KATAPULT

It's official. We can't deny it any longer. Circle is the most eclectic band that Progressive Rock has seen since King Crimson. Over the course of 6 albums and 2 years this band has covered genres as wide as Psychedelic Prog Metal, Avant-garde, Minimalism, Krautrock Metal, Fusion, Progressive Electronic, "Kraut Punk" and now Black Metal (and don't get me started on their earlier releases...). How diverse can a band possibly be! In this year alone they've changed to most of those genres mentioned and they don't look like they're going to slow down any time soon.

In Katapult we see Circle in another weird combination of sounds. While their Krautrock influence is still very omnipresent (as well as their Prog influences) they've added the rawness and heaviness of Black Metal. The music may sound like a novelty (heck!, they may even be turning into a novelty band since late 2006), but they've made it clear that they take their music very seriously even though they don't sound intellectual or don't take themselves seriously at all. When Circle takes a genre under their wing don't expect it to sound exactly like it, they transform it into their own little lab experiment. The results depends on whether you have high speciation or not and if you're already acquainted with their drastic changes in their musical style.

Now to the music. First of all this is Circle's heaviest album to date (it isn't saying much compared to other bands, but it's the heaviest they've done). The vocals have been switched on this album. Mika isn't the main vocalist on this album, Jussi is and he's growling! (well, sort of). The vocals sound very engaging and makes the music much more enjoyable than if Mika was the lead vocalist (No offense to Mika, but his high-pitched vocals wouldn't fit well with this music), although he does sing in some places. The music sounds very layered on this album. There are tribal drumming like their "Forest" album in the background while at the same time there are acid-like synth washes (or even a piano like in "Fish Reflection") and on top of that the rest of the band (drums, guitars, bass, vox) pummeling through. There's one exception though, it seems that they really enjoyed making those Tangerine Dream influenced songs of their "Panic" album so they made one for this album as well named "Four Points Of The Compass". There are also some songs that are quite different from the rest like "Skeletor Highway" and "Tree On The Higher Mountain" which has Circle's trademark sound, but still sound nothing like what they've done before (perhaps their next sound?).

Another successful hit from Circle. It's more consistent than their previous effort, "Panic", and actually more visionary too which merits a higher rating than Panic. I still think they have time for improving their sound, but this is still a solid album that's very enjoyable and worth getting. But beware! Listen to the album first before purchasing it, that's how I listen to Circle's new albums.

3.5 out of 5