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Savage Circus was born after Blind Guardian drummer Thomas Stauch left his band to pursue his own projects. Rumor has it that he was dissatisfied with the more over-the-top orchestral direction the band was moving towards. His goal in creating Savage Circus was to create music that harkens back to Imaginations From the Other Side-era Blind Guardian, and the band certainly succeeds in emulating the sound of that classic album. Unfortunately as with almost all copies, it fails to capture the magic of the original.
Dreamland Manor, the band’s debut album, came out last year in Europe and just hit North America this year thanks to the efforts of the Century Media label. The album consists of 9 nine slabs of tasty power metal that should please any fan of the genre. Galloping drums, triumphant choruses, and dueling guitars can be found in abundance on the album. The band even opted to include the obligatory ballad, though in this case they would have been best served by omitting it. The instrumental duties are all performed competently and lead vocalist Jens Carlsson sounds eerily similar to Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kursch. The disc falls a bit short on some of the choruses, which though epic are often not memorable. The soloing sections however, are a lot of fun and tend to last a while, which should please fans of melodic guitar work. On some songs such as “Evil Eyes,” I can’t help but think I’m listening to a Blind Guardian B-Side In all though, the band falls a little short in their attempt to bring back the classic Blind Guardian sound. Considering the fact that many of Blind Guardian’s albums are considered metal classics, failing to match their grandeur is expected. Fans of Blind Guardian and of power metal in general should still definitely check this band out.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Evil Eyes |
| 2. Between The Devil And The Seas |
| 3. Waltz Of The Demon |
| 4. Tomorrowland |
| 5. It - The Gathering |
| 6. Beyond Reality |
| 7. When Hell Aakes |
| 8. Ghost Story |
| 9. Born Again By The Night |
: 57.15
| Buy other Savage Circus albums |
