Winer Circle

What did it mean for Guillaume Du Fay (ca. 1397-1474), chameleon-like expert in every musical genre of his day, to compose four settings of the Mass Ordinary toward the end of his life? Looking back from the vantage point of the next generation, when the polyphonic mass reigned supreme, it might be tempting to interpret these works as a self-conscious summa of Du Fay’s career – an achievement akin to Haydn’s London Symphonies or Beethoven’s late string quartets. On a purely musical level these comparisons are apt. Each mass stakes out unique musical terrain; they are often strikingly experimental; and the entire set is shimmeringly beautiful from beginning to end, revealing a composer at the height of his powers.

For Circle fans, every new release is an adventure. Since their 1993 debut, this Finnish collective have released more than 30 albums, all entirely unique but also unmistakably Circle. There's a combination of gleeful mischief and lethally intense focus that characterises everything they do, from metal semi-pastiche to amniotic jazz abstraction to muscular, psychedelic Krautrock. There was that one time when Circle weren't Circle (the year they leased their name to a death metal band) while the 'real' Circle operated under the name Falcon…

After 14 years of silence, alt-metal supergroup A Perfect Circle returned with Eat the Elephant. Previously active on 2004's antiwar eMOTIVe – when the U.S. was embroiled in a different state of social upheaval – they re-emerged in 2018 at another pivotal time with just as much to say. While much transpired in their absence, A Perfect Circle evolved, addressing government shifts, technological advances, and social deterioration in a manner befitting of frontman Maynard James Keenan, who delivers some of the most wickedly barbed lyrics of his career. Here, Keenan and co-founder Billy Howerdel are joined by a revamped lineup that includes James Iha, Matt McJunkins, and Jeff Friedl, as well as producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, LCD Soundsystem).

The sixth album of German Hard-Rock heroes, gathered by Alexander Beyrott, back with the original line-up with David Readman on vocals, mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen! Voodoo Circle are back with their sixth album "Locked & Loaded" and, like on their second album "Broken Heart Syndrome", they present themselves with the most convincing line-up in the band's history. For this release, band boss, guitarist and main songwriter Alex Beyrodt gathered singer David Readman (Pink Cream 69), bass player Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner) and drummer Markus Kullman (Glenn Hughes, among others), all of them excellent instrumentalists. The band celebrates a vigorous, deeply melodic hybrid of hard rock and melodic metal, equipped with specific quotes and some bluesy elements, with cleverly interspersed cross-references to some of their own role models.

Silhouette Moon is the second album from the UK prog-rock collective known as Vienna Circle, and follows their 2009 debut White Clouds. The band play a lush, melodic neo-prog style not unlike acts such as Pendragon, IQ, and Marillion, and throughout this latest CD they do a superb job of contrasting atmospheric, often times pastoral musical settings with more aggressive passages that remind of Porcupine Tree and even a slightly less thunderous Dream Theater. It's a nice balance of styles that gives the album some great dynamics and keeps the listener on their toes.