Progress Records (2007)

A five piece progressive band hailing from Sweden- I’m always excited to hear other countries interpretations on the style so keenly developed from North America and the United Kingdom. Soniq Circus sprouted in 1999 as a trio of musicians with guitarist/ singer Marcus Enochsson the only mainstay from those early days. Through the years the other band mates took their cover influences to create original material- gaining a record deal on the strength of 2006’s "Still Not Making Love" full length demo. The debut album pushes seven full compositions at us, most of which are organ/ keyboard driven and sprawling in their arrangement spectrum (four of them hitting the 8 minute plus mark).

Soniq Circus these days has a potent lead voice in Calle Lennartsson- one that moves the lyrics in an abstract yet dramatic fashion. It’s as if he’s channeling Jon Anderson and Peter Gabriel through songs like "Bright Future" and "An Idiot". One of my favorite lyrical twists occurs in the concluding "Colliding Stars"- a slight nod to the John Gray relationship book series with these lines: ‘You’re the love of Venus/ I’m the hate of Mars’- while at other times the words seem clichéd (‘Your breath is anthrax/ lethal as blistering gas/ but you’ve got a nice ass’ from the same "Colliding Stars"). The keyboard lead work from Mathias Becklus contains many pitch bends and older tones- you can tell he studied the discography of Keith Emerson and Tony Banks when listening to "Welcome" or "Chain Of Consequences". The production has an analog reel to reel appeal, keeping in step with their 70’s heroes.

I think Beardfish and Saga have released better progressive rock albums this year, but if you enjoy the style and can’t get enough of newer groups then Soniq Circus deserves your attention.

www.soniqcircus.com
www.progressrec.com

Composed by Matt Coe