:: Machine Men - Circus Of Fools

Machine Men

As much as I’ve enjoyed Machine Men’s albums in the past, I’ve always felt that the band were still lacking in the originality department, as their sound was very much a rehash of Bruce Dickinson’s solo work mixed with European power/traditional metal (In the vein of Dream Evil and Firewind). Returning with the third full-length album ‘Circus Of Fools’, the Finnish based quintet has finally progressed beyond the clone tag that has followed them for the last nine years, with their latest release showing signs of an individual character starting to develop amongst the nine tracks they have on offer this time around. The immediate thing you notice about the opening title track ‘Circus Of Fools’ is the stronger production values, the stronger song structures and the overall heaviness and anger present in the feel of the track. All three points help Machine Men define a sound that’s more theirs of their own making, rather than a reproduction of their obvious influences.

The lead off single ‘No Talk Without The Giant’ is similar in style to the opener with a great vocal effort from Parviainen, but sadly the third track ‘Ghost Of The Seasons’ sounds too similar to Queensrÿche’s ‘Eyes Of A Stranger’ to really call it a Machine Men original. The ferocious ‘Tyrannize’ is a great blast of traditional heavy metal in the vein of Dickinson’s latter day solo work, while the two epics on the album in ‘The Shadow Gallery’ and ‘The Cardinal Point’ allow the band to stretch out a little more and add some progressive elements around their heavier song structures. The slower paced/rocking ballad like ‘Where I Stand’ features acoustic guitars against a heavy backdrop, while the all out thrasher ‘Border Of The Real World’ and the rocking ‘Dying Without A Name’ finish up the album in classic fashion.

Machine Men is offering anything that hasn’t been heard before in the classic heavy metal realm over the last twenty years, but much like Dream Evil and Firewind, these Finns certainly know how to make it all sound fun and devoid of cliché cheese like some European acts. ‘Circus Of Fools’ is definitely their strongest and most focussed release to date, and the album that’s sure to gain them the attention that has eluded them in the past.