Circle of Illusion: Jeremias (Foreshadow of Forgotten Realms)

Austrian progressive rock band Circle of Illusion has created 80 minutes of epic theatrical music for their first release Jeremias (Foreshadow of Forgotten Realms), an epic concept album.The band consists of Gerald Peter on keyboards, orchestration, arrangement, composition and production; Rupert Träxler on lead and rhythm guitar; Stephan Först on bass; Aaron Thier on drums; and Ulrike Müllner on the e-violin. Taris Brown sings the character lyrics for Jeremy; Cara Cole sings the character lyrics for Jelena; and Elga Shafran sings the character lyrics for Sarah.

As their premier project this band has chosen a deep symphonic and cinematic journey into the world of the concept album. You have to give them a gold medal for trying that on their first outing. They describe the concept as, "The ambivalence of human emotion. Hence the borders between various progressive influences of the rock/metal genre, the funk-fusion genre and the cinematic music get blurred. Moreover you are taken on a journey through the fantastic worlds of the subconscious of a cast-out and self-critical character". Yes, it is a very complex and unfortunately very difficult to read concept, from the small script in their 18 page CD booklet. But the singers play their parts well developing the concept as the excellent mix of cinematic, symphonic and traditional progressive music surrounds their performance.

This album is a keeper. It is an album that will grow on you with time, although it immediately drew me in with its concept and predominately keyboard sound. The complexity of the music and the amount of time spent refining the production can be heard as well as felt.

I had not heard of Circle of Illusion before receiving this promo. But you can rest assured I will not let them get too far away. Any band that would attempt this genius storytelling on their first album must have many more elegant stories to tell. It's not too late to join in on the fun. This album was released in September of 2013. Get this album and pick up the story from the beginning before everybody knows about this band and their shows sell out.

Track Listing:

1. Overture 03:55
2. The Beginning 07:05
3. The Run 09:46
4. The Memory Returns 06:05
5. The Party 02:16
6. Closing Doors 06:06
7. New Age 08:08
8. Continuum 09:51
9. Sarah's Dream 03:59
10. 13th Floor 06:25
11. Nightmare 16:17

Added: March 5th 2014
Reviewer: Mark Johnson
Score:
Related Link: http://circleofillusion.bandcamp.com/album/jeremia
Hits: 3876
Language: english

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