THE CIRCLE & THE BLUE DOOR

PURSON are from England and play sort of a Folk/Psych/Heavy style of Prog. They seem to be into the occult as far as lyrics go although they do well at making the words vague. And the name PURSON is demonic. So not surprisingly they get compared to BLOOD CEREMONY, COVEN and BLACK WIDOW. They have a retro sound with an abundance of mellotron from Rosalie's M400. She's also the singer. The tracks are all incredibly catchy but this just hasn't won me over.

"Wake Up Sleepy Head" opens with acoustic guitar as the mellotron flute joins in then reserved vocals. Some mellotron strings later. A short mellow tune to get us started. "The Contract" again has plenty of mellotron and it's also laid back with vocals but it kicks into gear before 1 1/2 minutes. I like these contrasts as they continue.

"Spiderweb Farm" is a top two track for me. Drums build as the guitar joins in. This is great! That familiar melody arrives with vocals around a minute. Such a catchy and powerful song. Again I like the contrasts as it does settle down at times. Fuzzed out guitar as she starts to speak words before 3 minutes. Then it kicks back in to that heavy sound with vocals. I really like the instrumental section after 4 minutes especially the guitar. Sounds like a circus melody put through a blender to end it.

"Sailor's Wife's Lament" opens with seagulls and water sounds as a melody arrives with laid back vocals. This is catchy and mellow. Mellotron flutes before 2 minutes and a minute later. A folky tune with the emphasis on the lyrics. This ends like the previous tune strangely enough. "Leaning On A Bear" has an uptempo CAMEL-like soundscape as the vocals join in. Catchy.

"Tempest And The Tide" has a beat with mellotron, guitar and vocals standing out early. Again a folky tune that's laid back. The mellotron 1 1/2 minutes in is so good. Kind of a cool ending the way they slow it down. "Mavericks And Mystics" is uptempo with vocals. A straight forward tune that does little for me. Again it's catchy and we get some brief mellotron to end it.

"Well Spoiled Machine" is the other top two for me. I just like the groove here and the depth of sound. Again it's so catchy especially on the chorus. The mellotron comes and goes. "Sapphire Ward" has more of the same really but I do like the organ and also the way they slow things down 1 1/2 minutes in with vocals, it kicks back in quickly though. Check out the mellotron after 2 1/2 minutes and the guitar that follows. Nice.

"Rocking Horse" is slowed down early on with vocals before turning more powerful just before a minute. Contrasts continue. Some mellotron at 1 1/2 minutes. "Tragic Catastrophe" opens with guitar expressions with bass before the drums, vocals and mellotron arrive. Not sure about the lyrics to this one but a disappointing ending to this album.

Take my rating with a grain of salt as this album appears to be very popular every where I looked. It's just me! I was sad to hear that the band recently broke up. Lastly I like that the powers that be here put this in Crossover. Most would think Folk or Psychedelic but man this is more than those two genres of music and it's so catchy.