The Circle Ends hails from both Switzerland and Holland, with primary members Steff Linder leading on vocals, while Tim Quispel (TimQ) does the guitar-work. Their tours around Europe have focused on themselves being an 'acoustic metal' band, ever since they won the Dutch Band Battle a few years ago after losing both their drummer and bassist. On this EP, bassist James 'J.J' Jenkins and drummer Tony Morra complete the main part of the band, with weird effect (keyboard) loops done courtesy of one Jeff Pitzer, creating more diversity in their songs. Featuring a cover of U2's 'The Fly', the band wants to pave new ground with this record, as they explore new sounds and types of songwriting.
Not Running on Empty
Influences of Korn are abound in their first track 'Empty', with Linder sounding a lot like Jonathan Davis at a couple of points in the song, especially in the bridge section where it becomes nicely creepy. By breaking away from acoustic sets, their songs now pack more punch, especially when the main rhythm guitar opens up, filling between chorus and verse. However, Linder's vocal sound could have been turned up in the mixing stage, as sometimes it can be overpowered by the guitars and bass, lacking the force it needs for the song. The drums pound away at speed, with the bass sound keeping up nicely, while guitars keep it interesting, with addictive riffs.
'We Believe' starts off with a small acoustic intro before getting to the main meat of the song. Interestingly here, the mixing is spot on, with all instruments and vocals at perfect loudness level, something that has dogged a lot of metal bands recently, especially on Metallica's 'Death Magnetic'. The song itself is a clarion call for belief in God and not caring what anyone else thinks. Linder's growling "my soul is immortal/my body's just dust", is a definite highlight of the record. The bass riff during the first verse accelerates the song, providing background for Linder's vocals before the main riff opens up. Keyboards in the back create effects that make the song sound tremendous, while accompanying background licks and riffs provide the extra spit and polish to finish off what is, simply, a great song.
Flying the Children
The band is also ambassadors for World Vision, so a track entitled 'Suffer the Children' shouldn't be too surprising. In this track, there are more influences from Brian 'Head' Welch, especially when Linder screams "your religion makes me sick", rallying against religious codes of conduct that are used for obedience. It's the shortest track on the EP, clocking at just over three minutes, but it's also the heaviest on the record, with the rhythm guitar having the most influence during chorus, verse and bridge sections, with short bursts of quiet every now and again. Maybe a little more could be done with it, especially in the mix, but by then it gives way to their cover of 'The Fly'.
If Korn ever did a cover of U2's hit, then it would probably sound a lot like TCE's effort. There is no disputing that U2's original is a classic, so the band would have to be careful not to upset anyone. Thankfully, the song is fine, as it ramps up the bass and brings the guitar-work a little more down to earth with a crunching, relatively slow riff.
The Circle Begins
In all, The Circle Ends have produced a solid EP to present themselves to the world at large for the first time. The record could have used a little more time when it came to the vocals and mixing, and maybe with some more guitar hooks thrown in for good measure. However, with tours already booked around Vienna, the boys will be playing for a while yet.
James Clapham - After winning his Creative Writing Diploma, James Clapham moved to Slovakia. He currently works as an English teacher there, and is also ...
