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Magic Circle: Journey Blind


Magic Circle Following their self-titled debut which was well-received in metal and hardcore circles, Boston-based MAGIC CIRCLE returns with forty-five minutes of dominant, pure traditional doom-ridden heavy metal on Journey Blind, a record which sees the outfit doing what they do, but doing it even better. Self-produced and recorded by the band at guitarist CC’s The Pain Cave, the record surges with the viscosity a team of top-tier producers would be proud to back. The cover art for Journey Blind is an unused piece by legendary artist Joe Petagno (Motörhead, Mammoth Grinder, Autopsy) dating to 1979 yet properly fitted to this modern ripper. Surging with over forty-five minutes of doomed heavy metal that invokes the masters in their purest form, Journey Blind is a record which could have been captured three decades ago yet booms with a refreshed spirit to guide today’s misguided youth back to their unbeknownst roots.

This year has already been the most productive and expansive year for the label, but Journey Blind will fit into your parents’ unwavering classic rock collection the same as it could be the hottest thing on your younger cousin’s latest playlist. The tunes are rude, vicious. Some lumber ominously along, bare-fisting the downbeat through riffs raised from basements held in the odors of stale beer, mold, and want. Others stuff the song’s shape with directional changes -- tipping a cap to Trouble and Saint Vitus via Sabbath. All the dots are easily connected. There’s no sport there. But, in lieu of refinement, we get an honest reckoning: MAGIC CIRCLE is a band (quickly) becoming. Through the web of influence and itchy, artistic compulsion they’ve found savage and ultimately promising ways of reanimating long since taxidermied forms. Devotees of 1980s Black Sabbath, 1980s Trouble, Pagan Altar, Saxon, Armored Saint, Saint Vitus and the like should not pass this one by.

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Tags:  King Parrot    

    August 13, 2016

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