After two years in the lab, South Bay (So Cal) melodic metal powerhouse Ninth Circle has finally officially released “The Power of One“.  If you’re a fan of GOOD metal (which is the opposite of ‘nu metal’), you owe it to yourself to check out this album.

The opening track, “Frontman”, is a haunting and simultaneously ass-kicking song about the perils of war from the perspective of a lone soldier. A fiery blaze of a cappella vocal harmony kicks the song off with the line “There is nowhere to run”, and then it’s full speed ahead as lead singer Dennis Brown and company paint a picture of the battleground, complete with insightful lyrics, booming drums and bass, and of course layers of harmonic guitar riffs!

The band wastes no time and gets right to the title track with track #2, “The Power of One”.  One thing that really sets Ninth Circle apart from other bands attempting to gain attention in the melodic metal genre is their vocal harmonies, which is abundantly clear on just about every track on this CD (and there are 12 of them).

Another thing that adds to their dynamic is the bass playing. Whereas many other bass players just sort thump away on those root notes and hold down the low end, bass player Frank Forray actually contributes unique basslines that compliment Brown’s busy guitar work perfectly and really carry the transitions nicely.

Track #5, “Our Last Days”, is probably my personal favorite track on the album. The first pounding rhythm during the verses is simply bad ass. Also, you can tell Dennis really had a lot of fun with the guitar solo on this one and didn’t hold anything back. The way he executes the guitar harmonies is totally calculated and really just makes the track explode. Then again that happens on pretty much every track on this album.

Speaking of incredible guitar work, the solo on “Obsession” is nothing short of spectacular. So many metal guitar players place such a huge emphasis on moving their fingers as fast as humanly possible, and totally neglect to actually construct GREAT solos. On this song especially, Dennis demonstrates that he doesn’t have a problem striking a balance between both lightning quick and also melodic and effective.

Fans of Iron Maiden will be happy to know that Ninth Circle covered the classic song “The Trooper” on this record.  Dare I say that I like their version better than the original?

Ninth Circle is really bringing back that classic metal sound that we all fell in love with way back when (at least, those of us with any common sense). Countless groups have attempted to do it, but no one pulls it off quite like them.

If you get the chance to catch them live, you’ll probably be surprised to learn that the band that produces such a mind-blowing wall of sound is actually just a three-piece outfit. Somehow they still manage to pull it off live.

Upcoming shows include Feb. 26th at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA with  famed 80’s hard rock/metal group Dokken, and then another appearance in Redondo Beach, CA on March 21st at a club called Brixton.

To find out more about Ninth Circle, check out their official site or their MySpace. If you’d like to get your hands on a copy of “The Power of One”, it is currently for sale at CDbaby.com.

You can also visit the group right here on Moshable!

81,962

Tags: melodic metal, ninth circle, review, the power of one

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 am and is filed under Metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.