Originally written by Erik Thomas.
Synopsis:
The last time I dealt with Belgium’s Thurisaz was their self released Scent of a Dream effort, which was a vaguely folk/pagan mishmash of gothic metal, black metal and melodic death metal. It was decent, but not great. However, now armed with a record deal on the label formerly known as the LSP Company, Thurisaz look to be developing into one of Belgium’s more promising and rounded metal acts.
Review:
Granted, if synth heavy, mid paced Goth doom/death/black metal along the lines of say Thalarion and Agathodaimon and more recently, Be’lakor, isn’t your thing, Circadian Rhythm won’t appeal to you that much, but even as a neutral listener, it’s going to be hard to ignore some of the special moments that surface here. Amid the blackened blasts, regal synths, mix of clean and rasped vocals, and atmospheric death/goth metal, Thurisaz has found a confidence level that should pay off in the international scene, should more fans be aware of them.
With a major leap in polish, tightness and songwriting, Thurisaz’s improvement is staggering. One just needs to listen to the likes of standout “Point of No Return” and its absolutely stunning majestic peak around 2 minutes in, or the epic build and flow of the killer title track to hear that this band has found ‘it’. “It now includes a lavish production, well-placed moments of romantic atmospheres, stern doom death chunk, stout melodic black metal textures and lengthy, multi faceted songs that need your attention throughout, and this will grow on you–as it did me. Still, a track like “Fading Dreams” almost derails the brilliance of the title track, the band still needs to learn when to throw in the acoustic ballad or keep rolling with the high quality metal (“Switch to Red”, the Arabesque “Betrayal”).
You would be doing a serious disservice to yourself if you passed over Thurisaz due to their small home country label, lack of name recognition or stylistic roots, as Circadian Rhythm is at times, an absolute pleasure to listen to, and one of the more surprisingly good albums I’ve heard this year.
