Deadly Circus Fire – The King And The Bishop CD review

Clowns have always been the nightmare of many a child an adult for centuries now and it’s the twisted smile and always happy; yet sinister presence that plays on the mind of those who fear them the most. Although the guys in Deadly Circus Fire may be some of the nicest guys you can come across in the music business – the songs present on their latest album entitled, The King And The Bishop are somewhat darker, disturbing and very melancholic. This is a ten track album that you must own because it’s jammed full of raw aggression, power and killer songs. Marked with the same brush as bands like Mastodon and Tool – Deadly Circus Fire are a band who bring so much more to the table both musically and visually, packaging it together to form one of the hottest and most dynamic acts to emerge in the past few years!

Although Deadly Circus Fire is only a four piece, there is so much power driving each and every one of their songs. The sound and tone they achieve in tracks such as the three part piece ‘Through the Soil’, the haunting and lingering pump of ‘Nothing’ and the heavy, mosh fest that is ‘Leviathan’ is really something to behold as the sonic power, blasts through your speakers. Guitarist Save Addario manages to recreate the aggression of two, even three guitar players all by himself throughout the entirety of this album, and it’s a real conundrum to how he achieves this monstrous sound. One thing is for sure… It makes the music all the more aggressive!

The King And The Bishop may be the bands full debut album, but unlike their EP from 2011, this album contains some very melodic, ballad like material, that really shows just how diverse Deadly Circus Fire is as a band. ‘In The Kingdom of Flies’ and ‘Black Mask’ are both tracks that send shivers down your spine the moment they kick in. The broken chord progressions in the two songs are really atmospheric and menacing, keeping with the darker theme present on the rest of the album, but taking a more melodic root to add interest and difference to the album.

Deadly Circus Fire are hands down a progressive rock band with metal elements thrown into the mix, and you can tell that when writing these songs, the band wanted to ensure their music was as technical and musically interesting and stimulating as possible. By doing this, tracks like the eight minute epic ‘Blackout’, the mind blowing title track ‘The King and the Bishop’ and the weird, eerie bass driven madness of ‘The Light Within’ are all teaming with musical talent and style, making them some of the most memorable and catchy songs of 2012.

Although the re-recorded version of ‘Threnody’ may not be as good as the original, The King And The Bishop is a flawless album that is by far the best album of 2012 so far! No band is making albums like this, and no band will ever make an album like this. It’s different, it’s memorable and above all it’s written by a bunch of clowns… What could be better? The answer you are looking for is nothing! [9.5/10]

About Del Preston

So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweet shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me and Keith Moon and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweet shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shop owner and his son, that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business really. But sure enough, I got the M&Ms and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show.