{"id":47707,"date":"2015-01-12T21:52:44","date_gmt":"2015-01-13T02:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47707"},"modified":"2015-07-14T19:25:27","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T00:25:27","slug":"red-circuit-haze-of-nemesis-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/red-circuit-haze-of-nemesis-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Circuit | Haze Of Nemesis<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"RedThe wait is finally over. Five years after their last release, 2009\u2019s Homeland<\/em>, Red Circuit has released another monster album full of melodic Prog-Metal goodness. Haze of Nemesis<\/em> is the band\u2019s third album.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, Red Circuit first hit the scene in 2006 with their debut album Trance State<\/em>. The band features the unmistakable vocals of ex-Firewind, Ivanhoe and Avalon singer Chitral \u201cChity\u201d Somapala who also fronts Civilization One. Rounding out the band is guitarist Chris Moser, bassist Thomas Schmitt, drummer Michael Stein and writer\/producer Markus Teske on keyboards. All but Schmitt appeared on their last album so the band is very cohesive.<\/p>\n

The album kicks off in glorious fashion with \u201cOcean\u2019s Apart,\u201d a song about two estranged lovers. It\u2019s a great introduction to their third album as it starts with a nice keyboard intro followed by some slamming guitars. It\u2019s a mid-tempo rocker with a blistering lead guitar solo midway through. The track is very indicative of the entire album and one of the highlights. Not only does it foreshadow the remainder of the album\u2019s musical style but thematically it deals with personal relationships as does most of the songs on this album. For the more visually oriented, the band has released an official video which was recorded live in February 2014 during the Rock Meets Reggae Festival in Colombo, Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Other standout tracks include \u201cMy Lonely Heaven,\u201d \u201cMy World Collides\u201d and \u201cSilent Roaring.\u201d \u201cMy Lonely Heaven\u201d is an up-tempo tune that follows the lead track with a catchy chorus and a cool little outro to wrap it up. \u201cMy World Collides\u201d is another special song. It starts with some piano work that is quickly followed by the superb vocal style of amazing guest vocalist Amanda Somerville, who appears to be the go-to \u201cit\u201d girl for delicious prog metal collaborations. It\u2019s a ballad but really showcases Chity\u2019s excellent vocal skills as he sings with a smoother delivery than his normal rough approach. \u201cSilent Roaring\u201d features a big, bold opening along with a driving guitar rhythm.<\/p>\n

Other Tracks include \u201cBelieving a Lie,\u201d a standard keyboard\/guitar Prog-Metal tune, \u201cDigging in the Dirt,\u201d one of the weakest songs on offer due to the weak opening and slow tempo, \u201cSpear of Fate,\u201d which starts off promising enough but slows down too and contains vocal effects on the chorus ala Alice in Chains, \u201cSerpent\u2019s Smile,\u201d a good, mid-tempo song that\u2019s heavy on double-bass and mostly rocking with the exception of yet another slow down mid-song, and the title track, \u201cHaze of Nemesis,\u201d which once again has a slow tempo. Lyrically, the song conveys a theme associated with the madness of the world, but on a personal level.<\/p>\n

The album wraps up in fine fashion with a very Proggy nine-minute opus \u201cMy Serenade.\u201d Additionally, there\u2019s a very good bonus track, \u201cSoldier of Fortune,\u201d which is a Deep Purple cover tune. It begins with some \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d inspired acoustic guitar that once again showcases Chity\u2019s impressive voice.<\/p>\n

Overall, this is a very strong release and well worth the wait. Although it slows down a bit too much the slower moments really tend to accentuate Chity\u2019s impressive vocals so it\u2019s a nice trade-off. As a Prog-Metal release, it has plenty of fine musicianship and longer song lengths as is expected and obligatory. All of this is topped off with tremendous production and an appearance by one of the best guest vocalists in the game in Amanda Somerville. Red Circuit\u2019s latest release is definitely recommended for all lovers of hard, melodic, progressive rock and metal.<\/p>\n

Note: This release also contains a DVD featuring the band\u2019s 2011 performance at the U.S. Progpower XII Festival, which was not reviewed.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMichael Stein – drums
\nChris Moser – guitar
\nChity Somapala – vocals
\nMarkus Teske – keyboards
\nThomas Schmitt \u2013 bass<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tOceans Apart
\n2.\tMy Lonely Heaven
\n3.\tBelieving a Lie
\n4.\tDigging in the Dirt
\n5.\tMy World Collides
\n6.\tSpear of Fate
\n7.\tSerpent\u2019s Smile
\n8.\tSilent Roaring
\n9.\tHaze of Nemesis
\n10.\tMy Serenade
\n11.\tSoldier of Fortune (Bonus Track)<\/p>\n

Label: Limb Music<\/p>\n

Web:\twww.redcircuit.de<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins – Columnist — The wait is finally over. Five years after their last release, 2009\u2019s Homeland, Red Circuit has released another monster album full of melodic Prog-Metal goodness. Haze of Nemesis is […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,10531,1022,3456,10530],"class_list":{"0":"post-47707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-haze-of-nemesis","10":"tag-limb-music","11":"tag-progressive-rock","12":"tag-red-circuit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}