Strong long-distance collaboration
Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 02/24/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ghost Circus is the project of Chris Brown from the USA and Ronald Wahle from the Netherlands who met on an internet message board a few years ago and decided to put out an album after discovering their mutual interest in progressive rock music. They both recorded their parts in their own countries before mixing and mastering everything. The result is Cycles, a strong debut, especially considering it's just two people performing on it. The music presented on this disc touches on the neo-prog elements heard on earlier Marillion albums, lots of synth-friendly AOR pop, and a plethora of other bands, such as Kino, RPWL, and Frost.
It begins with the mood setter "Broken Glass", introducing a curious mix of heavy keyboards, a pronounced bass and drum combination, and Chris Brown's mid-range vocals that border on being slightly raspy at times. The song climaxes with the duo's perfectly toned lead guitar work before seguing into the title track. Brown's vocals are a lot different on this one. Also, it's a much more complex number, emphasizing vast soundscapes, eerie guitar buildups, and two lead solos, the former being in a more rock-based form and the latter a more spacey style a la early Porcupine Tree meets Blackfield. On the nine-minute "Trick of the Light", the vocals are particularly evocative of Phil Collins era Genesis, and they work perfectly over those gently arpeggiated acoustic riffs and thick synth blanketing. This song has a great filmic quality to it, much like Kevin Moore's soundtrack stuff and even Chroma Key, in that it blends spooky sound effects that underpin beautifully played synth leads and atmospheric elements. The second half of the song is significantly heavier, bringing forth Wahle's remarkable drum fills and thicker fretwork. It is only when the memorable vocal melody returns to the centre that we realize we are still listening to the same track. The finale is simply fantastic: dual leads, bass and drum solos, and dreamy synth washes.
"The Distance" and "Accelerate" veer off into more poppier territory. One of them is highlighted by delicate acoustic guitars and pre-Stupid Dream era Porcupine Tree while the other sees them infusing huge grooves with melodic vocal harmonies atop unusual electronic segments. Moreover, the aforementioned filmic quality is further exemplified on the effect-laden "Let It Flow".
On the instrumental "Send/Return", at almost eight minutes, the duo are perhaps at their most progressive phase, bringing to mind a less heavy version of Moore era Dream Theater with no vocals. The use of bass is vital to this piece as is the ethereal guitar work producing lots of feedback when placed atop lofty keyboard melodies.
The album is finalised with the two-part "Mass Suggestion", part one being the first song Chris Brown heard prior to hooking up with Ronald Wahle. Obviously, both musicians had their own projects before they put Ghost Circus together, and you can clearly see how Wahle's more introspective, minimalistic and darker side complements Brown's progressive-tinged direction while still bringing in pop sensibilities.
Cycles is a great achievement in the world of long-distance musical collaborations. Let's hope there is more to come from these guys."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1