Seven Circles

SEVEN CIRCLES from Sweden seems to be a very dark yet versatile band. This four-track self-titled CD shows off some of their different sides. From dark and sinister tracks like "Sense Beyond Senses," to melodic spoken word introductions heard on "2040" to more rock 'n' roll tracks like the opening song, "Meant To Be," and finally to metal influenced guitars as heard on "Haven't Been Found" (a song about Bigfoot!). With deep melodic vocals bent on spoken word, SEVEN CIRCLES has a very deep and dark sound, not "Goth" just "Dark." My ears were tuned into this CD as soon as I popped it in my player and I know that I will be enjoying this band for many years to come. - Electra Wednesday

Seven Circles locates engaging, mesmerizing textures rarely heard in hard rock, and their melodies are as foreign, strange and refreshing as the vocalists curious, spoken and spit vocals. The production rules as well, Seven Circles striking the perfect balance between Bowie glam and Smashing Pumpkins bombast. The spirit of a band like Faith No More - even Wire and The Fall - lives in this exotic, quirky music. If you want weird and out there, but with an arresting sort of accessibility, get this damn thing. You'll be both pleased and perplexed.

Martin Popoff/ editor-in-chief BW&BK and author - Martin Popoff

Seven Circles are close musically to bands like SENTENCED and HIM. The musical ideas are good and all the compositions sound interesting to my ears. The production of the 4 tracks included here is very good and clear. ! I am sure that this band's music can be loved by many people, especially from those who appreciate the melodic stuff. - Nick Parastadatidis

I love the uncontradictable purity of these songs. I might call it minstrel songs with social awareness. - Vera

Cool edgy and dark, Seven Circles' brand of music will certainly delight any fan of Gothic/Hard Rock. - Simon Lucic

The production is really good; the drums sound so clean they almost sound
like a drum machine and the bass tone is really deep. Excellent production.
The song writing is very unorthodox and the band doesn't really sound like
anyone else I can think of. This is a good thing.
- Mark Johnson

very professional recording and the band have good capabilities - Fred

One of the greatest in music said that you should find your own unique sound in order to be noticed. Three guys hey profess a modern eclectic approach in music, playing slow, melodic tunes, with plenty of keyboards, which at first remind you of British heroes: somewhat of Oasis, somewhat of Radiohead and even Muse. But the guys have definitely grown on Scandinavian music traditions, a careful ear can even hear the traces of German Rammstein, and they skilfully combine their influences to get this kind of interesting result. It makes you imagine some visual pictures of Tolkien stories and even remember dark, intricate and such native songs of Dead Can Dance. In a word, wonderful, thoughtful music you will probably like if the names I have mentioned mean something to you. But being a diehard metal-head, I would pass it by if it wouldn’t be for something else.
Dissonance. Something surprising and suspicious. This makes the songs really shine. It’s the vocals. No Luciano Pavarotti, not even Timo Kotipelto, Tobias Sammet or Michael Kiske – these are gothic vocals with beautiful deep overtones. It’s a bow towards traditional dreadful suffering voices in doom and gothic metal. (This guy has a chance to follow Aaron Stainthorpe)! Mixed with relatively light melodies it leads you to a cognitive dissonance. This is two in one, which can’t be united, can’t be combined without a risk of total anarchy. They risked and the result is far from usual. This combination is one of the highlights of the record. And if you too can’t imagine how it can be mixed, listen to this four song demo. As for the rest, let’s wait for their debut release.
- Julie

This three man band from Sweden took me completely by surprise when
their debut demo reached my mailbox some weeks ago. I had listened to
some clips at their website and heard potential but the demo exceeded
my expectations by far.

The brilliantly *cough* titled "Demo" carries influences from a wide array of styles but the groundwork is moulded out of gothic metal and two names that pop-up are My Dying Bride and Tiamat. Think "Skeleton Skeletron" by the latter mentioned, guested by Aaron Stainthorpe (MDB) on lead vocals. Add to that some Maiden-esque harmonies and you get the picture. Very hard to define but enchanting none-the-less. It is a very strong demo and all four songs are worth a listen. If mournful and melodic metal is your thing, Seven Circles is a must! Great stuff! I am really looking forward to hearing more!
- Stefan Lejon

"I suppose only a small number of people heard about this band and about their work so far. Well, it's not surprising, if we keep in mind that Seven Circles is in fact quite a new band on today's Metal Scene. This demo is actually the first thing they recorded so far, altough they started playing during the winter 2003. But I think they deffinitly deserve attention, and everyone else who had a chance to hear their first songs will probably agree with me. I have to say that the quality of their songs is unquestionable.

But perhaps it would be better if I start from where I should've started in the first place- from the beginning. And what could be more fitting then to say a few words about the band itself.

Seven Circles comes from the city of Lund (Sweden). As we all know, Sweden is a birth place for many talented Metal bands. And Seven Circles might easilly become one of them. But let's not change the subject just yet...

Bands's current line-up is Tomas Kronvall (guitar), Djoni Deidesgaard (drums) and Andreas Lantz (pretty much everything else). Interesting things about this band is that Andreas met Thomas when he was a subject in some kind of telepathy study that Andreas was executing. And the fact that Djoni was once a drummer in Royal Danish Marching band. And that would be about all I can say about the band. Anyway, whoever wants to find out more about them, there's a nice interview with Andreas in "Metal reports" section...

So let's just focus on the thing that is really important right now- their music. Andreas described their music as Hard Rock, but I wouldn't actually agree with that. First time I heard their songs it sounded more like Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. Guitars are quite heavy, a bit too heavy for a Hard Rock band. And that's the main reason why I refer to them as Metal band. Andreas also said he thinks that mostly Gothic Metal fans would like their music. Which is true, their songs are quite dark, you could easilly say Gothic. Altough I think that the word "atmospheric" would be more fitting. But no worries, if you are a Gothic Metal fan, there's a good chance you will really like it. But don't get me wrong, I wouldn't actually say Seven Circles is a Gothic band. Hard/Heavy/Gothic Metal would actually be the easiest way to describe it.

Well, since you probably know by now what we are dealing with, I will say few more words about the songs as well. This demo contains four full-lenght songs: "Meant to be", "Haven't been found", "Sense beyond senses" and "2040". My personal favorite is the opening track, "Meant to be", quite dark and Heavy song. Of course, other songs are not any worse then the first one, you can be sure about that.

So, we finally get to the point where I am supposed to say "yes" or "no". In other words, does it sound good or not...and my answer is HELL YES!!!!!!!!!

This is one hell of a good demo and I don't doubt that this band has a really bright future ahead of them." - Aragorn