Battle Circus

Battle Circus (New Zealand) -- Here’s the band I should have known. I read Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine, for goodness sakes! And this is a prog band, with a few 10-minute songs to their name after only one album. Remember when everyone used to say that Muse sounded like Radiohead? And they did for a little while, but then they created their own sound? Battle Circus sounds like Muse in that same way. You can hear the influence, but they’re creating their sound as they go. The new single is a leap ahead of their first full length; it’s practically cabaret prog, which is definitely a new genre.

- SpinningPlatters.com

New Zealand's Battle Circus have unveiled their new video for "Flying Machine" and guess what it's filled with.

If you guessed planes, you would be about half right. The clip is a compilation of public domain videos, compiled into one video by Marcel. The flying images shown range from old planes, to blimps, to space shuttles. Everything is in black and white except one clip. Can you find which one?

Battle Circus just wrapped up their tour with Gary Numan and will be opening for Viza at the Highline Ballroom in New York on May 14th. They will also be embarking on a US tour in June, more on that to come.

- Filter

Battle Circus successfully puts energy back into some ancient black-and-white footage with the video for “Flying Machine,” the first song to be released off of its upcoming self-titled full-length debut. This exclusive video doubles as the premiere for the song. Guitarist and vocalist Marcel Bellve took the time to dig up a hefty amount of public domain footage of our earliest successes and failures in flying, and then spliced them together to go along with the nine-minute epic song. The track and the glitch-y, fatigued footage fit together surprisingly well, especially during the flying montage where pianist Yvonne Wu takes over with a swirling piano solo. Almost makes you proud to be an American.



Battle Circus comes from New Zealand and may be hard to categorize. The music is pop-like, but the arrangements are complex and progressive. The melodies and instrumentation are sort of campy but stay away form ever becoming corny or insincere. Though it is only a four piece, the group manages to create enormous cinematic pop, filled with myriad orchestral and rock instruments.



The group has spent quite a lot of time working up to this debut. A good portion of the album was recorded in the group’s native New Zealand, posting up in a barn overlooking the coastline. Aside from that, Battle Circus hasn’t been spending a lot of time in its home country. The past several years have been marked worldwide tours, taking the band from Taiwan to SXSW and building strong followings wherever it stopped to play. The group’s debut EP, The Half-Light Symphony, came out in 2007. Each of the four songs landed around 10 minutes in length.



Plans for an album release are now in the works. For now, American record label representation still needs to be nailed down. A national tour should be coming soon, and in the meantime, catch the band opening for Viza at the Highline Ballroom on May 14.

- CMJ

"...it was the hard-hitting, keyboard infused rock sounds of Battle Circus which really got the crowd moving, proving that they are an act to keep an eye on. With a sound which had you instantly hooked and moving towards the front of the room to get a better peek, Battle Circus are an interesting bunch, who manage to make heavy rock work with a selection of impressive keyboard infusions, which help to further define them as different to most lulling support acts." - TheDwarf.com.au

"Battle Circus slotted in[to] these surrounds well. Visually and musically bold, their eclectic mix of abrasive psychedelic grunge was tinged with a haunting, surreal element. They wavered between some serious drum pounding and electrifying, jerky piano, but their sound was mainly shaped by a loud wall of guitars. For a kiwi band that was playing only their second show in Australia they had the audience, some lyrically, well engaged."
- TheDwarf.com.au

"Battle Circus's self-described 'circus rock' became the second welcome surprise of the night, with a theatrical, borderline Brechtian performance that seems to have aspirations of the Dresden Dolls in full band mode. Face paint and wondrous video projections aside, Battle Circus, with their mix of keyboards and guitars, create a hugely orchestral sound with massive crescendos that you can barely predict when they'll cease. It's fun and a little hectic, sounding like they've taken bits and pieces from every genre and totally screwed around with them, and taking you up and down in one fell swoop of a song - given a bit more time, I'm sure these guys will go places." - Rival Street Press

BATTLE CIRCUS
The Half-Light Symphony
5/5

It's been heartening to watch the steady incline of Battle Circus over the last couple of years. From the first time I saw them play [in Auckland] I knew they were one to keep an eye on, they sounded so much hungrier than anyone else doing the rounds at the time and had such scope for a newish band. From there the rocky Utopium single
celebrated the brilliance of the band quite effectively and now they release this. This is The Half-Light Symphony, four tracks that when
welded together form a forty-two minute barrage of apocalyptic sonic
bliss. Sample and effects-heavy this is far from straight-forward
rock, but a statement of dynamic, progressive rock distilled through
a mesh of Battle Circus muscle. The Half-Light Symphony is similar in
feel to Suede's powerful second album Dog Man Star, with the band's sound dictating that the sonic references point to a blend of Muse, Tool and Porcupine Tree. It's conceptual, rewarding listening that
leaves me in awe after every play; quite where Battle Circus will head with the next release only adds to the excitement.

Adrian Osman
Real Groove Magazine - Real Groove Magazine

"Back downtown, New Zealanders Battle Circus are attempting to tread a fine line between Matt Bellamy theatrics and every emo band you never heard – this is a group, after all, who recently went to record a couple of songs for an EP and instead came out with a four-song 45 minute Black Parade-type opus named 'The Half-Light Symphony'.What you get for your money includes towering frontman Marcel, who wears a peasant shirt which hangs from his emaciated frame, while bewitching keyboardist Yvonne looks not unlike a mythological Greek siren who attacks her instrument with all the ferocity of someone auditioning for a particularly vicious role in Cats. They sing songs about the French Revolution and 'love in a fall-out shelter', and could turn in to something pretty special given some time, an artillery of lazers and Matt Bellamy's brain on a silver platter." - NME.com

If you've heard debut album [The] Half-Light Symphony from these Auckland indie-rockers you'll know just how good it is. Thankfully, their live set proved to be just as impressive. The rapidly increasing crowd took well to the entertaining 'circus rock' and rightly so. Battle Circus is now on my list of favourite bands thanks to Big Day Out.

Best song: 'Send In The Clones'
Best bit: Reminding myself that music this good came from literally just down the road a bit. - Rip It Up