Description

The guitars are good & crunchy, peppered with Anekdoten grunt and Crimson screech. Some great e-bow work adds flavor. Playful synth lines are secondary though effective, and the violin is understated but used well.
Chugging dirges lead to atmospheric noodling, and frenetic passages unfurl into jazzy breaks. The many changes of pace fit into an overall mood, shadowy and introspective not unlike the moon itself. Not quite so gloomy and serious as Anekdoten, though.
The focus is most definitely on the instruments, but you’re treated to some husky, emotive vocals and occasional harmonies. There’s a trace of Scandinavian accent, but not so bad. He can sure hold a note for a while, as in The Fine Line. There’s also a spot of spoken word in Long Gone, the longest song at 8 minutes.
A sweet acoustic epilogue rounds out the album.
On first listen, Circles End don’t appear overly complex or out-of-this-world, but damn if it doesn’t grow on you!

Record Label: Independent Country: Norway
Personnel:Karl Riis Jacobsen – Lead Vocals, Omar Emanuel Johnsen – Guitars, Bottleneck,
Ebow, Vocals, Trond Lunden – Electric and Spanish Guitars, Ebow, Vocals, Goran
Kristiansen – Bass, Jarle Anders Pettersen – Drums, Percussion
Additional Musicians: Kristian Landmark – Synthesizers, Lars Chr. Folkvord – Violin

Circles End  – In Dialogue With The Moon
Label: Not On Label (Circles End Self-Released)  – cie 002
Format: CD, Album
Country: Norway
Released: 2001
Genre: Rock, Prog Rock

Tracklist
1 The Fine Line 5:24

2 Startled Eye 5:58
3 Long Gone 8:07

Sleepless:
4 Pt 1 Driving Beneath The Moon… 3:33
5 Pt 2 …Into The Sun 4:05
–
6 Soliloquy 5:59
7 This Day 5:15
8 El Mar / La Mar 4:59
9 The Dead Is Me 2:45

Copyright (c) – Circles End

Bass – Goran Kristiansen
Drums, Percussion – Jarle Anders Pettersen
Guitar, Vocals – Omar Emanuel Johnsen, Trond Lunden
Synth – Kristian Landmark
Violin – Lars Chr. Folkvord
Vocals – Karl Riis Jacobsen

Barcode: 7029660100144
Matrix / Runout: SDC NORWAY CECD 0101
Mould SID Code: IFPI JG00

Most outfits take some time in developing and polishing up their act, but contradictory to the main rule, Circles End achieves most of these aforementioned features on its debut record, offering a heavy dose of well-thought arrangements and ideas in an accessible layout. Although no immediate band comes to mind to compare the band to, it does tend to have a sound similar to Echolyn, with a slight Anekdoten or Crimson influence, primarily on songs such as the mood-twisting, improvisational track “”Soliloquy”” or the amazing fractioned piece “”Sleepless,”” which portrays the band’s broad musical capability that range from mellow, grandiose vocal-driven melodies to funky, groovy and psychedelic instrumental passages.In Dialogue With The Moon is far apart from any of its peers, with an inherently mature song-writing approach and structure rarely seen on a band’s début release. With a mix between fusion jazz and psychedelic and mainstream rock, the band drives smoothly through every piece with wonderfully intricate rhythm patterns and an inborn sense of melody, and furthermost, they balance all of these elements in an extremely progressive and yet listener-friendly package. “”The Fine Line”” exemplifies the mastery of these musicians in creating complex arrangements in an accessible way, granting main focus to rhythm, melody and powerful grooves. Twists and unexpected turns, as well as jazzy feels and funky grooves make up for an interesting and exciting way of approaching basic song-oriented mainstream rock ideas, distancing the focus from the common musical direction envisioned by other bands. In Dialogue With The Moon certainly is a great debut release and clearly lays out what Circles End is capable of. The beauty of it is the creativeness and innovation behind the entire album, stating that Circles End is indeed a unique band with an immense potential behind it.

SAMPLES:
www.last.fm/music/Circles+End/In+Dialogue+With+the+Moon