So you might be asking yourself, what sets Callenish Circle apart from countless other Melo-Death bands flooding the scene right now?
#1. Their Dutch - Repeat, not Scandinavian! (But seriously...)
#2. They have Substance! I mean real substance. They have a variety of industrial sounding keys, vocal effects, samples etc...
At first glance they may come across as a Dark Tranquillity clone... Though I see where the comparison fits, I can assure you this isn't the case. Though the overall sound is similar to DT's Character, they employ an even thicker industrial accent to their music.
CC may be one of the few Metal bands that have understood how effective keys and samples can be whenever they are used appropriately.
(i.e. not like the Nu-Metal keys heard on Reroute/Soundtrack era In Flames. Or the flamboyant keyboards used by Children of Bodom.)
Though this album may not be anything groundbreaking it doesn't stop me loving this CD... From start to finish this is a fantastic album. Even though the repetition of track 7, `Guess Again' does test my patience a bit the rest of the album is solid material. `Pitch.Black.Effect' may be their 5th album, but it is my first intro to the band and I can assure you I will be sampling their back catalogue very soon.
Favorite Songs: Sweet Cyanide, As You Speak and This Day You Regret.
-4.25 Stars
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Melodic death metal is alive and well
ohnjayjdp | Columbus, IN United States | 01/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Pitch.Black.Effects" by Callenish Circle is the album that fans of melodic death metal have been waiting on for a long time. If you are one of the afore mentioned fans who yearns for the days when Soilwork and In Flames were at their creative (not commercial) peak, then I would very strongly encourage you to check out this CD. Callenish Circle are heavier than both of those bands, however their music is in the same vein. While I don't know a lot about the band, Callenish Circle had an exceptional melodic death release a few years back called "My Passion // Your Pain", but their latest clearly surpasses that one. There is an added element (I guess you could call it industrial) to the songs this time around, but I think overall the music is pretty straightforward. Like last year's Dark Tranquillity album, "Pitch.Black.Effects" starts off very strong, but unlike DT's CD, this one is strong through to the end (especially the pummeling "As You Speak"). This CD is definitely not going to appeal to all metal fans; in fact, big fans of the current metalcore movement may not appreciate what's been done here. However, in their musical genre, Callenish Circle have created a great CD that unfortunately will be heard by very few people and appreciated by even fewer.
Other melodic death metal bands that are still putting out great CDs include Dark Tranquillity and Heaven Shall Burn (who are really one of the best around). If you like melodic death and have not heard HSB, then I highly recommend that you give them a try.
(P.S. Don't get me wrong...some of the original metalcore bands are good, specifically Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage when they had the original vocalist. However, the soulless imitators are killing what used to be pretty good music.)
"
Shimmering Space Metal
Barry Dejasu | Rehoboth, Massachusetts | 03/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Dutch band's new album is a real treat for industrial metal fans. Shimmering, swirling keyboard textures and rhythmically-enhancing beats and samples add whole other dimensions to jagged, chugging riffs. There are moments of powerful thrash (especially so on "Guess Again"), and some effectively dynamic screams from "vo-killist" Pat Savelkoul. There are also some terrific breakdowns into spacey, ambient keyboards and drum clashes, some effective guitar solos, spoken-word female vocals...PITCH.BLACK.EFFECTS is a mixed bacg of treats. The album fits into some sort of space between Meshuggah, later In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, and Fear Factory, making for some excellent industrial-melodic death metal. Perhaps the resulting genre is "Space Metal?" Highly recommended."
About as heavy as melodic death metal gets
A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 06/23/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After bouncing around from label to label, the melodeath metal band known as Callenish Circle finally found a comfortable home with Metal Blade Records for their fifth full length disc, "Pitch. Black. Effects."
Believe it or not, this band is NOT from Sweden. Sure, there's no way you could have known that while listening to this C.D., but CC actually hail from the Netherlands. The riffs on songs like "Behind Lines" are very fiery and fast, and often sound like they could have been lifted from an In Flames or old Soilwork demo, the drum work is nimble and fast, and the scratchy vocals are sort of in the same vein as God Dethroned. This resulting sound is one which is about as heavy as metal gets which still retains the "melodic" prefix.
Many of the songs race by at a high speed but they also usually manage to be somewhat melodic. There are a few tracks which are fast, slamming, melody deficient onslaughts. "This Day You Regret" opens up the album on a strong note with a throbbing rhythm which is bursting at the seams with white hot, chug and churn riffs. Several tracks later, "Sweet Cyanide" and "Self Inflicted" have whiplash, breakneck tempos with scorching, propulsive guitar leads and mini solos; "Blind" is backed by huge, thick, churning, almost thunderous guitars, quick, thumping drums, and deep, monstrous barks; and, lastly, "Guess Again" shoots by with an explosive guitar and double bass rhythm.
But most of these songs slip in at least a few seconds of synthesizers and/or a melodic, Maiden-esque guitar lick for good measure. For example, "Ignorant" offsets humming, resonating, Skinny Puppy-ish keyboards in the verses with crunchy riffs and pounding drums in the choruses. And "Schwarzes Licht" is a mostly ambient and melodic song with atmospheric keyboards and an ominous spoken word passage.
Although this band doesn't seem very intent on breaking new ground, "Pitch. Black. Effects" clearly showcases solid songwriting skills and exceptional instrumental abilities. Callenish Circle are definitely a promising band, and they deserve your attention as much as almost any other melodeath band out there today."
This is what i'm waiting for!!!!
critico constructivo | PR | 02/03/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"
In Flames and Soilwork are sold out, so my only chance to find another album that blow my mind like Dark Tranqility's "Character", is this. This album is solid musicianship throghout. There's no filler here or the commercial flavor like the other two(In Flames, Soilwork), this is great melodic death metal with no complaints!!! There's industrial touches like in "Character", but sounds really good. Check this out, you won't regret it."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1