NINTH CIRCLE - review added 26th November 2009
Album Review: The Power Of One (2009)
For fans of: Heavy Metal... and stopping before the tenth ring-shape
L.A. band Ninth Circle play a heavy metal born from the same melting pot as Iron Maiden. There's power there, but there's also melody and a definite nod to the nuances of lyrical storytelling. There are no Maiden-esque 10 minute epics, although a cover of 'The Trooper' rears its head toward the end of the album.
The band - Dennis Brown on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Forray on bass, and Dave Davis on drums - play a good, reasonably tight sound. Dennis' vocals vary throughout. Occasionally he sounds good, but more often than not he's very average. Sometimes he gets a wobble on and goes all out of tune, although those moments are few and far between.
Song-wise...the title track has some surprisingly heavy musicianship. It isn't a particularly brilliant song as a whole, but those guitars do come across in a mighty fine way. The throbbing 'Our Last Days' has a certain charm, as does the slower 'How Many Times', but that's about as good as it gets.
I gave this album a lot of time. Some of the tracks are well written and the musicianship deserved more than a passing effort. However, in the end, I can't get past the lack of appeal offered by those vocals. I'm sure Dennis sounds fine live, but his voice does nothing for me here and that spoils the record. With a more 'apt' vocalist, there's no reason why Ninth Circle couldn't make some seriously good music. For me, this isn't it.
Check out... The guitar sound on the title track.
Track List:
01. Frontman
02. The Power Of One
03. The Journey
04. Where No One Lives
05. Our Last Days
06. How Many Times
07. Fire Falling
08. Hour 21
09. Obsession
10. If It Bleeds
11. The Trooper
12. Prisoner Of The World
Artist's website(s): Ninth Circle , MySpace
