Search - Circle II Circle :: Burden of Truth

Fails to come full circle

Guardian 304 | 01/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Fueled by the near hype of all the 5 star reviews it was getting all over the Internet, I have to say I was disappointed on my first listen of Burden Of Truth.



After sensibly giving it a few more listens, I've grown more fond of it, but Burden of Truth still falls well short of a 5 star album.



I enjoyed both previous albums of C2C equally. Some slammed their second album Middle Of Nowhere, but apart from two weak songs I couldn't see a whole lot wrong with it, plus it featured some great long guitar solos (although some people even had a problem with that) opposed to the near absense of solos on their first album, Watching In Silence. Middle Of Nowhere remains my most listened to C2C album.



Fast forward to Burden Of Truth (BoT). Apparently a concept album, this doesn't come across as a very cohesive album. The balance of song lengths in particular leave a lot to be desired. Some of the best songs on the album (Heal You, Revelations, Messiah) barely reach the 3 minute mark before fading out, some clearly prematurely, while the mediocre and tedious title track clocks in at over 5 minutes. It's a downright shame that some great songs here fade out into the next track almost without warning just when you're really starting to enjoy them, while some of the weaker songs just go on and on.



This imbalance is made worse by some other truly mediocre songs. Evermore at 2 minutes is a pretty standard C2C song, not spectacular, not bad, short, virtually pointless. The Black, strong in the verses, is tripped up by a ho-hum chorus, plus an all too familiar passage that sounds like it was taken straight from the song "Watching You Fall" from Savatage's Handful Of Rain album. This passage added nothing to that song, so I have no idea why they chose to recycle a slightly modified version of it here, because it adds nothing to The Black either. It smells of lazy songwriting. Once again the imbalance crops up here as The Black clocks in at nearly 4 minutes, while they would have done well to cut it at 3 minutes. It's just not that good. I already eluded to Burden Of Truth, the title track, being too long as well.



Indeed, if it wasn't for the 5 minute title track (without which the album wouldn't have been any weaker), Burden Of Truth would barely have cleared the 30 minute mark for total album length across 10 songs. That's not a whole lot of music for your money, especially considering that the best songs are the shortest. I've never had a problem with long tracks as long as they remain engaging for whatever length they run, but I have serious problems with great songs being butchered before the 3 minute mark when they obviously have more to offer.



In the end C2C has delivered yet another solid effort, but failed to produce enough goods to make a truly spectacular album. Tracks like Who Am I To Be, A Matter Of Time, Heal You, Revelations and Messiah are up there with the best tracks from their previous two albums. Unfortunately the songwriting gets just a little too repetitive and unimaginative at times, some choruses fall flat, and the premature ending of the best songs is seriously frustrating and also gives the album a somewhat disjointed feel.



With all the potential in the world for a magnificent album bubbling underneath, Circle II Circle's Burden Of Truth fades out before it reaches the 4 star mark. (3.5)"

Best of Both Worlds

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 03/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"At this point I have to assume that just about everybody checking out a Circle II Circle album knows the band's connection to the mighty Savatage, so I'll skip the history lesson. Circle II Circle had an incredibly strong debut album (Watching in Silence) and a follow-up album (The Middle of Nowhere) that was not quite so well received, so I found myself nervously awaiting the arrival of the band's third album, called Burden of Truth.



I shouldn't have worried. Burden of Truth is a very strong, very powerful, very dramatic album, and showcases the band at their very best. Zak Stevens & company incorporated the powerful songwriting from Watching in Silence with the some of the experimentation from The Middle of Nowhere, resulting in an album that reflects the best of both albums.



Every aspect of the band shines on Burden of Truth. As noted in the product description, Burden of Truth is a concept album heavily influenced by The Da Vinci Code, and Stevens's obvious passion for the subject matter comes through in his songwriting, which is as strong as it's ever been. Plus, the man's vocals are as incredible as ever. The musicianship is top notch as well. Musically, Burden of Truth is very much a straightforward metal album, with powerful guitars and a nice use of keyboards. And while it's impossible not to notice the lack of Jon Oliva or Paul O'Neill behind the scenes, the production is good enough to rival their work on Watching in Silence.



Those of you who were disappointed by The Middle of Nowhere should find themselves right back in the Circle II Circle camp after hearing Burden of Truth. Those of you who never left should be happy that Zak and the boys have managed to release another terrific album."