Circulus - A Lick On The Tip Of An Envelope Yet To Be Sent
Rise Above Records

file under Alternative / Pop

Evil Dr. Smith: Are they nuts at Rise Above? This record label, owned by doom guru Lee Dorrian, is well respected and praised for raw doom metal releases (Witchcraft, Unearthly Trance, Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine among others) and they rarely release something else than doom. Let’s make it never. Doomheads know what to expect from Rise Above, because it’s always doom orientated. Until now, because Circulus is something completely different. For a moment, I thought folkmetal knight Martyn Walkier (former Skyclad) must be a member of this band – especially when you listen to the openings song ‘Miri It Is’ – because Martyn must be close friends with Lee and that makes this release on Rise Above a bit more logical. But I was wrong, Martyn ain’t got nothing to do with this band or whatsoever. Although I’ll bet his goatee will curl with excitement when he hears this Circulus…

Circulus is a British band and consists of seven folkloristic hippies who were born thirty years too late and have been stuck in a timewarp for the last five hundred years. When you see the press picture of the blokes, you see flutes, lutes, dulcimers, halberds, mediæval clothes anno 1471, worn by a group that stands on a rural piece of grass. Circulus is mediæval folk-psychedelic and sounds so incredibly authentic that you hardly can believe this is recorded some 35 years later than Arcadium, Tripsichord Music Box, Arzachel (pre-Gong and Egg), Pearls Before Swine and all those other, totally obscure psychedelic folk bands. It’s not all that perfectly fine tuned (the harmony vocals are a bit meandering), but this only adds the authenticity of that early seventies atmosphere. The songs are recorded with charm and they sound very imaginative, even better than old bands as Magna Carta and Pentangle used to do. Together with some Jethro Tull flutes and synths that relive the early days of Barrett’s Pink Floyd, the harmonies in ‘Power To The Pixies’ deliver a literally sounding chicken choir, which proves Circulus isn’t afraid to show some melancholy humour in their songs. This must be absolute horror for the average metalhead, but for those who like Blackmore’s Night and may know a band like Instant Flight, this is a blowin’ trip down to memory lane. If this album were released in 1971, it would have been a huge collector’s item. But maybe it will be one in the year 2039, because this album screams to be released on vinyl. And so it will…

Evil Dr. Smith diagnoses: 80/100 (details)

http://www.circulus.org