Once upon a time, in a quiet suburban neighborhood, there lived a young girl named Emily. It was a close-knit community where everyone knew each other and looked out for one another. Emily was an imaginative and creative child with a passion for all things magical. She loved reading fairy tales and watching movies about witches and wizards. In fact, she even had her own little collection of books and costumes related to her favorite magical characters. One day, while browsing through her collection, Emily stumbled upon a mysterious witch cape.
Speaking of movement, though, one of the things that might be most striking about this iteration of the band is that there are some truly nice grooves on this album that are thicker and heavier than they’ve executed in the past. The best example of that on this album would be the thump and bump from Beard and drummer, Steve Clifford, that serves as the backbone of “Premonition of the Hex”.
His opening lines here, I can t afford to seize I never stay for too long is an example that further establishes the drama and pathos at play throughout The Amulet. That said, the band have done a fairly solid job of evolving their sound in subtle ways with each new release in such a way that they don t lose too many old fans nor do they turn off new fans.
One day, while browsing through her collection, Emily stumbled upon a mysterious witch cape. It was dark purple with silver stars shimmering in the moonlight. The cape seemed to have a magical aura about it, as if it held some special powers.
ALBUM REVIEW: ‘The Amulet’ by Circa Survive
When chronicling the potted history of Anthony Green’s musical evolution – finding his first piece of major recognition with Soasin before moving onto The Sound Of Animals Fighting and ultimately Circa Survive – there’s a number of parallels that can be drawn with AFI and Davey Havok. Both found their most noticeable push through catering to certain zeitgeists – Green with the post-hardcore of the mid-2000s, Havok in the post-Misfits world of horror-punk – before ultimately focusing their attentions to something more grounded and, for lack of a better term, mature. Even the streams of side projects spawn some similarities, with both embarking upon more niche ventures with ultimately greater stakes of self-expression (Green with The Sound Of Animals Fighting and his numerous solo albums, Havok with Blaqk Audio and XTRMST), and even a late-period desire to return to a more straightforward, throwback sound that led to Havok’s involvement in Dreamcar earlier this year and Green returning to front Saosin for 2016’s Along The Shadow.
But where these comparisons really hold weight is when the latest output of each “main” project is placed side by side – AFI’s The Blood Album and Circa Survive’s The Amulet – and how much the underlying similarities really dictate the quality of each. Both see their creators embracing their more subtle, open-ending affectations for albums that favour slowly unfurling atmosphere over immediacy. And just like The Blood Album, The Amulet stands as an album that’s immaculately crafted but with precious little that sticks after an initial listen.
That’s made evident from the very first track Lustration, with guitars adopting a lighter, more tactile indie-rock sound and the impressively complex, almost jazz-like drum work. And on its own, that’s all fine, since Circa Survive clearly have the adept musical skill to pull it off. This is very much a musician’s album as well, putting their post-hardcore influences on the back burner to focus fully on a more progressive style. It gives a sense of grandiosity to tracks like Flesh And Bone with plays around with chilly minor chords and pianos for that wintery ballad feel, or the heavier Stay which pitches its instrumentation into more traditional alt-rock territory in the closest that The Amulet comes to reconnecting with its post-hardcore roots. Above all though, this is definitely a straighter album across the board, largely sticking to that delicate progressive indie template and performing it rather well, especially with regards to the vocals. Green may sound distressingly like Kellin Quinn but he’s nowhere near as screechingly obnoxious, and with the sort of control that means he can actually temper his vocals to fit the more serene, equable mood; it’s telling that his attempts at reaching out for screams on Rites Of Investiture and the title track are the only real moments that feel out of place.
But this alone brings up where The Amulet‘s main fault lies, with the fact that Circa Survive place such an emphasis on instrumental proficiency over basically anything else. Green’s tamped-down vocals might match up with the direction the instrumentation goes, but the doesn’t mean this is a user-friendly album, or one that’ll spur on any sort of emotional peak beyond prog fans and guitar-heads rubbing their hands with glee. Just because there’s talent here doesn’t mean that translates into interesting material; a track like Premonition Of The Hex feels so static with its complete lack of dynamics or gear shifts beyond a mid-level plod, and At Night It Gets Worse tries to spread its spidery guitar lines and drum fills over almost six-minutes but ends up feeling remarkably flimsy as a result. And with the frail, glassy quality in Green’s vocals that’s trapped in a distant falsetto for almost the entire album, there’s a lack of motion on all fronts that prevents the genuine qualities of The Amulet from being cashed in.
And after all, it’s easy to see what Circa Survive are going for here, distancing themselves from some of intensity of their previous five albums to open up new areas for number six. But that intensity was gave those albums such drive and vigour; here, this feels like a band stripping away such a defining keystone of their sound and spreading a half-speed effort over an entire album. Admittedly there’s enough instrumental colour here to prevent The Amulet from being outright boring, but even with those generous qualifications, this is okay at best, and Circa Survive have proven time and time again that they’re capable of a lot more.
For fans of: Coheed And Cambria, The Dear Hunter, A Lot Like Birds
Words by Luke Nuttall
‘The Amulet’ by Circa Survive is released on 22nd September on Hopeless Records.
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Watch the video for “The Amulet” below:
Excited and curious, Emily decided to put on the witch cape and explore her neighborhood. She believed that wearing the cape would unleash her own magical abilities, allowing her to see the hidden wonders of her surroundings. As Emily walked down the familiar streets of her neighborhood, she started to notice things she had never seen before. The flowers in the gardens seemed to dance in sync with the wind, the trees whispered secrets to each other, and the houses glowed with an otherworldly light. It was as if the entire neighborhood had come alive with magic. Word quickly spread throughout the neighborhood about the young girl in the witch cape, and soon, other children became intrigued by her adventures. They too wanted to experience the same magical wonders that Emily had discovered. With her newfound friends, Emily started a secret society known as the "Cape Club." Every evening, they would gather in a hidden spot in the neighborhood, all wearing their own enchanted capes, ready to explore the magical world they had discovered. Together, they would go on exciting adventures, unraveling mysteries, and helping those in need. The neighborhood became a place of endless possibilities, where the mundane was transformed into extraordinary. As time went on, Emily and her Cape Club continued to bring joy and wonder to the neighborhood. Their adventures became the stuff of legends, passed down from generation to generation. The tale of the witch cape in the neighborhood became a symbol of the power of imagination, friendship, and the extraordinary possibilities that exist in even the most ordinary of places. And so, the story of Emily and her witch cape lived on, inspiring generations of children to embrace their imagination, explore their surroundings, and believe in the magic that exists all around them..
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