Circa Survive "On Letting Go" (Equal Vision)
By Peter A. Holden
Wednesday. Jul 18, 2:56 PM
Epic rock majesty of youth.

Equal Vision seems to love them some high-pitched frontmen. Youinseries, Coheed And Cambria, and Circa Survive all have singers whose vocal abilities climb into the upper echelons of the male range. But where Coheed And Cambria have a strange kind of cartoonish quality to their vocals, Circa Survive have an epic beauty rarely captured in rock. Similar in tone to William Hut of Poor Rich Ones, Anthony Green croons his belts. And rather than outright reaching and stretching for those precipitous heights like so many screamo dudes, Green seems to easily land every pitch. There’s also a lack of that “vocal glory” that worries us all sometimes. “Glory” being the cheesy use of the term, such as Steve Perry of Journey. Although I do love me some Journey, it is quite cheesy. Green does emphatically project a few screams here and there at key moments, especially in the ending of “The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is the Dose,” where he finishes with the line “did you ever wish you were somebody else!” His screams are poignantly chosen, however, and not excessive.

Instrumentally, On Letting Go is a push for power. Epic and punchy, the drums are the thumping, chugging steam engine of each track. The elegant, reverbed beauty of the guitars seals the whole story together in a grand statement. A statement made as firmly with overdriven rhythm guitars as it is with clean lead ones. Engine Down would be proud, I think. The word “majesty” sums up this kind of rock. If I had to coin a new genre, I’d use the word majestic and then come up with some other clever catchy sounding term to encapsulate it (like when people say “prog-core” or “death-alt-metal”… or even “screamo”). I mean this as a compliment entirely. Circa Survive have a majesty that begs you to listen and caresses your ears while you do. It’s shout-to-the-rafters fury with the grandeur of a symphony. On Letting Go is a call to arms for the kids with bigger urges than just their first lovemaking experience or video games. It’s carrying more than just a teenage love affair in its surprisingly mature shell.
www.circasurvive.com
www.equalvision.com

Listen to a song from this album in our Radio section!

Click here to buy this album on iTunes!

Click here to download the iTunes jukebox application for Macintosh or Windows!

Peter A. Holden

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.