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Circle Of Contempt – Structures For Creation

When bands take an extended period of time between releases, it become very worrisome as a listener. Sometimes these long periods without releasing new material lead to the band losing

8 years ago

When bands take an extended period of time between releases, it become very worrisome as a listener. Sometimes these long periods without releasing new material lead to the band losing some of their creativity, some of what made them good in the first place. Circle Of Contempt haven’t released a full length in 5 years and released their last EP back in 2013. It’s a problem that is a cause for concern, particularly because a band this good could not afford to lose any steam and descend into mediocrity. Luckily, Structures For Creation is a step up in both quality and content, and is a very solid album from start to finish.

A noticeable difference about this album is how relatively short and simple it is. It’s 10 songs long, with 2 instrumental segue tracks and the average running time for each song at around three minutes. This works in the band’s favor in a very big way. There are times when progressive metal albums such as this can overstay their welcome and linger around a bit too long. It then becomes extremely mundane and hard to revisit again. Circle of Contempt have solved that problem by writing songs that accomplish a lot of things in a small amount of time, which enables you to play this album on repeat without having to sacrifice a large chunk of your time and energy while listening to it. At times, some of the songs feel as if they could be expanded, even a little bit, but if it isn’t broke, there shouldn’t be a reason to try and fix it.

The biggest step up for the band is their songwriting. Each song is chock full of fantastic guitar riffs, drum beats, bass sections and vocal lines that make them “pop” in a sense. For instance, the title track has some of the best guitar work the band has ever put on a recording, with the dueling guitar leads throughout the tail end of the song highlighting an already killer track. While there have been murmurings of some people referring to this band as “Sumeriancore” due to their sound, there’s a case to be made that could prove that false. While their sound is rooted in the progressive metal sound and even djent at times, their sound is far more groove-oriented and technical. Beyond that, this album is also a major step up in production and is proof that the band have used their time to find the perfect sound for them. There’s even some pretty cool clean vocals going on in certain places throughout the album, and they really add an extra layer to the songs by creating a really ambient atmosphere that the band uses to their advantage to show off their songwriting skills.

Short and sweet is sometimes the name of the game, and on Structures For Creation, Circle Of Contempt did just that: they gave us a very fulfilling album that doesn’t overstay its welcome and achieves its purpose. It’s a shame that it’s been so long since their last release, but the wait is finally over. Now we are all free to enjoy the greatness that is this album, which is a very killer release from start to finish. Circle Of Contempt might be a band that’s not on many people’s radars, but after this album, there’s a strong feeling that they will be very, very soon.

Circle Of Contempt – Structures Fro Creation gets…

4/5

Heavy Blog

Published 8 years ago