Band:	The Circle
Album:	Of Awakening
Style:	Symphonic black metal
Release date:	August 2023

01. Ruins, My Dying World
02. Of Awakening [feat. Tim Charles]
03. Afflux
04. Reign Of The Black Sun
05. Ashes And Fading Tides

The Circle may sound like the title of an occult group, but that's far from what we have here. If you want to hear something at the most mature end of the symphonic black metal spectrum, look no further than Of Awakening,.

The Circle (formerly known as Vagrant from 2016 to 2020) is a German symphonic black metal act founded by multi-instrumentalist Stanley Robertson, who until this latest release acted as the project's sole member (discounting session vocalist Asim Searah), performing guitars, bass, and orchestrations. This year, Robertson has been joined by the former The Hirsch Effekt drummer Philipp Wende, who together with Robertson has produced the band's second full-length release, titled Of Awakening. This year, we've certainly had our fair share of quality symphonic black metal releases, primarily from bands such as Graveworm and ...And Oceans, plus a few that I'll shamefully admit to having found underwhelming (Shade Empire). So, where does Of Awakening fit into this year's symphonic black metal category? The answer to that question is not really that simple, as there is so much more to this album than just symphonic black.

To begin with, let's have a look at the album length. With only five tracks clocking in at thirty-three minutes in total, it's intriguingly short; perhaps some would even argue whether this could have got away with being released as an EP rather than a full-length release (I mean, it's not as if this were a grindcore release). There is, however, a plus side to the short length, namely that you can sink into the content much more quickly and put it on repeat spins. I, for one, don't have an issue with the length; even with such a short runtime, there are various styles and elements that one can incorporate, and depending on how they're structured, it can all come together and work brilliantly. What does help here is that each of the five tracks is lengthy anyway, allowing them to delve into more varied and complex structures with more memorable moments.

Such variety in styles is evident from the opening track "Ruins, My Dying World", with the most striking element coming from the vocal department. The vocals display such a range, from harsh blackened shrieks and death growls to highly impressive haunting cleans, and each style is excellently performed. The blend of harsh and clean vocals occurs frequently in modern-day, but I wouldn't say this feature usually reaches the overall standards that Of Awakening offers. Although the vocals are among the album's stronger elements, they aren't the only thing worth highlighting.

The album's theme is based on a concept that reflects one's self-egoism, hatred and destructive behaviour, and it is an emotive and sorrowful experience for the listener. The opening track "Ruins, My Dying World" allows the listener to immerse themselves in the emotive and melancholic soundscape the album provides early on through some high-quality orchestrations, instrumentations, and passionately performed vocals. "Of Awakening" sees the orchestrations become even more immersive and diverse, where the synths and arrangements create such a dense atmosphere. The riffs go into a much doomier pace, the growls turn more aggressive, and the violin really begins to stand out here, especially towards the end of the track.

There are several striking guitar leads throughout the album too, but the one that caught my attention most of all is the massive finishing solo on "Reign Of The Black Sun", a track I believe to be a standout on the album, in particular due to the clean vocals. "Ashes And Fading Tides" finishes the album off strongly, beginning with furious, thundering blast beats and rapid tremolo picking, making this the most blackened song on the album. The track is mostly driven by the instrumentation and harsh vocals, until a quarter of the way in, when the synths begin to take shape, followed by haunting, echoing cleans. The atmosphere on this track stands out above the rest for me; it's both powerful and epic, and the string instruments really come into their own as well.

Overall, Of Awakening is a triumph in symphonic metal. It mixes doom, black and death metal elements impressively well, and despite the short album length, it features so much variety within these five tracks. With this only being the sophomore release, one can only wonder what future lies ahead for The Circle, but it seems likely to be a bright one.