Magic Circle: Departed Souls (2019)

It has not been that long since I reviewed the Boston-based doom metal band Magic Circle's sophomore 2015 album Journey Blind.  I was fairly impressed with that album, finding the band's retro doom metal approach very impressive.  Unfortunately, I am just not as sold on this album.  Maybe it is a grower, but it has failed to grab me in the same way that the other album has.

The core sound of the band is still rooted in classic doom metal bands like Trouble and Pentagram.  The band though has a distinctive fuzzy, 1960's blues rock feel to their riffs.  The songs are generally a little slower-paced on this album.  I remarked in my review of the band's earlier album that my favorite songs were the ones that were a little faster-paced.  Unfortunately, there are very few such songs on this album, which kind of goes toward my general ambivalence.  The vocals are still probably the best element on the album, but there are not any songs like "The Damned Man" this time around to truly impress.

Magic Circle has also created a much more varied album this time around.  "A Day Will Dawn Without Nightmares" in particular sounds like the band has channeled Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" and Trouble's "Porpoise Song" and filtered those songs through Indian instrumentation.  It is an interesting song, but I am not sure how much I actually like it.

I want to be clear that I do not dislike this album.  I will still be giving it more chances because Magic Circle still has great talent.  I just liked the previous album better.  A lot of the elements that I liked so much on that album are not present here.  Still, there are some definite impressive elements here too.

Magic Circle: Journey Blind (2015)

This is about as retro as retro metal can get.  Magic Circle is a heavy/doom metal band from Massachusetts that sounds as if they started out in the early 1980's.  It is surprising then to find out that the band has only really been around since about 2011.  This is the band's second album, and the first one by Magic Circle that I have checked out, but not the last.

The music here is an intriguing blend of a number of the early doom metal bands such as Trouble and Pentagram, and of course Black Sabbath, with more traditional styles of heavy metal.  The riffs are hard-driving with some killer fuzzy guitar tone.  The production overall is spectacular, clear and crisp with just the right amount of distortion to lend an authenticity to the band's sound.  It also allows all instruments to be heard perfectly.

One of the best songs on this album is second track "The Damned Man", which has a heavy, rumbling riff that Tony Iommi would have been proud to write.  The combination of that riff and singer Brendan Radigan's howling vocals make this a difficult song to resist getting swept up in. 

Magic Circle is at their best when they are playing faster-paced songs.  The slower ones sometimes tend to fail to keep the listener's attention, such as the lumbering "A Ballad for the Vulture".  Admittedly, that is an awesome song name however.  The latter part of the song, when the band gets locked into a heavy groove though is terrific. 

There is a lot of talent in this band.  Magic Circle manages to sound retro, without sounding dated.  There are some damn good songs on this thing and a lot of good riffs.  I was impressed enough to check out their 2019 release.  That will be reviewed soon.