After greatly improving from their debut and delivering my 4th favorite album of 2023 in Air Not Meant For Us, I was very excited and curious to see how Colorado melodic death/doom act would perform on all the all-important third album.
Would it be their Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood? Or would it crumble under the pressure of following up such a great second album? Or would the band succumb to the pressure of the genre and change up style a la Paradise Lost’s, Shades of God, or My Dying Bride‘s The Angel and the Dark River? Especially with both bands being a clear influence on Fires in the Distance’s melodically tinged take on doom/death metal.
Come on down, Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood.
Now, to be clear, I’m not putting Circadian Promise in the same categories as those legendary, genre-defining, classic albums, but fuck me, this album is good; album of the year good, and in a few years, I think we will be talking about it as a hallmark album in the death/doom genre.
As with the last album, Randy Slaugh has been brought in to help the already talented composer, guitarist/songwriter Yegor Savonin, with some of the orchestral compositions, which, as before, are simply magnificent (although I don’t think the 4-piece string orchestra was brought back?). And also, as with the last album, it is front-loaded, and the back half of the album struggles a bit to catch up, but it does this time. But for crying out loud- how do you even top the opening two tracks here?
Opener “Of Radiance and Levitation” is about as good as it gets for delicate hues blended with a stern mid-paced trundle and some chord progression to simply die for. The little post-verse arpeggio at 2:18, which repeats a few times, is just knee-wilting. The song also introduces new guitarist/vocalist Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Thrawsunblat) and his clean croons, which appear a few times on the album and are spectacular. His growls and rasps are not quite as commanding or low as his predecessor’s, but the music here is the star of the show as the band leans into their tangible Insomnium, Opeth, Rapture, Swallow the Sun, Katatonia, and such.
And speaking of Insomnium, the second track, “To You, Author of My Fade”, is by far my favorite song of the year so far. It’s the most urgent track the band has penned, with an utterly stunning opening riff that has a fiercely melodic canter that would make Insomnium or even bands like In Flames, At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Wolfheart, or Countless Skies blush. Another svelte Hayter chorus adds a level of deep introspection.
The third song, “Lightless Days of a Songless Bird”, has a tough 2 acts to follow, but holds up with a more airy, elegant pulse and lope, with a main riff culled straight from Paradise Lost‘s more gothic rock phase. We then get “By This Time Tomorrow”, which features Johan Reinholdz of Dark Tranquility on a guest solo; it’s the album’s first more pure doom track, with a wondrous, swaying main riff and sonorous melody that you would hear on a My Dying Bride song, and when it transitions from the little spoken word/sample to the epic lead solo- it’s truly breathtaking.
The more lumbering, choppy “Once the Silence Takes Your Place”, while still a solid track, is probably the only song that has no moment or riff that made my knees weak, and the little programming part about 5 minutes in is a bit out of place (but the riff that follows it is damn good). But it’s a solid, despondent, Rapture-ish number that again highlights Hayter’s clean vocals perfectly.
The album ends (albeit too suddenly for my liking) with “Agonal Dreaming”, a brilliant, gorgeously somber track, where the delicate piano interplays with a riff similar to the opening song, just a perfect, perfect blend of sternness and melancholic beauty. Just listen to that riff at 3:31, and then the subsequent orchestral bridge/solo, and staggeringly emotive blast beat. My god. Just fucking perfect.
Circadian Promise is a perfect album in every way, and is indeed their Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood. It’s going to be a sure-fire AOTY contender for me, and for many folks I imagine. One can only hope they follow it up with an … And Justice For All or South of Heaven.
