Yet another talent out of Norway, Circus Maximus will surely appeal to fans of Dream Theater as these guys have all the qualities to make for a successor to the prog king’s throne. Circus Maximus are progressive, melodic, dynamic and have a lot of AOR qualities. Vocals are smooth, rhythms contain odd time changes but not too many, and keyboards accompany arrangements as opposed to becoming complex. I like ‘Alive’ which shows the various sides to their talent nicely with a tasteful guitar solo that even has a Vito Bratta (White Lion) ring to it. ‘Glory of the Empire’ also has a fine delivery to the acoustically open and strings.

Hands down ‘The Prophecy’ is my favorite and the strongest tune. With a subtle acoustic opening and Geoff Tate (Queensryche) sounding vocals, to the very Styx sound of the vocal harmonies with excellent rich chorus, and very “Grand Illusion” keyboards, this tune shines. Lyrically they also write intelligently and present each song as a short story.

Circus Maximus will be making their U.S. debut at the 2005 addition of the ProgPower festival in Atlanta and they are sure to be a crowd favorite with their hard hitting progressive metal. Check these guys out they have a lot to offer.