UMUR
"Circle of Fools" is the second full-length studio album by German power/thrash metal act Subcutane. The album was released through Music Is Intelligence in 1997. It´s the successor to "Welcome to Our World" from 1995. There´s been one lineup change since the debut album as Daniel Kleinschmidt has been added as a second guitarist making Subcutane a quintet on "Circle of Fools".
Stylistically the material on the album continues the technical power/thrash metal style with progressive leanings that Subcutane also played on "Welcome to Our World". Lead vocalist Heiko Sudars sounds one to one like he did on the debut album as he predominantly sings using a rough voice (even some growls once or twice), but occasionally sings more melodic and clean. He doesn´t have the most interesting voice and singing style, but his performance is one of the things which make Subcutane stand out. The drumming and the bass playing are relatively technical in style and so are some of the guitar riffs, so labelling "Circle of Fools" a technical power/thrash metal release isn´t completely off the charts.
"Circle of Fools" featureds a sligthly better sounding production job than the sound production on the debut album, but it´s still a bit lacking in the punch department and sometimes it sounds a little amaturish. Still the album feautures enough redeeming qualities for a 3 star (60%) rating, but this won´t be for everyone.
