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