ENCYRCLE — Encyrcle (review)

ENCYRCLE — Encyrcle album cover Album · 2015 · Speed Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Encyrcle" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by Danish heavy/speed metal act Encyrcle. The album was released through Unspeakable Axe Records in June 2015. Encyrcle was formed in Odense in 2012.

The music on the album is a combination of traditional heavy metal (I hear more than a few nods towards early Iron Maiden) and speed metal. The heavy metal elements are melody, heavy mid-paced riffs, and anthemic choruses, while the speed metal features are fast-paced drumming and riffs, and some occasional (rare) semi-thrashy riffs. The vocals are a bit of both worlds, which means both raw and melodic. Although I mentioned Iron Maiden above I think Encyrcle has created a relatively original sound, which means they don´t sound exactly like any of the big names, but rather use elements that some of the bigger names have made popular over the years. They make it no secret though, that they aim to sound like their music was written and recorded in the 80s.

So this is highly derivative in many ways, but Encyrcle are well playing and deliver their music with passion and conviction, which is always a positive feature. I was initally a bit biased about the sound production, which is very old school sounding and organic (very far from contemporary production standards), and sometimes sounds like it was recorded live in the studio, but after listening to the album for a while, I found that it´s the perfect sound for the type of music that Encyrcle plays. It raw, it´s authentic, and just screams heavy metal credibility. If there was ever any doubt of that it´s just take one look at songtitles like "Bloodbasker", "Deathlust", and "Black Dust", to know you´re in heavy/speed metal country.

The material on the 11 track, 47:35 minutes long album is well written, and relatively varied, which helps maintain the listeners attention. So all in all Encyrcle has released a pretty great debut album. Personally I could have wished for the vocals to be a little more interesting, and the vocal lines to be more distinguised between tracks, but it´s nothing too serious and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is still deserved.
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