Circle of Rage
Bull & Gate
London, UK
January 30, 2008

by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer

Comments: With the recent resurgence of all landmark styles of metal in the UK, so far it's impossible to tell which of them is going to make a major comeback. Circle of Rage, a newly emerged outfit from Kent, are putting all of their hard-boiled eggs in a basket called the power groove, inspired by the Nineties classics of the genre from Pantera to Rage Against the Machine. On Jan. 30 at Bull & Gate, a gritty North London venue attached to a traditional pub, they played a dramatic, highly charged set of politically themed numbers ranging in subject matter from "how money destroys music" to venting their anger at George W. Bush.

Musically too they tend to favor one particular theme, taking the conventional power groove for the basis of practically all their material. The focal point of the act is Tommo, a genuine, sincere belter who may not have the ball-breaking energy of a young Phil Anselmo or Zack de la Rocha, but whose defiant emotional thrust is convincing enough for any crowd to sit up and pay attention. His vocal parts are perfectly coordinated with the heavily accentuated staccato rhythmic patterns, and he knows how to draw attention to the supercharged lyrics as much with his voice as with his stage presence, or, to be described literally, off-stage presence, as after the first number of the of the set he jumped off the stage and continued to sing on the dancefloor, moving and leaping around right in front of the audience for the rest of the show.

What stands out about this band's sound, is how time and again the traditional start-and-stop harmonic patterns of their chosen genre become too repetitive for bassist Lee who then goes on to enliven them with rather complex ornamentation he expertly layers underneath the guitars and the vocals. Another feature of this band that comes in unforeseen is the unusual for this genre melodicism of guitarist Veitch. He hasn't had a chance to explore his melodic inclinations to the full within this band yet, but despite his attempts to stick to the rules of the power groove game, he still now and then ventures outside the familiar paradigm with well-modulated sustained notes and unexpectedly tuneful reading of his lead parts.

All this goes to show that there could be more to this band than simple rendition of the standards that have now become classic. This was illustrated by “The 11th Clause”, the last song Circle of Rage played on the night, which became the best number of the set, with atmospheric slow-mo Black Sabbath-inspired breaks taking the band outside the conventional blueprint.

Circle of Rage are just beginning to make their first creative steps, so for now their choice of style serves as a safe platform from which they could propel their own vision when the time is right. For regardless of its simplicity, the ability of power groove to liberate musicians and to allow them to develop their own voice should never be underestimated. And given their interests outside of the Nineties metal doctrine, Circle of Rage stand a good chance of becoming a truly exciting, unique act with their own character and their own creative methods.

http://www.myspace.com/circleofrageuk

Photos provided by Alissa Ordabai