Review Summary: EP’s are meant to be short… and it’s a shame
It seems that music has an ever need to grow, to develop, to change. However not all things are described so easily. Why do we have a fish with legs? How can animals exist on both land and water? And why, why is coke such an excellent marinade for steak? It seems odd that the metal community crave the ‘new’ and ‘innovative’ looking for the next big things that’s not a clone of its fellows. Circle of Contempt may not be any of those two things (let’s face it – they’re not) but they have progressed and matured into a working force of the death metal community. This Finland act bring the ‘junz’ everyone in the metal community despises and creates a vibrant display of instrumental talent coupled with some excellent song writing on this quality, yet brief release.
The best thing to take away from this release it its promise of things to come; A change of vocalist allows for the mid screams to have a greater impact on the casual listener. Denis Hautaniemi displays a strong vocal performance not unlike his predecessor, but the change works for the group and where the listener has prior Circle Of Contempt releases under their belt it shows a slightly fresh approach on top of some already solid vocal patterns. Don’t misunderstand this of course; it still has a largely
Artifacts In Motion soundscape on which to build on but it’s easy to see that the band has simply matured on this short release and shows that this act is willing to mature even further. As for the EP,
Entwine the Threads shows the listener that you don’t have to be innovative to be engaging. This release could be considered a natural movement for which the band highlights their strong writing talent and steady vocals. It’s not the best release of the year and its brevity is a little disturbing, rest assured however that it will keep fans at bay until the next full length.
Keyboards and slight synth sections make an appearance from time to time adding that level of contrast to prevent the listeners’ attention from waning, thickening the records texture and reinforcing another element in this already vibrant EP. These features are used just enough to make an impression without becoming an integral part of the music where it would destroy the flow and break away the impact of Circle of Contempt’s impressive display of musicianship. Genre stigma aside this short release is a quality sign of things to come. For those who find it necessary to hop on the hate ‘bandwagon’ for music with breakdowns and the aforementioned ‘junz’ they may just need to check this out. Where acts like Born Of Osiris and The Faceless have largely lost their appeal Circle of Contempt may just fill the void. Some ideas do come at a price, this is shown in the final track of the EP ‘Perceive the Mendacity’ where ideas are roughly thrown together and create a minimal tempo issue. The riffs get lost between some stale melodic passages and keyboard sections but still manage to show off the band’s thought process. Overall coming in at the end of 2012 Circle Of Contempt’s
Entwine the Threads does come together quite well. Despite the recordings length there is still plenty to listen on, and where does the band go from here? Hopefully in the same vein - building on this already solid platform and reinforcing that already mentioned maturing process.
