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| | Isolate | | | Music Artist : | | Circus Maximus | | Music Style : | | Christian Rock | | Record Label : | | SENSORY RECORDS | | Release Date : | | 2007-08-14 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $13.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Darkened Mind
2. Abyss
3. Wither
4. Sane No More [Instrumental]
5. Arrival of Love
6. Zero
7. Mouth of Madness
8. From Childhood's Hour...
9. Ultimate Sacrifice
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Prog Metal at its Best
Submitted on: 2009-07-10 |
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| I have been listening to progressive metal since the late 70s. Rush, Yes, Fates Warning, Dream Theatre, Queensryche, Etc and beyond. I am a classically trained musciscian-vocals, guitar, and piano. This grouped surprised me. I purchased 1st chapter and Isolate at the same time. All I knew about this band was from samples. 1st Chapter didn't grab me at first listen, however, Isolate did and is still in my CD Changer after 6 months. Both CD's are a must in your Prog Collection Awesome production from this new group. If you love Pagan's Mind, Dreamscape, Vaden Plas, Glory Hunt, Symphony X, Kamelot, Stratovarius, This group is equal if not superior in some ways. Another group of mention that I would recommend is Redemption (Ray Alder former singer of Fates Warning new project). Their third album with Ray Alder will be out this September and sound absolutely killer. To all my Prog fanatics best regards and keep supporting the movement. |
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Excellent
Submitted on: 2009-03-22 |
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I can't precisely explain how much I like this album, but it's just amazing! Once in a while an album hits me when it has all the things I look for: great melody, good vocals, a decent story, great song writing and arrangement, and technical prowess. This album has it all.
In particular, I really like the intro and outro songs, framing the rest of the album very tidily and powerfully.
I wouldn't quite liken this album to Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, but it definitely has the chops, creativity, and impact of an album like Dream Theater's Scenes from a Memory (but heavier).
Highly recommended! |
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A Step Above
Submitted on: 2008-11-28 |
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I spent quite a bit of time sampling many available bands in the genre. I filtered my choices down to Circus Maximus and Cloudscape, and ordered both. Both are in my CD changer, on both computers, on my iPod, and another MP3 player. I've probably listened to Cloudscape all the way through twice (and they are good), but can't count how many times I've listened to Circus Maximus. I've had both CDs about a week.
I was looking for a very specific sound; outstandingly clean and melodious vocals, melody verses raw metal, soaring harmonies and background instrumentals, and virtuousity ala Dream Theater. If you're looking for rough vocals, head-banging metal, and a pounding beat, this is not the music for you. They almost perfectly meet my expectations for this type of music.
Vocals: think of Steve Perry, Ian Gillan, the singer with Alter Bridge, or (most closely) the fella from Queensryche (my only comparison here because CM is superior to QR otherwise), combined with a Journey type vocal harmony. This guy's vocal range is unbelievably clean and clear.
Musically: very similar to Dream Theater's more melodious tunes with a bit of misdirection, and their virtuosity is only slightly below Dream Theater's musicianship. If you like more melody in your metal, these songs will stick in your head for quite some time...in many ways they do have a Journey-like feel to their music.
There's not really a throw away song on this record. Several great melodies, a Dream Theater-like instrumental, and some rockers. These guys are quite good! |
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This is the album that Dream Theater has been trying to make.
Submitted on: 2008-11-12 |
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From the opening moments of "A Darkened Mind", I was completely blown away by this band and this album. I've been a prog rock and prog metal fan for most of my life and I love it all... recently it seems like Dream Theater are the poster children of prog metal. Don't get me wrong, I love Dream Theater... but as technical as they can be, they get downright sloppy in the studio and even more so on stage. This band, Circus Maximus, is like a super charged, super technical band that performs everything with absolute precision and perfection. Nothing seems forced or robotic.. everything flows perfectly.. the vocals are absolutely perfect.. the drumming and guitar playing are very technically impressive and tasteful.. and to top it off, this album isn't a collection of show-off pieces and poorly written songs (see Dream Theater's latest mess of an album "Systematic Chaos")... this album is a collection of fantastic songs! Every song is a masterpiece.. every note is perfect from beginning to end.. whoever produced and mixed this album is a genius. The quality of the production is akin to Queensryche's super expensively produced PROMISED LAND. A lot of time and money went into PROMISED LAND, and this album sounds on par with that album, although I'm sure it was produced for a fraction of the price.
Oh and something else that plagues prog (and always has) is bad lyrics. (Once again, see Dream Theater's SYSTEMATIC CHAOS.) Surprisingly, ISOLATE has good lyrics.. great lyrics, even. The melodies stick in your head.. heck, even the instrumental breakdowns stick in your head.. it's just that freaking good.
I can't recommend this album enough. It's the perfect progressive metal album from start to finish. The end. |
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Maximum Listening
Submitted on: 2008-11-08 |
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| Once again, I stumbled on another group to add to my collection. As said previously, if you listen to Dream Theater, Kamelot and the like, then pick this up today along with their first release, 'The 1st Chapter'. Both are stellar releases. Every track rocks and they just do a great job with all the elements making this a fantastic listen. Enjoy! |
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