If you like Anthony Green, Saosin and/or Coheed and Cambria, then it's almost a certainty that you'll get a kick out of Circa Survive. Whilst more instant than C&C, Green's unique vocal style is welcoming and comforting - for those mourning the loss of old-skool Sasoin, this is really the record for you. personally, I thought their EP was overrated and not really worthy of the fuss, but then who am I to judge? For me, 'Juturna' is a better piece of music, an album that scopes out a musical landscape and drifts in and out of the foreground with blissful grace.
As I write this review I've been awake for 28 hours and counting and I was actually listening to this record as the sun came up this morning - all of a sudden it made so much more sense. The searching guitar lines and the multiple effects keep this forever interesting, and of course Green's vocals are the real secret weapon. Listening to 'The Great Golden baby' at 5am, sun peeping through the clouds with a blood-red backdrop - that's the kind of atmospherics you need to really get the maximum out of this album. It's a mood piece - a CD that you don't get everything out of by simply blasting it out of your stereo.
If it hadn't been for this morning's airplay whilst driving home, this may have scored a little lower. I'll openly admit I no longer listen to C&C and I couldn't 'get' Saosin, so with a band halfway between the two, I'm probably not going to get hairs standing up on the back of my neck. That is, of course, until the sun comes up - then whack this beauty on and it takes on a whole new life...
wwwcircasurvive.com
Equal Vision
paul
