Tracks:

Soul Messiah
Dwelling in Disdain
Forsaken
What Could Have Been
This Truculent Path
My Hate Unfolds
Misled
My Passion //
Conflicts
// Your Pain

I've heard of this band before, seen their last CD in the store, but I can't say as I've heard them before. I like their name though, that's pretty cool, so hopefully I will like the disc too. This is one of the first two discs that Metal Blade sent for review. It isn't going to be released yet for another couple weeks, and I've got my greedy paws on it, how cool is that? Metal Blade kick ass, go buy all their stuff! All right, let's get started…

"Let's go!"

That's the first phrase we hear at the beginning of "Soul Messiah" which so far is starting off in wonderfully brutal fashion. I didn't pin down from their bio where they were from, but so far this has a very At The Gates / Gothenburg sound too it. Oh yeah, I'm liking this, this rocks.

The guitars are very crisp and tight and mixed perfectly with the drums. The drums themselves are tight and brutal. The vocals could maybe be placed a little higher in the mix, but it's not so bad. The vocals also have a very At The Gates sound to them.

"Dwelling in Disdain" starts off a little industrial before exploding in a Cryptopsy-like rage of blast beats and frenzied guitar. Hell yeah. This is the kind of music I like to drive to, something that keeps me driving fast and rude. Towards the end we get a little melodic, which is not entirely out of place here. It's good to mix things up a bit so the listener doesn't get bored.

Things slow down a little on "Forsaken", the disc's momentum slows down a little bit, but that doesn't mean the song isn't awesome. Some really cool leads on here. Did I just hear Metallica's "Orion?" I don't know, but it reminded me of part of it, and that was very cool. This kind of has an old school metal feel to it combined with a modern production and brutality. You could definitely hear these kind of leads on "Master of Puppets", very melodic.

"What Could Have Been" starts off rather quiet, just a little bit of distortion before kicking into gear. The tempo slows down even more here, but it's almost like volcanic magma, it flows and destroys all in its path.

Listening to "This Truculent Path" right now, and I have to say I really love how the guitar sounds. I love the sound and the style; it's really good stuff. The speed picks back up some on this track too.

"I want my pain to be inflicted on others."

Softly spoken words that precede the brutal beginning of "My Hate Unfolds," yet another kick ass song. This is starting to get a little long, and I don't want to spoil the whole album for you, so I will just summarize these last few songs: It's great. There is a brief quiet interlude with some pretty guitars, but otherwise it's more of the same great heavy metal music.

I have to admit that when I first put this in my CD player I was skeptical about how good it would be. I've come across so many death metal type bands that just don't have anything new to say, or any actual talent with which to say anything. I figured Callenish Circle to be just one more so-so band in the heap, but I was wrong. This is a great CD, you really should pick it up and check these guys out. And play it loud!